Nowhere But Home

By J.D. Walker

Coming home is not something Kayle Grimes ever envisioned for himself. He left this town of bigots behind without regrets and made a good life elsewhere. Now he’s back again, hiding in his parents’ old house and licking his wounds.

Asher Knox, the reason Kayle disappeared in the first place, is the last thing he needs. But the boy who broke his heart is now the mayor, and won’t take no for an answer.

Asher Knox has to find a way to get Kayle to forgive him and see he’s no longer a coward hiding in the closet. He’s out and proud, and ready to publicly claim Kayle as his own. It doesn’t help that the Kayle who has returned home is stubborn and prickly, and Asher knows he’s going to make a fool of himself, but it’s worth it, all the same.

• Language: English
• Publisher: JMS Books LLC
• Release date: Sep 17, 2016
• ISBN: 9781634862479

J.D. Walker

J.D. Walker likes to keep her stories short and sweet. A multi-published author, she is also a musician, artist, and lover of all things knit and crochet. For more information, visit lifebyjo.com/jdwalker.

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Nowhere But Home

By J.D. Walker

Published by JMS Books LLC

Visit jms-books.com for more information.

Copyright 2016 J.D. Walker

ISBN 9781634862479

Cover Design: Written Ink Designs | written-ink.com

Image(s) used under a Standard Royalty-Free License.

All rights reserved.

WARNING: This book is not transferable. It is for your own personal use. If it is sold, shared, or given away, it is an infringement of the copyright of this work and violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

No portion of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher, with the exception of brief excerpts used for the purposes of review.

This book is for ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY. It may contain sexually explicit scenes and graphic language which might be considered offensive by some readers. Please store your files where they cannot be accessed by minors.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are solely the product of the author’s imagination and/or are used fictitiously, though reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Published in the United States of America.

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Nowhere But Home

By J.D. Walker

Well, what do we have here? a man’s voice said from behind me, where I’d bent to pick up a receipt on the floor. When I stood and turned to look at who had spoken, I wished I hadn’t.

I closed my eyes and bit back a groan. This was just awesome. I ignored the man and walked on, heading for my beat-up truck at the edge of the parking lot in front of the grocery store I’d just left.

Why did my first night back in my hometown have to include an encounter with my high school secret ex-boyfriend, Asher Knox, that whole clichéd one that got away? Or rather, one who had run away from me like his ass was on fire and I had some heretofore unknown deadly disease?

I’d heard it said that going home was the hardest thing a person could ever do. As far as I was concerned, it shat bricks. And why would I return to the place that was the source of my greatest humiliation and heartache?

Because I had no choice. And that was the worst reason of all.

Hey, don’t you have anything to say to an old friend? Asher said, and only then did I realize he’d been following me. I wished I cared enough to punch him in that still perfectly square jaw, or poke out a ridiculously bright blue-green eye, but I didn’t have the energy, and it didn’t really matter, anyway.

It was weird that he even spoke to me now, where years ago, after I professed my undying devotion and wanted us to go public, he’d called me a derogatory word and stayed away from me the rest of senior year. I was good enough for locker rooms and behind the bleachers and even his bedroom, once. But nothing more.

No one working in the grocery store had recognized me, though I’d known most of them since childhood. They were just older and…fatter, in some cases, though that might be a tad mean. I couldn’t really blame anyone for the lack of recognition, since it had been seventeen years, after all, and I was currently scruffy with a bushy moustache, long beard, and messy shoulder-length brown hair. I hadn’t felt like shaving in a long time.

I’d filled out, too, no longer the lanky, scrawny misfit with questionable fashion sense—everything tight and glittery, hair a rainbow of colors, depending on my mood.