Studs & Steel Series

I stared at him. He might just have been the person I’d been waiting for my whole life – and he belonged to my best friend – and that really sucked but it was the way it was... River is a podium dancer at the swanky Studs & Steel gay club - as such he has the pick of the bunch when it comes to getting a guy... River's never been fussy about who he's slept with and doesn't really believe in relationships - just having a good time... until he meets Jodie - his best friend's boyfriend... They have an immediate connection that they try their best to control but their feelings get the better of them - finally ending in disaster... Can anything be salvaged from this dangerous love triangle?

“What do you mean, you want me to go to a gay club?” I spluttered, staring at Kody Elden as if he was completely mad. I thought I’d been hiding my sexuality quite well at work until he said that... I’d never come up on anyone’s gaydar before... He just grinned at me, “You’ll love it,” he said, giving me a knowing look, “Just stay away from River McNamara,” he pulled a face, “– he’ll give you something nasty just from shaking your hand.” I raised an eyebrow at him. He obviously had something against him, which I was dying to know about, “Jeez, what did he do to you?” He grimaced, “Nothing.” He said far too quickly. I nodded. I wasn’t about to start pissing off one of my senior officers, “Okay – what do I have to do?” He shrugged, “Nothing much – we just need a police presence there – Mr McKenzie, the owner of the club – is being harassed by one of his former acquaintances and we need to make him aware that it’s not acceptable in the club where members of the public are socialising.” I grinned, “Socialising?” I said, “Is that what we’re calling it these days?” He frowned at me, “Have you ever actually been to a gay club before?” he asked. I reddened and shook my head. I’ll grant you it was pitiful that I’d known I was gay since I was twelve years old – and had had more than one gay relationship in my young life – but I’d never been out and proud – and I’d never frequented any of the gay pubs and clubs in the city that I’d grown up in.... I was a total closet gay – and I had no idea how to be anything else... This is number three in the Studs & Steel series and focuses on Alfie, one of the podium dancers and the police officer he falls for, Harley...

People were always mistaking me and Denny for a couple. They assumed we were boyfriends. It always made me laugh, although Denny was always apologising for looking too girly and giving people the wrong impression about us – something I thought was utterly ridiculous. He wasn’t girly. He was perfect. “Pay them no attention,” I said, “You’re ripped, man – they just wish they had a body like yours.” He always blushed like a tomato when I paid him compliments. I’d always put it down to the fact that his dad was always giving him a hard time about being a faggot. I’d never taken his banter seriously before. I’d just put it down to his dad being the type that found it hard to pay his son a compliment. And to be fair his dad was well weird. He was really chuffed when Denny got into the police force but for some bizarre reason, he was really annoyed when he got partnered with me. I’d have thought he’d have been pleased that I was there to protect him.

Sitting in my booth at the club I rarely frequented, while nursing my glass of cola, just to be doing something rather than being at home on my night off where it was becoming more than unbearable to be, I couldn’t help overhearing a conversation going on in the booth right next to me. Some guy was having a drink with another guy – but the arsehole of the two of them seemed to be under the impression that the other one wanted to go home with him – and that really wasn’t what it sounded like to me... “Let go of my arm, dude.” His voice had gone up in volume and he sounded kind of annoyed as opposed to scared, but you know how you get a feeling sometimes? That was it. I’d heard enough... I shot out of my seat and rounded the corner, “You heard him.” I snarled, “Let go of my friend’s arm.” I’d acted on instinct and well before I’d even had a good look at the aggressor. I wasn’t unduly worried – being built like a rugby player (I played at school but I really didn’t fancy ending up with cauliflower ears or a broken nose and missing teeth and gave it up before I left for university) I was pretty well built and strong enough to take on pretty much anyone – that said, I wasn’t a street-fighter kind of guy and I wouldn’t dream of carrying a knife – but I knew nothing of this guy... At this point I still hadn’t even looked at the guy being manhandled. As much as I knew, he might have been totally able to take care of himself for the notice I’d taken before wading in. It was a terrible weakness of mine... I decided to check at that moment and I’m not gonna lie to you, my knees about buckled when he looked around at me with a slightly surprised look on his beautiful face. Holy shit, Date Guy was the most beautiful guy I’d ever laid eyes on – and since he was on a date with another guy, I was pretty confident that he must also be gay... The bully decided it was time for a sharp exit as he looked up, and up again (six feet five – what can I say? I’m huge) and Date Guy smiled up at me, “Thanks.” He said, “I was handling it – but thanks anyway.” This is number six in the Studs & Steel series and is Simon and Bailey's story.

Everyone was hooking up around here – and I didn’t mean just for the night either. Peyton and Kody had kicked it all off – the monogamy thing that is... They’d been a couple for over a year now and everyone knew they were totally exclusive. And then River went and followed suit – now that really was a major surprise. He’d been on anything with a pulse for as long as I’d known him. He was everyone’s sweetheart – and everyone’s quickie in the bathroom – until he went and got jiggy with his best friend’s boyfriend and wham! True love. Not great for Jake but whatever – they seem to have worked it all out between the three of them now... and River and Jodie were getting married next spring. Alfie was sorted with Harley the cop – and Simon was seen in the company of the same mystery man more times than he wasn’t. He just hadn’t gotten around to admitting it to himself – or us lot – yet. Seth and Siobhan were also solid – so... that just left me. And I wasn’t bothered really... Well, you know – I did wonder when I was finally going to find Mr Right. I never expected it to happen on our quietest night... I never expected it to love at first sight... And I really didn’t expect it to be a twink...

Colby is fed up of being on his own. His partner in crime-fighting, Harrison, is on paternity leave; he and his wife having just had their second child. Colby's missing their easy banter, not to mention the fact that it was a damn sight easier working with someone else than going it alone... When Parker comes crashing into his life, quite unexpectedly, he's delighted - even if Parker is a glass-half-empty kind of a guy with almost zero interest in starting something special with him. Colby isn't put off by that; there's something about his stand-offish manner that Colby finds absolutely irresistible. Parker has issues. He's a struggling actor, trying to get his name out there, but he's been abused in the past by the very guy who is standing right between stardom and failure. When he confides in Colby about it, Colby wants to help him but Parker thinks it's a futile venture. No one is ever going to believe him over a big named producer... But when another would-be actor tweets that he's been the victim of assault by the same guy and a trend starts up with loads of other young men coming out and saying the same, Parker realises that, with Colby's help, maybe they really can take the guy down...

I woke up. For a second, just like every morning, I turned over, expecting to see her next to me – for a second I forgot that my life was over... Then, as it did every single day, it all hit me again. My chest ached with the overwhelming feeling of loss. My skin started to tingle, and I was almost able to feel the burning through my clothes. I was reliving the car accident. Hearing her screaming again, as loud as if we were right there, going through it all again and then finally the gut-twisting, ominous silence. And even though her screams of pain were quite possibly the most awful sound I’d ever heard in my life, the silence was worse – because that meant she’d gone. And she was never coming back... Seth has lost the love of his life and he's drifting, unsure of his future and never expecting to find love again. Joel, however, has other ideas and bursts into his life, bringing with it a whole lot of confusion, fun and apples... This is number seven in the Studs and Steel series. It has a happy ever after ending and no cliffhanger.

"Has anyone ever told you that you look just like Q from James Bond?" I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I'd heard this about a million times over the last five years or so, since Ben Whishaw first played Q in Skyfall. I couldn't deny it. I did look quite a lot like him - I had glasses and dark unruly hair that never sat flat no matter what I did with it - and as nerdy as it sounds, I was kind of chuffed that my name could be shortened to Q... I would never describe myself as handsome though - not like Ben Whishaw, who I thought was absolutely stunning. I looked up and sucked in a sharp breath. It was the tall, dark, exotic-looking dancer that I'd been crushing on for weeks. I was quite sure he was called Thai... And he was speaking to me! Was he actually hitting on me? Nah... probably not - but he thought I looked like Q! For once it wasn't annoying me to be compared to a super-geek. I grinned at him. The music was pumping, the beat vibrating through my body and I was feeling really kind of mellow. I fucking loved coming to this nightclub and tonight was no exception. Raising my voice so I could be heard over the music, I replied, "Uh, yeah - I've heard that once or twice." He chuckled, his deep, almost musical laugh making my insides feel a little mushy. "And are you a mad, gadget-creating genius on the quiet - or do your talents lie elsewhere?" He shouted. Oh, my God - he really was flirting with me! Flirting! With me! Where were all my mates to witness this amazing event? Oh, yes - Franz was snogging the face off his boyfriend in the foyer - and all the others were no doubt in the bathrooms getting their rocks off with unsuspecting punters... "I'm more your artistic type." I said back as loudly as I could. I might be studying physics but I really did love to draw and paint. I had about twenty sketches of him that I'd done from memory. Looking into those incredible eyes now, though, with his super long and curly eyelashes - it was more than obvious that I hadn't done him justice. I'd have to have another go when I got home... Thai... Troubled is number 8 in the Studs & Steel Series and focuses on Thai and Quentin's love story.

Peyton is the owner of the swanky new nightclub, Studs and Steel. He's already been involved in a hit and run and was lucky to come away from that with nothing more than a broken leg. Now he's been shot at point blank range and is recovering in hospital. He's got an ex-girlfriend and a son who could also be in danger, an ex-boyfriend that he's desperate to find and now to complicate matters even more, he's got a hotter than hot bodyguard watching his every move... This is the first in a new series from the author of the Boys Next Door series.