EXCERPT CHAPTER 3 - BREAKING FREE

NEW EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER 3 OF BREAKING FREE

From the way Spencer left, it was obvious that he didn’t want to be friends and that hurt. And now I’d have to spend three months in close quarters with him knowing that our fifteen years of friendship was just a joke to him.

“Hey, can we talk?”

“Isn’t it a bit late for that?” I said turning away from where he stood.

“Come on, man. Please.”

The hurt in his voice nearly strangled me but the thought of talking to him was worse. “Please just leave me alone.”

When he sighed in defeat and sat on his bed facing away from me, I finally relaxed a little. My uncle coming into the room destroyed that small amount of peace.

“Hey guys, it’s dinner time and you’re not skipping any meal on my watch.”

I struggled up and jumped from my bunk. I wasn’t hungry but I would humor my uncle. “I’ll go find Elliot.”

“Now wait a minute, Zay. For now, at least, you and Spencer will be eating meals together. I need to know you are at least capable of being civil to each other so you don’t ruin the camp experience for everyone around you.”

“Seriously, Uncle Tucker? I think you watched The Parent Trap one too many times as a kid.”

A chuckle came from across the room and I looked to see Spencer smiling at me. We’d each watched both versions of the movie a time or two ourselves. Would putting the two fighting kids together all the time work in our case or was it just movie magic? If my old friend kept laughing at my jokes and smiling at me with his cute dimples, it just might. And since when had the word cute come to mind when I saw those deep recesses in his cheeks?

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BREAKING FREE - Excerpt Chapter 1

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BLURB:
Isaiah Masterson - Can you believe it? First, my lifelong best friend leaves town without so much as a goodbye and stops my world cold. Fast forward one miserable year and my parents are divorcing and sending me to my uncle’s wilderness summer camp for three months. At seventeen, the last things I need are campfire songs and pine needle crafts. There was no way life could ever get better. That is until my missing best friend walks into my cabin at Western Breezes Summer Youth Camp and I realize that I have more than friendship on my mind.

Spencer Jackson - Some might think the worst day of my seventeen years was the day I left my best friend and long-time secret crush without ever saying goodbye. But that wasn’t it by a long shot. The worst day of my life was dark, evil and the reason I couldn’t let Isaiah know I was leaving. As my parents drove us out of Los Angeles, my life as I knew it, as I hoped it would be, was over. I could never go back. Or so I thought until my former crush showed up in my cabin at the wilderness camp. I’d been given a second chance to create the future I wanted. But I wasn’t so sure I could break free of the past, even with Isaiah’s help and the promise of a love I never thought possible.

COVER: 

CHAPTER 1 EXCERPT:

“So, this is home sweet home.” Elliot stood aside to let me in. “It’s not great but it works, I guess.”

“It’s not so bad,” I said taking in the room. There were two sets of bunk beds, a table and chairs, and two dressers. “Please tell me we have our own bathroom.”

“Yep. Through that door,” he said pointing “And that door is a shared closet. This year there will only be three of us in here. You, me, and a guy named…”

A loud bell rang and Elliot switched gears. “Campers are starting to arrive. Let’s go see how many cute girls we’ll have to choose from this year.”

I really wasn’t in the mood to check out girls. In fact, I hadn’t been since…well, in quite a while anyway. I wanted to get unpacked and get on with my summer. “No thanks. I’m just going to stay here. I’ll catch up with you later.” I suddenly felt so worn down.

It didn’t take long for me to pick a bunk – the top one on the right-hand side - and unpack my things. When my head was buried in the closet, putting my jacket on a hanger, I heard the door open. “Change your mind, huh?” It was either that or Elliot had already found a girl and was bringing her around to introduce her.

“Uh no. I’m sorry…”

My back stiffened and I stood up straight. That voice was as familiar to me as my own and it wasn’t my cousin’s. “What the fuck are you doing here?” I snarled, turning to face the person I liked and hated most in the world.

EXCERPT CHAPTER 7 - LETTING GO

Here is an excerpt from Chapter 7. This is the turning point in JC and Trevor's relationship. This will be the last excerpt before releasing on January 16th! I hope you'll grab a copy. AMAZON

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Holiday preparations went on as December started and by the time the kids were out of school for winter break, everyone was looking forward to their first Christmas together.

The last day of school for JC and the kids was December 18th. After classes, JC drove them home to find Trevor sitting quietly on the couch waiting.

“What’s wrong?” JC asked, sitting next to his boyfriend. There was something bad definitely going on.

“Is your phone off?”

JC took his phone out of his pocket and checked. “The battery died. Why, Trevor? What’s going on.”

Trevor looked at him, his eyes clouded with worry. “Your dad was trying to call you. He called me instead. I’m so sorry, James.”

“What?”

“Your mother was killed by a drunk driver last night.”

“Huh…” he said, leaning back against the couch. “I…I’m not sure what to think.”

“I’m sorry. I can’t imagine…you should call your dad,” he said, handing over his phone.

“Yeah…okay.” James walked stunned into the kitchen and dialed his father.

“Hello,” Cameron Croft answered.

“Hey, Dad. I just got the message.”

“Yeah, I tried calling your phone but…”

“My phone’s battery died,” he said softly. “What happened?”

Cameron Croft turned off the television show he was watching and sat quietly in his chair. “She was crossing the street in front of your aunt’s house and a drunk driver hit her. He was going forty in a twenty-five.

“God! I’m not sure what to say or to feel.”

“I know the feeling son. I was married to her for so many years, but I can’t bring myself to feel like I think I should. I mean, I’m sorry she’s dead but…I just don’t know.”

“Yeah. I feel the same. I guess I should come back for the service. Do they have anything planned yet?” He knew his mother’s family always had the service planned as soon as possible.

“Yeah, It’s the 21st at ten a.m. in Sheridan. If you come here and get me we can go together.”

“I…I don’t know if I can, Dad. Can I meet you there?”

“Yeah son, but it might help if you come home. You could go to his family or even to the cemetery and say goodbye.”

“I know I should, but…but I just can’t. Not yet.”

“Okay,” Cameron said quietly. “I won’t push you. I’ll see you in Sheridan. Maybe we can have lunch after the funeral.”

“You know we will,” James said with a smile. “I’ll see you soon, Dad. I love you.”

“I love you too, son.”

JC hung up the phone and wandered back out to the front room where Trevor was talking to his sons. They still didn’t know about their grandmother because they were shoveling snow when JC had come inside. “Hey, boys. I just talked to Grandpa Croft. Your grandmother passed away last night. She was hit by a drunk driver.”

“Wow,” Michael whispered.

“I’m sorry, Dad,” Benjamin said. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, son. Just in shock a little bit. I’ll be going to the funeral. I’ll leave the day after tomorrow and head down.”

“Do you want us to come,” Trevor asked, quietly.

“No. I’d appreciate it if you could stay here with the boys. I don’t want them to have to be subjected to all of the crap from Mom’s family.”

“Okay.”

JC started to walk from the room to call Jenny then turned back. “Let’s go out to eat tonight. I don’t feel like cooking. I’ll be ready in a few minutes.”

Dinner and the time at home after were somber as everyone struggled with their own thoughts and feelings on the Tragedy. Trevor wasn’t sure how JC was truly reacting, so he just watched and tried to play along. By the time they headed upstairs to bed he wasn’t sure how to approach things. Should he try to get him to talk or let JC make the first move?

“Is there anything I can do?” Trevor was in bed when JC finished up in the bathroom.

“I’m not sure. I don’t know what the fuck to feel. I know I should be sad but I’m not sure I can be. I loved her once, but now…I just don’t fucking know.”

“I’m sorry,” Trevor murmured, holding his arms open.

JC moved into them and buried his head in his shoulder. “I feel so guilty,” he finally murmured.

“Are you sure you want to go alone. I’d be glad to come with you.”

JC pulled away and moved onto his back. “I’m sure…I don’t want you exposed to her hate or her family’s disdain. It would only serve to tarnish our relationship.”

“Okay,” Trevor agreed. “But maybe while you’re there you should stop in Harper’s Rock and say goodbye to someone else.”

“You sound like my Dad,” JC complained. “I just don’t know if I can.”

“Why not?”

JC turned away from him. “I’m scared, and it’s too painful.”

Trevor reached out and touched his back. “You need to do it…for us. For our future. Please.”

“Okay,” JC whispered. “Goodnight Trev.”

“Goodnight James. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

EXCERPT CHAPTER 3- LETTING GO

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JC stirred when he heard a buzzing sound, but he was so comfortable he didn’t want to acknowledge it until suddenly the arm that had been draped over him was gone. He saw Trevor standing next to the bed, ending a call.

“Hey, the hospital just paged me. One of my newborn patients is ready to check out soon and I have to go examine him one more time before release. I’ll be back in about an hour and we can grab some breakfast.”

“Okay,” JC said softly, a smile on his face. “What time is it?”

“Nine a.m. Go back to sleep for a while,” Trevor demanded as he bent down and kissed him on the lips. “You’re still exhausted.”

JC’s eyes drifted closed and shortly after he heard the bedroom door shut he was asleep again. The next time he woke up it was a half hour later and there was a wet, cold nose on his bare back. “Morning Max,” he mumbled. “Do you need to go out?” The dog spun in a circle and jumped down off the bed, racing to the door with a whine. “I guess that’s my answer.”

Picking his pants up off the chair where Trevor had tossed their clothes, he slipped into them and followed Max out of the room and down the stairs. Apparently, Max had a doggy door and could take care of himself once he was out of the bedroom, so he followed the smell of coffee into the kitchen. A nice fresh pot sat in the coffee maker on the dark solid surface counter top. Pouring himself a cup he headed out to the living room to grab his phone and check for messages. The minute he activated the screen, the time and date popped up. The date…one forever burned in his brain stared back at him, obscuring the rest of the screen. His baby girl had now been gone for eight years.

He and Jenny had conceived her perhaps for the wrong reason…to try to resurrect their bond when both knew their marriage and a normal sex life had been doomed from the start. But he had loved that little girl from the minute he saw the positive pregnancy test…before he even knew if he would have a daughter or a son. Never once had he regretted her but sometimes he still felt guilty. Maybe if they hadn’t conceived her for such selfish reasons…

As Max came charging into the room, JC remembered where he was - at Dr. Trevor Alexander’s house after they’d had sex and spent the night in each other’s arms. How could he have betrayed his daughter like that? This man was the last person he should have been spending time with. What the hell had he been thinking?

Leaving his coffee cup sitting on the coffee table, he hurried upstairs to get dressed then rushed back down to find a pen and paper so he could leave Trevor a note. As good as everything had felt over the last two days, he couldn’t imagine himself continuing what they’d started. He was the wrong person at the wrong time. 

EXCERPT CHAPTER 2 - LETTING GO

Hey hey, here is the excerpt from Chapter 2 from Letting Go. JC and Trevor are just getting to know each other and it is going to be a hell of a ride. Enjoy! 

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JC rolled over in bed trying to silence his alarm…the alarm that was causing his head to scream at him. But this ringing wasn’t steady, it couldn’t be his alarm. The front door! Who in the hell would be ringing his doorbell at…shit! It was 10:30 in the morning. Apparently, he had slept through his actual alarm at eight a.m.

“Hold on!” he hollered out despite what it did to the throbbing in his head. He levered himself out of bed and hurried out to the living room in just his pajama bottoms. Whoever kept ringing the bell was going to get a punch in the gut if there wasn’t a damn good reason for it.

Opening the door with a clipped, “What!” JC stared into the stunning blue eyes of Doctor Trevor Alexander. After a moment of shock passed, JC squared his shoulders. “I thought you agreed that I would never have to see you again.”

A bright smile lit Trevor’s face. “Last night, before you got out of the car, you said, and I quote – I’ll see you later. So, I figured that was your way of saying that you actually did want to see me again. Besides, I brought breakfast.”

JC’s brain warred with his growling stomach and he finally stepped aside so Trevor could enter. “If that’s bagels and coffee, you’re my new best friend.”

“I guess we’re best friends then,” Trevor said with a smile as he headed for the kitchen. “Great place. I think this was Model III, right? I bought Model IV, but I liked this one too.”

“Yeah, this was my favorite but four wasn’t far behind.”

As Trevor set their food out on the breakfast bar, he looked up at JC. “Doesn’t the wife usually get the house?”

“Not this time,” he stated. “She didn’t want it; too many painful memories. She moved in with her sister, who is also divorced, and seems happy where she is. Besides, I was always a little bit too attached to this house I guess.” He didn’t tell the very handsome man standing before him that he was so attached because the real name of Model III was The Benjamin.

“Sit. Eat,” Trevor demanded as he took his own seat at the breakfast bar. “I hope you like cream cheese. And if I remember from last night, you like your coffee black.”

“It’s perfect, thank you. If you hadn’t stopped by I would have slept until after noon and wasted a whole day off.”

“We can’t have that now, can we. How do you feel about hiking?”

JC felt a little skip in his chest. It seemed he and the doctor might have something else in common. “My boys and I go hiking a couple of times every month. Why?”

“Max and I are heading up to the south loop of Elk Meadow Park here in a bit. I thought maybe you’d like to join us…sweat some of that alcohol out of your system.”

Max? Who the hell was Max? And why the hell did he care so much? Just as quickly as the green-eyed monster swelled up in his belly he forced it back into submission. He had no reason to be jealous. He didn’t even really like the good doctor. “I don’t know…I don’t want to interfere with your plans.”

“You wouldn’t be interfering. It’s just a man and his Rottweiler taking a hike in the beauty that is Colorado.”

“Your Rottweiler huh?” he mumbled. The green-eyed monster no longer had to be suppressed, he vanished – poof – into thin air. “Sure, I guess that would be okay, and you’re right I need to get this crap out of my system. I feel like shit.”

“No doubt. Why don’t you go take a shower and I’ll clean up here? Then we can go pick up Max and be on our way.”

JC stood and stretched. “Are you trying to tell me I stink?” He actually knew he did. He smelled heavily of booze.

“You smell like you’ve been sweating alcohol. But I’m not complaining. I do think a shower would make you feel better, though.”

“You’re right, it would. I’ll be right back.”

“Wait, before you go,” Trevor said as he grabbed JC’s arm to pull him back. “I’ve been wanting to do this since I noticed you staring at me last night.” Their lips met for a brief kiss that held so much promise.

“Really?” JC murmured as he turned and fled to the bathroom. Now, through his whole shower, he would be thinking about that kiss and the totally attractive man who had given it to him. His body would be aching even more when he was done than when he first stepped into the stall.