Release Blitz, Exclusive Excerpt & Giveaway:
Climbing to Believe by F.A. Ray
Rock Jocks, Book 1
“You’re going to be the death of me.”
“Then I better make it worth it.”
Ty never planned on sleeping with his biggest climbing idol, but when he gets the chance, is he really going to say no?
As a teen, Ty idolized Elijah Reed for coming out publicly. Now Elijah is here watching Ty climb, and it’s everything Ty fantasized about as a young climber searching for his place in the sport. Elijah might be older than him, but Ty won’t let this man slip away that easily.
When Ty invites Elijah out to dinner, Elijah actually says yes, and Ty knows this is his chance. Elijah could be a lot more than a distant climbing idol if he’d just let Ty get close. But the mere mention of competitive climbing seems to open an old wound. Elijah clearly wishes he was still competing.
Why can’t he?
They could have it all — climbing, each other, even a relationship. That is, if Elijah will let Ty in.
Climbing to Believe is a high-heat, low-angst MM sports romance with an age gap, rock climbing adventures, an idol/fan dynamic, spicy open-door scenes, and a HEA.
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“It’s getting a little better,” Ty said.
“Sure, but it’s slow going,” Elijah said. “Sorry. That’s gotta be hard. I know what it feels like to go out there and think you need to represent an entire group of people and not just yourself. Not that it’s exactly the same, but, you know.”
Ty smiled to himself. “Yeah, I get you. Hey, let’s chat about this inside. I’m starving.”
Elijah seemed relieved to head into the restaurant with Ty and settle at a table. The exterior might have matched the Bavarian thing going on throughout the village, but the moment they sat down the whole world shifted to kitschy American decor. The supposed hide of some animal hung on a wall alongside rope and spurs and a fake bison skull. Everything was wood — the tables, the chairs, the floor that Ty suspected creaked deliberately under their feet. A bar lay at the far end of the room, the chairs painted red, white and blue. Of course.
Elijah looked around with a raised eyebrow. “I have to admit, this is not what I was expecting.”
“I figured it’d be the easiest place,” Ty said.
They’d hardly sat down before a server offered them simple one-page menus. Ty already knew he wanted a burger, and the biggest, greasiest one they could give him at that. He could probably take down about three after competing all day, but settled on ordering just one and a beer to go along with it. Elijah got a burger as well, and a beer, which seemed like a very mature and thematic choice, given the setting.
“Have to admit,” Elijah said, “I wasn’t sure if you were even allowed to order a drink.”
Ty laughed. “Come on, I can’t look that young. I’m twenty-two.”
“Jesus,” Elijah muttered to himself.
Ty let the age talk end there. It clearly rattled Elijah a bit. But Ty couldn’t possibly care less. Elijah was hot, like, really hot. Even the faint beginnings of the little lines at his eyes and mouth only made him more attractive to Ty’s eyes. If Ty spied a gray hair among all that sandy blonde, he might just have to excuse himself until he could calm down.
Of course, Ty couldn’t say any of that. It would probably freak Elijah out even more to know the age difference was such a huge turn on. It wasn’t like Ty hadn’t been with people closer to his own age. He just had a preference for people slightly older. Was that really so weird?
By the time their burgers and drinks arrived, they had thankfully moved on to the topic of climbing and not age. Elijah seemed way more relaxed discussing holds and setting than whether Ty could legally drink or not.
“The amount of dynos they set for you guys these days…” Elijah said with a shake of his head.
“Yeah,” Ty agreed, “sometimes I feel like I need to take up parkour.”
“It wouldn’t hurt, at this point.”
Ty spoke around a mouthful of burger, too simultaneously excited and hungry to give up on either activity. “It can be fun, but yeah, sometimes I just want a few nice technical climbs to take a crack at.”
“I always liked the strong ones,” Elijah said. “Just raw ‘who has the power to get up this?’”
“I know,” Ty said. “That was my favorite, honestly. When I saw that they set something really strong, I was always really excited for when you’d come out. No one climbed that stuff the way you did, and you weren’t even the tallest guy out there.”
“Not by a lot,” Elijah said. He wasn’t short by any means, but pro climbers sometimes boasted ridiculous statures. It didn’t hurt to be able to reach things more easily. “But, uh, thank you.”
Elijah cast his eyes down at his plate. He still had half a burger in front of him, which he prodded at rather than looking up at Ty. The faintest twinge of heat danced along the crest of his pale cheeks, even more dim than the sunset threatening to begin outside.
To celebrate the release of Climbing to Believe, F.A. Ray’s giving away 2 e-copies of the release!
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About the Author:
F.A. Ray started writing as a child and never really stopped. They live in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with their partner and cat – and lots of good bouldering rocks.
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