Unpublished Excerpt: HOT ITALIAN LOVER

In this scene from HOT ITALIAN LOVER, the mc is out on a date with someone new, and he runs into his ex-partner...and his ex-partner's new, much younger, boyfriend. It's also what I consider a "raw" excerpt. In other words, it's never been copy edited.

Jarrod welcomed them both with hugs and kisses, and then he led them to a small table at the back of the bar. But as they crossed the small wooden dance floor, Joey heard someone call out his name from the other side of the room. He stopped walking and turned. When he glanced to the right and saw who was calling him, it felt as if someone had pounded him in the stomach with a golf club.

Ned Stevens waved at him from across the bar. And Passion, the younger lover, was waving and bouncing, too. Joey grabbed his old friend’s arm and said, “Did you know Ned was here, Jarrod?”

Jarrod shrugged. “I just came in. I was in the office upstairs writing checks. I had no idea.”

Joey rolled his eyes. “What the fuck is he doing in Florence?”

Antonio put his arm around Joey’s waist and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Jarrod lowered his voice and said, “Joey’s ex-partner is here, with the guy Joey found him in bed with.” He kept his voice low and his expression somber. But Joey couldn’t help thinking Jarrod was holding back a smile, enjoying this act of fate a little too much.

“I think I’d like to leave,” Joey said. He looked at Ned and Passion again. Passion was still waving and they were both making their way to the dance floor. “If I’d known they’d be here tonight, I never would have come.”

Jarrod said, “You can slip out the back way through the dressing room. I’ll just tell Ned you weren’t feeling well.”

But Antonio didn’t seem pleased at all. He grabbed Joey’s waist with more strength and said, “We’re not going anywhere.”

Joey looked up at him. “Oh yes we are. And we’re taking the back door.”

Antonio shook his head and said, “We are staying right here and we are going to enjoy ourselves. You don’t have to run from anyone, not as long as I’m with you.”

By the time Ned Stevens and young Passion reached them on the dance floor, the music had changed to a slower song and they didn’t have to shout over the Italian lyrics. Joey wanted to kick Ned Steven between the legs, but he kissed him lightly on the cheek instead. Joey didn’t hug or kiss little Passion. He smiled and nodded in his direction, trying hard not to glare at what Passion was wearing. Passion’s tight shirt, made out of some type of fake shiny material, was fire engine red and exposed an inch of his tiny waist. He wore eyebrow pencil, mascara, and some type of glittery cream above his eyelids. His leopard tights hugged his tiny legs and his bright red shoes had checkerboard laces.

Joey pressed his palm to his chest and he smiled at Ned, and then he said to Passion, “I just love your outfit, sweetie. It’s so colorful.” Though he was still ready to kick Ned Stevens in the balls, seeing how ridiculous little Passion looked that night gave him a sense of satisfaction that made him smile more than he had in the past month.