Book Title: Truth or Darren (Games We Play, Book 2)
Author: DJ Jamison
Publisher: Must Love Books LLC
Cover Artist: Cate Artist
Release Date: August 11, 2022
Genre: Contemporary M/M Romance
Tropes: Enemies to lovers, sister’s ex-boyfriend, small town
Themes: Finding love, finding your self-confidence and figuring out where you belong in the world. Community as family.
Heat Rating: 4 flames
It is a standalone story but book 2 in a series. It does not end on a cliffhanger.
Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited
Universal Link | Amazon US | Amazon UK
Truth or…whoa, that’s not how this dare works!
Blurb
What happens when my big mouth writes a check it can’t cash while taunting my ex’s brother in a game of Truth or Dare? I end up with his tongue in my mouth. In my very straight, totally uninterested mouth.
While I don’t feel anything.
Nothing at all.
In fact, I barely noticed.
So, why can’t I stop thinking about it?
Truth or Darren features a troublemaker with good intentions, a guy who’s none too impressed with his sister’s ex, and an animosity that flares hotter than either of them could ever imagine–but which the townspeople of Granville, Nebraska, are all too happy to speculate about.
DARREN
What the actual fuck just happened?
My lips tingled. I could still feel that fucker’s mouth on mine. The mouth that was currently grinning smugly. Lincoln Tate, who I’d always thought hated me. Whose whole family had hated me for years.
Except…he didn’t kiss me like he hated me.
No, whatever our history, Linc was a passionate fucker. He knew how to kiss, and he’d gone all in. Not some sloppy mess of a kiss to embarrass the straight guy, and not some quick obligatory kiss because of the dare, but a really good kiss.
And I should not be thinking that about a dude.
I looked around, head reeling. The whole group was watching me warily, as if I might explode. What did they think I was going to do, punch Linc? My right hand flexed at the thought, and I realized it was clenched into a fist at my side. I forced myself to relax. I wasn’t happy to know how Linc fucking tasted, but I’d been the one to give him the dare. He could have told me he was bi, given me an out, but even as the thought surfaced, I brushed it away. I knew myself. I would have let that dare play out anyway, because I didn’t back down.
Truman watched me with wide eyes. He was always down for one of my games. His boyfriend, Lyle, was there too, but only to make sure I didn’t push Truman into doing something too risky. He probably secretly enjoyed seeing me put in my place since I’d used one of these games to put him on the spot, but Lyle was too mature to show it. Kevin, on the other hand, couldn’t hide his amusement. His face was red as he laughed silently, tears leaking from the corners of his eyes.
Hopefully it ruins his eye makeup, the asshole.
The rest of the group were acquaintances, not close friends: Kelly Talbot, whom I’d gone to second base with, thanks to a game of spin the bottle in middle school; Heath Warrington, who’d once jumped off a bridge with me in a game of Truth or Dare; and Lisa Meadows, who’d felt me up during Seven Minutes in Heaven. Lisa had been, uh, very enthusiastic about finding heaven in my pants.
I knew it made my friends crazy, but some of my best memories were tied up in these silly games. Maybe that was why I kept suggesting them. There was something nostalgic about it, something that sent me right back to those first exciting moments of venturing into something new and thrilling.
Very little about my life was thrilling these days. I’d moved on from second base long ago. I’d slept with a lot of women, but since my first relationship crashed and burned, it hadn’t gone much further than that. I was good-looking and a good lay, but most women weren’t impressed with my impulsive nature and lack of filter. I was a pain in the ass, a chronic fuckup, and as Calista would put it, a huge man child—and whether my ADHD was a valid excuse or a crutch for bad behavior, I didn’t know. But it was a fact that I wasn’t good boyfriend material.
Still, I kind of missed the flutters I used to get at the idea of a first kiss. I missed the shot of adrenaline that taking on a crazy dare sent through my system. I even missed the friendships that formed over sharing intimate truths with each other. Not the shallow version of friendship where you drank beer and shot the shit, but something deeper, where you shared secrets and let someone know your very soul.
I could practically hear Calista laughing and see Evan rolling his eyes at the idea that drunken party games could be intimate or soul-baring. That was a little too deep for Darren Rafferty to ever say aloud anyway. When people moaned and groaned at my antics, I just amped it up another notch. Always full-on, always over the top. I couldn’t be any other way, so I’d stopped trying to fight it.
Now, with everyone’s eyes on me after I’d just been thoroughly schooled on man-on-man kissing by none other than Linc Tate, I did what I always did.
I laughed it off.
“Was that kiss supposed to impress me?” I mocked. “I think you could use some practice.”
Linc didn’t miss a beat. “You volunteering, Dare?”
Laughter trickled through the group. Oh, Linc was a fucking comedian now. Good to know. And shortening my name to Dare? Bastard was clever, too. But I was done giving him the upper hand.
“I’m sure you’d like that,” I said. “But if you need tips, maybe you could ask your sister. I taught her plenty.”
Linc’s smile twisted, and he shoved my chest. I saw that coming a mile away, though, and I’d braced my feet, so I didn’t move.
“Fuck you! Don’t talk about my sister.”
“Abby’s cool. I’m not disparaging her at all.” Linc spun away, heading toward the front door. I called after him, “Hey, you’re the one who just kissed his sister’s ex-boyfriend!”
DJ Jamison writes romances about everyday life and extraordinary love featuring a variety of queer characters, from gay to bisexual to asexual. DJ grew up in the Midwest in a working-class family, and those influences can be found in her writing through characters coping with real-life problems: money troubles, workplace drama, family conflicts and, of course, falling in love. DJ spent more than a decade in the newspaper industry before chasing her first dream to write fiction. She spent a lifetime reading before that and continues to avidly devour her fellow authors’ books each night. She lives in Kansas with her husband, two sons, one snake, and a sadistic cat named Birdie.
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