The Water Date is Out Now!
Exciting news! I have a new short story up in my shop!
As most of you know, I’ve been posting Devoted: Merritt’s Story to Patreon ever since 2017. Book 1 is complete at around 150K, and book 2 is now within 2-3 chapters of completion, with one more book to go. The end of book 2 is intense, and my readers have been suffering. (I swear I don’t have an evil grin on my face right now…)
Last winter, I wrote The Water Date as a Christmas gift for my patrons. It’s an uncharacteristically fluffy romance short story that takes place after chapter 16 of book 2. In chapter 16, Merritt casually mentions to Belmont that he has a passion for water—after one and a half books in which Merritt couldn’t find anyone willing to geek out with him about his highly shameful interest—and Belmont offers to take him out to the underground region with his favorite water. The short story got much better reception than I’d anticipated, but I’d only planned to keep it on Patreon for a limited time.
Now, with my poor patrons suffering through some tough chapters, I decided to give The Water Date an official release, complete with brand new illustrations. It’s available now in PDF, epub, and mobi!
Here are some previews of the illustrations:
And an excerpt:
“Whipped cashew mini cream pie,” Merritt read skeptically off the menu. “That sounds sweet. Do you think it’s sweet?”
“Probably,” Belmont replied. “You don’t like sweet things?”
“They’re fine every once in a while. But I’m trying to decide if it would go well with the water or if something else might pair better.”
Belmont stopped himself before he could retort, “It’s water.” He knew his audience. “The cashew pie is pretty good,” he said instead. “It has some sort of spice in it. I don’t remember the name.”
Merritt squinted at the seed pod garnish sitting atop the diminutive pie. “Cardamom.”
“Fucking insufferable smart-ass know-it-all—” Belmont muttered, and Merritt gave him a playful nudge before he could continue his string of half-joking insults. “Just choose something, Merritt. I want to get out of here before the sun light goes off.”
“Fine,” Merritt replied. He held up a hand to politely signal the shop owner, which Belmont thought was cute—as if the man hadn’t already been hovering at attention, knowing that King Damen Mercury’s right hand was in his shop. “Could I please have one cashew mini cream pie? And a…” He turned to Belmont.
“Strawberry tart,” Belmont said. Leaning toward Merritt’s ear, he added, “That was my nickname in junior high. I had this pair of spotted pink briefs—”
“And two tap waters,” Merritt said loudly to the shopkeeper with a plastered-on grin, cutting Belmont off.
“Coming right up,” the man said.
“Oh,” Merritt called before the man could disappear around the corner. “I have cups.”
Belmont watched, mortified, as Merritt whipped two glasses out of his rucksack and handed them across the counter. The shopkeeper’s brows furrowed, but, after taking a furtive glance at Belmont, he grabbed the cups and turned toward the faucet.
“What the fuck was that?” Belmont whispered.
“You don’t want a cup that’s going to affect the flavor of the water,” Merritt replied. “The ones here are washed with scented detergent, so—”
“With every word you speak, you’re dragging me closer to hell.”
Merritt fell silent, but Belmont could tell that he was suppressing a laugh.
Buy The Water Date: Merritt’s Story Extra
