EXCERPTS
These are selected excerpts contained within Broken Boys Beyond Friendships. These excerpts are intended to give the reader a sense of my writing style and a glimpse inside the book without giving away any of the book’s secrets.
“Anyway,” Blake continued, “once the girl said they were twins, I could see they shared similar features and mannerisms. And the way the other kids acted around them suggested they were part of the in-crowd.”
“Did that intimidate you?”
“No, but I wasn’t preppy. I was a California beach kid in New England, so I felt and looked like an outsider.”
Jillian smiled.
“You find that interesting?” Blake asked.
“I do. You should hear how my mother describes seeing you.”
“Oh? Please share!”
“My mom said that she remembers getting out of the car and seeing a bunch of her friends. But she also remembers seeing you leaning against the gymnasium building. She said you looked like a brooding Matt Dillon.”
“Brooding? I wasn’t brooding!”
Jillian laughed. “She also thought you were extremely sexy.”
“Really? She thought I was sexy?”
“Oh yeah! She said that, with your golden skin, you looked like you had just stepped off the beach. She said your hair looked and shone like corn silk in the sun. Oh yeah, and she said you were wearing flip-flops.”
Blake laughed. “Well, to some degree, I had recently stepped off the beach. Only it was a couple of days earlier.”
“‘You don’t like these conversations?’ Logan asked.
“‘That’s not what I said. I like that you make me stop and appreciate the world’s beauty.’
“‘Good!’ Logan replied. ‘Otherwise, I would have had to hit you!’
“‘Like that would change anything,’ I said while punching him in the arm.
“Logan laughed and hit me back as he said, ‘Look, in the five minutes you babbled on, thousands of stars have appeared.’
“‘I didn’t babble, and wow—I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many stars.’
“‘I bet each star is a person who has died, and the light from that star is the person’s soul keeping watch over their loved ones.’
“‘Dude, have you been smoking dope?’ I said, trying to lighten the mood.
“‘Cali, look at them!’ Logan demanded. ‘How can something so beautiful be random and without purpose?’
“‘You’re pretty random and without purpose,” I replied.
“Logan scowled at me, and I knew he was going into one of his moods.”
“At that moment, a random meteor shower occurred,” Blake said to Jillian. “Hundreds of shooting stars illuminated the sky and then blackened as they came through the atmosphere.”
‘Whoa,’ Logan said. ‘Did you see that?’
‘That was freaking amazing!’ I replied, staring into the sky.
‘I wonder if those are stars being reunited with their loved ones?’
‘Alright, Dude,’ I said. ‘You know I love hanging out in the rabbit hole with you, but we need to get back to the guys.’
Logan rolled onto his side and punched me in the arm as he said, ‘Cali, you’re lucky. If I were one of those stars, I’d be sure to land on your head!’
“In the morning, Logan and I went to a surf shop. Logan bought us some board shorts, wet suits, and longboards,” Blake said.
“Longboards?” Jillian asked.
“Yeah, longboards are easier to learn on. They don’t go as fast, and you can’t maneuver as much, but they’re more stable, and you can get a longer ride. When you see surfers jumping waves and doing cool tricks, they’re usually on shortboards. Anyway, Logan and I spent most of the day surfing and hanging out at the beach. When the sun started to set, we were hungry, and the air felt cool against our wet salty bodies. So, we decided to head back to the hotel.”
‘This was an incredible day, Cali!’ Logan said as we walked back to the hotel. ‘Probably one of the best days I have ever had!’
I put my arm around Logan’s shoulder and said, ‘Dude, this is only day one! We have thousands of days like this ahead of us!’
We dropped our boards off with the bellhop and ran to the elevators, ‘what should we have tonight?’ I asked. ‘Pizza or burritos?’
‘Burritos!’ Logan replied.
Once we reached our floor, Logan darted out of the elevator, saying, ‘I call dibs on the shower!’
‘No way,’ I said, chasing him down the hallway.
“Logan reached the door first, but I was right behind him. We wrestled with the key. As the door opened, we fell into the room and continued to wrestle on the floor. Then, Logan stopped laughing and fighting back.
‘You two look happy,’ I said. ‘I assume you had a good day?’
‘Yeah,’ Eden replied. ‘We found our costumes for Halloween.’
My eyes widened. ‘Do I dare ask?’
‘Oh, Dude, you’re so going to love them,’ Dillon said with a huge smile.
‘I’ll be the judge of that,’ I replied, sounding skeptical.
Dillon smiled as he pulled out a pair of leather short shorts and a harness from a bag and tossed them to me. ‘Totally cool, right? I can’t wait to see you in them!’
I held up the shorts and harness and said, ‘You want me to wear this?’
‘Yep,’ Dillon said proudly with a big grin. He then pulled out another pair of short shorts and harness from the bag. ‘I have the matching set.’
I looked at Eden, who had a similar size smile as Dillon. She pulled out a pair of thigh-high leather boots with six-inch heels, a matching leather thong, and a brassiere with spikes. ‘I’m going to be your mistress,’ she said as she cracked a whip, she pulled from the bag.
Dillon then emptied the remaining contents of his bag, revealing two dog collars, two leashes, and two pairs of logger boots.
I picked up the boots and looked at them. ‘These look expensive.’
‘Oh Blake, don’t be a downer. You can’t put a price tag on memories,’ Eden said. ‘Besides, I bought everything with my dad’s credit card.’
‘Won’t he be mad?’ I asked.
‘I doubt he’ll even notice,’ Eden said. ‘Blake, you worry way too much! This will be so much fun—I can’t wait!’
‘Dude, I’m at a cocktail party with a bunch of creepy old gay men. I think they plan to make me the entree. My Jeep’s at Diebolds’ place. Can you come and get me the hell out of here?’
‘Yeah, of course,’ Dillon said. ‘Give me the address; I’ll be right over.’
“I went back to the living room. The minutes seemed like hours, and I wondered how long it would be before Dillon showed up. Then, as Bruce refilled my glass with wine, we heard the sound of a horn in the front yard.”
Bruce looked out the window and said, ‘There’s a guy on a motorcycle in the front yard.’
I got up and looked. ‘That’s my roommate,’ I said, heading for the door.
‘I wonder what he’s doing here?’
Diebold and two of the guys followed as I opened the door. ‘Hey, what’s up?’ I yelled to Dillon.
Dillon grabbed the helmet from the back of the bike. ‘Dude gotta go. There’s a situation at home, and we need you.’
I ran down the stairs and grabbed the helmet from Dillon. ‘Sorry guys, I need a rain check.’
“Before they could answer, I was on the bike, and Dillon revved the engine.”