We have a new author at Beau to Beau. S. Wales writes young adult gay fiction. Cover design by Dvorak Designs, www.dvorakdesigns.com. Book is available to 1Romance ebooks and All Romance ebooks.
Excerpt:
Nate lived in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Omaha, Nebraska, attended a private school, drove a BMW, and could pretty much have anything he wanted. His father had inherited the family commodities investment firm and his mother spent most of her time in aerobics classes or attending various social activities. Nate had never thought of his life as mundane or meaningless; that is, not until last summer. Last summer had changed Nate forever. As he looked around at his classmates, Nate realized what it was that he had learned during his summer vacation. Nate had learned about the human condition and the human spirit; specifically, the resilience of the human spirit. Nate had also met a friend, a confidante, a boyfriend.
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Tate showed Nate to his room that they would be sharing and showed him the drawer he had cleared out for him. “Thanks,” Nate said, and set his stuff down. Tate sat on the bed while Nate unpacked. “What’s it like up north?” “It’s not that much different from here, I guess. It’s not as warm and Omaha has lots of hills. We have a river but it’s not as big as the Mississippi.” “What do you do for fun?” Nate sat on the bed with Tate and showed him his Nintendo DS. “I’ve got games to play on this,” he said. “Do you have one?” Tate shook his head. “Do you have a Wii?” Tate shook his head again. “How about the Internet?” “No, but sometimes we use it at school,” Tate explained. Nate showed Tate how to play one of the Nintendo games and before long he was a pro. “For not having one of those, you sure did catch on quick,” Nate said. “Thanks,” he said. “Here’s my Blackberry. You can play games on it, too, and download books from the Internet.” Tate looked confused at Nate’s last remark. “You can buy ebooks and read them on your cell phone, like this one.” He showed Tate some of the books he had on his Blackberry and he quickly began reading one.
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As they worked together, Nate’s sponsor couldn’t help but notice the budding friendship between two boys from two very different worlds. Nate liked Tate. He could tell him anything without fear of disapproval or that he would tell everyone he knew. Of course, Nate knew no one here, but still, there was something honest and pure about Tate that Nate had not seen before.
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The two boys walked past five or six houses until they reached the end of the cul-de-sac. It was dark, but the stars lit up the night sky with their brilliance. The two boys sat on the mound of dirt that would soon be Tate’s new home, and looked up at the stars. “I’m really glad you came here this summer, Nate.” Tate reached over and placed his hand on Nate’s as it lay on his thigh. Nate didn’t know what to do but knew that he couldn’t look at Tate right now, so he looked straight ahead. He didn’t withdraw his hand, and he rather liked the feeling of Tate’s hand on his. After what seemed like a lot longer than it was, Nate placed his free hand over Tate’s, and looked at him. “I’m glad too, Tate.” He quickly looked away again, but neither boy withdrew their hand.
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Nate reached out and placed his hand over Tate’s. “Before this summer, I thought that friends were people you had to impress or have as much stuff as they did in order to be their friends, but I don’t think that’s true anymore.” Tate said nothing for quite awhile, thinking about Nate’s words. “Are you my friend because you have more than me?” Nate sat up and leaned on his elbow, not taking his hand off of Tate’s. “Oh, no, Tate. I didn’t mean it that way. I meant that the guys I know don’t like people who don’t wear designer clothes or who don’t go to a private school or drive fancy cars. They’re just really superficial, that’s all, and they use people to get what they want.” Tate didn’t understand “using people” but was beginning to understand the other stuff. Nate continued. “You weren’t like that, Tate. You were nice to me from the start even though you didn’t know me and didn’t know if I was rich or poor, and your mom hugged me when she first met me. My own mom doesn’t hug me.” Nate lay back down and looked up at the stars. “Your mom likes everybody, Tate. She doesn’t judge others.” “No, she would never do that, Nate. She believes what the bible says about not judging others. She says it’s not our place as mere mortals.” Nate swallowed hard. It seemed that he lived in an entirely different world than Tate, and Tate’s was a loving world, a world that Nate liked a lot. The two boys looked up at the stars for a long time saying nothing, with Nate’s hand on Tate’s. Nate was almost asleep when he felt Tate’s lips on his. It was a quick kiss, and then Tate lay back down. Nate was definitely awake now. “What was that for?” “I’m just glad you came here, that’s all.” “Oh,” said Nate, and they slept until morning, their hands never leaving the others’.
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