There are free excerpts for all the books at ravenousromance.com, and I thought I'd do a post with one of those excerpts for AMERICAN STAR. And now that American Idol is in full swing and the voting has started, the timing couldn't have been more perfect.
The day Terrence decided he was going to audition for a new TV reality show, he was reading the newspaper in the tanning salon where he worked as manager. It was a warm, humid Friday morning in late August, and it was exactly one year to the day since he’d buried his mother. The newspaper advertisement for the audition said all that was required was to show up at a hotel in New York City and sing.
And that was one of the two things in life Terrence knew how to do well. The other thing involved dropping his pants.
Then the front door opened wide and an attractive young man stepped into the waiting area – Terrence’s boss. He was wearing loose white hockey shorts and his large penis bounced up and down as he crossed toward the counter. He never wore underwear. His name was Kevin and he’d been Terrence’s boyfriend since high school. It was clear he wasn’t having a very good day so far. His short blond hair was messy on top, therewere dark circles under his eyes, and his skin looked pale. When he saw the open newspaper on the counter, he slammed a blue bank deposit bag on top of it and said,“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt you.”
Terrence slowly folded the newspaper and sighed. But he didn’t reply. Kevin’s silence suggested Terrence had been slacking off that morning because he’d been reading.
“Must be interesting,” Kevin finally said. He looked down at the newspaper with steel blue eyes and placed his hands on his hips. Then he spread his muscular legs and started rocking on the balls of his feet.
“It’s nothing important,” Terrence said, rolling his eyes. He didn’t want to tell Kevin about the the audition. His boss would have given a million reasons why he thought he shouldn’t do the show, from his lack of talent to the fact that reality television was a passing phase and wouldn’t last. Even though Kevin secretly loved reality television, he couldn’t wait for an open opportunity to knock Terrence down. Terrence knew full well that Kevin had sent in audition tapes and entry forms to shows like “Big Brother” and “The Bachelor.” But he’d always been rejected.
“Don’t give me your shit this morning, bitch,” Kevin said, slamming the palm of his wide hand on the counter. There were deep, dark circles under his eyes and his breath smelled of stale beer.
Terrence jumped. He pressed his palm to his throat and said, “I’m not giving you attitude, Kevin. I’m just not in a great mood this morning.” But it was beginning to occur to him that whenever Kevin walked into a room, his heart started to race and his mouth felt dry.
“Oh, that time of the month again,” Kevin said, then raised his arms as though being held at gunpoint. “I’m getting sick and tired of this bullshit. Take a pill, bitch.” He slammed both great hands on the counter. Kevin loved to refer to Terrance as the feminine type; a moody “girl” with imagined monthly periods. Terrence wasn’t the least bit feminine. He had short dark hair, was average in height and had a slim, well-defined body. His legs were smooth and strong and his ass rounded like a beach ball. If anyone saw him walking down the street, they wouldn’t even know he was gay. But Kevin took pleasure in having him come across as prissy; as though his being effeminate would make Kevin more of a man somehow...
