Awkward Smiles by J.D. Light

Pierce Brown: If it weren’t for the one thing in the whole world I can’t leave behind, I would have escaped, or been killed trying by now. At nineteen, the prospect of dying trying to get away from a fancy hotel in Las Vegas shouldn’t even be a thought process you have, but a month in the presence of a man like Oscar Burns is enough to make you feel like evil is infecting your skin. When rescue comes in the form of Boston Long, I can’t help but be a little skeptical. It’s not just my well being at stake, and nothing has ever worked out as planned for me before. But Boston and his group of the strangest FBI agents ever prove how resourceful they can be, and soon I’m looking at living a life again. Boston can kind of come off like a serial killer, but there is definitely something about him I can’t get out of my head. And it’s not just the adorably awkward way he smiles. So, why didn’t he tell me we were mates? Is the prospect of mating with a nineteen-year-old who lives a life that is closer to that of a middle-aged man not exciting enough for someone who lives dangerously everyday?

Boston Long: I can’t believe it when I find my mate sitting obediently next to Oscar’s desk, like a little pet that jumps to it when the man says so. Just how loyal is he to the slime-ball of a human? When it becomes clear that Oscar is forcing Pierce’s compliance by holding on to something my mate can’t ever leave behind, the mission is…tweaked. Once we have Pierce and the rest of the chosen safely back at the leap house and Oscar locked in the bunker where we can question him, I’m still nervous about telling my mate what he is to me. He’s been through a lot, and I don’t want him confusing gratitude with actual feelings, but it might cost me when he finally finds out and thinks I don’t want him. When an old enemy wanting revenge shows up and releases Oscar and convinces him to come after what’s mine, I might lose everything. I might lose the only thin in a very long time that can make me smile…awkwardly.