Book Title: The Fire Island Ice Queen
Author: B.J. Irons
Publisher: Spectrum Books
Release Date: May 7, 2022
Genres: Contemporary M/M Romance – Beach Read
Tropes: Friends to lovers
Themes: Coming of Age, Embracing Sexual Identity
Length: 50 000 words
It is a standalone book and does not end on a cliffhanger.
Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited
A Fire Island beach read that will melt the hearts of all ice queens
Blurb
College law student, Connor, is a bit pretentious, high-strung and what some might describe as being cold as ice. After catching his boyfriend cheating on him and then being dumped, Connor decides to take his best friend Byron up on his offer for a summer gaycation experience to Fire Island.
While at Fire Island, Connor reevaluates his identity and goes through a deep soul searching experience to truly understand himself. While on vacation, he befriends a stranger named Lawrence, who encourages Connor to open up more and become lively. Lawrence proposes that Connor completes a series of wild, fun tasks, which he dubs as the Fire Island Ice Queen Challenge to get Connor to come out of his shell more. Will this frivolous and boisterous vacation at Fire Island be enough to melt the heart of this Ice Queen?
The blonde boy simply smirked and sprinted by me out of the bathroom. A few of the other guys in the room turned around to see what the commotion was.
“Connor, it’s not what you think…” he began to explain. He approached me with his hands held out in front of him, as if he seriously thought that would calm me down.
“Really, Derrick!? I was in the stall right next to you or fuck’s sake! I heard all of the noises!” My anger had reached its boiling point. I could feel my face starting to turn red.
Derrick placed his hand close to his forehead and shook it, instantly letting me know he was caught red- handed. There was no way out of this for him. “Connor, let’s talk about this privately somewhere.”
I turned around to see we now had an audience, and there was absolutely no way I would be giving them the performance of a lifetime. So, I nodded to Derrick and followed behind him as we exited the bathroom and then headed outside the club.
Once we were outside and among ourselves with no one else around, he turned to face me. “I can’t do this anymore, Connor,” Derrick admitted.
“What do you mean ‘you can’t do this anymore!?’ First you cheat on me and now you’re trying to dump me!?” I shouted to him. It took every urge not to put my hands on him. “How long have you been cheating on me? And with how many guys!?” I added.
“Just that one guy. His name is Mitch. We’ve been on and off for a month now,” Derrick informed me.
I couldn’t believe it! Not only had he been cheating on me, but it was with this same guy for over a month!
What the fuck!?
“I can’t believe you would do this to me, Derrick!
You’re just willing to throw a two-year relationship right down the drain!?” I exclaimed.
“You can’t just blame me, Connor. You’ve changed a lot in the two years we’ve been together. I don’t know how to say this nicely, so I’ll just be upfront about it. You’ve been nothing but pretentious and stuck up about everything lately. You’re calculated and can’t let loose and have fun. It’s like you’re trying to turn yourself into some gay Stepford wife. It’s not what I signed up for,” Derrick confessed.
Seriously!?
He’s going to try and turn this around on me!? Saying that I was the reason our relationship fell apart and I was the one that made him cheat? No fucking way!
“You’re full of shit, Derrick! You’re trying to make excuses for cheating on me!” I could feel the tears start to well up in my eyes and then out they came. The floodgates had opened.
Derrick attempted to wrap his arms around me, but I pushed him away.
“Don’t you dare fucking try to hug me!” I yelled.
My boyfriend… well, now ex-boyfriend, then stepped back to give me some space.
This was totally embarrassing. It was midnight, and I was crying like some dramatic baby just outside the club. I quickly tried to wipe my tears from my face with my shirt, hoping no one witnessed this sob story.
“And I’m not pretentious or judgmental. I just… I don’t know. Whatever. I’m done with you, Derrick!” I screamed.
“Connor. Just because we’re breaking up doesn’t mean I want you out of my life. I still love you and will always love you, but it will just have to be as friends. You know?” he explained.
I shook my head. “I can’t do this right now,” I said in a calmer manner.
“No. I get it. Take your time. You need your space. Just reach out to me if you ever want to talk more or maybe even hang out,” he offered.
That was the last thing I wanted to do with Derrick right now. I had nothing more to say. After all, what else was there to even say? I turned away and walked with my back to him in the cold of the night, just thinking to myself about everything that had transpired. Not only did Derrick cheat on me, with this Mitch guy, but he dumped me because he thinks I’m stuck up.
The fucking nerve of him!
BJ Irons works in the field of education as an educational leader and college professor. Many of his personal experiences as a gay man, have contributed to his works. Being a part of the LGBTQIA+ community himself, BJ hopes to continue to bring more fun fictional works to his LGBTQIA+ readers. The world could always use a little more color and fun.
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