Paralyze by JJ Asher

This is everything I’ve ever wanted, exactly what I’ve spent the last thirteen years denying myself of, and it’s happening in a filthy alley with the kid I swore I’d never touch.

Carey—twenty-one, flirtatious and sun-kissed, chasing a place that feels like home. His latest bright idea? Fly halfway across the world to a town he hardly remembers, to crash for the holidays with his estranged older brother who he’s scarcely seen in the past sixteen years. Only to arrive on his doorstep to find that brother AWOL and the entire contents of his apartment strewn across the front lawn.

Tek—thirty-four, exhausted, and barely holding it together. Deserted by his best friend and business partner, he’s left to carry the weight of a tattoo shop in the aftermath of an affair that sent staff numbers from four to one in the space of a single afternoon. He keeps his world small, and his hookups controlled on purpose. Then Carey walks in like a damn storm, making Tek question everything he ever knew about himself. Including why he can’t stop thinking about the golden tan of another man’s stomach.

Tek turns Carey away but desperation rewards his persistence with a job offer, and boundaries start to blur. Tek knows better. He’s spent the last decade with the world at arms length with iron clad rules that he breaks for no one, especially not the sunshine-smiling younger brother of his runaway best friend. But the more Tek resists, the more Carey leans in, and the line between right and wrong starts to look too appealing not to cross.

Abandonment may have brought them together, but loneliness is what keeps them close. And the one thing Tek swore he’d never reach for again might just give him the extra strength he’s always needed.

Paralyze is a slow burn, male/male romance full of angst, pining, and a whole lot of tension. It stars a brooding and grumpy tattoo artist with the world on his shoulders, and a surfer boy with a sunshine smile that makes him question everything. This is opposites attract; a true black cat/golden retriever romance at its finest. There is also a backstory of trauma, so please check the TWs.