The Geek and His Artist by Hope Ryan

Simon hated school vacations. If he gambled, he’d have bet money he was one of a very, very few students who didn’t look forward to the Christmas holidays. But first off, there was no Christmas in his house, at least not since his mother was alive. She used to make sure the tree got put up and there were a few gifts under it for him. He had no idea how she managed it, because he was pretty sure The Bastard hadn’t given her any money, though it was possible she got it the same way Simon did now: by simply taking it from The Bastard’s wallet.

The Bastard never seemed to know how much he had anyway, always assuming he’d spent it at the bar. He would still take the lack of money out on Simon. But he never seemed to get blamed, for whatever that was worth.

The last few years, however, The Bastard hadn’t even bothered to pretend there was a Christmas. Simon had tried, the first year after his mother died, to put the tree up. The Bastard had immediately torn the thing apart and smashed all the ornaments. Simon had rescued a few he’d made in school when he’d cleaned the mess up and hidden them in his wardrobe. He’d never tried again to decorate.

This year had been no different. He’d left his few things in his wardrobe, kept to himself in his room, and tried not to spend the day missing his mom.

It wasn’t just the lack of holiday that made Simon dread the break. He hated being forced to spend time with his asshole of a father, hated being stuck in the house. Yet again The Bastard was out of work, so most of his time was spent at home, making it difficult for Simon to sneak out. He did his best to spend the time in his room, but that didn’t always work either. He was responsible for cooking for The Bastard—and himself, if he was allowed to eat—and cleaning the house, which meant that he couldn’t hide in his room all day.

He spent as much time there as he could, though, which caused its own problems. While it was an escape, before long it started to feel a little too much like a prison also. He wanted out of the room, but until he was sure The Bastard wouldn’t call for him, he didn’t dare try to leave.

Simon glanced at the clock and sighed when the green six mocked him. Usually, The Bastard would have gone out drinking by this time. Most of the time, he’d come back drunk enough to not even look for Simon, flop down into the recliner in front of the TV, and pass out shortly thereafter. But today was the day before “payday,” so The Bastard was instead cursing at the latest episode of How I Met Your Mother and in general being an ass.

Simon pushed the self-pity away, annoyed with himself for it, and dug out his sketchbook and pencil. He’d gotten good at hiding it quickly if the door opened so The Bastard couldn’t destroy his drawings. With another deep breath, he opened the pad to a fresh page, clicked his pencil a few times to get a point, and closed his eyes. When he had a solid picture in his head, he put pencil to paper and got lost.

You can find The Geek and His Artist at Amazon About The Geek and His Artist: Simon Williams spends his lunch periods drawing his geek and trying not to think about the terrors waiting for him at home. He needs to get away from his abusive father before he suffers the same grisly fate as his mother. Because he's learned the hard way running away doesn’t work, he’s counting the days until his eighteenth birthday.

Jimmy Bennet should be spending his lunch studying so his senior GPA is good enough to get him into college, but he can't seem to focus thanks to his distracting artist. When he’s given the opportunity to tutor Simon in Trig and discovers Simon’s home-life nightmare, he wants nothing more than to get Simon out of danger. This need becomes more urgent when Simon comes to school the Monday after their first date with bruises, but it takes a broken leg before Jimmy can convince his boyfriend the Bennets really want him.

But the danger Simon thought was past shows up at the most unexpected time, and he must stand up to the fears he’s held so long to protect not only himself, but the man he wants to spend his life with.

About Hope Ryan and where to find her:

HOPE RYAN is an out and proud bisexual, wife of a loving guy, and mother to three, including an amazingly brave gender-fluid son. She loves to write about the tough stuff, but also wants to see her characters happy in the end. She feels strongly about showing there is hope for everyone, no matter where you come from, how you identify your gender, or who you love.

Hope likes to play board and card games and can often be found playing God with her Sims or running around, fighting monsters in a virtual version of Middle Earth. Her TV and movie preferences lean towards anime, sci-fi, and fantasy, though she’ll never turn down a good happily ever after love story, either. As long as there are explosions or action, she’s happy. She loves to read books of all kinds, though prefers stories about love in its many forms.

Come join us on Facebook at Grace’s Groupies where you can find out more about Hope and Grace, hang out with other fans and authors, and have fun!

Website: www.hoperyan.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hoperyanauthor Email: [email protected]

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The Geek and His Artist
By Grace R. Duncan writing as Hope Ryan
 
Can Simon get past his fears and take Jimmy's offer to get out of danger?
 
Simon Williams spends his lunch periods drawing his geek and trying not to think about the terrors waiting for him at home. He needs to get away from his abusive father before he suffers the same grisly fate as his mother. Because he's learned the hard way running away doesn’t work, he’s counting the days until his eighteenth birthday.

Jimmy Bennet should be spending his lunch studying so his senior GPA is good enough to get him into college, but he can't seem to focus thanks to his distracting artist. When he’s given the opportunity to tutor Simon in Trig and discovers Simon’s home-life nightmare, he wants nothing more than to get Simon out of danger. This need becomes more urgent when Simon comes to school the Monday after their first date with bruises, but it takes a broken leg before Jimmy can convince his boyfriend the Bennets really want him.

But the danger Simon thought was past shows up at the most unexpected time, and he must stand up to the fears he’s held so long to protect not only himself, but the man he wants to spend his life with.
 

Young Adult Contemporary Romance
320 pages
Cover Artist: Kathryn Bone
Editor: Tricia Kristufek
 
Current Edition (second) – Independently published – October 23, 2020
Buy on Amazon 
Also available through Kindle Unlimited