First off,
thank you so much to everyone for your participation! Always great to see what
you think, and it's helped us sort through our options for upcoming books. :)
Here they
are below, with some exclusive excerpts of scenes they're in.
There
wasn't a clear, runaway favorite, but three characters tied for first place:
1. Paolo Lancaster, the media darling
goalkeeper you met in At First Touch.
“King’s
right, Paddy. You gotta watch what you say. Kids out there look up to you and when
they hear you say shit like that, they think it’s okay for them to say it.”
Paolo rested his hand on Padraig’s shoulder. “Then those kids treat other kids
like that. It’s a vicious cycle, man, and we have to figure out how to break
it.”
Blinking,
Ewansiha wondered where this Paolo had come from and who had switched them.
Whatever Paolo’s opinions had been before this, the man had never expressed
them, and he was Padraig’s best friend, so he should’ve been the one to say
something earlier.
“But
why would they think that?” Padraig looked puzzled. “And anyway, why shouldn’t
I speak up when I think something’s wrong?”
“Because
the way you do it encourages anger and hatred against people who aren’t any
different from you.” Paolo took a deep breath then said, “If I told you I was
gay, would it change how I play football? Would it change how you think of me,
and what you thought you knew about me?”
Shocked
silence reigned while Padraig’s eyes widened. Ewansiha saw him pale.
“Are
you?” Padraig whispered, and only Paolo and Ewansiha heard his question.
Paolo
licked his lips, then shot Ewansiha a quick glance before he smiled slightly.
“Nah, but see? My question got you thinking, didn’t it, Paddy? That’s all I’m
asking at the moment. Just think before you speak.”
********
1. Xav Müller, the homeless teenager Lukas
takes in in At First Touch.
Xav
gave him a stubborn look and looked back down at the form. He finished the
sections they’d been told to complete and glanced up at Lukas before standing
and walking by himself over to the window. After a brief wait, he handed the
clipboard back to the woman then returned to Lukas’ side.
He
shifted every few moments, and Lukas supposed that if they’d been sitting, his
knee would have been bouncing. With his slight frame clad in somewhat baggy
jeans and a hoodie, his face clean-scrubbed, he looked appallingly young to be
on his own.
Well,
he’s not on his own anymore, Lukas thought fiercely. He wondered what his own
parents would think about him mentoring the young throw-away. He would hope
that they’d be supportive—maybe he should call his mom to let her know? She
didn’t completely understand Lukas’ orientation, but she still loved him. She’d
likely go straight into mothering mode. He got the feeling that many of her difficulties
with his being gay stemmed from knowing she would never be a grandma, since
Lukas was an only child.
Once
it looked like Xav would be staying long term, he’d broach the subject of a
visit from her and Dad.
Lukas
realised there were a lot of things piling up under the ‘if he stays’ category.
“Hey, Xav, can I ask you something before they call you back?”
Xav
went still and slowly nodded. “Sure. What is it?” His apprehension was evident.
Lukas hoped that someday soon he’d gain more confidence.
“Are
you going to stay with me? For good? When we talked about it the other day, you
asked if that’s what I wanted you to do, which I do, but you never told me if
that’s what you want.” Lukas watched Xav’s profile closely. “I don’t want to
pressure you. I’m just tired of wondering every time I go somewhere whether
you’ll be there when I get home,” he confessed honestly.
Xav
met his gaze then, his eyes wide with surprise. “I…” He appeared to gather his
thoughts. “Yeah. I’ll stay.”
“You
want to?” Lukas stressed. “Because I want you to, but you have to want it too.”
Xav
nodded, then, seeming to realise that Lukas needed to hear the words, said in a
clear voice, “I want to stay with you.”
“Good.”
Lukas gave Xav a quick hug.
“Xavier
M,” was called out by a woman in white at the door by the check-in area.
He
released Xav who took a couple of steps forward then turned back to look at
Lukas. Fear surfaced briefly in his eyes. Lukas wasn’t entirely sure whether
they’d let him come in with him or not, but he wouldn’t let Xav cross the room
alone if he needed support. He strode quickly to catch up with Xav, whose
relief was plain to see.
********
1. Leon, the taciturn rugby player from Blindsided
who takes to the sea during the offseason.
“No.
I’m just stopping by to ask you if you’d do me a favour,” Leon announced.
Shock
again hit Liam. Leon had always struck him as a man who was happy within his
solitary existence. There had seemed to be a wall between him and the other
blokes on the team. Maybe it had to do with what Liam suspected—that Leon was
gay and had learnt a hard lesson about not opening his heart to people who
could destroy it with their hatred. Or maybe it really was just as simple as
Leon liking to be by himself.
“Sure,
mate. Anything.” He meant it too.
“I’m
taking off. See, I own a boat and after the season ends, I take off to sail. I
wanted you to go and check on my place while I’m gone. Just make sure things
are okay.” Leon managed to pull a key out of his pocket without dislodging the
kittens. “You don’t have to worry about bills or anything like that. I stop the
mail service, and my bills are paid automatically.”
He
caught the key Leon flicked his way. Holding it in his hand, he studied Leon
for a second. “Why me? I’m new to the team, and I’m sure Teo or Gibson would do
this.”
“You’re
closer.” Leon paused for a second, then continued, “I trust you, Liam. I know I
don’t talk much or do much with the others, but I have my reasons. I don’t
share my life with people easily, yet I think you could be someone who
understands why.”
So
Leon was gay, and since he’d heard what Liam had said to Gibson, he’d come to
his own conclusions about Liam. Well, Liam wasn’t the kind of guy to out anyone
to anybody, so he wasn’t going to betray Leon’s trust. Not when it was becoming
more and more obvious that Leon had secrets he wasn’t willing to share.
Nodding,
Liam smiled. “I get it, mate, and I can do it for you. I’ll make sure your
place is fine while you’re gone. Will you do something for me?”
“Sure,
if I can.” Leon didn’t seem upset that Liam was asking something of him.
“You
have a sat phone?” he checked.
“Of
course.” Leon nodded.
“I
would like you to call, email or text me once a day. No matter what time. It doesn’t
matter. I just want to know you’re okay while you’re sailing.” Liam leant
forward, bracing his elbows on his knees. “I don’t know if you have someone
else in your life who keeps track of you, and I don’t need to know, Leon. I
like you, and I will worry while you’re gone.”
Leon
stood, the cats tumbling from his lap with loud protesting meows. He held out
his hand to Liam. After standing, Liam took Leon’s hand and they shook.
********
The rest of
the choices weren't far behind in the poll and they all tied as well!
“I
can’t believe Rajan Malik was at your house, man. I guess your class reunion
with him went well the other night.” Neel shot a quick glance at him
“Speaking
of the other night? What the hell? Were you on something?” He twisted in his
seat to look at Neel.
Neel
grimaced. “What are you talking about? I wasn’t on anything.”
“It
seemed like it. You were acting weird like you didn’t want me to leave you or
anything like that.” Ajay lifted his shoulder. “I thought it was because you
didn’t want me to go see Raj.”
“What?
No. I don’t care if you see him or not, though I do think you need to be
careful. He’s not coming out of the closet for anyone, and all the rumours are
pairing him up with his co-star. There’s just a lot of heartache coming from
that guy.”
Ajay
frowned, not sure what Neel was talking about. “What has that got to do with
how you were acting?”
Neel
took a breath. “Nothing. Anyway, you know how girls freak me out, right? So
there was some girl who was coming on to me at the club, and I didn’t know how
to deal with her. I thought you’d be able to help me get rid of her.”
“You
know the best way to get rid of unwanted female attention, Neel?” Ajay grinned.
“What?”
“Telling
the world you’re gay pretty much ensures that no female will chase you ever
again.” Ajay pointed to himself. “At least that’s how it worked for me.”
Neel
paled, just like Ajay had thought he would. Ajay knew the very idea of coming
out in public made Neel nauseous. But Ajay couldn’t help goading the other man.
He might have understood why Neel and Raj hid their true selves behind the
lies, but it didn’t mean he agreed with them.
“You
know I can’t do that yet, Ajay. It would kill my parents.”
Ajay
shrugged. “Whatever excuse gets you through the day, my friend."
********
With
that she bid him good evening and closed the door firmly. Still amused, Laurent
inserted his key into the lock, only to have the door wrenched open by Jan.
For
a moment he looked as startled as Laurent was, then a more heated expression
came over his face. He smirked as he tugged Laurent by the wrist into their
apartment then moved in close. “Hello there. About time you got home.”
Laurent
bent to one side to set his bag and briefcase on the tiled foyer floor then
gave Jan the welcoming kiss he appeared to be expecting. But when he parted his
lips to take it deeper, Jan pulled back. “I thought your trip had been
prolonged or something. Usually you’re like clockwork getting home after your flight
gets in.”
Leaving
his bags for now, Laurent led the way into the living area. “It was on time,
thankfully, but I had set a meeting with the network. I wanted to speak with
them as soon as possible about an idea I had for a special report.” He was still
humming with the success of his plan being put into motion. “So, do you
remember last year when—”
Jan
rolled his eyes and cut him off with a see-sawing hand gesture. “You know I
don’t follow all that political stuff.” He ran the hand through his spiky hair
then down his chest, and as Laurent’s eyes followed the movement, he noticed
how his fiancé was dressed. The steel-grey shirt clung to his torso, and the
jeans were tight to the point that Laurent wondered how he would be able to sit
in them. Still, with the way Jan kept himself in shape, it was a good look on
him.
“I
like the shirt, is that new?” He took a step back as he looked Jan up and down
with a smile. “This is a nice welcome home.”
Jan
froze for a moment before he smiled back, and Laurent’s instincts finally
kicked in. Jan wasn’t dressed for a cosy night in with him—he was dressed for
going out. Rather than give Jan an opening to lie to him—Laurent had caught him
out more than once and the subsequent confrontations were never pretty—he just
pecked Jan on the cheek. “Go have fun, Jan.”
His
eyes widened in surprise then narrowed suspiciously. “Are you trying to get rid
of me?”
Laurent
felt his eyebrows rise at that. “No. But you were on your way out, yes?” He
shrugged. “You’re a grown man, as am I. I’m not worried that you made plans for
tonight.”
…looking
like that, after I’ve been gone for days…
Quit
being a jealous fool, Desrochers. You have been gone for days, and you are all
the time. Who can blame the guy for having other friends?
Jan
still looked, ironically, a bit put out by Laurent’s understanding
accommodation.
“I
can come along if you’d like. Just let me get changed,” he offered. Laurent
really didn’t want to go to a club after travelling all day, but relationships
were a two-way street.
His
expression softening, Jan grasped his arm and gave it a squeeze. “You’re
darling to offer, but it isn’t the sort of place you prefer. I’ll just meet my
friends and see you later tonight. Hmm?”
That
was code for ‘don’t wait up’.
********
“God,
I hope he doesn’t kill anyone…” Sergio was pale as a ghost in the wake of the
conflict. “Or himself,” he added in a whisper.
“This
was all my fault.”
They
all looked at Paolo. “What?” Lukas asked incredulously. “How can you say any of
this was your fault?”
“Paolo…”
Sergio started to soothe.
“I
should’ve deleted that picture, not made it your contact photo. What the fuck
was I thinking?” Paolo looked miserable.
Lukas
warred for a moment in his head then, in spite of himself, came out with,
“Okay, I hate to even ask, but… What the hell was in the picture?”
Paolo
widened his eyes and jerked his head at Xav then shook it.
“Oh,
come on. I’m sixteen, not six. You don’t have to show it to me, but I want to
know what made him freak out so bad.” Xav turned around on the couch to kneel
on the cushion and rest his arms on the back while his eyes pleaded with Paolo.
Lukas marvelled at the resilience of the young man. “It’ll cheer me up,” he
persisted.
Sergio
laughed and the mood in the room lightened considerably. “Well, let’s just say
I had a close-up taken with a very nice dancer who was sporting our team
colours on an interesting part of his body. And no, I wasn’t doing anything but
smiling for the camera. Well… Something was kind of touching my cheek, but it
was hard to get it in the frame with my face otherwise. And maybe I had my
tongue… Anyway, I sent it to Paolo that night. And he evidently kept it.” This
was said with a stern look at Paolo. “Did I or did I not tell you you’d better
get that off your phone? With the amount of time you spend with Padraig—”
“Why
didn’t you send it to me?” Lukas blurted out without thinking, though he
wondered what the hell it said about him that he felt left out for not getting
the cock shot.
Sergio
raised an eyebrow at him in amusement. “It was from before you joined the team,
hon.”
“I
changed my mind, can I see it?” came from the couch.
“No,”
all three men said at once.
********
Hope you
enjoyed these looks at our secondary characters, especially if you haven’t read
these books yet. Rest assured that each of these guys will eventually get their
own book--even Xav, though we'll let him grow up a bit first. :) First up will
be Paolo, whose story we were working on right now for book seven in the
series, A Grand Prix Romance.
Thanks again for your feedback! We'll have another poll up soon. :)
