All First Chapter Samples

Dating was significantly easier when you already had a relationship with the person…and it helped that it was only one person and not a series of strangers.

“Would you like to have a say in our dinner plans this evening or would you prefer to be surprised?” I thought it was a simple question, but Morgan turned and looked at me.

“You never ask it that way.” He had a very similar expression to the one Destin sometimes wore when he looked at me.

I’d clearly done something interesting, but I had no idea what.

“We usually go out to dinner and then a planned activity like a movie. I had a different idea, but I wasn’t sure if you would appreciate the change.” I didn’t always appreciate change, but it seemed that I was in the minority. “I wasn’t sure how you felt about surprises.”

I’d have brought the subject up earlier if I’d known it would be difficult. Pulling into the parking lot of the campus was not the best time for a lengthy discussion.

Jude was insane…and possibly angry about something.
“He’s glaring at me.” I hadn’t really tried to whisper, but I leaned closer to Cash, so it counted as being polite. “We’ve slept here for two nights. I want to come and I want to sleep with Bates again.”
Jude frowned deeper.
Yep, he’d heard.
But, considering he was only about five feet away and leaning against the front door, that probably couldn’t be helped.
So it wasn’t rude, just unavoidable.

“No, I don’t care what Avery did to you as long as it was consensual and won’t end us all up on the news.” Destin’s passionate oversharing seemed to be a virus he couldn’t shake.
Not that he seemed to be trying to stop himself.

If it hadn’t been for the fact that he’d done it since the day we’d met, I’d have thought he was doing it just to drive me to distraction. That still could have been his goal because he’d made a career out of poking at me, but he’d been so curious about all kinds of things the first year he’d escaped his family that I could never tell.

He’d come from what was basically a religious commune that just looked a bit more normal from the outside, but his knowledge of the real world had been limited to what he’d been able to read when he’d snuck online at night.

Destin had basically shown up at college knowing he was gay and having a lot of book learning that didn’t translate well into the real world. He’d been able to quote all kinds of scriptures and tell people about historic events that happened hundreds of years ago, but he had no idea who the current reality TV stars were or how to flirt.

“It’s not offering to save their souls or kill their bugs.” The innocent cutie was so insistent I had to stop at the bottom of the stairs and listen to what he was saying. I wasn’t going to apologize for being nosy when everyone in the building was fabulously weird and not shy about sharing their personal life…but I was quiet while I listened.

Brady, my delightfully naïve neighbor who was into his Daddy and being spanked, was very confident about the odd list. “Those are the only random questions you’re allowed to ask. It doesn’t matter if you’re being helpful or not.”

Who made those rules?

Whose bugs were they trying to kill?

Were the crickets back?

Had the cutie found God in the last few days?

«Non c’è niente di male nel trovare sexy le competenze.» Sedendomi più dritto – non che mi aiutasse a sembrare più alto – osservai l’uomo irrequieto e quasi nudo che avevo davanti. «Mi hai chiesto quali tratti trovi sexy in un uomo e ti ho risposto. Competenza. Intelligenza. Stabilità emotiva.»

Non era mica astrofisica.

Conner non sembrava essere d’accordo, però. Mi fissava come se fossi una nuova e bizzarra specie di insetto che era stata appena scoperta. Ma poiché quello era un miglioramento rispetto alla reazione che aveva avuto vedendo i miei vestiti, o notando proprio che li indossavo, non me ne preoccupai.

Scosse la testa e indicò la stanza. «Queste sono caratteristiche importanti in una brava persona, specialmente un buon Dom, ma che dire dell’aspetto fisico?»

«Landon sta andando a un appuntamento o aiuta qualcuno a traslocare? Non so dire se sembri chic o un senzatetto. I tatuaggi potrebbero far puntare in entrambe le direzioni.»

Mia madre aveva le più buone intenzioni, davvero, ma non stava certo contribuendo ad aumentare la mia autostima.

«Shh, ti sentirà. Sii gentile.» Laura avrebbe anche potuto risparmiare il fiato. Essere “gentile” non era una caratteristica della donna che ci aveva messi al mondo.

«Sono onesta, non cattiva.» Parole che erano diventate il suo mantra da così tanto tempo che ormai ci credeva.

La sentii muoversi in cucina. «Dove ha detto che avrebbe portato la ragazza con cui esce? Ma almeno sai come si chiama? Fa il testardo e non me lo vuole dire.»

Quella donna era una via di mezzo tra un bulldozer e un alce pazzo.