Today I am very excited to welcome author Erica Pike to Joyfully Jay.  Erica has brought along an excerpt from her new book, A Life Without You.  She is also giving away a copy of the book to one lucky commenter.  Please help me give her a big welcome!

A Life Without You by Erica Pike
Publisher: MLR Press

Jesse’s like a bar of soap: the tighter Adam holds on, the faster Jesse slips away. Or that’s how it feels to Adam. It doesn’t help that Jesse has a girlfriend back home and claims to be straight, but there’s no way with all the sparks and physical intimacy flying between the two roommates.

When Adam believes he has reached his ultimate happiness, the bedroom walls come crashing down with a visit from Jesse’s girlfriend.

Now Jesse has to decide if he can come to terms with his sexuality, while Adam has to learn to accept that Jesse might never be able to crawl out of the closet.

Excerpt

“Mmmh,” Jesse groans on my pillow and stirs in his sleep.

My thigh was pressed against his when I woke up an hour ago, and it’s still there, skin against warm skin. I’m afraid that if I move I’ll spoil the beauty of having his naked body in my bed. So for now I lay on my side and watch him sleep.

The skin over his muscles relaxes and tightens as he breathes. I’ve admired his athletic build since I first saw him. It helped that I got to see him naked on the very first night he moved in.

I’d decided that morning to tell him early and give him a chance to move out if he wasn’t cool with my sexuality. After the last guy left, I was sure whoever moved in would just move right back out after learning the truth about me.

As soon as I opened the door that morning and saw Jesse holding out his hand, my irritation evaporated in a flash. I shook his firm grip and gawked in fascination as with a smile, he introduced himself as Jesse Jefferson.

Now why I didn’t tell him about my sexuality until a full twelve hours later is still a mystery.

“I hope you don’t mind,” he’d said after dropping his dusty blue jeans with a wry smile playing on his sensuous lips. “I always sleep naked, so if you see my admiral saluting in the morning, don’t take it the wrong way, ‘kay?”

His frankness caught me off guard and he flashed me white teeth as he laughed. I didn’t know whether to look at his too-touchable sun streaked hair or his beautifully exposed privates. He seemed so natural standing naked in front of another man that I didn’t know what to think of it. I think I may have blushed.

When he finally ducked under his white sheet, I swallowed down my drool and undressed under my own sheet. My penis throbbed hard against my boxer briefs.

He turned off the lights. The throb kept time for at least half an hour as I stared at the ceiling. His breathing told me he was still awake.

I cleared my throat. “So, why are you moving in now? It’s already been two weeks since school started.”

“My roommate kicked me out because I sleep in the nude.”.

“That’s tough,” I said, willing my dick to relax.

“Why didn’t you have a roommate?” he asked.

“Because I’m gay,” I answered.

It was never a secret. I always answered truthfully whenever people asked.

Jesse, snuggled in his sheet, was quiet for a full second before his back convulsed in a rising laughter. “That’s a good one,” he said in between laughs. “I suppose I laid that one out for you. I like your humor, Adam. I’m sure we’ll get along just fine.”

Maybe I should’ve pursued it. It would have been easier for him to really know it and have his freak-out, before I grew to like him too much.

But a perverse part of me was curious to know when he would figure it out and how he would react. Mostly, I really didn’t want him to leave. I thought if we became buddies first he might react more positively.

A month later and he still doesn’t have a clue.

I watch his pure face on my pillow as he draws in slow breaths, so peacefully oblivious of my wild fantasies. The heat from his thigh is almost overbearing.

It’s like I’m lying to him every day. He innocently says and does things that I snatch up and twist into something sexual in my dirty mind. We’ve become great buddies and I’d feel crushed if he left, but it’s time to tell him how things are.

I wonder what he’ll do when he wakes up. Jump out of bed with a scream? Tear the sheet off my body to cover himself and thereby reveal my hard-on? Shove his clothes on and move out? Or slide his arm around my body and kiss me, like I secretly dream about every single day? It’s hard to guess.

Jesse groans again and shifts his body to lie on his back. His cock slides fully erect against my sheet as he moves. What I wouldn’t give to be the object of his dreams right now.

I want to run my hands down his chest, feel the heat of his relaxed body, and let my palm rest on his slow breathing stomach. I want to tuck the other around his neck, push his head upwards, and then slowly lower myself into a kiss. How would he react to that? I could turn it into a joke if he’d get angry. He’s very liberal as it is, so maybe it would be okay. He even smacks me on the butt and winks sometimes when he passes by. Can’t I make homo jokes as well, or do such jokes only work between straight guys?

Maybe I should just pretend to be asleep when he wakes up.

Jesse groans again and shifts his body to lie on his back. His cock slides fully erect against my sheet as he moves.

Giveaway

Erica has brought a copy of A Life Without Youto give away to one lucky commenter. The contest will close on Sunday, March 4 at 11:59 pm EST.

 

  • By entering the contest, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
  • Winners will be selected by random number.
  • If you win, you must respond to my email within 48 hours or another winner will be chosen. Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from Joyfully Jay and leave your email address if it is not in your profile.
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