GUEST POST: Friendly Friday with Amy Aislin

Today I’m joined by Amy Aislin. Check out her post with a deleted scene, plus she’s got a fabulous book on sale AND a giveaway!

Thank you for joining me to celebrate the release of my newest m/m sports romance, The Nature of the Game, and thank you to Gay Book Reviews for having me!

The Nature of the Game is a second chance romance. Six years ago, the main characters—Ash and Dan—were in a relationship that didn’t end well. They haven’t spoken since then and now, all of a sudden, they’re back in each other’s lives.

Normally, by the time I’m done writing a novel, I don’t have many—if any—deleted scenes to share. And that’s because, from the get-go, I want every scene in the novel to have a purpose. However, The Nature of the Game has about 10 deleted scenes, and that’s because several elements of the plot changed as I was writing.

The one I’m sharing below was originally in the last third of the book. I liked it when I wrote it because it’s kind of a fun scene, but once the book went to my editor, her feedback was that the ending didn’t work, and changes needed to be made to link the overall plotline together. So this scene ended up being sacrificed.

For context: in my original draft, Ash and Dan were going to be outed as a couple before they were ready. This is that scene.

***

The alarm on his cell phone woke Ash the next morning. Throwing out an arm, he swiped to turn it off without opening his eyes, then turned over and cuddled into Dan’s back. The sun filtering in through the curtains was too bright behind his eyelids and he buried his face in Dan’s hair.

Against the pillow, Dan said, “Your phss bee gun of murn.”

Ash snorted a laugh. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Your phone,” Dan said, tilting his head away from the pillow. “It’s been going off all morning.”

“That can’t be good.”

Rolling over with some trepidation, Ash grabbed for his phone and checked the notifications.

Six missed calls.

Two voicemails.

Eighteen texts.

Four new emails.

A zillion social media notifications.

“The fuck?”

Dan turned over and propped himself up. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m about to find out.”

The last call had come from Alex. The last text message too, so Ash started there.

Turn on the news.

What station? Ash sent back.

Any station!!!!!!! It’s you and Dan.

“That’s a lot go exclamation marks.” Especially for Alex.

Wait. It was him and Dan?

“Oh shit.”

“What’s going on?” Dan asked.

“I think we’ve been outed as a couple. Come on.”

Donning sleep pants, they headed into the living room. Ash turned on the TV, brought up the guide, and selected the first news station he came across.

“Well, hell.”

There, in the news ticker at the bottom of the screen, was the headline Tragedy averted at Tampa youth center. Wasn’t so bad, right? But following behind that was Does NHL player Ashton Yager have a boyfriend? Even that wasn’t so bad. The cherry on top was the video footage of Ash falling to his knees in front of Dan after he’d emerged from the equipment room.

In the moment, Ash had totally forgotten about the reporters on site.

One particular part of the video made Ash’s belly go weak and his heart melt—Dan guiding Ash’s hands to his face, letting Ash see for himself that Dan was okay. The way Ash ran his hands over Dan was almost reverential. Fear was written across his face and in the rigidness of his shoulders, but his trembling fingertips on Dan’s skin were so soft and gentle. Anybody watching this would know what Dan meant to him. And then he sagged against Dan, foreheads together. The kissing started after that and, well, that second headline definitely didn’t need the question mark, did it?

Seriously, though—the reporter couldn’t keep that to herself? It was overshadowing the work his team was doing with the center and the effort the firefighters had put in to free Dan, and that was just wrong.

“This is footage from yesterday’s near miss at the Try Out Center for Youth in Tampa, where a man was nearly crushed to death,” said the news anchor.

Cut to a shot of the roof above the equipment room sliding downward inch by inch until it came to a stop a few feet above Dan’s little bubble of safety.

“Oh my god.” Dan sounded like he was going to be sick. Ash wrapped an arm around him and held him close.

“Firefighters at the scene were able to safely rescue the man from further injury—”

A shot of Dan crawling out of the rubble.

“—where he was promptly embraced by Ashton Yager, defenseman for Tampa’s NHL team who recently came out as bisexual. The identity of the man is still unknown and Yager was unable to be reached for comments, but it’s clear from the video that Tampa Bay native Ashton Yager has been keeping another secret.”

“I guess the cat’s out of the bag,” Dan said, his face regaining some color.

“I’m so sorry, Dan.” Ash said, squeezing Dan’s shoulders. “You wanted time and…” He sighed. “I totally forgot the reporters were there.”

Dan laid his head on Ash’s shoulder. “You were there when I needed you. That’s what matters.”

“You’re taking this rather well.”

“What else am I supposed to do?”

Ash tuned back in to the television, where the news anchors were discussing what this meant for his chances at a new contract.

He turned off the TV.

“I wish we could hide in here all day.” Dan sat on the arm of the couch. “And not have to face the world.”

Sounded amazing. Too bad it wouldn’t happen. “I’ve got a flight to catch in a few hours.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“I’ve got to get ready.” Ash stood and headed into the bedroom, pulling Dan along with him. “What are you gonna get up to the next couple of days?”

“Hibernate here,” Dan said. “Work.” He didn’t sound overly enthusiastic about the work part. “Mrs. Carlson said I could use her workshop any time, so…” He shrugged. “Maybe I’ll go build stuff.”

Ash stepped out of his sleep pants and turned the water on in the shower.

“Wanna shower with me?” he asked Dan, sending him a wicked grin. “Last chance to get all of this—” he gestured at himself. “—for two days.”

Dan’s worried expression cleared, and his eyes heated when he took in Ash’s very naked state. He gulped. It was a miracle he didn’t trip over himself with how fast he ripped off his pants.

***

I hope you enjoyed this deleted scene! The Nature of the Game is out now and is available for purchase at Amazon, iBooks, B&N, and Kobo.

Amazon: https://geni.us/NatureoftheGame

iBooks: https://geni.us/NatureoftheGameApple

B&N: http://bit.ly/NatureGameBN

Kobo: http://bit.ly/NatureGameKobo

About the book:

Series: Stick Side #2

Publisher: self-published

Length (Print & Ebook): 87,000 words / 330 pages

Subgenre: m/m contemporary romance

Tropes: second chances

Book synopsis:

Six years ago, an ultimatum forced Dan Greyson to make a choice that cost him everything he loved most. One of those things? His boyfriend, hockey player Ashton Yager. Now that they’ve crossed paths again, Dan isn’t about to let the opportunity slip away. Ash’s reappearance in his life is just the catalyst Dan needs to escape the rut he’s fallen into…and win back Ash’s trust and love.

Ashton Yager, once burned and now a little bit shy, didn’t mean to publicly come out as bisexual. But now that he has, he’s got to deal with the consequences, including the fact that it might’ve cost him his NHL contract. With his job on the line, he needs to keep his head down, work hard, and play the best hockey of his life. Rekindling things with Dan? That’s not exactly keeping a low profile. It’s also never going to happen, not after Dan walked away once without an explanation.

When a hurricane forces Ash to seek shelter out-of-state, he and Dan find themselves in the same B&B, where old feelings resurface. But with everything Ash has on the line, does he dare play with fire again?

Author Information:

Amy started writing on a rainy day in fourth grade when her class was forced to stay inside for recess. Tales of adventures with her classmates quickly morphed into tales of adventures with the characters in her head. Based in the suburbs of Toronto, Amy is a marketer/fundraiser at a large environmental non-profit in Toronto by day, and a writer by night. Book enthusiast, animal lover and (very) amateur photographer, her interests are many and varied, including travelling, astronomy, ecology, and baking. She binge watches too much anime, and loves musical theater, Julie Andrews, the Backstreet Boys, and her hometown of Oakville, Ontario.

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Giveaway:

Win a Stick Side prize pack, including signed paperbacks of books 1 and 2 in the series, as well as some Stick Side swag! Contest open internationally. Enter via Rafflecopter. Contest ends at 12:00am May 12.

Click here to enter the giveaway.

Sale:

On the Ice, book 1 in the series, will be on sale for $0.99 across all platforms from May 6 to 13