Romancing The President by Imari Jade
General Release Date: 7th February 2023
Word Count: 30,881
Book Length: SHORT NOVEL
Pages: 132
Genres:
CONTEMPORARY,EROTIC ROMANCE,GAY,GLBTQI,MULTICULTURAL,VALENTINES
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Book Description
Student Council President River West gets swept away when he looks into the gray eyes of Kylian Abadie, a French cooking major.
The Valentine’s Day Festival is a big deal for the entire male population of Cupid Academy, a prestigious university in Hokkaido, Japan. Every year one of the school’s clubs must choose a mascot to represent them. This year the kendo club choose Kylian Abadie. Kylian, not a willing participant, accidentally falls on top of River after a mob of young men chase him through the hallowed halls of the university. It’s like Cupid’s arrow strikes both of them. Since then, River has been questioning his sexuality. He’s never been attracted to guys before, but there’s always a first time for everything.
The last thing Kylian Abadie wants is to be the mascot for a school filled with testosterone-loaded jocks. He can’t help that he is the shortest guy in the school and looks slightly like the chubby-cheeked angel from classical mythology. It’s bad enough that his group has been assigned to making and selling chocolate candy. He turns to the student council president for help and discovers that the prince of the school has a secret that he’s been hiding for the last four years from the rest of his adoring fans.
Reader advisory: This book contains one scene of light BDSM and mentions of homophobia.
“What are you watching?” Vincent Lambert asked River a week later as they waited for all the other captains of the school clubs and the senior class representatives for each major to arrive in the auditorium where their meeting was about to begin.
“Nothing,” River answered. Vincent was the type of person to not let shit go.
“What is so fascinating about those chefs from the cooking school?”
Every time there was an important meeting, the students from the cooking school would cater the event with snacks and drinks.
Vincent looked to the side of the room again. “Ah, you’re watching mon petit Kylian Abadie.”
“What do you know about him?” River asked.
“Other than the fact that he was strong enough to knock you on your ass a few days ago, I know quite a bit about him.”
“Like what?”
“He’s been at this school just as long as we’ve been here. His father is a French chef who owns restaurants all around the world. His mother was a ballerina.”
“More,” River said.
“I heard they sent their very shy youngest son away from Paris to meet other people and make friends while learning a craft to help in the family business.”
“He’s been here for nearly four years?” River asked. “How come I’ve never seen him before?”
Vincent shrugged. “I spotted him on the night of the freshman orientation. He was kind of hard to miss with all those curls and that angelic face.”
“Have you and he…?”
“No,” Vincent answered. “He’s a bit of an introvert. I like my prey to have something in common with me.”
It wasn’t a secret around the campus that Vincent had a string of young guys willing to share his bed at any given time. Vincent did not hide the fact that he was gay. An all-male university was the perfect feeding ground for him. River had not had one single tryst since he’d arrived four years ago, even though several young women from the neighboring all-girls university were trying to date him.
The others began arriving. Each representative was there to finalize their group’s plan for the festival. Most of them would have a booth where they sold something to raise money for the school or had planned some type of game. Every year the student council members manned a kissing booth.
The representative from the art department came with slides of where each booth would be located in the huge gymnasium. Since it was still winter, it was impossible to hold outdoor activities. Winters in Japan were horribly cold and snowy, and no one could stay out there for long periods of time. Cupid Academy’s Valentine’s Day Festival was a big thing in their neck of the woods and the only time of the year the school was open to the public.
River was announced by the student council spokesman and treasurer Scotty James and he sidled up to the mic. “Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for coming. As you know, we’re here today to finalize our plans for this year’s student fundraising event, the annual Saint Valentine’s Day Festival. Many businesses around Sapporo, Hokkaido have generously donated food and supplies to help make this year’s festival a success. As usual, our sister college Angel Academy will be holding this year’s White Day Festival at their campus in order to raise money for their school.”
Valentine’s Day in Japan was different from any other country that celebrated the event because only females bought or made candy to give to their boyfriends and male acquaintances. There were two types of chocolates. One was giri-choco, quickly made chocolate that the girls gave to their friends and family, and honmei-choco, chocolate they gave to their romantic interests and partners. On March fourteenth, White Day, the guys who got candy gave candy and gifts to females, while those who didn’t would gather to drink and hope for better luck the next year.
The meeting went on for a long time, but eventually they took a break. Something or someone caught River’s eye. Usually he wouldn’t bother, but today he felt daring. “What did you prepare for the meeting, Monsieur Abadie?”
Kylian looked up in surprise, literally making River’s cock twitch in his briefs as the gray-eyed cutie recognized him. “Fruit pastries. The apples from Aomori are simply scrumptious this year.”
Aomori was a prefecture in Japan whose claim to fame was that they grew the biggest and sweetest apples in the world.
Kylian offered River one to sample. Their hands touched, and Kylian’s cheeks turned a sinful shade of pink.
River took the pastry Kylian had given him. It came in a little paper holder that resembled a coffee filter. River bit into the pie. The crust was flaky and buttery, and the fruit was fresh and sweet. He chewed and swallowed.
Kylian waited for a response.
“It’s delicious.”
Kylian smiled.
River had a full-blown erection by the time he’d finished the dessert. He was so thankful that the jacket of his uniform came down to his thigh or everyone in the auditorium would know he had it bad for the little chef.
Kylian took the paper away from River and handed him a cup of water to cleanse his palate. “I’d like to get your opinion on something.” He presented River with a piece of chocolate candy shaped like a heart.
River accepted and ate the candy. The creamy milk chocolate mixed with cherry flavoring danced on his taste buds, and it didn’t leave a heavy sugary taste like most chocolate candies did. He looked at Kylian. Is it normal for a guy’s lashes to be so long? Kylian was smiling like he had a secret. Maybe I shouldn’t look at him. He did note that Kylian was having a hard time keeping his cock under control. He, too, was lucky that his chef’s jacket came down low.
“Do you like it?”
“Yes,” River said. “And I’m not talking about the candy.”
Kylian followed River’s gaze down to his crotch and looked up at him in surprise.
“I like it very much,” River repeated.
Kylian had a smile that could launch a thousand ships.
“What do you like?” Vincent asked as he joined them with a plate of snacks.
“Kylian’s candy,” River answered as he tried to get his emotions under control.
Kylian just continued to smile.
Vincent reached down and helped himself to a piece of chocolate. He put it into his mouth and ate it. “Umm, I like this. I hope some lucky young lady gives me some of this for Valentine’s Day.”
“Oh, that’s right,” River said. “The cooking school will be making and selling chocolate to the females in the neighborhood who can’t cook.”
Kylian nodded. “Oui. This is the candy I created. Do you think it will go over big?”
“Yes,” both River and Vincent said.
“Have you started getting orders yet?” River asked.
Kylian nodded. He swept thick black curls away from his eyes. “Oui. I will be very busy up until that day. We will also have a booth this year.”
The guy’s hair had all River’s attention.
“We need to go so Kylian can finish serving the other guests,” Vincent said.
“Okay,” River said. “Thank you for the snack, Kylian.”
Kylian bowed. “You’re welcome, President River.”
River liked the way Kylian said his name with his cute little accent. He followed Vincent.
“You want to fuck him, don’t you?” Vincent asked out of the blue, and thankfully out of ear range of their guests.
“What are you talking about?”
“River, it’s me, Vincent. We’ve been friends since kindergarten. You were literally undressing Kylian with your eyes. And the testosterone in the air was so thick I nearly choked to death.”
“You’re crazy. He’s a guy.”
Vincent chuckled. “I can’t believe it. You haven’t dated or been interested in anyone in a long time, and all it took was a blush to kick you into gear.”
“You’re crazy,” River repeated, for the lack of a good response.
“Am I? What color are Kylian’s eyes?”
“Crystalline gray like the edge of a rain cloud.”
Vincent chuckled sarcastically as he finished eating his snacks.
“What does that prove?”
“Man, dudes don’t check out other guys’ eyes unless we’re interested in them. It must have happened when he was on top of you on the floor the other day. What happened? Did he smell sweet?”
“Fuck you,” River said under his breath, so only Vincent could hear.
Vincent laughed. “Your father is going to kill you if he finds out.”
River walked away from Vincent, pissed that his friend spoke the truth. His father was a congressman in Washington, and there was no way he was going to accept another guy as his son’s lover, but River didn’t care. He wanted Kylian, and there was nothing his father or anyone else could do about it. The meeting was about to resume shortly. He glanced to the side of the room where Kylian was busy with his group, refilling the trays with more snacks. Besides having great fucking hair, Kylian Abadie was easy on the eyes and had a decent body, from what he’d felt that day when Kylian was on top of him.
Kylian looked in his direction, and River winked at him. Kylian smiled and went back to serving snacks.
“I saw that,” Vincent said from next to him.
“Bite me,” River replied.
Vincent just chuckled triumphantly.
The meeting started up again. Kato Tanaka and a young man River didn’t know appeared. “We have a special treat for this year’s festival. One of the cooking students, Kylian Abadie, has graciously volunteered to be Cupid for the festival.”
Shock registered on Kylian’s face. The last thing River remembered, Kylian was absolutely against participating as Cupid.
The other guy with Kato spoke. “My sister has volunteered to make his costume.” He put a slide up on the projector’s screen. It was a sketch of the costume. It wasn’t a diaper as everyone had probably assumed, but a shorts set that Kylian was going to look adorable in. The surprised look stayed on Kylian’s face as the people in the audience clapped and congratulated him. River guessed that maybe Kylian hadn’t volunteered and that Kato and the others were using tactics to bully the young man into participating.
“I bet Kylian will make a wonderful Cupid,” Vincent said on the mic so everyone could hear. “Let’s give him a big round of applause for being so brave.”
The other people in the auditorium applauded, sealing Kylian’s fate. If Kylian committed harikari after this, River was going to kick Vincent’s ass.
The meeting continued. Before it ended, everyone had the location of where their booths would be. River didn’t fail to see Kylian roll his eyes at Kato Tanaka and his friend as they left.
River met up with Kylian again as he packed and cleaned up the tables after the meeting ended. “You could have said no,” River said to him.
“I did,” Kylian said. “But then they carried me to their clubhouse, had some girl measure me and told me to grow up.”
“You can still say no,” River said.
“It’s too late. They have already announced that I will do it. I don’t want the whole school disappointed. I’m just going to suck it up and not make eye-contact with anyone until after graduation.”
River chuckled at his weak joke. “Well, I for one won’t tease you. In fact, the costume will cover your assets better than a diaper would.”
“My assets?”
River nodded. “Would you like to join me for dinner tonight?”
Kylian’s eyes widened in surprise. “Dinner with you?”
River nodded. “To make up for not protecting you properly from the kendo team.”
“He’s a vegetarian,” Vincent said as he appeared. “He doesn’t eat meat.”
Kylian looked surprised that Vincent knew so much about him.
“We’re going to town for hotpot this evening. You’re welcome to join us,” Vincent said. “Unless you want to be alone with the president.”
Kylian raised those long eyelashes and looked at River. “Maybe some other time,”
“You can bring one of your little chef friends with you if you think we might eat you,” Vincent said.
“No, I’ll go. I’m sure I’ll be okay,” Kylian said. “My parents told me to make friends. Maybe I should start listening to them.”
“Great. You can ride with me,” River said. “I’ll pick you up at your dorm at seven.”
“Do you need my cell number?”
“He has it already,” Vincent said.
Kylian looked at the two of them oddly.
“We’re the student council. We have everyone’s cell numbers,” Vincent explained.
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Imari Jade
Imari Jade was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. She is the mother of three grown sons and six grandchildren. Imari has been writing over twenty years. When the kids were younger she wrote and sold humorous articles on child-rearing and later turned to penning short stories, particularly horror. Then one day she decided to try romance. Her first erotic novel ‘A Christmas to Remember’ was published by Star Dust Press and Imari never looked back. Currently Imari writes for several publishers including Midnight Showcase Fiction, Sugar and Spice Press, Eternal Press and Carnal Desires Publishing and has just signed on with Moongypsy Press. She is also looking forward to a good writing relationship with Total-E-bound and getting to know the readers and fans.
Imari is an avid romance reader. Her favourite genre is paranormal romance and she has a thing for vampires and werewolves. She is a Buffy the Vampire Slayer fanatic and was totally depressed when the series ended. When she’s not reading or writing Imari spends her time watching Japanese anime. The romantic ones are her favourite and she’s also has a pretty extensive collection she hopes to pass down to her grandchildren.
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