Book Title: For What It’s Worth
Author: S. M. James
Publisher: May Books
Cover Artist: Story Styling Cover Designs
Release Date: February 27, 2020
Genre/s: YA LGBT romance
Trope/s: Opposites attract, pseudo love triangle, friends to lovers, fish out of water
Themes: Polyamory, coming of age
Length: 88 000 words/350 pages
It is a standalone story.
Buy Links – Available on Kindle Unlimited
They say there are no rules in love, but will three be a crowd?
Blurb
Rory García is terrible at making choices.
Dating Micah has been the best decision Rory’s ever made. Micah calms his wild side by bringing Rory back down to earth. They’re perfect for each other.
But when Rory’s Australian crush randomly shows up to stay with him, Rory’s torn between the boyfriend he maybe loves, and the guy he thought he was over.
Micah Holtz is the most loyal boyfriend in history.
Since the day Micah first saw Rory, he fell hard. There’s never been a moment where Micah’s doubted his feelings and when they finally start to date, Micah plans to hold on with both hands.
But then Justin arrives from Australia and Micah finds his single-minded attention starting to slip…
Justin Anderson has a plan for everything.
Showing up on Rory’s doorstep is the most adventurous thing Justin’s ever done. He’s lowkey sick with nerves, but knowing Rory’s there makes it all worth it. Until he finds out Rory has a boyfriend. Which was never part of the plan.
Suddenly Justin’s back to his usual game of second guessing everything, including Rory’s flirting and Micah’s lingering looks.
When Micah’s childhood haunt is set to be torn down, the three of them join forces to try to save the historic building. But will the teamwork add cracks to an already unstable friendship, or bring them closer than they ever imagined?
Being away overnight with Rory is such an odd feeling. Even though we get alone time at his place, it’s nothing like this. Normally, there’s somebody in the next room or on their way home, and even though I’m literally on the opposite side of the world to my parents, this is possibly the first time I feel like a proper grownup.
Rory suggested it might be fun for us to go out for dinner, so I somehow unearth a pair of jeans with only a tiny tear in the knee and a button-up top, and Rory does the same. I try to stamp down my smile at his wrinkled shirt and the stray chunks of hair escaping his ponytail. Even attempting to dress fancy, Rory’s still complete chaos.
Rory’s stare finds the mirror and rakes down my reflection. Something in his eyes darkens, and I don’t hate it, even if it makes me squirm a little.
“Fuck, Justin, you look hot.”
My cheeks heat. “Umm … thanks.”
He laughs, clearly enjoying making me feel uncomfortable, and it occurs to me that he takes sick pleasure in doing this. I want to joke around and tell him he looks the same, but my tongue feels like lead in my mouth, and I’m not sure I would be able to pull it off. Knowing my luck, I’d go to tell him he looks hot and instead tell him he looks like snot. And that’s definitely not an attractive sentence to say.
“Stand still. I need to send Micah a photo.”
“What?” I quickly shake my head. “No way.”
“But he’s already missing out.” Rory pouts. “Don’t take this from him too.”
He’s so full of shit. I roll my eyes but wave him over. “Get in the picture too, then, and it won’t be so weird.”
Rory holds his phone out as far as possible and snaps a picture that I then want nothing to do with. If he shows it to me, I’ll get picky. Then we’ll delete it and try again and again until I get frustrated.
Rory tells me it looks good, so I trust him.
We leave the hotel, and as soon as we’re on the street, Rory asks if he can hold my hand. It’s getting easier, especially when he prewarns about what’s happening, because I’m able to sort my thoughts out and push all the negative out. I quickly check no one is paying us any attention. Nodding, I reach for him, and instead of lightly covering his hand with mine, this time I link our fingers together. His smile is so wide it shows off all of his big teeth and squints his eyes into slits. He is so incredibly dorky and perfect it makes my heart hurt.
Rory’s picked out the restaurant, and it’s definitely not what I expected. There are tablecloths on the tables, dim lighting, and little tea lights surrounding vases of flowers. Knowing Rory—well, knowing us—I thought we’d end up at a fast food restaurant, but this is kind of … romantic. Rory walks straight in and gives his name to the waitress and tugs me after him as he leads us to our table. The restaurant is already starting to fill up, and the table we’re led to is the only free one on this side of the room. There are two elderly couples sitting by us, and I can’t help but notice the way they stare at our joined hands. Rory pays them exactly zero attention as he pulls my chair out for me and helps me into my seat. It’s so completely unexpected I hold back a laugh, only feeling bad when I notice that Rory’s cheeks have darkened.
When he finally takes his seat, his fingers are drumming out a constant rhythm on the table, and he keeps looking around the room, without meeting my eye.
I lean forward. “Are you okay? You’re acting … like me.”
He finally meets my eye. “I …” He shrugs. “I’ve never been on a proper date before.”
My eyebrows jump up. “Micah’s never taken you on a date?”
“Yeah, a fair few. But nothing with like the dinner and candles and …”
“If this isn’t your thing, we can leave.”
“What?” His hand slides across the table, and my stomach flips over as I quickly reach for it. “No, I want to be here.”
“You literally look like you’d rather be anywhere else.”
He scrunches up his lips. “Sorry. Really. This clearly isn’t somewhere I fit in, but …” That dark blush starts to come back. “It doesn’t matter because I want to make it special for you.”
His green eyes are so big and sincere, and as foul-mouthed and brash as Rory can be, he has the softest heart underneath it all. Before I’d left to fly over here, this kind of thing is exactly what I’d hoped for but never dared to think would actually happen. And now that it is, I’m so bloody worried I’m going to mess it all up.
We order food, and for once Rory isn’t in a joking, hyperactive mood. He shifts his chair around the table so we’re sitting next to each other, still holding hands, and I forget the old couples and the stares and what I want to make happen when we get back. It’s just me and Rory and Rory’s undivided attention.
When we finish eating, Rory moans about how full he is, and I shift even closer. Focused on his mouth, his lips, the way they quirk when he realizes I’m watching them. I’m not even sure what he’s saying when I lean closer and gently skim my lips against his.
“Thank you.”
S.M. James writes books for teens about squishy sweet characters.
While not writing, SM is a readaholic and Netflix addict who regularly lives on a sustainable diet of chocolate and coffee.
Unapologetically dishing out HEAs for LGBTQ characters.
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