Lex Valentine Brings "Scrambling" -- Gay in the NFL! And Something For You.

Hi everyone-- My good friend and great author, Lex Valentine, just introduced her first book with Loose Id -- Scrambling.  It's an erotic romance about gay players in the NFL and i think it will be a great series. I'm looking forward to plunging into this one! Lex is giving away a copy of Scrambling to one lucky commenter. Leave your email too!  Don't miss the chance! You have Monday and Tuesday!  Here's Lex--

Personal Foul

In my latest release Scrambling both of my heroes are hurt while playing football. One of them sustains an injury to the disks in his neck. It’s a common injury for any player who is tackled and my hero is a quarterback who is scrambling, running the football down the field. He is tackled by a player from the other team and goes down hard. The other player is apologetic. He didn’t mean for the quarterback to be injured. In the case of my other hero, he is deliberately injured by two players who are homophobes.

Picture the scene: The ball is down. The referee has blown the whistle and out of nowhere, two large linebackers tackle the hero, one from each side. One deliberately steps on his shin and breaks the hero’s leg. Of course, the referee calls a personal foul on both players for the late hit, for unnecessary roughness, but the damage is done. My hero’s career in the NFL is over. Later, there’s an outcry by the ACLU and some LGBT organizations that my hero’s rights were violated by these players. There is an investigation by the NFL and the police that the hit was basically a hate crime on the field. My hero was targeted and deliberately injured because he is openly gay.

Now most people couldn’t picture a 6’6”, 290 pound center as a victim. They wouldn’t be able to imagine that such a big man could be bullied. But he truly is a victim of bullying. He and his best friend (the quarterback) are called names and bumped and shoved when the referees aren’t looking. No one really does anything more serious or overt until the broken leg incident several years after they come out. But still, the very fact that they have to put up with name calling, dirty looks and the occasional shove makes them victims.

There is a groundswell of support for gays in the NFL and the other four major sports leagues to come out. Fear keeps them in the closet. It’s not until players and others (ie owners like Kevin McClatchy of the Pirates) leave the game that they come out. Organizations like TheLastCloset.org are striving to end the fear and asking that the commissioners in the five major sports leagues support gay players and end homophobia in professional sports. Other organizations like The Stand Up Foundation are against bullying. Stand Up is the brain child of Ben Cohen a former rugby player whose father died trying to protect someone from being bullied.

So yeah. I have a hero in Scrambling who is basically bullied despite his size. The focus of the book isn’t really this topic but it is an essential part of the plot. I am who I am and this book is first and foremost a romance with a grand HEA. I bring up the subject of homophobia and I delve into what it would be like for gays in the NFL to come out. My story is about truth and not living a lie and what people have to sacrifice when they do live a lie. And these are not just lies about sexual orientation but lies about love and emotion.

I guess you will just have to read the book to see what I mean. But even if you don’t read it, you should think about checking out the organizations I mentioned above and OutSports.com. Support them if you can. Because even a big guy like my hero Evan can be bullied and that is just not okay.

Thanks for having me, Tara! You’re the bestest!

Lex

http://lexvalentine.com

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Scrambling

BUY LINKS

Loose Id

Amazon

Book Trailer

Blurb:

Evan McAdam has two constants in his life--football and his friendship with Reed Matthews. From the age of six, Evan's played football alongside Reed. In his teens, he realized he was gay and loved Reed, but fear kept him from confiding his deepest emotions to his best friend.

When he and Reed are drafted to the L.A. Stars, Evan decides to come out. His decision impacts Reed who's been in the closet too. The two men struggle with secrets of unrequited love while facing the world as the first two openly gay NFL players.

When injury forces Evan to retire, the love he bears Reed can no longer be hidden. But will Reed be able to reciprocate, or will Evan lose both football and the man he's always loved?

Excerpt:

Reed held his breath and watched the play of emotion across Evan’s face. He probably shouldn’t have been so blatant about what he needed, but he couldn’t stop himself. All he could think about was that Len lay dying and it could so easily have been him had he ever given in to Len’s whining about his use of condoms. Right now, he needed Evan to make him feel alive, to chase away the specter of death and disease. He needed to feel whole, and only Evan could give that to him.

“You’re overwrought. You don’t know what you’re asking.” 

Evan’s voice quivered a little, and Reed could feel the tension in his friend’s body. He could also sense an underlying current of fear in Evan’s voice although he had no idea what Evan could fear. 
“Yes, I do. I want you to make love to me.” 
There. He’d said it aloud. All his hopes and dreams since he was fifteen years old, laid out for Evan in words of one syllable. No mistaking them for anything except what they were, a blatant invitation for Evan to fuck him. He opened his mouth and made the invitation even more clear, the words driven by the emotion he’d held so long inside.
“I want you. I need to feel you touch me, taste me. I need to be with you. I want your arms around me, your cock inside me. I need to be with someone who cares about me. For sixteen years, it’s been you and me. Even Len and Bryce haven’t come between us. It’s always been you and me.” 

Reed poked Evan’s chest with a finger when he said you and his own when he said me. Evan blinked and shook his head as if he were dazed. “I-I don’t understand. Where is this coming from?” he asked with a frown.

“It’s coming from deep inside me, Ev. Whenever something is wrong, you’re there for me and vice versa, although God knows it’s usually me with problems not you,” he said with a tinge of bitterness at the life destiny had given him. “This time, I need more than just hand-holding. Will you give it to me?”
He stared at the man he’d loved since they were kids. The man he’d shared everything with. The one he couldn’t imagine his life without. And he willed Evan to say yes.

A long, soft breath escaped Evan, tension leaving his big body. “Yes. You know I love you. I could never say no to anything you ever asked of me.”

Reed pushed himself against Evan’s chest, his hands coming up to frame the handsome, beloved face of his best friend. “Then just love me. Death is cold. I need to be warm.” He pressed his mouth to Evan’s, and a pleasure like none he’d ever experienced exploded inside him.

Evan’s lips were soft and warm, gentle in a way Reed hadn’t known men could be. He took control of the kiss, took control of Reed, his hands and his mouth leading Reed to ecstasy. Their tongues slid together, tentative in the way of new lovers but without urgency or fear, just a growing awareness and heat. Evan’s hands slipped over Reed’s shoulders and down his back, causing a slow burn in Reed’s veins. 

The limo turned a corner, and they rocked, swaying with the movement of the car. Reed pulled his mouth from Evan’s, and they stared at each other, breathing hard.
“Are you sure? I don’t want to push you into something you don’t want,” he asked as pain threatened. He needed Evan, but he could walk away if Evan didn’t want him.

The big man pushed a trembling hand through his sandy hair. “I want it,” he replied, reaching for Reed’s hand. He pulled it toward him and pressed it into his lap. 

Beneath his fingers, Reed could feel the hard ridge of Evan’s erection, and his heart sang in triumph. The evidence of Evan’s desire was enough for him tonight. He didn’t need to own Evan’s heart although he yearned to.
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Sigh. Don't forget to leave your comment with your email! Thank you so much for coming by, and be sure to come back Wednesday when my guest, Brien Michaels,  brings his new book, As Long As You're Mine, plus some super giveaways for you. And if you want to follow the blog, i sure wouldn't mind.  : )