“I think you’re more excited about this than me,” I said, tracking his movements. He was a flurry of activity in the living room as he set everything up to do my first ever tattoo. “Looking forward to causing me pain?”
“Nope. You’ll end up changing your mind if we don’t act fast. And yeah, okay, sadism is a requirement in my line of work—but only this much.” He brought his thumb and forefinger close together in demonstration.
“Well,” I said, amused, “that’s gonna have to take a back seat to our immediate plans.”
“What could be more important than this?” he said, disappointed, and I wanted to take it all back, any and every word that made him look at me that way.
“You,” I said.
“Oh.” A delicious red rainbow arched over his cheeks. A true rarity for Raven, who got off on the things that turned most men bashful.
“Yesterday, I promised we’d do something you wanted to do, and I don’t break promises.” I’d instilled that virtue in him and Joey. “And not that,” I said around a laugh when he pointed victoriously at the mobile workstation he had going. “You’re taking me into a side of your world I’ve never seen.”
“Is that an order?” he asked, like making it one would earn me his compliance.
Don’t go there, Clint. It was hard not to when Raven made everything sound sexual. “I want to know you.”
“You know me.”
“I want to know you more.” I want to see you and love you, anyway.
Prior to Joey leaving, I’d thought of Raven as a foregone conclusion, but he was more complex than what I’d been giving him credit for, and that said a lot. Call me greedy, but I had a hankering to know it all. Raven graced me with the same odd look he’d offered me last night when I first made the proposition, only this time I had to ask myself if I should be offended. “If you don’t want to—”
“No, I want to. I do.” He pinched his lower lip thoughtfully, and I no longer found it endearing. Now I wanted to tug it free of his two fingers with my teeth. My upper lip broke out in a fear-sweat. “Your ride or mine?”
“Yours,” I said, swallowing thickly. I wasn’t capable of driving and breathing at the same time.
Blurb:
One promise.
One summer to see it through.
One explosive love fueled by mutual obsession.
The day Clint sees his son, Joey, off to basic training, the young man he’s devoted his life to extracts one promise from him: spend the summer doing something selfish for a change. The request seems harmless enough until Joey puts his best friend, Raven, in charge of seeing it through.
Raven would do anything for the people who took him in as a teen, and, when it comes to Clint, anything comes without limits. When encouraging Clint to explore his selfish side reveals Raven’s love for the older man, Raven is shocked to discover his feelings may not be unrequited. Not only are they returned, but all his darkest, most hidden desires have finally found their match.
Clint’s possession feeds every craving Raven’s ever known. Raven’s openness provides Clint the freedom he’s longed for to take whatever he wants, and soon boundaries are abandoned at the bedroom door. As summer’s promise bleeds into winter, and the threat of Joey’s impending return looms over their heads, Clint and Raven love faster and harder.
When Joey’s disapproval ends up being the least of their concerns, Raven and Clint go to desperate extremes to stay close because something is better than nothing. Facing an uncertain future, both men are left wondering if you can ever go too far or risk too much and still come out on the other side whole.
Bad Wrong Things is an age-gap, best friend’s dad romance with two possessive MCs and themes of hurt/comfort and second chances. Both MCs are consenting adults and eventually get their hard-earned HEA. Use the look inside feature for trigger warnings.
