Page 80 of Constantly Cotton
Jason closed his eyes, smiling slightly. “You’ll have to see the house eventually.”
“Sure. Not now.” Cotton wanted him all over again. Wanted to take him this time, wanted to drive him out of his mind. He wanted Jason loose and sloppy and incoherent, because only Cotton could make him that way.
“Not now?” Jason asked, raising surprised eyebrows at him.
Cotton lifted his head and took his mouth with purpose, his body waking up already, telling him it had been too long and they had more to spend.
“Later,” he murmured. “We have time for the future later. But I have a home now, and it’s with you. And that’s what I want to do with my time.”
“Me.” Jason was laughing as he said it, but Cotton took his mouth again, and the laughter faded, replaced by gasps and another rising tide.
Later, now, it didn’t matter, Cotton thought as he took his lover apart piece by piece. What mattered was they werethere, in a place meant for them both. What mattered was they had a future there, and Cotton could make a home. Never again would he be lost or adrift. He had purpose now, and some of that was school and his vocation, but so much of that was this man and the life they would build together.
There would be surprises and friends—Cotton already knew there was a dinner in their future, and he looked forward to it. But right now, he had everything he’d ever wanted and the only man who could make that happen, and he was old enough now and wise enough now to take the moment in both hands and make it his, just like Jason had.
They were each other’s now, and Cotton would always have a home in his heart, and Jason would always be there to fill it.
Author’s Note: IntroducingCrullers
THERE ISa shape to any story and any subgenre. Contemporary romance has a shape, romantic suspense has a shape—to change the shape of the story is to change the subgenre, and readers get cranky when that happens. As writers, we try to stay as consistent as possible to the expected shape. We can tell many, many different stories, but if they’re in the expected shape, readers forgive us the variety.
That said, the Fish books and their spin-offs, the Flophouse books, and the pre/sequelsRacing for the SunandHiding the Moon, have become vast and unwieldy. I can write the main stories in the expected shapes, but everybody has their favorite characters.
“That’s great. But what was Sonny doing while Ace was gone?”
“Oh! I bet Ernie had something to say about that!”
“Jai’s so stoic—he needs a sweetheart. Who’s he seeing that the others don’t know about?”
I get these questions—and more—all the time, and I’m curious about the answers too, so I write the stories in little pieces. Just for fun. Just for the long-term readers on my Patreon. And then, when the stories are attached to a book—or two, as in this case, or three, when the third Flophouse book is written—they become their own massive enterprise.
Not easy to put into book form; the shape is sprawling and not really newbie friendly. But people who love these characters, are invested in them, have read every book in the series—they really want to see those stories.
What follows is two-thirds of a group of stories I calledCrullers, mostly because it started with Burton and Ernie fromHiding the Moon, and Cruller is Burton’s nickname. The stories are “gap fillers.” They’re not necessary toSchool of FishorConstantly Cotton, but they’re fun little moments that got some play. They’re assembled in chronological order, and many of them tie into this book,Constantly Cotton.If this is your first book in the Fishiverse or the Flophouse series, these are characters you’ve seen mentioned.
This is a glimpse of their private lives.
The other third ofCrullersactually forms its own plot arc. I’m planning on putting most of that at the end of the next Fish book.
One chapter at the end of this addition is really the final chapter ofUnder the Stars, a novella posted mostly on my Patreon that closes outRacing for the SunandHiding the Moon, and written because people didn’t want to see Jai without a mate. It will be a part ofUnder the Starswhen I make that available, but it wasn’t needed here.
So yes, that explanation was complicated and messy—but then, so are people. If you’re a fan ofmypeople, I hope this series of ficlets is enjoyable after you’ve read about Jason and Cotton.
That’s really all I hoped for all along.
Crullers
A Hiding the Moon Story
Part 1
ERNIE SATup so abruptly that Lee Burton was startled. Burton rolled out of bed, grabbed the gun from under the mattress, assumed a crouch, and aimed at their bedroom door before Ernie could tell him to calm the fuck down.
“What is it?” Burton demanded.
“Next week,” Ernie said. “You have to leave in two days. The big boom will be next week.”
Burton did a slow pan to where Ernie sat up in bed. “So I’ve got time.”
