Bad Boys Need Love Too: Nate: Bad Boys Need Love Too, #2

By Christa Tomlinson

Why Do Bad Boys Make You Feel So Good?

Everyone has had their experiences with him. The Bad Boy. The handsome jock with the hard body and perfect stubble. The confident man who's too handsome and sexy for his own good.

For Kevin Roberts that man was Nate McKinney. They met when Kevin joined Nate's gym. Nate expressed an interest in Kevin, but the shy nerd didn't believe the hot gym owner could be attracted to a man like him. Nate will have to do a lot of convincing to show Kevin that cute computer geeks are exactly his type.

Will Kevin succumb to Nate's seduction? Or will his insecurities prevent him from experiencing the strength of the passion that Nate is desperate to show him?

Bad Boys Need Love Too: Nate is a steamy gay romance full of drama, love, and explicit sex scenes. Nate and Kevin's novella is book two in a complete three book series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christa Tomlinson
• Release date: Aug 7, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386830160

Christa Tomlinson

Christa Tomlinson is an exciting up and coming author in erotic romance. Her first self-published novel, The Sergeant, was an Amazon Best Seller for Gay and Lesbian Erotica for seven weeks straight. Christa graduated from The University of Missouri-St. Louis with a degree in history. She loves to create stories that are emotional and lovely with sex that is integral to the characters' romantic arc. Her books include straight couples, curvy couples, gay, and multicultural couples. Love is love and everyone should have their story told. Christa lives in Houston, Texas with her two dogs, and is a retired roller derby player. email: [e-mail] Twitter:  @shockz314 Facebook: Christa Tomlinson Goodreads: Christa Tomlinson

Book preview

Prologue

S o what’s going on with you, Nate?

Nate leaned back in his patio chair. He and his two friends, Max and Gage, were sitting by the side of his free-form pool. I’m bored.

Bored with what? Max asked

Nate took a drink of his beer. I don’t know. With everything.

Gage snorted in disbelief. You can’t be bored at work, you’re running three fucking gyms.

Yeah, but it’s a routine now. There’s no challenge. I’m planning to expand to other cities, so that might help. But I still just feel, I don’t know... bored. I feel like I’ve got all this aggression and nowhere for it to go anymore.

Max’s low voice rumbled out. You’re not thinking you want to start fighting again are you?

Nah. I made it as far as I did without any serious injuries. Not gonna risk going back into underground fighting at this point.

Yeah, and you don’t want to risk messing up the pretty face that brings you all that attention.

Nate laughed along with his friends. But once it died down he came clean. Actually, I haven’t been getting that much attention lately. Or I guess I should say, I haven’t been paying attention to the attention. Haven’t had a date or been laid in about three months.

Gage choked on his beer at that statement. Nate rolled his eyes while Max pounded their friend on the back.

Once Gage got his breath back he asked, What? Three months! Fucking why?

Because I’m sick of screwing the same type of guy. Perfect hair, perfect muscles, perfect clothes. And everything smooth and waxed. Waxed legs, eyebrows, even their fucking balls are smooth. It’s like fucking a mannequin.

Gage was again choking on his beer and this time even Max was laughing.

I happen to like my silky smooth pretty boy. Gage frowned, picking at the label on his beer bottle.  Even if he isn’t exactly mine right now.

Gage was dating a guy named Joseph. Or at least he had been. Joseph had walked out on him when he’d caught Gage kissing a girl at Nate’s Fourth of July party a couple of weeks ago. Joseph isn’t the type of guy I’m talking about. He’s not pretentious and overly done. But lately every guy I meet is like that. And somehow the night always ends with a coy request for a free membership at one of my gyms.

Stop picking up men at the club, dumb ass.

Nate narrowed his eyes at his friend. We can’t all have hot, single guys ride into our shop on the back of a motorcycle. He saluted Max with his beer. Or have hot, single girls walk in to get a tattoo.

Max returned the salute but didn’t say anything. That was normal. Of the three of them, Max was the quietest.

Gage acknowledge Nate with a nod. True. But seriously. Stay out of the clubs if you want to meet somebody different.

He’s right, Max said. They say insanity is trying the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Trust me, that shit is true.

Nate stared out across his pool, watching as the colored underwater lights slowly changed from blue to purple to red. His friends were right. If he wanted a change, he was going to have to try something new.

Chapter One

One Month Later

Kevin tried to stay loose as the needle repeatedly plunged into his skin. He knew if he tensed up, it would only make it hurt more. To take his mind off the stinging pain, Kevin focused on the framed poster across from him. It was of a girl, naked from the waist up, her skin covered in brightly inked tattoos. She wasn’t even close to being his type, but he admired the picture.

The tattoos on the woman were intricate and deeply colored. Each line was sharp, the script elegantly curved. The work was done by Max, the guy currently tattooing him. Max hadn’t had his shop long, but he already had a reputation as one of the best in Houston.

Kevin had done his research when he decided to get some body art. When he’d first chosen Max, he’d had to wait for three months to get an appointment. It was worth it. Max had been working on a piece for him for the past two years and today was his final appointment.

He had a short break as Max turned away to change the color. Even though he always felt like he was cheating when he did this, like he was opening a gift before Christmas, he sneaked a peek down at his chest. He couldn’t see much from this angle, just that the yellow and blue of the figure’s outfit stood out brightly against the light brown of his skin. Max turned back to him, tattoo machine in hand.

Final stretch. Just gotta finish up some shading. You ready?

Kevin took a deep breath and nodded. Ready.

About forty minutes later, the machine finally came to a stop. Kevin held still for a few more moments as Max wiped him clean of the ink residue and small amount of bleeding. Max snapped off his gloves, looking over his handiwork with a grin.

Looks good. Go check it out.

Kevin got up to look into the full-length mirror on the far wall of Max’s station. Wow. This is so much better than just good. It’s amazing. Crazy amazing.

Up both arms and across his chest were characters from his favorite comic series, the X-Men. Xavier’s heroes and Magneto’s villains swooped and fought in a swirl of color, lightning bolts and red optic blasts. Wolverine and Sabretooth had the honor of being the centerpiece, locked in battle across his chest. Wolverine was winning of course. Kevin smiled, his hand hovering over the last piece on his chest that Max had finished today. Your work is stellar, Max. I mean that. He laughed a bit. Now I just have to get up the nerve to show it off.

Max gestured for him to come back over so he could cover the fresh work with dark plastic. He’d have to leave it on for a few hours.

Hey, man. Keeping your art private is all well and good. But work that amazing needs to be shown to the world.

Kevin laughed as Max handed him a card on tattoo after care. They were both aware that by now Kevin knew how to take care of recent ink, but Max was a stickler for making sure his customers received the best service.

I will. Just gotta get in shape first. Sitting behind a desk all day doesn’t exactly help me build up my guns.

Kevin followed Max out of the semi-private room and back down the hall to the front of the studio. All of the walls were painted a glossy black, and featured lots of art, some of it framed, some of it painted right on the walls. The mural on the big wall in the front was what had sold Kevin on Max’s work. It was a giant Alien vs. Predators piece, the two sci-fi beasts engaged in a furious fight. Since that was the look he’d hoped to achieve with his body art, he’d known he’d found the right guy. It had been worth pushing back his natural shyness to reach out to the artist and explain what he wanted.

Max rang him up for the several hours’ worth of work today. If you want to get in shape you should check out my buddy’s gym. It’s pretty cool. Then you’d be buff enough to show off that art.

Kevin shook his head as he handed over his credit card. Those places always seem a little much. A bunch of big, bald guys grunting, screaming and high-fiving each other after each bench press? No thanks.

Max laughed as he finished the transaction. Nate’s Gym isn’t like that, I swear. It’s laid back and friendly. The trainers there will push you, but don’t grind you beneath their boots to do it. He pulled out a card from a drawer. Go by and check it out. Make sure to ask for Nate and tell him I sent you.

Kevin took the card and looked down at it. Nate’s Gym was the actual name of the place. The info was on sharp white cardstock in strong clean fonts. All right, man. I will. And thanks again for this art. I love it.

Chapter Two

E nrollment is tapering off. We’re past the get beach ready surge and have quite a ways to go before the New Year’s Resolution rush. We need to come up with something in order to keep new guests coming in throughout the fall.

Nate was at the flagship location for his local gyms, running a staff meeting. They were in his large office, which also served as a conference room. A big window looked out onto the neighborhood. There was lots of pedestrian and cyclist traffic, which made this a perfect spot. He had managers for each of his three gyms of course, but he was very much hands on in the running of his business. He’d worked too hard and taken too many punches, literally and figuratively, to trust his baby in the hands of anyone else.

Nate looked around at the staff seated at the thick glass topped table. Any ideas? His assistant manager from the northwest suburban gym spoke up.

We could do one of those success story campaigns. Film a guy or girl who just started with us to record their progress. Once they’ve reached their goal, we can post it up on YouTube, our site and the rest of our social media. Put a spin on it, inspire people to come in and have their own success story.

Nate tapped his pen on the table. I like it. Those are always popular. It’ll take a few months for our candidate to have any results to show, but it’s a good long-term project. Anything we can do a little sooner?

A girl with her hair dyed blue and cut in a shaggy bob spoke up. Her name was Vanessa and she worked here at this location. She wasn’t management yet, but she worked hard and had a lot of good ideas. She’d probably earn a promotion soon.

"We need an app. Something people can use to track their progress electronically. I know there are already