Exclusive Cover Reveal: Looking Forward by Michael Bailey #Excerpt #Giveaway

Title: Looking Forward

Author: Michael Bailey

Release Date: August 25, 2018

 Length: 90k+

Cover Artist: Jay Aheer~ Simply Defined Art

 Synopsis

Owen Hannity was nineteen when he lost almost everyone he thought he could trust.  Each loss more painful than the last.

With the unwavering support of his best friend, Andy, Owen put the pieces of his life back together.  Now, more than two decades later, Owen owns and operates a successful comic shop.  Despite his modicum of success, he still feels like a shell of a man, carrying the emotional scars from his devastating losses.

Without warning, Owen’s past returns.  Secrets come to light.

Secrets that could either destroy Owen or finally give him the strength to re-evaluate everything he thought he knew about Andy, himself, and the way in which he views the world. 

To see that he is truly worthy of loving himself and finally begin…

…Looking Forward.

 

Excerpt

I found my glass empty and excused myself from the table.  I hadn’t realized how busy the bar had gotten.  It was literally wall to wall men.  I found myself standing in line waiting to get a refill.  As I stood there, I could have sworn I felt something brush my ass.  I turned to the guy behind me, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary, so I turned back to the bar.  It happened again, the hand brushed my ass and stayed, cupping my right butt cheek.  I wheeled around to the guy behind me, and said, “Something I can do for you?”

He tried to play innocent as he pulled back his hand.  “Excuse me?”

“I’d appreciate it if you kept your hands to yourself.”

He chuckled darkly.  “Prissy little bitch, aren’t you?”

I felt my cheeks flush with anger as I bit out, “Don’t be a dick.  This ass isn’t yours.”

“No, it’s mine.”

Both Dickhead and I turned to find Jack glaring down at him.

“Now, get your fucking hands off of him.”  Jack slid up beside me and draped his arm possessively across my shoulders so that my neck was resting comfortably in the crook of his arm.  “Everything okay here, babe?” he asked, pulling me tight against his body and leaning in, kissing the top of my head.

My brain short circuited.  I was at a complete loss for words.  I didn’t know that Jack had seen the interaction, and even if I did, I certainly didn’t expect for him to come to my rescue.  Especially with that kind of display.

Dickhead took a noticeable step back and threw up the offending hand.  “Sorry.  Didn’t realize he was with someone.”

“That should matter?” Jack bit out.  “Do you think it’s okay to just walk around, copping a feel whenever you want?  What if he’d been straight?  Is that how you’d make a straight guy feel comfortable in a gay bar?”

Dickhead seemed to stammer.  “Sorry.” He repeated as he backed away and headed in the opposite direction.

I looked up at Jack and said, “Thanks.”

He grinned down at me, and I felt a little flutter in the pit of my stomach, like something tiny and new waking for the first time.

There had been a few crushes in high school.  Longings for someone that I knew there was no way in Hell I would ever have but wanted nonetheless.  This was a similar feeling, but different, richer, more vibrant.  Something that hinted at possibility.  I knew that was crazy, even as I was feeling it, but it was there just the same.  I couldn’t control it, so I did my best to ignore it, pretend it wasn’t there.  When Jack didn’t remove his arm from around my shoulder as we turned back to the bar, that feeling became more and more difficult to ignore.

We made our way back to our table, Jack staying close almost as if he were afraid of another man either hitting on me or making me uncomfortable.  I knew the notion was ridiculous.  He didn’t know me, why would he want to protect me?  Andy cocked an eyebrow at me, silently asking what was going on. I gave a subtle shake of my head.  I had no idea.

 

 About The Author

I'm the oldest of three, from the Glass Capital of the world, Toledo Ohio.

Don’t laugh too hard.

I've dreamed of writing since I was eleven years old when I wrote a truly awful Choose-Your-Own-Adventure. It sold exactly zero copies. I think my mother may have a copy lying around somewhere. Mothers keep that kind of thing.

Through junior high and high school, I wrote a number of short stories, one actually published in the first (and only) issue of his high school’s literary magazine.

Life took control shortly thereafter, as it often does, and the dream of writing was put on hold. Then, in November of 2016, I took a leap of faith, and began writing my first novel as part of the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) competition. The goal of the competition is to write a 50,000-word novel in a thirty-day period.

I failed.

However, on the advice of a friend, I “pushed through”. And so, in September of 2017, my first novel was published.

 

Links

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