Blog Tour, Exclusive Excerpt & Giveaway:
Forever Again by Skylar M. Cates
Shelby Beach, Book 4
Their lives didn’t turn out as they’d imagined as boys, but they never forgot each other.
Personal trainer Oliver Knox is strong and graceful, dedicated to his clients, and fiercely loyal to friends and family. But the thing he takes pride in the most, his business, is failing.
Single father and entrepreneur Nico Kastellanos knows success is hard-won and tries to give back to those who, like him, have to fight for their dreams. His one regret is how things ended with his childhood best friend. Their friendship and their secret kisses linger in his mind.
When Oliver unwittingly hires Nico’s PR firm to breathe life into his failing gym, their connection rekindles instantly. The chemistry is potent, the memories heart-wrenching. They’re no longer awkward, troubled kids. They are adults who know what—and who—they want.
Will Oliver and Nico finally get their long-overdue forever together, or will the ghosts from their past continue to haunt them?
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Oliver. His Oliver.
Nico gaped at him, stunned, in total disbelief. This could not be real. Nico must be crashed out and dreaming. But the sharp pain in Oliver’s eyes looked real. His face was harder, his body completely different too, but those eyes were Oliver’s, ones that never lied, and that was all Nico needed to see to know the truth.
“Oliver,” he exclaimed, a deep, undeniable joy filling him. A light turning on inside of him. His heart striking his chest like it wanted to burst free. “Holy hell, it is you.”
Oliver’s mouth opened and closed in response.
Nico surged forward and hugged him, gripping Oliver to him in a crushing squeeze. “It’s you!”
All he felt was hard, solid muscle, tensing under his touch. Nico ran his hands over Oliver’s strong back, still half expecting to wake and find himself alone. His heart thumped so loud that Oliver and the entire gym must hear it.
“No,” Oliver said, stepping away. “No.”
“I know it’s you. Don’t deny it.”
“I’m not denying who I am. I’m saying no to your hug. Don’t do that, touch me.” Oliver gave a dark scowl. “We aren’t friends. We aren’t anything to each other, not anymore.”
Hurt slammed into him. Stealing his voice for a moment. But he needed to find it. There were things Nico wanted to say. Even if Oliver’s tone was harsh and biting, his eyes like blocks of cold gray-green ice. Nico knew that was how Oliver protected himself that beneath the ice was a warmth and strength.
Not that I deserve his warmth.
Nico wet his lips and wiped his clammy palms at his sides. He saw a hardened stranger with a muscled, tough body. The cold stare stung, all right, but Nico had to get past it.
“There were things then you can’t begin to grasp. Reasons for what I had to do.” Nico’s voice was slurred, as it still got when he was emotional. Oliver might not understand him.
“I’m sure you had lots of reasons. I just don’t care what they are.” Oliver’s tone was clipped, ruthless.
But he heard. Because he listened. Even when they’d first met, Oliver would tilt his head to catch Nico’s mumbled words. Patiently waiting.
So few others in his life had done that for him. Not his parents. Not other guys Nico had tried to be with before giving up on that kind of love. Oliver alone had always grabbed on to his words. His heart. And life had smashed into Nico like a hurricane, destroying everything in its path, especially him and Oliver.
I never recovered from it. I lived, I moved forward, but I never got back what was lost. Never got to give Oliver a good-bye.
Oliver had a familiar, stubborn look on his face, and Nico just wanted to hug him again. He’d always loved that intense stare, the stubborn pout. He might appear different, but that look was still pure Oliver. His Oliver. And for a second, Oliver’s mask slipped and Nico saw naked fear in his eyes.
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