A massive thank you to Dani for inviting me here today to share an exclusive excerpt from my latest release, Defensive Play. Set against the backdrop of high school football, this is a sweet YA M/M romance in my Boys on the Brink series, and follows seventeen-year-old Davey as he’s caught between his growing feelings for another boy and the desire to hold onto the respect of his teammates. I hope you enjoy it!
Excerpt from Defensive Play (A Boys on the Brink Novella)
The referee’s whistle cuts through the outraged cries from the Buzzard supporters. I don’t wait to be shown the red card. I hesitate just long enough to watch Adam scramble to his feet, reassuring myself he’s all right, and then I’m running.
“Oi, Tomkins,” Coach calls after me as I sprint past him, “this match isn’t finished.”
Ignoring him, deaf to the angry muttering from the spectators, I make a dash for it, across the field and around the side of the clubhouse. I need to get away, to be somewhere quiet, somewhere I can think.
In the shower block, I shove open the heavy door to one of the changing rooms and let it bang shut behind me, muting the sounds from the game. Only the clunking and groaning of an antique radiator breaks the silence. Not that it’s having much effect on the temperature; it’s almost as dingy and cold inside as it is out. Distantly, I remember the tracksuit I’ve left on the touchline. It doesn’t matter. Though I’m shivering, my body is on fire. I glimpse my reflection in the grimy mirror hanging beside the door. Hair clings in dark strands to my forehead and my cheeks are flushed, my eyes too bright. I look feverish, scared.
I collapse onto one of the benches and lean against the metal locker behind it, covering my face with my hands. My heart hammers against my ribs as though I’ve narrowly escaped an attacker. I inhale, telling myself to calm down. Anyone would think I’ve never had a strong reaction to a boy before. Stupid, seeing as I’ve known I’m attracted to guys since I understood what it means to fancy someone. This is nothing new, except…
He looked at me.
My breathing threatens to get out of control again. In all the years I’ve been checking out guys, staring without appearing to stare, no one has ever stared back. Never. And yet there was no mistaking the deliberate way Adam’s eyes met mine. He’d seen straight through me, honing in on the desires I’ve been so careful to keep hidden. And If Adam had seen it, who’s to say he was the only one? And if he wasn’t, how long before the rumours start?
Nausea claws at my throat. I’ve never been popular, the social anxiety hindering my efforts to make friends. It was only a couple of years ago, when my therapist convinced me to pursue my passion for football and I earned my place on the team, that I’d been accepted. The Falcons are all I have, and if any of them ever found out the truth, it would be the end of everything.
Yet, even as I sit here, gut churning, I’m aware of another emotion. It’s faint, almost drowned by the fear and the dread, but it’s there—something unfamiliar, exciting. The seconds leading up to my sending off replay in my mind—Adam’s brilliant eyes snaring mine, the way he smiled at me. There had been no mockery in that smile, no disgust. It felt a lot like—my brain scrambles for the right word—like a promise.
There’s due to be a presentation after the tournament when the trophies will be awarded, followed by a party for the players. He’ll be there—Adam. The thought of seeing him again, of maybe even talking to him, ties my stomach in knots. I can’t go; I so nearly gave myself away during the match. Being in the same room as Adam is a risk I can’t afford to take. It would be foolhardy, dangerous. I have too much to lose.
Title: Defensive Play
Series: A Boys on the Brink Novella
Author: Jamie Deacon
Publisher: Beaten Track Publishing
Cover Artist: Natasha Snow
Release Date: November 30, 2018
Genre: Gay YA Sports Romance
Length: 21,500 words
Blurb
One glance is all it takes to bring his defences crashing down…
Seventeen-year-old Davey has never made friends easily. Shy, geeky, crippled with social anxiety, he feels isolated from his peers, and only his position as defender for the school football team fills the void of loneliness. On the pitch, his deft footwork has earned him the respect and acceptance of his squad, though at a price. Desperate to hold onto this camaraderie, Davey conceals the truth from everyone, even his own family.
Then, during the annual Brookshire football tournament, his eyes meet those of a rival player across the field and a spark flares between them, one neither boy can deny. Adam is everything Davey longs to be—confident, popular, comfortable with his sexuality. Davey aches to explore their connection, to discover where it might lead, but how can he follow his heart and risk rejection by his teammates, the closest thing to friends he has ever known?
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About Jamie Deacon
Jamie lives in a tranquil spot close to the River Thames in Berkshire, England, and has always been just a little out of place—the only redhead in a family of brunettes; an introvert far more at ease with dogs than with people; a connoisseur of simple pleasures in a society intent on the quest for wealth and fame. Despite an outward cynicism, Jamie is a romantic at heart, and, when not immersed in a book, can mostly be found writing emotional stories where young men from all walks of life are forced to navigate the sometimes painful reality of growing up, coming out, and falling in love.