#TeaserTuesday: Trusting Tennyson

The team had the chance to review the first two books in the Out in Austin Series, Teddy's Truth and Shiloh's Secret, so we were thrilled that Trusting Tennyson releases next week!  In anticipation, please check out this exclusive excerpt~

From the blurb:

Book three in the Out in Austin series

Tennyson thought this would be just another undercover assignment. Catching feelings for two traumatized men wasn't part of the plan.

When FBI Agent Liam Tennyson was embedded in the La Familia cartel, he didn't expect to meet not one but two young men whose terrified eyes haunt his dreams—and stir up feelings he thought long buried.

Asher Downs left his homophobic family behind the day he earned his high school diploma. With little more than a bus ticket to his name, he moves to Austin to meet his online boyfriend, Devon. Unfortunately for Asher, life doesn't always go according to plan.

Misha might have been born as Dimitri, but now he answers to whatever name Master gives him. Snaring another innocent young man into this life is the last thing Misha desires. But Master gets what Master wants—and Master wants a matching set of toys to play with.

When a mole in the justice department compromises Tennyson's identity—and jeopardizes his plan to rescue Misha and Asher—Tennyson is left with no choice but to go on the lamb. Can the two traumatized boys learn to trust him to keep them safe?

Exclusive Excerpt 

Asher stepped off the Greyhound bus in Austin a hot mess—emphasis on both hot  and mess. Despite being nearly dusk, it was eighty-six degrees and climbing, and even  Asher’s sweat was sweating, pouring down his spine like a slip-and-slide. Of course, he  didn’t have deodorant, either, which explained the nice bubble of empty space quickly  forming around him. 

But while it felt like he was standing in a swimming pool inside an industrial oven,  he was ecstatic. He was finally in Austin, hopefully minutes away from seeing Devon. He scanned the crowd for the familiar blond hair, waving wildly when he finally  spotted it. Devon stood awkwardly near a large black SUV, his right hand gripping his  left forearm. Asher couldn’t see it, but he imagined Devon’s thumb was tapping  nervously over his pulse. 

Asher hoped Devon was as excited to see him as he was to be here. He wanted to skip as he made his way over but restrained himself to a fast walk.  He couldn’t keep the smile from breaking across his face. Devon seemed to grow paler  the closer he got, but he supposed it was okay to be nervous, since Devon probably had  the same fears he did. 

He was almost in touching distance when the driver’s door opened and a large,  vaguely familiar man stepped out. His hair was slate-silver, flecked with pepper, and he  wore a suit that looked expensive, a gaudy silver watch glinting on his wrist as he closed  the door. 

Asher slowed to a stop, frowning while he placed him as the man from the Skype  call, Devon’s dad—who Asher thought didn’t know he was coming, since Devon had said  he wasn’t accepting. 

“Devon?” Asher didn’t really know what he was asking but Devon answered only  with lowered eyes.

Instead, Devon’s dad smiled like a chainsaw—all threat and teeth—and Asher  almost stepped back. “You must be Devon’s friend,” the man said, dropping a large hand  on Devon’s shoulder. “Do we need to grab your bags, or…” He trailed off in question,  looking at Asher’s empty hands, and Asher flushed. 

“I got mugged at the bus station. Um…I’ve got this though.” He crouched quickly  and fished the sweaty, rolled up hundred-dollar bill from his sock and held it out.  Immediately, embarrassment flooded him, and he yanked it back, drying it off on his  shirt before extending it again. “Sorry…” 

The man waved him off. “Keep it, michi.” 

“Um, it’s Asher, actually,” he corrected hesitantly. 

Devon’s dad laughed. “Sorry, Asher. It means ‘kitten'. Your hair right now. It’s  just…” The man made a gesture by his skull, quirking his lips up. 

Asher swiped a hand through his hair, feeling the way it stuck up every which way,  then blushed, heat burning in his face. What an impression to make on a man predisposed  to dislike him. 

“Go ahead and take the front seat, Asher. Devon will be fine in the back. Won’t you,  boy?” Devon’s dad said. 

“Yes, M…Sir,” Devon stuttered, giving Asher an inscrutable look before climbing  into the backseat. Then, his dad held open the door for Asher with a bland smile. And  shark eyes, Asher thought, but after only a moment’s hesitation, he climbed in. 

He knew he was judging the man only because of things he’d inferred from his  conversations with Devon, but maybe things had changed. They must have, if his dad  had driven him here to pick up Asher. 

Asher sat in awkward silence as Devon’s dad navigated the large SUV onto the  street and started driving, presumably toward the apartment Devon had already rented  for them. All Asher knew was that it was within walking distance of a coffee shop and a  grocery store…and not too far from a bus stop, which was great, because first thing  tomorrow, he was going to have to find his way to a bank, cancel his debit card and  hopefully convince them to refund any fraudulent charges as well.

And he had to get a cheap cell phone at some point and probably a change of  underwear or two. 

But those were all tomorrow’s problems. Today, he was just going to be excited to  be here. 

He spun in his seat to look back at Devon, who looked even smaller in the large  bucket seats than he had on the computer screen. He was staring out of the side window,  his brows lowered over distant eyes. 

“So, Devon,” Asher said, feeling guilty for a second when the other boy startled,  “you gotta tell me all the cool places to visit. I want to experience everything.” Devon smiled, but it looked more queasy than excited. “Um… I don’t even know  where to start. There’s the, um…” He shifted his gaze to the side, toward the rearview mirror, and his dad cut in. 

“Devon’s kind of a homebody, but don’t worry. We’ll make sure you have lots of  new experiences now that you’re here. We’re so happy to have you.” Asher couldn’t help  but think that there was something a bit off about the way the man phrased it, but he  shook it away. It was obvious from the hint of an accent he had that English wasn’t the  man’s first language, if the Spanish he’d slipped in earlier hadn’t given it away. 

Which was funny, too, since Devon didn’t look like he had a hint of Hispanic in him,  not with his pale skin and hair. 

It was weird how genetics worked sometimes. 

Asher turned back to watch the road, staring at the hundreds of new things to see.  It was so different from Wilmington—everything brighter, both in terms of actual  sunlight and color. He didn’t know where to look. 

He was expecting them to pull up to an apartment complex—probably somewhere  a bit rundown, a place cheap enough they could afford it if they lived on a diet of ramen  and fruit snacks. Instead, they seemed to be driving to the outskirts of Austin, where the  houses grew larger and the lawns lusher—and the fences no longer chain link but ornate  wrought-iron.

Devon’s dad must have noticed the confusion on Asher’s face because he slowed  slightly and gave him a quick smile before returning his eyes to the road. “I know you  and Devon were planning on getting your own place, but I talked him into staying at  home for a few more months. That way you can save up some money. Besides, we have  a cook, so I’ll know he’s getting enough protein.” 

Asher glanced at the waif-boy in the backseat, with his cheekbones like cut glass  and wrists like crystal stemware—poised to shatter. 

He turned back to Devon’s dad. “You’re sure you don’t mind, sir?” “You can call me Dad or Mr. B. And no, I don’t mind at all. The more the merrier.”

Preorder your copy of Trusting Tennyson today so it will be ready for you on release day, August 9th!