About Guava Red: Almost Paradise
by TC Blue
178 pages / 53700 words
ISBN: 978-1-61040-272-9
Ebook zipped file contains -
html, lit, Adobe and Sony optimized pdf, prc, epub, also available in paperback
Bastian and Chase first meet at a party in Hawaii and are immediately
drawn to each other. Things end less than well, though, and what could have
been a beautiful friendship is cut off short. Bastian and Chase forget about
each other and move on, or so they think. The two men find success in their
chosen fields and believe their past relationship to be over and done. They
never even think about each other from opposite sides of the country.
When a chance meeting in Connecticut dredges up old feelings and equally old
pains, it's up to them to decide whether or not to forge through the
assumptions they've made and get to the truth underneath -- that they've
never truly forgotten each other and maybe their earlier friendship was
something much more. Between their jobs, friends, responsibilities, and an
interfering man who wants Bastian for his own, there are hard decisions to
make; like whether they really have a chance, when paradise is so long ago
and so far away.
Like whether 'almost' paradise can be enough.
Don't miss this fourth book in the Rainbow Color Box Series.
Sample
Makani was beautiful, Bastian decided in his slightly
buzzed state. He had that dusky, Polynesian skin and Island eyes, high
cheekbones and full, plump lips.
Bastian figured that under different circumstances, he might be attracted
Makani. If they weren't cousins and Makani wasn't so woefully too old for
him. He wasn't attracted, though. Even if the whole cousins part hadn't been
an issue, Bastian wasn't sure he liked feeling petite, and with Makani, he
definitely did.
His own body was smaller and much leaner than Makani's. Bastian was only
five foot nine or so, though he seemed to be still growing. He'd played
soccer and lacrosse in high school, neither of which lent themselves to a
guy becoming big or bulky. But he wasn't any sort of dainty flower, and
Makani's sheer size -- the man probably outweighed Bastian by a good sixty
pounds in addition to the near half-foot of height -- made him feel
uncomfortably tiny by comparison. Makani did like to sweep Bastian up
without notice, which only added to the discomfort.
Even so, Bastian laughed and danced with Makani, enjoying the sensation of
being able to shake and shimmy. He even let Makani spin him a few times,
those big, thick-fingered hands controlling Bastian's movements, and yeah,
Bastian didn't like that sensation at all. Bastian might not be huge and
uber-masculine like some steroid-loader, but he was still a guy.
Yes, he liked Makani and liked the man's body. It was the perfect body for
Makani to have. But Bastian didn't want Makani. He didn't want to get naked
and roll around with the guy, didn't feel any urge to get up close and
personal with the few parts of Makani he hadn't already seen… and he'd seen
plenty, what with the both of them enjoying surfing and sharing a bathroom
at Bastian's aunt and uncle's house.
Makani danced like a spazz on crack. And he got grabby as he drank, damn it,
hands in all the wrong places, but Bastian did his best to avoid the
hand-led lunges. The last thing he needed was to end up in some sort of
clench where his drunk-ass cousin might hump him or something.
The whole gross-out factor aside, Bastian figured the guy would be totally
mortified later and the last thing Bastian needed was to lose the one real
friend he had over something that stupid. So when Makani made another
playful-looking lunge, Bastian stepped back even more. This time, he
impacted with another body. Hard.
"Oh, shit!" Bastian turned, then looked down at the guy he'd just literally
knocked onto the wooden deck. He forgot all about Makani's grabby hands, and
even about Makani, when his eyes met a startled, pained brown gaze. "Are you
okay?" He extended a hand to help the guy up, and even with the six or so
other hands being extended, the poor guy on the floor took Bastian's.
"I'm fine," the guy said, then he laughed, apparently seeing that Bastian
didn't believe him. "Well, okay. I might end up with a bruise on my ass, but
nothing's broken. Uh, I'm Chase, by the way."
Bastian swallowed hard, even as he levered the guy up from the floor with a
strong tug on Chase's hand. "Bastian. Sorry again. I didn't mean to--"
It's cool," Chase said with a smile. "So, you want to dance or something?"
Chase wore board shorts and a T-shirt covering a body that looked strong but
not bulky. His brown hair was red-tinged, probably by the sun, and his brown
eyes were as warm and deep as chocolate fondue. The guy wasn't all chiseled
and toned, from what Bastian could tell, but he was… normal. Kind of average
until that smile. Chase was maybe an inch taller than Bastian himself, and
even with an obvious tan, much paler.
Bastian swallowed hard, forcing himself to release the guy's hand. "I was
sort of dancing with my friend," he said softly, hiding the desire to wrap
his arms around Chase. It was true, anyway. He'd been dancing with Makani
until those grabby hands had made him knock Chase over.
Chase was still smiling, those brown eyes shining, not to mention Chase was
much closer to Bastian's age -- and not related to him. Bastian figured
Chase couldn't be more than twenty, or maybe twenty-one. Whatever.
"Your friend…" Chase sounded confused, and Bastian turned to point out
Makani, but the man wasn't there.
"I guess he went for another drink," Bastian said with a shrug. "Sorry. He
really was here just a minute ago."
Chase laughed. "So if he's not here right now, does that mean we can dance?
Because it's not like you owe me or anything, but I think you're really hot
and I'd love to dance with you."
Bastian didn't notice that he'd moved, but the next thing he knew, he was
holding Chase's hand again and they were swaying to the music. And if they
were doing so less quickly than the other people dancing, shifting just fast
enough to hold onto each other and enjoy the way their bodies rubbed, well
that was fine. Bastian thought it might count as foreplay. And from his very
limited experience, he did love foreplay.