Sarina Bowen has a new M/M romance novel being released July 14, but you can check out an exclusive excerpt from it now!
About ‘Hello Forever’ by Sarina Bowen:
One basketball game changes everything…
When they were only teenagers, Axel and Caxton were caught making out in the woods at church camp. And afterward, Cax had disappeared from all the youth group activities.
Six years later, Axel is astonished to spot his first love’s face in the crowd of a college basketball game he’s watching on TV — at a school which has just offered him a job. It’s a thousand miles away, in a tiny rural town. But suddenly, he can’t wait to get there.
Cax can’t believe his eyes when Axel appears in the same Massachusetts town where he now lives. And he’s still just as drawn to Axel as ever. But he can’t let himself go there again, because loving Axel will mean giving up everything else he holds dear.
Both men have so much to lose. But as far as their love is concerned, it’s Hello Forever.
Hello Forever is a stand-alone novel with no cliffhangers. Readers of Goodbye Paradise will get to check in on Caleb and Josh and their clan.
‘Hello Forever’ by Sarina Bowen exclusive excerpt:
I washed the dishes and Axel dried. I drank my wine standing there in his kitchen, trying not to let my eyes drift over his body. I knew I couldn’t sit on the sofa with him. I didn’t trust myself.
When the glass was empty, I set it on the counter. “I really should go. But this is the most fun I’ve had in a long time.” Why not tell the truth, right? It’s not like I could make a habit of this. Too risky.
Axel must have sensed my martyrdom, because he looked a little sad. “Glad you could make it.”
“Me too.” I grabbed my coat off the doorknob and put it on. I stepped into my boots. But then I stood there, unsure what to say next. Thanks, but we can’t do this again? Was this really it between us? Forever? That seemed impossible.
While I tried to make sense of it all, Axel stepped closer. He was watching me carefully, probably trying to figure out why I was still standing like a statue in front of his closed door.
The closer he got, the more aware of him I became. The masculine breadth of his shoulders seemed to loom in my consciousness. I wanted to reach up and measure them against the length of my hands. The dark shadow of his evening whiskers begged me to reach out and touch his chin. How rough would it feel under my fingertips?
I knew I should turn and open the door. But I just couldn’t make myself do it.
His face softened as he took a half step closer. The distance between us was mere inches now. “Goodnight, Cax,” he said softly.
Me? I said nothing. I’d been rendered speechless and motionless by all of my desires.
Axel let his right hand drift over to take mine. I might have managed to turn it into an awkward handshake. And I think he was trying to let me do that.
But I closed my fingers around his hand and squeezed.
In response, Axel gave a tug, pulling me toward him, letting go only when we were chest to chest. I felt his hands slip under my jacket and land on my waist. Every cell of my body waited for him to kiss me. I wanted it so badly.
I froze as Axel tipped his head, sighing as his lips moved in to graze my jaw. Goosebumps rose on my chest as he placed a single soft kiss at the corner of my mouth. “Mmm,” he breathed. Then he kissed my cheekbone. Then the side of my nose. His breath ghosted over my skin, and I screwed my eyes shut, waiting.
And then I couldn’t take it anymore. I turned a fractional degree and found his lips with mine. And…goddamn. His lips were both soft and firm as we found each other. The kiss was so…tender. I’d spent a half hour telling Axel my life story during dinner. But somehow I was telling him the whole thing again in an instant. As our lips slid together, everything I’d ever felt for him hummed between us.
His mouth softened, and I took advantage, slipping my tongue between his lips. I was so greedy. He tasted of red wine and man.
Six years I’d waited for this to happen again. I moaned, and my hands found his chest as I leaned against him. That firm, wonderful chest.
“What do you want?” he whispered between soft kisses.
But of course I couldn’t answer. I never gave words to my desires. That gave them too much power. I moved my hands around to his back and pulled him closer. My cock was already heavy and hard.
“What do you want?” he repeated. He took one of my hands and placed it over his cock, which felt as hard as mine. God, I wanted him so, so much. I gave him a firm stroke and he groaned. “I’ll tell you what I want,” he said, kissing my chin. “I want to drag you over to that bed and find out if you’re a top or a bottom.”
That’s what woke me up.
“I can’t,” I gasped, jerking my body backward. “I can’t be either of those things.” My chest was heaving, and my whole body was hot. But I couldn’t keep pretending that this was okay. Finally, I did what was necessary. I spun around, opened the door and went outside. “I’m sorry,” I muttered. “I have to go.”