Love Bytes says hello and welcome back to author Brandon Witt joining us today to share an exclusive excerpt of his re release of Mapping the Forest!

Brandon also brought with him a giveaway for our readers!

Mapping the Forest

Happily ever after has no map, but sometimes fate sends a guiding light.
Gabe Rice loves the rugged beauty of the land and the mountain community of Estes Park. But after six years as a seasonal ranger at Rocky Mountain National Park, he wonders if he’ll ever get a full-time position, and finding love seems a long-lost trail. When Gabe sees Luis—and hears his gorgeous singing—he’s compelled to meet him.

Luis Martinez, the new owner of a hotel and steak ride business in Estes, left California for a fresh start in Colorado. But even amid the splendor of the mountains, he struggles to move forward from a crushing loss. Unprepared for his attraction to Gabe, Luis is ready to run and hide from emotions he never hoped to experience again.

When the path ahead opens to a brighter future, Luis and Gabe must both find the courage to walk forward—together.

 

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Luis Martinez

 

Even with the backlight turned to its lowest level, the iPhone’s screen lit up Luis’s face in the darkness of his bedroom. Shining a light on his sins. On his weakness. On his betrayal. Just like it had the past three nights.

He was driving himself insane, and he knew it.

He also knew he wasn’t acting logically or rationally. But it had been two years since either of those terms could be applied to him. If only his old counseling clients could see him now. How well-adjusted they would feel. They’d probably ask for their money back, seeing as their therapist had been hiding a crazy person beneath his skin during their sessions.

Luis wasn’t completely disconnected. He knew he should stop, but he couldn’t. He also knew he wasn’t truly betraying Chris… but he was.

Every night before bed, he’d pray for Chris’s forgiveness. Then while overseeing the lodge during the day and cooking on the steak ride in the evenings, he’d make promises to himself that he wouldn’t do it again.

But for the past several nights, he had.

Thursday night had been Grindr. His first foray into the darkness of infidelity.

Friday had been Manhunt.

Saturday, GROWLr.

This night’s app scared him the most. Manhunt had been bad enough, but Scruff? There seemed to be something dirtier about it. There probably wasn’t, but it seemed that way. How was he to know? He hadn’t had the need to look for a hookup in fourteen years.

Not that he was looking for a hookup.

He wasn’t.

Not even in the realm of possibilities.

Though, if he were being honest, as bad as that would feel, it would be better than what he was actually doing.

Once the app was downloaded, he tapped it open.

By this point, he was familiar with the profile questions, and he filled them out automatically. All true answers, but none of them mattered. They weren’t needed. It didn’t matter. There would be no hookup, preferences matched or otherwise.

 

Handle: MotelMan

Age: 40

Relationship Status: _________________

Ethnicity: Hispanic/Latino

Height: 5’ 11”

Body Hair: Hairy

Sex Preferences: Top

 

On and on it went. Luis filled them out with no thought. It didn’t matter. Tonight would be the last night. Success or not. Surely the apps that were left wouldn’t help. If these didn’t produce results, then it would be over.

Which would be preferable.

He uploaded the same picture he’d used on the last three deleted accounts. Just a picture of his hairy bare chest and shoulder. No head. He’d even cropped it so his nipple wouldn’t show. It’d been too much. He would have taken a picture of his legs or something, but that had felt too strange, as did leaving the picture fully blank. It seemed to show too much of his soul. And, God, he wished that analogy weren’t accurate.

He set the range for a radius of twenty-five miles. A little wider than necessary, but you never knew. Besides, whoever the guy had been, he was probably back home. Maybe that had been his last night in Estes. He and his friend were probably long gone. One more reason tonight’s would be the last app he’d try.

The friend. Surely she’d just been a friend. Not a wife. The look in the man’s eyes hadn’t left anything to the imagination.

One moment Luis had been cleaning the grill as the tourists lined up to reboard the jeeps; the next, the man had been standing there. Tall, gorgeous, blond, and blue-eyed. Staring at him like he wanted to devour Luis but nervous about it too. Then that mother had started screaming.

Luis couldn’t believe his nerve walking up to the man after he’d rescued the kid. His nerve or his weakness. To betray Chris that way for a pair of blue eyes. Of course, the mother had once again brought that to a halt, giving Luis a chance to get his brain straight and dart away.

If only his brain was still on that same page.

He needed that mother with him right then. She could scream in his ear or hide his phone in the woods. Something.

And, really, what was he doing? It was pointless. What was he going to do if he found the guy? Not that it mattered, he wasn’t going to. He was long gone. And even if he wasn’t, maybe he didn’t have a face picture either. Maybe just one of his big, gorgeous body, and Luis would look right past it.

He clicked the Nearby button.

And there he was. The top row, second to the right. Less than five miles away.

Holy shit.

Luis tossed the phone away. It landed on the bed, bounced off, and fell to the floor, out of sight.

Shit. Holy shit.

The pounding of his heart told him that he’d never actually expected to find the guy.

What the hell was he supposed to do now?

He sat in the darkness, doing his best to remember to breathe, trying to get his pulse down so he didn’t have a stroke.

He was being ridiculous. Not like the man could see him through the phone. He’d have no idea Luis was looking at his profile.

Moving slowly, Luis slid off the bed and retrieved his cell from the floor, then turned it over, lighting up the screen again. It hadn’t cracked; that would have been a stupid mistake. An expensive, stupid mistake. With a swipe over the Unlock button, the Scruff app glowed once more, the blond’s face illuminated again.

God, he really was gorgeous. And huge. Even in his picture the man was big.

The picture. A head and shoulders shot. Shirtless, showing just enough skin to announce reddish-blond chest hair.

Fuck.

Luis glanced at the stats.

 

Handle: MountainScout

Age: 32

Relationship Status: Single

Ethnicity: White

Height: 6’ 4”

Body Hair: Hairy

Sex Preferences: Bottom

 

That mountain of a man was a bottom?

Check out the review we did on this first release : here

 

Brandon Witt received his roots in the Ozark, grew wings in Denver, and is learning to fly in New Orleans. When not snuggled on the couch with his two dogs and his partner, Stephen, he is more than likely in front of his computer, nose inches from the screen, fingers pounding the keys.

Website:  http://www.brandonwitt.com

Author Facebook Page:  http://bit.ly/2jxsfVu

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wittauthor/

Witty Reader’s Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/913139788830787/

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Brandon-Witt/e/B008FV6Y4M/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1454952325&sr=8-1

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4896623.Brandon_Witt

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO5cFqYKyNyDCxExAonFPRA

 

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