The Final Sunday Stud Snippet
For the last four weeks I’ve posted snippets from the first couple chapters of my new WIP, King Stud, and I’ve been pleased and inspired by your positive feedback. Here’s one final look, and yeah, it’s a bit of a cliffhanger. What did you expect?
In hindsight she recognized the cliché: couples who know they’ve found the right person after taking all night. They had, and she knew. She told him things she’d told no one else, things about her parents and the way her father had gone A.W.O.L. after her mother’s death, and a little about Braden the rat-bastard who’d dumped her. She listened to his stories, about his oldest brother Niall’s perfect life, about Maeve and her Peter Pan Complex, about his dream of getting a contractor’s license and working for himself. And about Cherry. Way too much about Cherry.
He might have ended it, but it would be awhile before he let go.
At about three a.m. he complained his balls were so blue he’d be walking with a limp for a week, and she almost gave in. Weirdly, it was the sense of rightness that held her back. They’d get around to it, and she knew from experience that waiting a little made things better.
But it was so hard.
Sometime after four they both drifted off, only to have the persistent buzz of Ryan’s cell phone wake them up about fifteen minutes later.
“Huh?” Ryan said before Danielle even had her eyes open. “Shit. What time is it?”
Danielle rolled onto her side and scooted up on one elbow. “What’s going on?”
“Shh.” He placed a finger over her lips. “Shut up, Maeve. So what if there is someone here?”
After another short pause he swiped the cell phone to disconnect the call, mumbling profanities. “Cherry’s on her way over.”
Danielle sat up all the way, torn between diving under the covers and making a break for the window. “Why? It’s like four in the morning.”
“Make that nine in the morning.” He brushed a lock of hair out of her face with something close to his normal grin. “Guess we both fell asleep.”
He swung his legs over the side of the bed just as the front door banged open and footsteps pounded up the stairs. “Christ.”
“Ryan?” The voice was halfway between a screech and a yelp. “What the fuck? There’s some bitch’s purse in here.”
He covered his face with his hands, while Danielle sat frozen. She was about to meet the semi-ex-girlfriend in the most awkward way imaginable.
“Hey asshole.” Cherry’s footsteps were coming down the hall. Ryan jumped up, tearing through the room in about two steps and slamming the door behind him.
“Get out of my house.” Rage laced his tone like flames licking the surface of a dry pine branch. “Give me my fucking key back and get out.”
“You’ve got some girl in here. Don’t you want to introduce us?” Bodies banged gainst the bedroom door, as if she’d reached for the handle and he’d blocked her. “Come on out, honey. Ryan’s girlfriend wants to meet ya.”
“Give me her sweater and leave, Cherry. I mean it.”
“This sweater? What is it…J. Crew? Oh, your slut’s got good taste.”
“Cherry.”
That one word was so dense, so heavy with anger and frustration, it dragged Danielle out of bed and across the room. He’d loaded Cherry’s name with the impact of a blow, and she feared he’d follow it up with his fists.
“Fuck you, Ryan,” Cherry wailed.
Danielle gripped the door jamb, white-tipped fingers digging into the wood.
When Ryan spoke again, he sounded exhausted. “Just gimme the key and go.”
After a moment of heavy silence, they moved off down the hall. Then one of them stumbled, hitting the wall. “Ow, shit.”
“Cherry?”
“This is not over, Ryan.” The front door slammed.
Danielle backed away, tension humming through her.
“Damn it. She’s too drunk to drive.” Heavy footsteps marked Ryan’s passage down the stairs. “I’ll be back, Dani.”
The front door swung shut behind him. Slowly Danielle peered out into the hall. Her blue cableknit sweater lay on the carpet in a heap, alongside a silver key.
This is Grandmother’s house, after Ryan & Danielle get finished fixing it up. (Not to give away the ending or anything… )
