Release Tour, Exclusive Excerpt & Giveaway:
You Are Not Me by Leta Blake
’90s Coming of Age, Book 2
Follow Peter into the summer following his senior year to face new beginnings, new friends, and old baggage.
After a tumultuous final year of high school, Peter Mandel needs a break. It’s the summer of 1991, and his secret relationship with his ‘best friend’ Adam Algedi is put on hold as Adam goes away to Italy for the summer. On the cusp of adulthood, Peter has a couple of months to explore who he is without Adam at his side.
Enter Daniel McPeak, a slightly older, out, responsible college guy with a posse of gay friends and an attraction for Peter. Drawn into the brave new world of the local gay club, Peter embarks on a whirlwind of experiences—good and bad—which culminate in a hotel room where he has to make the ultimate choice.
But Adam will come back eventually, and there are promises that have to be kept. As autumn draws near and college awaits, can Peter break free of the binds of twisted first love? And what exactly is Daniel’s role in his life – a brief temptation, or something more?
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Catch-up on Book 1: Universal Link
Daniel was fresh as sunshine in a yellow T-shirt and soft-looking jeans. The faded-gold light of evening played in his hair. His brown eyes burned amber. I didn’t think I imagined the way he came to attention when he spotted me, quickly running his hands over his hair like he wanted to look good for me.
My stomach flipped. I forced my eyes away from his, despite the urge to grin at him like a hopeful loon.
Minty wore a relatively sedate purple leotard and a green denim miniskirt. He’d added a green streak to his bleached skater bangs and wore a swath of glittery green eye shadow above each eye. When I lifted my hand to wave, he ran toward me as fast as his tight skirt allowed.
“Hey, girl!” Minty’s tenor lifted excitedly as he grabbed hold of my hands and spun us around. “Guess what?”
“What?” My gaze strayed to Daniel again, and a buzz jittered through me when our eyes met. “Hi,” I said to him.
“Hi,” he said back.
The world tilted and then righted so quickly I felt dizzy.
Minty was still talking. “I saw the man of my dreams today.”
Daniel rolled his eyes and clapped Minty on his nearly bare shoulder. “Ignore him.”
“Don’t ignore me!” Minty cried. “He’s the most perfect guy I’ve ever seen! Handsome, dark, strong. Perfection.”
Daniel smiled bashfully at me, and my giddiness nearly bubbled out in an absurd giggle. Did he feel the same? Was his heart racing too?
Daniel cleared his throat. “Minty and I called your house earlier.”
“You did?” Holy shit, he’d called me. He’d stepped up and called? And I’d been out with Leslie? Dammit.
“Yeah, we went to Naked Gun 2½. Thought we’d see if you wanted to go with us, but your mom said you were already at the movies with another friend.”
I bit back my brutal disappointment. “Aw man, bad timing. I’d have totally gone with you.”
Daniel’s eyes flared. “Yeah?”
“Sure. I got stuck seeing What About Bob? with a friend from high school.”
Daniel bumped my shoulder with his and said softly, “Next time.”
I stared into his eyes, tingling with a fizzy glee.
Minty, clearly tired of being ignored, shoved between us. “Naked Gun whatever-and-a-half was awesome. I laughed until I almost pissed my pants.”
“It was awful,” Daniel said, his eyes catching mine again, glowing fervent and bright.
“The man of my dreams would agree with me.” Minty pouted.
Daniel scoffed. “We settled that I’m not the man of your dreams ages ago.”
“True,” Minty sniffed. “You’re way too uptight for me.”
Daniel rolled his eyes.
“So who is the man of your dreams?” I asked Minty. “That white-haired actor in Naked Gun?”
Daniel snorted, and Minty punched me in the arm pretty hard. “As if!”
I rubbed it. “That’s gonna bruise.” I shouldn’t have underestimated him just because he looked like a dainty punk-rock fairy princess.
“Not sorry,” he offered up archly.
“It’s no one,” Daniel said. “He has a new love of his life every day.”
“This is the real one, though. This one is my forever love!”
Daniel chuckled. “How was What About Bob?”
“It had Bill Murray.” I didn’t volunteer that being there with Leslie was awkward and awful, and I still felt like shit about it. “I’ve been told everyone likes Bill Murray.”
“Do you?”
I shrugged. “Naked Gun is more my speed.”
“Of course it is,” Minty said knowingly, a cheeky smile on his lips. He gave a meaningful glance toward Daniel. “I bet there’s a certain naked gun you’d like to suck off.”
“Minty…” Daniel warned.
My cheeks burned, but I wasn’t going to let Minty get the best of me. “True. I’m a big fan of dick.”
Minty wound his arm through mine. “Another thing we have in common then.”
Daniel took my other arm. “Just call us the Three Dickmigos.”
“Aw, look at Daniel trying to be funny,” Minty said, squeezing me tighter against him. “And failing. So cute.”
I laughed, and Daniel winked at me. My heart trip-skipped as he slid his grip down to take hold of my hand, squeezing briefly before letting go.
“Three Amigos was better than that trash we watched today,” Daniel said.
“Just because you want to screw Steve Martin,” Minty said.
Daniel gasped in mock denial. “You swore you’d never tell.”
We reached the corner by Chalky ’N’ Joe’s. A group of Tilt-a-Whirl patrons, guys dressed to get laid, bustled by us. On their arms were their best girls, also dressed up. But given that their dates were gay, the girls unlikely to get any attention except advances from the few lesbians who came to the club.
“I’ll never understand you and your weird attractions,” Minty said to Daniel, squeezing my arm again as we lined up outside the club door. “Except this one. This one’s cute.”
I glanced at Daniel, my entire body revving up. Was Minty saying what I thought he was saying?
Daniel dug into his wallet, not looking at me, and pulled out five dollars as I did the same. “And I’ll never understand how you fall in love every ten seconds with complete strangers.”
“He wasn’t a stranger. He was my soulmate.”
“You don’t even know his name.”
“His employee tag said Steve, and he looked me right in the eye when he took my ticket,” Minty said dreamily. “The way he ripped it in half? So powerful and masculine? He wanted me.”
“He was trying to ignore your skirt by staring at your face. He was striving for professional and polite.”
“His hands were shaking with lust!”
“Fear.”
Minty marched in front of us, holding his head up regally, ignoring Daniel as he pulled bills out of the front pocket of his skirt.
Daniel slung his arm around my shoulder. I shivered when he leaned close and whispered in my ear, “You look nice tonight.”
I swallowed and looked down at myself. I was just wearing jeans and a red, short-sleeve Henley my mom had bought at Proffitt’s department store. I’d been in such a hurry to get away from the day I’d spent with Leslie that I hadn’t worn anything special. “Thanks. You too.”
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About the Author:
Author of the bestselling book Smoky Mountain Dreams and the fan favorite Training Season, Leta Blake’s educational and professional background is in psychology and finance, respectively. However, her passion has always been for writing. She enjoys crafting romance stories and exploring the psyches of made up people. At home in the Southern U.S., Leta works hard at achieving balance between her day job, her writing, and her family.
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