I'm delighted to welcome Jay Northcote and her latest release to my blog. Read on to find out more about 'The Dating Game', the author and to lose yourself in an enticing excerpt. And don't forget to have a look at my review on 'The Way She Reads'.
The Dating Game
Genre: contemporary m/m romance
Length: 30,000 words
Release date: Monday 22nd September 2014
Publisher: Jay Northcote
Blurb
Five sex-free dates—how hard can it be?
When they were at uni,
Owen always had a bit of a crush on Nathan. But Nathan was apparently straight,
and Owen was too busy with other guys to take his crush seriously.
When Nathan moves back
to Bristol after a year away, Owen hears that Nathan has come out of the
closet, and he propositions him. Nathan doesn’t want to be just another notch
on Owen’s bedpost, though, so he challenges Owen to prove he can be serious:
five dates before they have sex.
Owen doesn’t think that
sounds too difficult. He’s expecting Nathan to find his charms irresistible
anyway. But as they grow closer, Owen begins to care more about proving himself
to Nathan than he does about getting him into bed.
Excerpt
“So,” Owen began. “I gather you’re into
cock now?”
Nathan’s
eyes widened, and his cheeks flushed pink. “Um…. Yes?”
“Cool. So, do you wanna get out of here
and go someplace to fuck, or suck, or whatever?”
Nathan
raised his eyebrows. “Seriously?”
“Yeah.” Owen let his gaze slide down
over Nathan’s torso to land on his crotch. It looked like Nathan might be
getting a little hard. Either that, or he was a shower rather than a grower. “I
always thought you were hot. I just never knew you swung my way. So how about
it?”
Nathan
cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He was definitely
getting hard. Owen lifted his eyes expecting to see a smile. But Nathan was
frowning and biting his lip.
“That’s flattering, but I’m not
interested.”
Owen
raised an eyebrow and glanced briefly at the bulge in Nathan’s
jeans again. “You sure about that?”
Nathan’s
face was even pinker now, but he held Owen’s gaze. “I’m not interested in a
hookup. I’ve been there, done that, and decided casual sex isn’t for me. I’m looking
for something more serious.”
Owen
blinked. This wasn’t how the conversation was supposed to
go. He found himself blurting out his next words without thinking. “What, like
a relationship? I could have a relationship. With you, I mean.”
Nathan
chuckled then, a snort of laughter that raised Owen’s
hackles, because what the fuck? He’d made a move and was being laughed at. That
wasn’t cool.
“What’s so fucking funny?”
“Sorry.” Nathan pulled himself together
and pasted on a more serious expression. “But Owen. You don’t do
relationships. Everyone knows that. I
know what you were like at uni, and from what I’ve heard on the
grapevine, you haven’t changed much. And that’s fine—each to their own. But I
don’t want to be another notch on your bedpost. I’d rather be friends with you
than one of your conquests.”
Owen’s
irritation rose, and he resisted the urge to pout childishly, but he wasn’t
prepared to back down. Nathan’s words had stung, because yes—Owen would be the
first to admit he was a bit of a tart on the surface, but at least he was
honest about it. He’d never strung anyone along or made promises he couldn’t
keep. And he’d never met anyone who made him want more than a one-night stand
or a few casual no-strings repeats.
But that didn’t mean he wasn’t capable
of having a relationship, and he found himself wanting to prove to Nathan that
he wasn’t as bad as his reputation seemed to imply.
“Will you go on a date with me instead,
then?” he asked.
“A date?” Nathan narrowed his eyes.
“What, so we eat first and then have sex? I’m not sure that would be any
better.”
“We don’t have to have sex!” Owen protested,
raising his voice in frustration, then lowering it quickly as he noticed a few
people glancing their way. “Jesus. Contrary to popular opinion, that’s not the
only thing I’m interested in.”
“So if we went on a date, you wouldn’t
expect me to put out?” Nathan’s lips quirked in amusement. He seemed to be
enjoying this conversation a little too much.
“Not unless you wanted to.”
“I’d like to get to know you better first.
I think we’d need more than one date for that.”
“Okay, so what’s your magic number? Try
me.”
Nathan’s
brow furrowed as he considered the question for a moment.
“Five,” he finally said. “Five sex-free
dates. Then when we’ve had a chance to connect, we can take it from there. Oh… and in case it
wasn’t obvious, if this is going to be a relationship, I’d expect you to be
exclusive.” Nathan sat back in his seat and folded his arms. “So, what do you
say?”
Owen
glared at him. Nathan’s pink lips stretched further as he
grinned, and all Owen could think was how he wanted to come all over Nathan’s
smug face.
“I’m in.”
Nathan’s
smile vanished abruptly. “You’re… what, really?”
“Really.” Owen smirked, finding
Nathan’s obvious surprise very satisfying. “Five dates with no sex. So, when
are you free this week? I can see you every night apart from Thursday, so if
you’re free to meet most nights we can be done with all five dates by next weekend.”
“Oh no. No way.” Nathan shook his head.
“If we’re going to take things slow, the dates need to be spread out. One a
week for five weeks.”
Somehow
Owen had thought his loophole was too good to be true.
“You drive a hard bargain, but okay.”
He shrugged, conceding some ground, but not defeated. “Next weekend for our
first date then?”
“Okay.”
“And while we’re discussing ground
rules for this… whatever-the-fuck this is.” Owen waved his hand disparagingly.
“What are we counting as sex for the no-sex rule? No fucking obviously, but
does that extend to no blowing each other? No handjobs? What about dry
humping?”
“Shh!” Nathan’s face was flaming, and
he moved his chair closer, leaning in so he could talk quietly. “Keep it down,
for fuck’s sake.”
To
be fair, Owen’s voice had got rather loud, and a
group of girls at the next table were looking very interested in their
conversation.
“Well?” Owen asked. “We need to be
clear what the boundaries are. Can we even kiss?”
“Kissing is fine,” Nathan replied
promptly, and his gaze dropped to Owen’s mouth. He paused before adding, “No
orgasms. That’s the line.”
***
Author Bio
Jay lives just outside
Bristol in the West of England, with her husband, two children, and two cats.
She comes from a family
of writers, but she always used to believe that the gene for fiction writing
had passed her by. She spent years only ever writing emails, articles, or
website content. One day, she decided to try and write a short story–just to
see if she could–and found it rather addictive. She hasn’t stopped writing
since.
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