Audio Tour, Exclusive Excerpt & Giveaway:
Boy Shattered by Eli Easton
Narrated by Tristan Josiah
Narrated by
Brian
You’ll make it out of here, Brian. I swear.
I had everything—school quarterback, popular with girls, and my dad was proud of me. I told myself it didn’t matter no one knew the real me. And then I nearly died. Landon saved my life. He’s the bravest guy I know. He came out a few years ago, proud and fierce, and he ran into gunfire to help others. Me, I’m a mess. Can’t even stand to be in a room with the curtains open. But here’s the thing about losing it all: You get a chance to start over and be someone new. Only how can I move on when the two shooters who attacked our school were never caught? And why do I feel like I’m still in the crosshairs?
Landon
Will you kiss me?
When I came across Brian Marshall,the hottest guy in school, dying on the cafeteria floor, I did what anyone would do. I tried to save him. His request surprised me, but I figured he needed comfort, so I kissed him on the forehead. When he survived and came back to school, he was broken in body and mind. He still needed me, and soon we were unlikely besties. But what I saw at school that day woke me up. I want to demand action on gun control, lead protests, raise my fist. I’ll tear the world down if I have to. And if I can get the man of my dreams and save the world at the same time? I’ll take it. Only I didn’t understand that the horror at Jefferson Waller High wasn’t over.
Universal Audio Link
AMAZON
Audible US
Audible UK
Universal Book Link
That’s when it happened. Brian was goofing around with a football, tossing it up and catching it. He lost control of the ball, and it came flying right at us.
I shoved the rest of my sandwich to the side, got up on one knee, and grabbed the ball as it spun and wobbled. If I hadn’t, it would have smacked Madison in the head.
Brian jogged over. “I’m so sorry!”
I stood up slowly, holding the ball. I was ready to open a can of whoop-ass, because that was so not cool. Then I saw how red and embarrassed he looked.
Brian was the least bad of the lot. He’d always struck me as quiet. Not stuck-up, just the sort of guy who didn’t say much. I’d never seen him openly be an asshole like his friends. He said “hi” to me in the halls sometimes with a shy nod.
Also, from this close? It was hard to be mad with those big blue eyes looking at me so worriedly. Navy blue, in fact. With black lashes. They were warmer and deeper than I expected. Brian was what my mom would call “totally dreamy.” She called George Clooney “totally dreamy.” Yeah, George was okay. But if I had to define “totally dreamy,” it would be the guy standing in front of me.
Brian Marshall was average in size, a little shorter than me and lean. But he had an amazing body—wide shoulders, super-narrow waist and hips, and a tight little bubble butt. Like, his ass did not even look real. He was more of a Harry Styles boy-band type than a Dwayne Johnson he-man type like his buddies. Which I found way more appealing. He had a cute face that was very tan from being outdoors and longish brown hair that curled up on the ends. I’d been to a few games, because team spirit, rah, rah. And hot dogs. And crisp fall nights. And football uniforms. So yeah, I’d seen him play. He was very tricksy on the field. His passes were like speeding missiles, he was known for master fake-outs—sometimes running the ball himself while the opposing team scratched their ’nads in confusion—and he had a way of squirming out of attempted tackles like he was greased.
Not that I was going to say any of that to his face. Ever. On pain of death.
Instead, I smirked. “Hope you hang on to the ball better on the field, O.J.,” I said, thrusting it into his hands.
By then his friends were hooting and laughing at him. He gave me a puzzled half-smile and took off with the ball. They slapped his back in a manly sort of way, and they all ran toward the football field.
When they were gone, I hung my head and sighed.
“What the hell did you just say?” Madison asked, her voice somewhere between hysterical laughter and utter disbelief.
I sighed again, lifting my shoulders and letting them fall dramatically.
“Hope you hang on to the ball, O.J.?” Josiah gasped.
They laughed so hard I thought they might choke. I sat down heavily and stuffed the rest of my sandwich into the bag from the cafeteria. They were right. As one-liners went, that one would go down in infamy as one of the stupidest sentences uttered ever.
“O.J. Simpson! He was a thing! I don’t know any other famous football players. Okay?”
“No, not okay. Oh—oh—oh-JAY.” Madison could barely get it out, she was laughing so hard.
“You suck. All y’all.” I pointed at each of them with a scowl. “It’s not like I had time to prepare a soliloquy.”
That just set them off again.
“Thy hands are not the sturdy instruments of thy youth,” Madison tittered in a high voice. “For you failed to catch the anointed pigskin.”
Josiah straightened up and put out a limp wrist. “Oh, good sir. A thousand pardons, but I think thy ball hast landed in my face.”
“Ha-ha,” I said flatly.
Madison’s laughter died down, and she gave me a fond look. “It’s just that we so rarely see you fall all over yourself, Lanny. It’s sort of adorable.”
“I didn’t fall all over myself. I saved you from getting a bloody nose.” I pointed at her. Then I pointed at Josiah. “And you, sir. Don’t tell me you’d have done better when face-to-face with Brian Marshall.”
Josiah stopped laughing. “They’re all troglodytes. I refuse to find troglodytes hot.”
To celebrate the audio release of Boy Shattered, Eli is giving away an Audible Code for her other YA Story, Superhero.
Enter the Rafflecopter giveaway for your chance to win!
About the Author:
Coming from a background in computer game design, Eli has written over 35 books in m/m romance since 2013. The Mating of Michael (2014) and A Second Harvest (2016) both won The William Neale Award for Best Gay Contemporary Romance, and Eli’s books have won many awards from the Goodreads M/M Romance Group’s Reader’s Choice Awards. She is best known for her Christmas romances, the Howl at the Moon series of rom coms featuring dog shifters, and her Sex in Seattle series, which revolves around a sex clinic in Seattle.
Connect with Eli:
www.elieaston.com
Facebook: Eli Easton
Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/164054884188096
Twitter: @elieaston
