Parker Williams is here today with an excerpt from his new m/m romance, Runner. Plus, he's offering up a paperback copy to one lucky winner!
Good luck!
See our tag team review of Runner HERE!
Excerpt
I stepped outside and took a deep breath. The air had a nip to it now that October had come. The changing leaves were beautiful, all gold and red, falling from the trees to where they would become food for the animals, or to wait for spring so they could become part of the circle of life. I’d stored my canned goods in the root cellar, knowing they’d keep me well-fed when the deep winter snows began to pile around my house, and I would curl up, warm and cozy, in front of the small replace in my home.
It struck me then like a bolt from the blue. Winter would be here soon. That meant the jogger wouldn’t be coming back this way at least until spring, if ever. After the winter thaws, the roads would be filled with potholes big enough to lose a car in, so why would he want to take that kind of chance? I could feel the tremors in my chest at the thought of my life changing yet again, and I didn’t know if I could handle it.
The house beckoned me, offering safety and security. If I went inside and ignored the jogger for the next month or so, I could wean myself away from expecting him, and maybe the separation wouldn’t be so bad. As I was taking several steps toward the front door, I heard the slap of feet and the steady inhale and exhale. I turned, and he came into view, and the air got sucked from my lungs. He had on thin shorts and no shirt. He reminded me of the stories of Apollo, the Greek god of the sun. His sweat-slick skin literally shone in the morning light.
As he approached the yard, I stepped toward the fence. He smiled when he saw me and slowed his pace. His chest heaved, and I found myself staring at it. From a distance it had been beautiful, but standing near enough to see droplets of sweat trickling down? Stunning didn’t even come close to describing him. He wasn’t what I would consider classically handsome. His nose seemed a little small on his face, and his deep-set brown eyes, the same shade as creamed co ee, were spaced just a little far apart. But taken as a whole, he was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.
“Good morning,” he called as he stopped, still jogging in place.
“Hi,” I replied, my voice breaking. “Hi,” I said again, a little stronger this time.
I stared at his hand for a moment before hesitantly reaching for it. His grip was warm and moist. He blushed, drew his hand back, and apologized for his damp grip, wiping his hand on his shorts.
We stood in awkward silence for another moment or two, Charlie glancing around the yard.
“You’ve got a really nice place here,” he said, his tone cheerful and bright. His feet stopped moving, and only the rise of his chest and the sheen of his skin told me that he’d been running just a few minutes before.
I found myself mesmerized by him. He reminded me of a stream of sunlight, coming into the window and falling into my chair, where it warmed me all afternoon.
“So...,” he said, “do you have a name, or am I supposed to guess it? Because I have to warn you, I’m not really good at things like that.”
Matt Bowers’s life ended at sixteen, when a vicious betrayal by someone who he should have been able to trust left him a shell of himself, fighting OCD and PTSD, living in constant fear and always running. When he buys a remote tract of land, he thinks he’s found the perfect place to hide from the world and attempt to establish some peace. For ten years he believes he’s found a measure of comfort, until the day a stranger begins to run on Matt’s road.
He returns every day, an unwelcome intrusion into Matt’s carefully structured life. Matt appeals to the local sheriff, who cannot help him since the jogger is doing nothing wrong. Gradually, after tentatively breaking the ice, Matt begins to accept the man’s presence—
But when the runner doesn’t show up one day, it throws Matt’s world into chaos and he must make the hardest decision of his life.
Runner sales links:
Categories: Romance, Gay Romance, Contemporary
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Parker Williams believes that true love exists, but it always comes with a price. No happily ever after can ever be had without work, sweat, and tears that come with melding lives together.
Living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with his husband of a quarter century, Parker continues to believe and writes stories where there is (almost) always a happy ending.
Connect with Parker on:
Twitter: @ParkerWAuthor
Or you can visit his website
Be sure to enter to win a paperback copy of Runner for yourself!
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