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    Ebook88 pages1 hour

    Audible

    By Dawn Kimberly Johnson

    3/5

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    About this ebook

    Three years ago, cameraman Powell Perdue and quarterback Talbot Wojewódka called it quits, citing irreconcilable differences. Powell wanted to live honestly, while Talbot felt he couldn’t and still succeed in professional football. One knee surgery and a trade later, Talbot finds himself back in town and quarterbacking for the Raptors, a struggling expansion team. Powell’s also back, working as a cameraman for KJOC-TV, following two years in Amsterdam and a second failed relationship.

    When an interview meant as a publicity play throws them into each other’s path, they’re forced to face a love that never quite died and wounds that never fully healed. For any hope at a win, they’ll have to change up the game. Talbot must brave walking through his closet door and into Powell’s arms, and Powell must risk his heart one more time by standing his ground and giving Talbot a second chance.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDreamspinner Press
    Release dateJun 1, 2013
    ISBN9781623808280
    Audible

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    3/5

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    • 2/5
      2.5 stars. OK read, but the MC's got back together super fast.
    • 3/5

      This story shows what can happen when two men run not only from each other, but from the fact that they're gay. Or maybe the latter is the cause of the problem? Either way, neither Powell nor Talbot are being very mature in this story and now that they're over thirty and both back in their home town, it looks as if it's time they man up, face the facts, and do something to end their misery.

      Powell is a master at trying to outrun his problems. Not that it ever worked, but he kept trying. He is still in love with Talbot, but you wouldn't be able to tell from his behavior. To tell the truth, he has some reason to be upset with Talbot, and the wound from what Talbot did (or Powell thought he did) never healed. A chance encounter (in a club's bathroom of all places) finally leads to the long-needed confrontation. Not that it leads to the kind of outcome that I expected - or that makes sense.

      Talbot is as much an idiot as Powell. Not ready to come out when Powell asked him to, he also ran, burying himself in his football career. Not that it made him happy, and returning home and running into Powell again clarifies a few things for him as well. Talbot knows full well it is up to him to take the first step, but he also knows 'it takes two to tango', as they say. As it turns out, he has a couple more steps ahead of him than he thought...

      If you like stories about men who have run from themselves for years before they see the light, if you enjoy reading coming out stories, even if the closet doors open later in life, and if you're looking for a read full of drama, emotions, and deep passion, then you will probably like this short story.




      NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review.

    Book preview

    Audible - Dawn Kimberly Johnson

    Chapter 1

    SHOW me, Etta directed over their link. Powell dutifully did a slow pan of the street and surrounding area for his technical director. He’d already completed the B-roll footage of firefighters and police officers milling about as well as the arrival of an ambulance and engineers. Can you get a better view? Any closer?

    Already too close, according to the safety peeps, he explained. And for a better view you’re gonna need the bird.

    Bucky’s up there, and—he heard clicks and typing over the headset—getting some pretty damn good footage.

    Have her clear the area before we go live, okay?

    Gee, ya think? How long have I been doing this?

    Powell chuckled. Sorry, Etta.

    He soon heard the whomp-whomp-whomp of the KJOC-TV news helicopter growing more distant and glanced up to verify its retreat as it quickly became a speck against the bright blue summer sky. A distant sound of shifting dirt pulled Powell’s gaze back to ground level, but he saw nothing unusual. He examined the faces of the firefighters and cops. Had they paused in their activity—just for a moment—as if they’d heard something too? We’re coming to you in sixty, Etta said, breaking into his thoughts. Try to make the kid look good, huh?

    Powell snorted but said, You got it, boss. He quickly checked and rechecked his equipment before tucking his jet-black curls behind his ears and beneath his backward ball cap, before spitting out his gum and shouldering his camera, and before turning his focus on the pretty young reporter in front of him. Coco, we’re up, he announced. Her eyes grew big and round, and Powell said, Remember: location, width, depth, cause, solutions, cost, no injuries.

    Coco nodded rapidly as she leafed through a collection of notes in one hand while holding the KJOC news mic in the other. Powell could clearly see she’d gone a bit pale.

    Deep breaths, he reminded her.

    The reporter tossed her lustrous auburn hair, then smoothed it. She threw her shoulders back, straightened her suit jacket, and as she took three deep, cleansing breaths, a calm appeared to settle over her.

    Powell smiled encouragingly as he held up five fingers. We’re back in five, four, three…. Two, one. He pointed at her.

    This is Coco Cline, reporting to you live at the site of a sinkhole on the east end of Weddington Boulevard. It’s believed a cracked water main is the cause, and repair crews are nearby, attempting to shut off the flow. Coco took a step backward, smoothly turning toward the hole, and Powell tracked her with the camera. The depression is not very wide at approximately fifty feet, but it appears to be several hundred feet deep. Traffic is being rerouted at Shale Avenue….

    Good job, kid. Good job.

    He smiled, and Coco’s expression brightened infinitesimally. There are no reported injuries, but repair costs could reach into the tens of thousands…. Over her shoulder, Powell saw movement; people appeared agitated, fearful, one officer waving his arms and shouting like a maniac. This sinkhole is approximately the same size as one that appeared several blocks over on Calico Drive in 2005. At the time, engineers suggested the incident was yet another example of a failing infrastructure….

    Then he heard it, another faint shifting of dirt, which quickly grew to a rumble, causing Coco to falter in her report and glance around. Through his viewfinder, Powell saw a crack form at the edge of the hole and shoot jaggedly along the street for the heel of Coco’s knockoff Manolo.

    Fuck me!

    Shrugging off his camera, he leapt forward and grabbed Coco’s wrist just as the ground beneath her disappeared. Not surprisingly, she shrieked and kept shrieking. Powell fought back the urge to do the same and said, I’ve got you! I’m not letting go! She didn’t seem to hear him, because she continued screaming and then began kicking the air. No! Don’t do that—shit! He dug the heels of his boots in but felt himself teetering forward anyway, which was strange, considering he outweighed Coco by nearly a hundred pounds. Maybe hysteria weighs more.

    His gut froze as another crack appeared on his right and slowly made its way toward them as he squatted on the edge of oblivion. It moved at a pace that said, "I’m gonna getcha. I’m comin’ to getcha," like his Uncle Glenn used to do when Powell was five or so and went running and giggling throughout the house with the old man on his heels. The approaching fissure in no way elicited delighted giggles, however. Okay, time to go.

    Powell’s coworker was openly weeping now, staring into the darkness below her. Hopefully she wouldn’t remember any of this. He took a deep breath and shouted, Look at me, Coco! Slowly, too slowly, her big brown eyes found their way to his gray-green ones. Ya with me? She bit her lip and nodded. With every ounce of strength and determination in him, he pulled Coco up by her wrist and grabbed her jacket with his other hand. He straightened his legs and stumbled backward into the waiting arms of several burly firefighters, who dragged them away from the expanding sinkhole and deposited the two of them in a heap by the front of the news van.

    Powell lay in the street, trying to catch his breath and slow his rabbiting heart as a trembling Coco continued to weep on top of him. She didn’t seem eager to let go, and his shirt collar was

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