Today I'm taking part in the Book Blitz for Love, Lex by Avery Aster thanks to Xpresso Book Tours! As someone planning to read and review this in the near future I'm happy to share an excellent excerpt as well as the tour-wide giveaway with you today :) PLUS, I'm giving away a paperback copy of Love, Lex to an international follower!
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Excerpt from Chapter Five: Sweet Motor Cop Jesus
*the set-up: Alone in the jail cell after Lex’s besties are bailed out, Officer Ford Gotti asks her a few questions.
Shoulders broad, Officer Gotti stood tall near the cell. The doors opened. My friends walked out and waved goodbye.
He stared at me as if ready to come back for round two. His face said, "LIAR!"
I hadn’t lied to Officer Gotti. Earlier, I’d admitted my guilt. I just hadn’t corrected Taddy and Vive as they professed my so-called innocence moments ago. Nor had I been honest to the judge when we’d pleaded not guilty.
Okay, Okay, Okay. Who was I kidding? Certainly not myself. I was a lying piece of Hedda’s poo. How could I tell the truth? What if this went to trial? What if Birdie didn’t take the blame?
We’d learned from past experience not to tell the authorities a thing. They weren’t our friends.
I was mad at myself for admitting I’d started the fire when they first asked. I hadn’t imagined it would end in an entire penthouse floor being destroyed.
The doors closed.
He didn’t leave with them. He kept on watching me.
A guard walked back and forth checking the cells.
I used that time to ask myself two important questions. One, was I nervous to talk to him by myself? Hells yeah! And two, could I keep my mouth shut, not telling the truth without my besties here to talk for me? Maybe. Maybe not.
Suddenly, from the top of my head to my tippy toes, a tingle started. It wasn’t from the synthetic orange fabric I wore. Oh no. This was a sensation of hyperawareness. I’d felt self conscious before but this was ridiculous.
His expressive face, catalog model-worthy for sure, talked to me. His mind was racing in judgments about who I was and what I’d done. His accusatory stares infuriated me.
For some unknown reason, I wanted his approval more than anything. I ached for him to believe me and that today was an accident, a misunderstanding.
Fudge, I didn’t even know him. I shouldn’t give a flip what he thought about me. I didn’t care how the TV portrayed me or what Birdie and her fans thought of me either. This explosion wasn’t only putting my plus-sized bum on the line but my besties boney butts as well. I had to stick to the story.
After the guard had gone and it was just me alone in my cell, Officer Gotti stepped closer.
Both of us remained silent.
The room spun as my WWF, Scorpion King, Hulk on a Harley, inked up demi-god mirage in the desert returned.
My vision blurred. Confused? Heck yeah. Tummy tossing? I felt oddly aroused. I know!
At a time like this, how could I be…horny? I just blew up Mom, and my two besties had left me. My hormones rocketed into overdrive. I forced a smile to show he didn’t make me nervous. Heat came off my skin. Slowly I wiped the perspiration off the back of my neck by knotting my hair into a bun. That was a ladylike trick I’d learned at Avon Porter.
"You okay? Now that your friends are gone."
"Woo, it’s warm in here is all." I was scared as hell but I wouldn’t show it.
*the set-up: Alone in the jail cell after Lex’s besties are bailed out, Officer Ford Gotti asks her a few questions.
Shoulders broad, Officer Gotti stood tall near the cell. The doors opened. My friends walked out and waved goodbye.
He stared at me as if ready to come back for round two. His face said, "LIAR!"
I hadn’t lied to Officer Gotti. Earlier, I’d admitted my guilt. I just hadn’t corrected Taddy and Vive as they professed my so-called innocence moments ago. Nor had I been honest to the judge when we’d pleaded not guilty.
Okay, Okay, Okay. Who was I kidding? Certainly not myself. I was a lying piece of Hedda’s poo. How could I tell the truth? What if this went to trial? What if Birdie didn’t take the blame?
We’d learned from past experience not to tell the authorities a thing. They weren’t our friends.
I was mad at myself for admitting I’d started the fire when they first asked. I hadn’t imagined it would end in an entire penthouse floor being destroyed.
The doors closed.
He didn’t leave with them. He kept on watching me.
A guard walked back and forth checking the cells.
I used that time to ask myself two important questions. One, was I nervous to talk to him by myself? Hells yeah! And two, could I keep my mouth shut, not telling the truth without my besties here to talk for me? Maybe. Maybe not.
Suddenly, from the top of my head to my tippy toes, a tingle started. It wasn’t from the synthetic orange fabric I wore. Oh no. This was a sensation of hyperawareness. I’d felt self conscious before but this was ridiculous.
His expressive face, catalog model-worthy for sure, talked to me. His mind was racing in judgments about who I was and what I’d done. His accusatory stares infuriated me.
For some unknown reason, I wanted his approval more than anything. I ached for him to believe me and that today was an accident, a misunderstanding.
Fudge, I didn’t even know him. I shouldn’t give a flip what he thought about me. I didn’t care how the TV portrayed me or what Birdie and her fans thought of me either. This explosion wasn’t only putting my plus-sized bum on the line but my besties boney butts as well. I had to stick to the story.
After the guard had gone and it was just me alone in my cell, Officer Gotti stepped closer.
Both of us remained silent.
The room spun as my WWF, Scorpion King, Hulk on a Harley, inked up demi-god mirage in the desert returned.
My vision blurred. Confused? Heck yeah. Tummy tossing? I felt oddly aroused. I know!
At a time like this, how could I be…horny? I just blew up Mom, and my two besties had left me. My hormones rocketed into overdrive. I forced a smile to show he didn’t make me nervous. Heat came off my skin. Slowly I wiped the perspiration off the back of my neck by knotting my hair into a bun. That was a ladylike trick I’d learned at Avon Porter.
"You okay? Now that your friends are gone."
"Woo, it’s warm in here is all." I was scared as hell but I wouldn’t show it.
Officer Ford Gotti, the Harley-wheelin’ biker cop who arrested us, keeps sticking his perfectly-sculpted nose into my case. His inked body is jacked like a superhero, and he says I can trust him. He wants me to fess up. I won’t. Not again. Why should I? My friends and I had a previous stint in juvie that nearly destroyed us. I gotta protect them and keep my mouth shut. Right?
—Lex Easton, women’s studies major, motorcycle enthusiast, and virgin.
The Undergrad Years is a New Adult contemporary miniseries about first loves, independence, and everlasting friendships. Interact with Avery while reading Love, Lex on Instagram and Twitter @AveryAster using the hashtags #UndergradYears #NewAdult. Swag and reader contests can be found on Avery’s blog at:AveryAster.com
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My novels that are out now include UNDRESSED, UNSCRUPULOUS, LOVE LEX, and YOURS TRULY TADDY. In 2014 I'll be releasing XO BLAKE, UNSAID, and UNIQUE.
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