Clay Ferrill, $0.99, ISBN 978-1005608743
Contemporary Erotica, 2021

While the other stories by Clay Ferrill that I’ve read had been sexy-sexy-sex-sex all the time, Just Say No is almost a romantic tale.

Riley reminiscences about the young lads whose bikes had traveled up and down his lane in this one.

First there is Benny Gold, his teeny buddy with benefits. They are close, but Benny is distancing himself as they are about to head off to college, and Riley doesn’t know how to bridge the gulf between them. The sex is especially hotter, the more distant Benny is, and there’s something about this that is both sad and erotic all at once.

Things look up when Riley meets the teacher assistant Jaime Edison. Stocky, hung, gentle, but a beast in bed, he is the remedy to Riley’s heartbreak over Benny’s decampment. Of course, this is a work of erotica, so there’s no awkwardness in the first meet. Just wag that thing, reel that fellow in, and wham, instant sexy time. Won’t it be grand if real life worked as easily as this?

There is a tinge of sweet, gentle romantic undercurrent in the sexy times between Riley and Jaime, and I’d like to read more, but no. The author then has Riley making this way through several blokes some more like life’s a Grindr and we’re all chili paste or something, before finally going back to Jaime for a sweet happily ever after.

Maybe I’m just a boring old traditionalist, but once the author has reeled me in what seems like a romantic story in the first two chapters, I find that it’s like a plane about to take off and bring me to a happy place, only to have the pilot announce that the flight is being delayed for two hours so just sit on tight and go read a book or something—ugh, disappointing.

If anything, this one demonstrates that the author can write poetic about feels, and whether it’s about the highs of love or the downs of heartbreak, his narrative is evocative enough to make me experience the myriad emotions that Riley is going through. Riley feels, and I get the feels, and it feels good. Hence, it’s like cold water poured over me when the author chooses to switch lanes abruptly and go back to throwing various sex scenes that are sexy but rather frivolous in comparison to those brief moments when I get to read about sex and emotions.

I wouldn’t say no to Just Say No, as it’s a pretty fun, naughty read in many ways, but this one also shows me some hints of depths, emotional richness, and more—things that I’d love to experience more of while turning the pages. Just hints, sadly, so I almost experience a tantalizing hints of the greatness that this one could have been. Maybe one day.