Getting Him Back Read online

  Getting Him Back

  By K.A. Mitchell

  An unexpected fresh start leads to an unlikely-but-absolutely-perfect pairing in this male/male new-adult novel from bestselling gay romance author K.A. Mitchell

  Ethan may have followed his high school sweetheart to college only to get dumped his first day there, but he’s not going to let that stop him from exploring all his new life has to offer. Sex-only hookups, his photography, new friends and a campus-wide game of zombies vs humans all help keep his mind off his broken heart and move him toward building a new, better life without his ex.

  And then there’s Wyatt. Mysterious, grouchy...hot. And possibly not gay. But Ethan’s not going to let that stand in the way of figuring out what makes Wyatt tick. New college goal? Get Wyatt into bed and into Ethan’s life.

  Step one: arrange a “tutoring” date. Step two: “accidentally” bump into Wyatt as often as possible. Step three: explore the sexy body under that ever-present hoodie. And when their friendship deepens into something neither of them expect, convince Wyatt he’s not just a pity fling or a one-time hookup, but that Ethan is in it for the long haul.

  Edited by Angela James

  39,000 words

  Dear Reader,

  If there’s one thing we have learned from the kickass heroines of the fiction we read and publish, it’s that you should always be in control of your own happiness. And, if you’re reading this, I’m guessing you’re like me and books make you happy. So this February, during Valentine’s month, instead of waiting for someone to put some romance in your life, go ahead and do it for yourself: buy yourself all the books!

  Shannon Stacey always brings a fantastic blend of humor, heroes and sigh-worthy romance, and her novella A Fighting Chance is no different. All work and no play makes Adeline Kendrick a dull girl, so when she heads to a casino resort for a friend’s bachelorette weekend, she’s ready to have a good time. Until she runs into Brendan Quinn, professional fighter and the one who got away—the one her family drove away—and things take a turn for the interesting. When the weekend is over, Adeline isn’t ready to give up her second chance that easily.

  An unexpected fresh start leads to an unlikely—but absolutely perfect—pairing in Getting Him Back, a male/male contemporary romance from bestselling gay romance author K.A. Mitchell. Ethan may have followed his high school sweetheart to college only to get dumped his first day there, but he’s not going to let that stop him. And then there’s Wyatt. Mysterious, grouchy...hot. And possibly not gay. New college goal? Get Wyatt into bed and into Ethan’s life.

  In Anna del Mar’s debut romantic suspense, The Asset, a woman fleeing from her sinister past must defy her fears and risk her life to care for a wounded warrior, a SEAL who will push the limits of his broken body and protect her to his very last breath. Don’t miss this first Wounded Warrior novel.

  If you’re looking for a melt-your-panties hot erotic romance read, look no further than Wolf’s Ascension by Lauren Dane. Attacked by werewolves. Mated to the Alpha. Declared a queen. Kari is having an unusual day. In the Cherchez wolf pack, loyalty is earned, not given. For Andreas, the pull he feels toward Kari cannot be ignored, a physical bond immediate and unbreakable—though Andreas wants to win Kari’s heart as well as her body. And be sure to watch for book two, Sworn to the Wolf, on sale in March 2016.

  In the explosive follow-up to Joely Sue Burkhart’s darkly erotic romance One Cut Deeper, life on the run with an assassin isn’t what Ranay thought it would be. In fact, parts of it more closely resemble a sex-fueled vacation—until duty calls. The FBI believe Charlie’s brother is working for a human trafficking ring, and Charlie is the only one who can bring him down. Two Cuts Darker brings you back into the world of dark romance but delivers the same satisfying happy ending.

  The only doctor who can stop a man-made killer flu couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn with a grenade launcher—so his bodyguard, Sergeant Ali Stone, has her work cut out for her in Viral Justice, the last book in the Biological Response Team romantic suspense trilogy by Julie Rowe. And you can still pick up Deadly Strain and Lethal Game wherever Carina Press ebooks are sold!

  Tempted to off your significant other for forgetting Valentine’s Day again? Satisfy your more murderous urges with our two mystery offerings this month.

  Jonathan Watkins combines mystery with romance in A Devil’s Bargain. Past sins and dark secrets threaten to blow apart the lives and careers of criminal defenders Issabella Bright and Darren Fletcher when their friend, Theresa Winkle, is charged with the vicious murder of a man behind her bar—a man Darren learns is connected to his own family’s corrupt history and to the one case that has haunted him for years. Go back to the beginning of their romance, and indulge in all of the fantastic Bright & Fletcher mysteries now available: Motor City Shakedown, Dying in Detroit and Isolated Judgment.

  In Brenda Buchanan’s latest Joe Gale Mystery, Truth Beat, a newspaper reporter struggles with unreliable sources while covering two explosive stories—the apparent murder of a priest who stood up to his church and a spate of increasingly destructive bombings.

  Last, this month I’m excited to present a new romantic suspense series that I’ve been highly anticipating from Carina Press author Nico Rosso. Undercover agent Art Diaz had no choice but to drag Chef Hayley Baskov into the world of Russian mobsters, but when her tentative trust turns to full passion he vows to stop at nothing to protect her during the final strike. Be sure to pick up the first in the Black Ops: Automatik series, Countdown to Zero Hour.

  So kick off your shoes, curl up in your favorite cozy spot, and treat yourself to a Valentine’s month of books. (When it comes to books, one day of indulgence is never going to be enough.)

  And then look forward to next month, with releases from Shannon Stacey in contemporary romance, Dee Carney in paranormal romance and j. leigh bailey in male/male romance.

  As always, until next month here’s wishing you a wonderful month of books you love, remember and recommend.

  Happy reading!

  ~Angela James

  Executive Editor, Carina Press

  Dedication

  For Jenn. Those lunch dates made it all possible.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

  Acknowledgments

  Excerpt from Wish List by K.A. Mitchell

  Also by K.A. Mitchell

  About the Author

  Excerpt from Nobody’s Hero by j. leigh bailey

  About the Letting Go series

  About Out of Bounds

  Writing for Carina

  Copyright

  Chapter 1

  “Write if you get work.”

  My dad laughed at his own joke, which was good, because I didn’t get it. He slapped my shoulder and finished the display of fatherly affection by tucking a couple of twenties into my palm. That I didn’t mind.

  My mom gave me a hug. “Well, you can try, but we plan to disappear into witness protection before the first bills arrive.”

  They thought they were laugh riots. My mom was always quick with a dig about how much Coborn College was costing over a state school. I was paying for most of it with student loans and I would be paying for it for the next twenty years. They were barely picking up a share of room and board. But it was cool. Blake and I had a plan.

  After college here, he was going to
coach soccer and teach high school science, while I taught elementary. We’d get jobs in one of the urban high-need areas to get some of our federal loans forgiven.

  It all started now. As soon as I could get my parents out the door, I would finally be in my boyfriend’s arms. And pants.

  I hadn’t seen him in three weeks, two days, five hours and twenty-nine minutes. That was fifty-two solo jerk-off sessions. We hadn’t even been able to do it on the phone or Skype because he was so exhausted from soccer practice. I couldn’t imagine being too tired to get it up for three weeks, but he’d said he had to concentrate on learning new set pieces too.

  I started edging us all toward the door.

  “Here’s your hat, what’s your hurry?” Dad asked.

  He was my dad, but he was a guy too. How could he not get it? I felt like my eyeballs were flashing a countdown to when I could finally be with Blake. I mean, we were in love, but there was also the major fact that after spending June and July all over each other, my balls were fucking blue with how much I needed something besides my right hand.

  My mom opened the dorm door. “We get it. The sooner we’re gone the sooner you can see Blake.”

  The hint of a sigh in her voice wasn’t because of Blake. I mean, my parents had known I was gay for basically ever, and Blake St. Pierre was any parent’s ideal boyfriend—a polite, honor roll athlete, class treasurer. They—mostly Mom—just had thought it was a bad idea, me picking Coborn College because Blake was already at school here. Like it was going to make any difference what college my elementary ed degree was from.

  Well, it was all out in the open now, so that only made it easier. “Guilty as charged. Thanks for the ride. I love you guys. See you Thanksgiving.”

  Hey, I totally walked them out to the car. I’m not completely selfish. But as soon as the car was out of the lot, I took off toward Blake’s dorm, barely resisting my urge to pump my fist in the air.

  College. Finally.

  My life was going to be awesome.

  I didn’t understand how I could possibly be so lost. I’d studied the online maps last year, knew all the names of the buildings, imagining Blake going around campus, sitting in class in Joppa Hall, going through a cafeteria line at Thorpe Dining Hall, hanging out in the Butler Student Center.

  But that was from my aerial map view on the college’s website. In the real world, buildings didn’t have convenient mouse-over names. The paths were twistier and there were a lot more trees and bushes and hills. Even Google Earth hadn’t prepared me for this. I’d probably looped back around to my own dorm. That bush over there looked familiar.

  I could have called Blake, but the whole point to being here a day earlier than he expected me was to surprise him.

  The path I was on paralleled a deep gully with a stream at the bottom. I didn’t remember Blake saying he needed rappelling gear to get to class so I must have taken a seriously wrong turn.

  A girl came toward me. She was the first person I’d seen who wasn’t hanging with friends or had her attention glued to the screen of her phone. A long flowery skirt fluttered around her ankles, and her wine-colored top matched the shiny twisty braids in her hair. Last year when I was shooting casual shots for the yearbook, I would have wanted to take her picture. She was the ideal of a happy, together college student. And she absolutely looked like she knew where she was going. I’m kind of tall—basketball tall but too uncoordinated for it—so I tower over most girls. I put on a nonthreatening smile and hunched. “Hi. Can you help me? I think I’m lost.”

  She gave me a once-over, then nodded. “Where are you trying to go?”

  “Kilpatrick.” Just saying the name of Blake’s dorm, knowing I was this close, made my heart rate kick up. I tried to keep the excitement from spreading to my dick.

  “Jock Itch Tower.” She made a disgusted face. “It’s on the West Campus. Take the El.” She turned and pointed behind her. At the top of the slope, a glass-enclosed bridge stretched across the ravine. “Then go left at Administration. It’s the tower before the field house.”

  “Thank you.” I started hustling that way.

  “Hey,” she called.

  I turned, but I couldn’t help my feet from walking backward. Toward Blake.

  “They aren’t all dicks over there but you might want to...” She made some gesture with her hand, pointing it toward me sideways like for a handshake but we were too far away.

  “What?”

  She made another face, as if she was embarrassed by what she was going to say. “Act straighter.”

  I almost tripped and not because I was walking backward. I didn’t...swish or anything. I had on cargo shorts, loose. My T-shirt was advertising Oakley sunglasses, not I Heart Dick. I’d been told I had the grace of a giraffe trying to limbo. There wasn’t anything wrong with guys who were obviously gay, I just wasn’t. Maybe she was a lesbian and had gaydar?

  Besides, Blake had been here all of last year and hadn’t said anything about problems with bigots on campus. Coborn College had a diversity policy. And he’d said all the guys on his team knew he was gay.

  I saw it coming too late to do anything about it. She was facing me, and some guy was zipping along on his skateboard. I swear for once this disaster wasn’t my fault, though maybe yelling a warning made them swerve into each other.

  He barely clipped her, but when she tried to regain her balance she got tangled in her long skirt and ended up trying to slide into second on the unyielding asphalt.

  I ran back toward her. The skateboarder kept right on rolling.

  “Asshole,” I yelled at him.

  He grabbed his dick at me and disappeared over a small hill.

  “Oh, shit, are you okay?” I crouched down next to her.

  She didn’t answer and I felt all my first aid training from my senior community project kick in. Survey the scene. The scene is safe. Help. Call 911. Unconscious person. It was one breath every five seconds, right?

  She still didn’t move, but she spat out, “I’m. Fine.”

  In my experience, people who were fine didn’t stay face-planted on asphalt.

  “Let me help you up. It was sort of my fault.”

  “I can’t.”

  I hit mental playback. It still didn’t make sense.

  “Did you hit your head?” I scanned the buildings and the path. Just my luck all the people who I’d seen around had suddenly vanished. “Let me call for help.”

  “Noooo.”

  “Okay.” I sat on the grass next to her and eased my phone out of my pocket.

  “I see that. Don’t call anyone. Really. I’m okay. I just poured a flirt,” she mumbled the last part, so it’s possible she didn’t actually say that.

  “What?” I leaned down so my face was close to hers.

  “I. Tore. My. Shirt.” She turned her face toward me.

  “Oh.” And then I really got it. “Oh. And you don’t want to uh...flash people?”

  “And I was starting to worry about the admissions policy. Yes, genius. I don’t want to show my tits around campus, thanks.”

  But girls wore bras, right? And they were kind of like bikini tops.

  “Uh, what about your...I mean, don’t you have something under your top?”

  “You mean my bra? God, you really are gay, aren’t you?”

  “Yes. So I swear I don’t want to look. But I’m guessing we’re going to draw a crowd sooner or later. Maybe it’s not too bad.”

  She exposed her upper half to me and the ravine. There was a definitely a lot of girlness on display. What had her top been made of? Wet tissues?

  “I’ve got it. You can wear my shirt and I’ll come with you to your room.”

  “Okay.”

  I shielded her as much as possible while she dragged on my T-shirt. I had to fight the urge to cross my arms over my naked chest. Like I said, I’m more super lean—skinny—rather than muscled, pale and freckled.

  “Where are we headed?”

  “Fisher.” She
pointed. My pale yellow T-shirt covered her to her thighs.

  “That’s my dorm too.” Shit, I had made a big wandering circle. “Wait. I thought that was for freshman.”

  “Yeah, so what?”

  “How come you know your way around?”

  She put a hand on her hip. “Orientation. Didn’t you go?”

  It had been a weekend in July. I’d spent it texting Blake. And taking pictures with my phone, but not anything that helped me navigate.

  We walked back up to Fisher and she led me to the door right next to mine.

  “I’ll be right out,” she told me and disappeared.

  Right out meant something completely different to her than it did to me. I could have changed into fifteen different tops and jogged around the building by the time she came back out. I considered just grabbing another shirt from my room, but I looked cutest in yellow.

  She finally came out and handed me my folded shirt. “What do you think?” She made a turn in front of me. Her top was a dark brown and her skirt much shorter.

  “You should be okay if you avoid crazed skateboarders.” I pulled the shirt over my head.

  “I meant the outfit.”

  “I guess it’s fine.”

  She pouted. “What’s the point of a gay friend if he can’t help me pick out clothes?”

  We were friends? I liked the idea. As long as she got rid of the idea of me as her personal fashion consultant. “He will sacrifice his shirt to keep you from flashing all of the East Campus.” Even if it delays him getting some longed-for dick, but I didn’t think we were that kind of friend yet.

  She smiled. “I’m Makayla.”

  “Ethan.” I offered her my hand.

  “Hi, Ethan.” She shook it, then pulled me closer with the grip. After dragging my head down, she muttered. “I better not see a word of this adventure on social media. I’m from Philly. I know people. I’ll have you killed.”

  I pulled away and stared down at her.

  She tilted her head, pretty face dimpling with her wide smile. “I don’t believe in vague disclaimers.”

  * * *

  The pedestrian bridge over the ravine was cool, or it would be when the August sunshine didn’t come through the glass, turning it into a conveyor-belt oven. I bet it made for cool photography opportunities, too, but I didn’t stop to take any pics. I was sweating by the time I escaped into the West Campus. I could see Kilpatrick Tower now, the only building over four floors tall on campus.