Exclusive Excerpt and Giveaway: Believing Rory by S.C. Wynne

We’re so pleased to welcome author S.C. Wynne today, on the tour for her new novel, Believing Rory. Enjoy this teaser from the book, and then be sure to check out the Rafflecopter giveaway below. There’s a $10 Amazon Gift Card and an e-copy of a book from the author’s backlist up for grabs.

Good luck!

About the Book

TITLE: Believing Rory
AUTHOR: S.C. Wynne
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
COVER ARTIST: Garrett Leigh
LENGTH: 200 Pages
RELEASE DATE: April 29, 2016
BLURB: Will Rory bring them together or stand between them?

Eighteen-year-old Lane Graham has always relied on his braver, more confident buddy, Rory. But Rory’s sudden suicide blindsides Lane and sends him into an emotional tailspin. How’s he supposed to start college in a few months feeling this damaged?

Baron MacDonald knew Rory from playing League of Legends together. He was always intrigued by Lane’s online presence, and Rory had promised to set them up. Now that Rory’s gone, Baron has to approach Lane on his own.

On the surface, Baron and Lane couldn’t seem more different. Baron is confident and serious, and Lane is guarded and uncertain. But it’s the pain beneath the flesh that binds these two souls together like barbed wire and cement.

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The Excerpt

A vehicle pulls into the stall in front of us and we separate. Wiping my mouth, I’m embarrassed I got caught with my tongue down Baron’s throat. I cross my hands in my lap, attempting to hide the fact that my crotch is tenting obscenely.

“Do you want to get out of here?” Baron asks hopefully. He has a matching erection, so I don’t feel quite as foolish.

“Where would we go?”

“That kind of depends.” His cheeks are pink.

“On what?”

He gives a small, awkward laugh. “That night at Magic Coasters, um, I was hoping maybe we could take things to the next level.” His face has gone from pink to red in a matter of seconds. “But then you got pissed at me and the evening didn’t go as planned.”

His words flood me with nervous excitement. Does he mean what I think he means? “Oh.”

“Does that sound like something you’d want?” He’s breathless. “I’ve missed you so much I’m dying to kiss you some more.” He gives an uncomfortable glance toward the parking lot. “Privately.”

“You want to fool around?” I ask softly.

“Well, do you?”

Let me think… I was just sucking on your tongue… so probably yes. “I’d like to do some stuff.” I wince inwardly. That was so vague. Will he think I just want to hold hands?

“Yeah?” He sighs. “Great.”

I’m elated he wants me. Some guys wouldn’t want to bother with someone as inexperienced as me. But he knows perfectly well about my lack of a sexual history, so that puts me somewhat at ease. At least he won’t expect me to be a super-duper sex stud, regardless of what he has planned. But I’m still wondering just how far he wants to venture.

“I don’t have condoms or anything.” I don’t think my cheeks could be any hotter. There was probably a more tactful way to try and figure out what his intentions are.

“Oh, well.” He widens his eyes. “I wouldn’t want your first time for that to be in my car.”

I’m kind of relieved. It would be nice to work my way up to a major event like full-blown sex. I’ve never even touched a guy’s dick. I should say another guy’s dick. “Okay, good.”

“We can do lots of stuff without going quite that far.”

“Whatever you say. I’m up for anything.” I wince at my choice of words. “Ugh.”

He laughs. “Good to know.”

“Shut up.”

“I really, really, really want to get you alone right now.” His nostrils flare as he speaks and a thrill runs through me.

“That’s a lot of reallys.”

“What do you say?”

I’d kill to go somewhere private where I can touch him all I want. Virgin or no virgin, I need to do dirty things to him tonight. “Let’s do it.”

He grins again and starts the car. “Oh, thank God. My balls were gonna explode if you said no.”

“Ouch.” I grimace. “Don’t even jest.” I’m still nervous about things working out between us in the long run, but right now I just want to think happy thoughts. Baron’s holding my hand and life has possibilities again. I even have a really nice new desk lamp.

We ride in contented silence for a few miles, and then he clears his throat. For some reason the fact that he does that makes me nervous. Maybe it’s because everyone always clears their throat before they give you bad news or ask awkward questions.

“So… we haven’t seen each other since that nutso party.” His voice is definitely tense now. “That was a crazy night.”

I knew the throat clearing was a bad sign.

“I drank way too much.” I’m hoping he doesn’t remember I was flirting with Dave from science class. “I’m not a big drinker. Well, I mean usually.”

He clears his throat again.

Oh, God. Twice? That’s not good.

“Have you uh… have you talked to that guy you were dancing with? You know, the guy with the nipple ring?”

Damn. He remembers.

“Dave?” I purposely use his name. The less we mention nipple rings the better, in my opinion. Shaking my head, I say, “Nope.”

“Were you actually into him?” His voice is way too casual. The only time people sound that disinterested is when they’re actually super interested.

I try to put myself in his place and think how unsettling it would have been to see him flirting with another dude. “I was drunk and upset with you. That’s the only reason I was so friendly with Dave.”

“It was weird watching you two together.” Baron’s voice is gritty. “Do you know him well?”

“No. And I don’t want to, okay? I was drunk and needed ego stroking.”

He’s gentleman enough not to take the word stroking and run with it. “All right.”

“I really want to forget all about that night.”

“Okay.”

“Thanks.”

He takes a deep breath and then speaks slowly. “Listen, Drake was wrong about what he said.” He bites his lip as if struggling for words. “I’d never even had a conversation with him about you until after that night. Not about suicide and not about anything.”

It’s a relief to hear him say that out loud. “Yeah, Judy thought he was probably just confused about where he heard his screwed-up facts.”

“What did you think?”

I shrug. “I wasn’t sure. I was feeling pretty paranoid. But Drake didn’t know who I was. If you’d been gossiping about me a bunch, he’d probably have known my identity.”

“That’s a good point.” He looks pleased.

I frown as a sudden thought pops in my head. “Come to think of it, why doesn’t Drake know who I am?”

He pulls his brows together. “What do you mean?”

“It seems odd that as much time as you and I spent together, your best friend doesn’t know about me.”

He frowns. “I’m not ashamed of you if that’s what you’re getting at. Plus, I wasn’t sure how much you wanted people to know. You’re even more private than me, and I’m like a Tupperware container when it comes to my love life.”

There he goes using the L-word again. It makes my stomach all warm and fuzzy. “Does he know about your suicide attempt?”

He takes so long to answer I think for a minute he isn’t going to respond. “No. That all happened when I was at the other school.”

“You’re lucky.”

Everybody knows about my suicide debacle. I wish they didn’t. It was so awkward after I went back to school. People asked me the stupidest questions, like did it hurt and did I see God? Plus most of them looked pretty disappointed when I explained I’d passed out really quickly from blood loss and couldn’t give them many details.

“Does Drake know about the trial?” I ask. “Judy does.”

“He knows, but it makes him uncomfortable. It makes most people uncomfortable, so they don’t ask questions. Which is fine by me.”

“I’m glad we’re honest with each other.” I think about Rory and all the shit he hid from me. I’m determined not to let that happen with me and Baron.

“Me too.”

He pulls into the parking lot of an abandoned gas station. The store sign is hanging off the building, and there are rows of banged-up oil barrels and rusty car parts along an old chain-link fence. The weathered red-and-white pumps are still at the front of the building, corroded and covered in graffiti. He drives around the building and parks in the very back. Then he shuts the engine off and swivels in his seat to face me. His face is half in shadow as he rests his cheek against the leather seat and stares at me thoughtfully. “I can’t believe how good it feels to have you sitting here with me. Your silence was torture.”

“Yeah. It was hard for me too.”

“I’m glad to hear you say that. You hid it really well.” He grabs my hand and his thumb slides over my flesh seductively. “I’ve missed our talks.”

“I know what you mean. You’re the only one who lets me whine to my heart’s content about life.” His touch is both soothing and arousing. “I even had to break down and use my meds.”

He frowns. “Really?”

“Yeah. I didn’t have my Baron fix so I needed them.” I laugh self-consciously, trying to make a joke of it. I actually feel ashamed when I have to resort to those bottles of medicine. It makes me feel weak because I should be able to handle life without them. “You have a strange ability to calm me.”

His expression is gentle and nonjudgmental. “If you need pills sometimes, then you need them. You’ll get off them eventually.”

“I hope so.”

He kisses my wrist softly and then asks, “Doesn’t it feel like we’ve known each other forever?”

“Yes.” It’s hard to remember a time when my days weren’t filled with thoughts of him. Would either of us have tried to hurt ourselves if we’d met sooner? I’m not sure. Once you get it stuck in your head you can’t handle whatever pain it is you’re trying to escape, it’s hard to let it go. But I was able to talk Baron off the bridge that night. That makes me happy and proud. Even if I never do anything else important in life, I was there for him when he really needed me.

About the Author

S.C. Wynne started writing m/m in 2013 and did look back once. She wanted to say that because it seems everyone’s bio says they never looked back and, well S.C. Wynne is all about the joke. She loves writing m/m and her characters are usually a little jaded, funny and ultimately redeemed through love.

S.C loves red wine, margaritas and Seven and Seven’s. Yes, apparently S.C. Wynne is incredibly thirsty. S.C. Wynne loves the rain and should really live in Seattle but instead has landed in sunny, sunny, unbelievably sunny California. Writing is the best profession she could have chosen because S.C. is a little bit of a control freak. To sit in her pajamas all day and pound the keys of her laptop controlling the every thought and emotion of the characters she invents is a dream come true.

If you’d like to contact S.C. Wynne she is amusing herself on Facebook at all hours of the day or you can contact her at scwynne@dslextreme.com

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The Giveaway

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Follow the Tour

April 29: BFD Book Blog :: Diverse Reader
May 2: Bike Book Reviews :: The Novel Approach
May 3: Nautical Star Books
May 4: Wicked Faeries Tales & Reviews :: Love Bytes Reviews :: LeAnn’s Book Reviews
May 5: Cia’s Stories :: Drops of Ink
May 6: Bayou Book Junkie :: Alpha Book Club