Jake's Regret

By Shawn Lane

Former wide receiver Jake Fields broke up with his lover and teammate, quarterback Damian Grant, by leaving a note. Eleven years later, Damian attends Jake’s father’s funeral.

Damian is hoping for a renewed relationship with Jake, but when a woman from Jake’s hometown sees them together, a still closeted Jake panics, leaving a note for Damian once more.

When Jake’s small town turns against him, life goes from bad to worse. Jake realizes it’s time to stop running from who he is and try to win Damián’s forgiveness. But if Damian has had enough, this may be Jake’s ultimate regret.

• Language: English
• Publisher: JMS Books LLC
• Release date: Jul 1, 2017
• ISBN: 9781634864046

Shawn Lane

Shawn Lane is a multi-published author of gay romance. She lives and works in Southern California. She has been published by Loose Id, Amber Quill Press, Evernight Publishing, MLR Press, JMS Books, and Ellora’s Cave. For more information, visit smlgr8.blogspot.com.

Book preview

Jake’s Regret

By Shawn Lane

Published by JMS Books LLC at Smashwords

Visit jms-books.com for more information.

Copyright 2017 Shawn Lane

ISBN 9781634864046

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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.

NOTE: This book was previously published by Amber Quill Press.

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Jake’s Regret

By Shawn Lane

Chapter 1

There sure were a lot of funerals going on in the cemetery that afternoon.

Damian Grant wondered how he would figure out which one was for Jacob Fields.

It was the sort of cemetery where big marble headstones and carvings of angels littered the ground. Most of which were now old, cracked and covered in weeds and other growth. An old cemetery, Damian guessed. Maybe dating back a hundred years or so.

His hands tightened on the steering wheel of his sedan and for a moment he considered driving away. Before anyone noticed him. Not that he expected to be recognized or anything. He hadn’t played football for a few years and Jacob Fields’s family wouldn’t know him.

Hell, Jacob Fields himself had hated his guts.

Turning off the engine, Damian opened the car door and got out, shielding his eyes against the midday glare. Should have brought his sunglasses. He was forever forgetting to take them with him.

To his left he spotted a group of mostly old white people, including a short little bitty lady wearing a widow’s veil. Jacob hadn’t been married at the time of his death according to his obit, so it couldn’t be that group.

In the middle was a mixed group of white and black folks. Jacob Fields having been a bigot, Damian doubted there’d be any black folks at his funeral other than himself.

Finally to his right was the funeral he guessed must be for Jacob. A mix of young and old alike. All white, of course. He squinted, trying to see if he could spot the reason he’d come all this way to this tiny little town in Alabama. But he didn’t. Still, he knew Jacob Fields Junior…Jake would be there for his father. Years ago Jake had given up everything important in his life to please his father…even Damian.

Damian began the walk toward the group, his muscles stiff and tight. The long drive made sure his limp showed. The injury to his left knee had ended his football career as a quarterback and even now after numerous surgeries it was never the same.

He’d donned a navy suit for the somber occasion. He felt a bit stupid in it. He never felt comfortable in suits, though sometimes life insisted on them.

Damian could just make out a dark haired man taller than most of the other guests. He couldn’t be quite sure, but he thought it must be Jake. Jake, a former wide receiver, was six foot-five and difficult to miss. Just then an older woman wearing a black pantsuit shifted to the left. Straight through the space she had just occupied stood Jake. Damian’s heart twisted. His step faltered and he stopped in the middle of the parking lot.

Jake Fields. The one man he had loved in this world more than anyone and the one who’d broken his heart. For several heartbeats, Damian just stared. The man was simply breathtakingly gorgeous. Strong, broad shoulders, big bulging biceps…visible even in his black suit…square, rugged jaw. Even from this far away, Damian could see just a touch of silver at Jake’s temples. He wasn’t that old. Only thirty-eight. But on Jake it looked absurdly sexy.

Jake’s gaze was on one of

Reviews for Jake's Regret

[drez-3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

2.5 stars This book kind of started out of nowhere, and I never got a good feel for the back story other than Jake's family is bigoted, and so he broke up with Damian. And because the story was so short with not much back story, I didn't really feel any chemistry or a connection between these two. I also found Jake agreeing to spend holidays with his boyfriend's ex's family a bit ridiculous too. Who would agree to that?!

[jules0623 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I had a lump in my throat through this bittersweet story. I'm a sucker for 'true loves finding each other again' stories and this was brilliant. It was hard to feel sorry for Jake at first, to be honest. He dumped Damian with just a note eleven years ago then, after a nosy maid bursts in on them, does it a second time. But when he's forced out of his job and home by a homophobic community (and family), I did feel for him.

There's a happy ending which I think came about a little quickly. I would have liked to see Jake have to earn Damien back rather than play the "I've lost everything" card but both men were happy and contented in the end.

As was I. :)