Fighting Addiction

by BA Tortuga

  “Mashed potatoes?” Helen would put cheese on them too, give Seb some protein.

  “Uh-huh. I know there’s some in the fridge.” That was it. Seb followed him right to the kitchen, humming a little.

  Fido was following along, tail wagging, and Seb found the pup a bone, even as Markus got two bowls of mashed potatoes, cheese… oh. Bacon. Everything was better with bacon. Helen’s shih tzu, Leona, came trotting in, grabbed the piece of bacon he’d put down for Fido, and ran.

  Lord.

  He handed Seb a bowl and sat at the long counter. “So, you want to work on that bridge?”

  “Oh, yeah. I had an idea about moving the second verse to the third and bringing the whole thing up a half step.” Seb grabbed his fork and ate a bite.

  Helen walked by the kitchen, looked in, then kept going without a word. Good woman. She’d learned.

  Seb just needed to be distracted. If you let his obsession roll, he could be in real trouble. Markus had learned too. “I like the idea, but we’ll have to see what the modulation does to the chorus.”

  Seb nodded. “I think it’s worth a try. Even if it doesn’t work, it’ll shake out something. Did you hear that our ‘Home With You’ just hit number one for Kelly Greene?”

  Ah. So that was the stress. Seb stressed success as much as failure. Still, Markus was getting Seb to tell him faster every time. “Go her! Go us. That check will pay for Bev’s hot tub.”

  “She’ll love that. She was tickled shitless to not have to share with your hairy ass.”

  “I know. I don’t like to think about girl cooties either.” Bev was seeing a hot young Brazilian singer, actually, and needed some privacy when he visited the ranch. It was the least they could do.

  “Uh-huh. We’ll see how you feel about girl cooties when Tawny brings your goddaughter to visit. Or are we going to them?”

  “Tawny wants to come down. She wants to see the house now that it’s done.” They’d all had a powwow about whether Seb was up to the media frenzy that was bound to happen if they got caught by the press, and the decision was to stay in Brazil for now. Still, he’d give Seb the choice. “Unless you want me to call Just, see if he can fly us.”

  “He’s with Eduardo in the jungle on some… safari-trek thing.” Seb rolled his eyes. “I have no doubt there’s lots of mosquitoes and sex. I think Tawny should come here, see things. Relax. We can write with Jim.”

  “Cool. We could get Bruce down too, maybe.” Bruce would be great for the studio, getting more shit set up. They both needed a little more organization than they had, and Bev wasn’t much of a mixer or sound tech.

  Seb nodded. “Or Kyle. I know he misses you.”

  Markus hooted, feeding Seb a piece of bacon off his bowl. “He’s in Aruba. Some all-inclusive place. His Tweets are hilarious.”

  “Aruba? Huh.” Seb opened his mouth for another bite.

  Markus got a bite filled with cheese and bacon goodness and popped it into Seb’s mouth. “His wife insisted. It was that or a cruise.”

  The most amazing things about his life now were these little moments. He got to spend them with Sebastian; he didn’t have to hide or rush or worry.

  “Can we grill chicken tonight? After we work on the song?”

  “Hell, yeah. With that blackening spice? I’m so there.” Helen would be 100 percent behind it too.

  “Cool.” Seb looked confused for half a second. “Were we about to go make music?” Sometimes when he sidetracked his lover, things slowed down, derailed.

  “We are. Soon as I finish my potatoes.” He gave Seb one more bite, happy now that the man had consumed enough lunch.

  “Good deal. They’re good, the potatoes. Bacon is sort of magical.”

  “It is.” He gave a piece to Fido, who had finally just sat on Leona’s furry, evil little body.

  Seb put things away, drank a huge glass of this weird guava sparkling soda stuff that Eduardo brought. All the while, the man chattered away at him about the song they were working on for their old buddy, Hank Bitters.

  Markus watched, only listening with half an ear, focusing on the rise and fall, the rhythm of Sebastian Longchamps. This was his—he got to hear it, live in it every day.

  Grinning, Markus herded Seb toward the room they used for writing and jamming. The studio was too much pressure for that. Sebastian was just laughing, the sound like music. There was no song he would rather hear. Hell, he might even have to say he was addicted to it.

  “Silent Love Song”

  Like a fire we were burning

  Red dirt roads and

  Sun soaked days

  All the while things were turning

  Moving like a

  Record plays.

  In the night, stars were blazing

  Shot through the sky

  Rocket-fast

  Knew life would make me crazy

  Took a stumble

  Couldn’t last.

  Chorus:

  Lost my voice. Gave you my song.

  All I got is whispers.

  You’re on the stage, singing strong

  My mouth’s covered, leather glove

  My lips moving without

  Giving breath to silent love.

  Now you’re soaring like a bird

  Flying higher

  Out of sight.

  All that’s left is love I heard

  From your guitar

  Taking flight

  Chorus.

  Bridge:

  I knew I was your white knight

  I knew I was your man

  But we couldn’t bear the spotlight

  I had to let go of your hand.

  Chorus.

  More from BA Tortuga

  Kasey “Tuff” Tuffman just told Nashville to kiss his you know what. After winning Best New Artist at an award show, he knows it’s time to head back home to Texas. So after a very public meltdown, Tuff makes his way to Austin, where the Red Dirt music lives large.

  Jonah Littlejohn once loved KT more than anything in the world. When KT loses it on national TV, Jonah knows he has to reach out and offer his home studio as a place to heal and make music. A bad relationship has left Jonah broken and wary of romance, but he wants to help his old lover out.

  Seeing Jonah again proves to Tuff that he’s made the right decision. Now all he has to do is convince Jonah that they’re the most perfect duet there’s ever been.

  Leaning N

  Everything’s bigger in Texas, including weddings. And misunderstandings.

  Colorado wedding planner Mason O’Reilly lands a major contract: a two-hundred-guest wedding at the Leanin’ N Ranch, where his friends Ford and Stoney are working to provide a safe space for GLBT events. The Wright/Preston ceremony is a destination wedding, and as the grooms are from Texas, everything is done over the phone and email. There’s no way that could lead to trouble, right?

  Oops.

  Oil tycoon Noah Wright isn’t happy about the impending disaster, but he admires Mason’s quick thinking and grace under pressure. And that’s not all he likes about the out-and-proud wedding planner. Even though Mason’s interested in Noah, his Mr. Right can’t possibly be a rancher from Dallas.

  Can he?

  Acclaimed musician Hollis Lee is a little bit rock, a little bit country, and a lot in need of some TLC to mend the years of hardcore partying that threatens to ruin his career. Hollis’s manager, Charlie, has the perfect solution in mind.

  Personal trainer Jeremy is even-keeled and nothing if not professional—which means doing his job, getting Hollis back to his fighting weight, and ignoring his fierce attraction to the rock star.

  Turns out Hollis has a harder time resisting Jeremy than giving up sausage biscuits and cheeseburgers, but succumbing to temptation could end both of their careers. While Hollis is on tour, no one questions Jeremy’s presence, and that means plenty of time to sneak away for some steamy fun on the tour bus. But when an accident separates them, how will they sustain the relationship t
hat’s starting to mean so much?

  Road Trip Collection

  The road to love is notoriously bumpy, full of twists and turns that can throw even the best driver. With obstacles around every corner, Sonny and MJ try to keep it between the lines in two tales that blend steamy romance with high-stakes action and intrigue.

  Racing the Moon

  Sonny runs moonshine the old-fashioned way. Too bad some fool blew up his road in the Carolina mountains, keeping him stuck, high and unfortunately dry.

  Explosives expert and ecoterrorist MJ’s mission is to protect the environment by shutting down a logging company. An encounter with Sonny in the misty forest sheds a new light on his quest, but it’s not until Sonny drugs and kidnaps him for an impromptu holiday that their engines really start to rev.

  Steam and Sunshine

  A mission they can’t resist lures Sonny and MJ out of retirement when they get word of a man creating dangerous weapons for the government. They head to California to take him down.

  What they find is Paddy, a physicist who doesn’t understand the scope of his own discovery, and Neil, his bodyguard. During a wild and unpredictable cross-country ride, an uneasy partnership develops between kidnappers and targets when the four men discover they have a common enemy.

  After a bar fight gone horribly wrong, Clint is on the run, tired, hungry, and desperate to get out of Texas and across the border as fast as he can. But more than anything, he needs a place to relax and feel safe—at least for a little while. Searching for work, he stumbles into a cantina on the beach and runs into its owner. Jack might be a little older and a little worldlier, but the two men have enough in common to form a fast friendship that soon spills over into the bedroom.

  But Clint isn’t the only who’s done things he isn’t proud of, things he’d rather keep hidden. Both of them have to be ready to drop everything and run if the past gets too close, and that’s no foundation for a relationship—especially since the truth always comes out eventually.

  Readers love BA Tortuga

  Hurricane

  “Stormy Weather is just a wonderful, simple series of two men who really love with all their heart. I enjoyed the entire series: the storylines, the great characters, and BA Tortuga’s unique writing style.”

  —The Novel Approach

  Living in Fast Forward

  “Bless BA Tortuga for reminding us that there’s still love waiting to come out in the open and find acceptance where there’s still none to be found in every arena… music, arts, sports… life.”

  —Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

  “…if you’re looking for a read that is as entertaining as it is emotionally touching, then you will probably like this novel.”

  —Rainbow Book Reviews

  Finding Mr. Wright

  “I really enjoyed this book. It was a great read. BA Tortuga did an incredible job on this sweet romance.”

  —Gay Book Reviews

  “If you love the light hearted, low-angst, humor filled romance that BA Tortuga writes and the trope-tastic Dreamspun series—you’re gonna be psyched!”

  —Open Skye Book Reviews

  BA TORTUGA, Texan to the bone and an unrepentant Daddy’s Girl, spends her days with her basset hounds, getting tattooed, texting her sisters, and eating Mexican food. When she’s not doing that, she’s writing. She spends her days off watching rodeo, knitting, and surfing Pinterest in the name of research. BA’s personal saviors include her wife, Julia Talbot, her best friend, Sean Michael, and coffee. Lots of coffee. Really good coffee.

  Having written everything from fist-fighting rednecks to hard-core cowboys to werewolves, BA does her damnedest to tell the stories of her heart, which was raised in Northeast Texas, but has heard the call of the high desert and lives in the Sandias. With books ranging from hard-hitting GLBT romance, to fiery ménages, to the most traditional of love stories, BA refuses to be pigeonholed by anyone but the voices in her head.

  Website: www.batortuga.com

  Blog: batortuga.blogspot.com

  Facebook: www.facebook.com/batortuga

  Twitter: @batortuga

  By BA Tortuga

  Best New Artist

  Bombs and Guacamole

  Boys in the Band (Author Anthology)

  Fighting Addiction

  Living in Fast Forward

  Mud, Movies, Bullets, and Bulls (Author Anthology)

  Old Town New

  Private Dances

  Road Trip Vol. 1

  Say Something

  Seashores of Old Mexico

  DREAMSPUN DESIRES

  #6 – Trial by Fire

  #30 – Two Cowboys and a Baby

  LEANING N

  #16 – Commitment Ranch

  #42 – Finding Mr. Wright

  LOVE IS BLIND

  Ever the Same

  Real World

  RECOVERY

  Refired

  Slip

  THE RELEASE SERIES

  The Terms of Release

  The Articles of Release

  Catch and Release

  SANCTUARY

  Just Like Cats and Dogs

  What the Cat Dragged In

  STORMY WEATHER

  Rain and Whiskey

  Tropical Depression

  Hurricane

  Published by DREAMSPINNER PRESS

  www.dreamspinnerpress.com

  Published by

  DREAMSPINNER PRESS

  5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA

  www.dreamspinnerpress.com

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Fighting Addiction

  © 2018 BA Tortuga.

  Cover Art

  © 2018 Tiferet Design.

  http://www.tiferetdesign.com/

  Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.

  All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or www.dreamspinnerpress.com.

  Digital ISBN: 978-1-63477-163-4

  Trade Paperback ISBN: 978-1-63477-162-7

  LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CONTROL NUMBER: 2017912375

  Digital published January 2018

  v. 2.0

  First Edition published by Torquere Press, September 2012.

  Printed in the United States of America