Sunday Snippet: Drowning Pull

Greetings to the month of September. I'm kind of not ready for it yet, mainly because once the calendar changes to the ninth month, it seems like October, November, and December zoom by super fast.

Had a great work week and made some progress on my new venture. I'm crossing my fingers I'll be able to launch sometime between October and December. Another reason I'm not quite ready for the new month.

Decent viewing week. I'm not quite caught up on everything, but I'm getting there. I did make a full rotation of my usual shows but I'm off schedule, which confuses my weird brain.

Got two episodes of Only Murders in the Building watched and I'm kind of loving this show. Had a great conversation with my daughter, who also loves it.

Caught an episode of Blue Heelers and kind of thought a couple of the characters were acting unlike themselves. But I did like the mystery.

Enjoyed another MasterClass lesson with Roxane Gay. She did another workshop and talked about finding your voice as a writer. Very good stuff.

Finished up The Babysitters Club and I'm so bummed there aren't any more episodes left. I'll be starting a new show this week but haven't decided which one yet.

Watched two episodes of Classic Rugrats. The Chanukah episode is one of my favorites and I always enjoyed watching it with the kiddos. The Mother's Day episode is also up there even if it's a little bit of a downer.

Started Resisting Roots, a Passionflix original. So far, I'm enjoying it. Looking forward to finishing up this movie.

Caught another episode of Chicago Med and struggled to stay interested. I liked two of the storylines and didn't really have much invested in the other two. Season five might be my last one.

Enjoyed another episode of Batman: The Animated Series. This one introduced the Joker and my major appreciation for Mark Hamill's portrayal of the iconic bad guy started all over again.

Watched the Christmas episode of Ted Lasso and thoroughly enjoyed it. Ted having Rupert's number made me happy. Also loved Roy in this one. And I'm finding a deep appreciation for Keeley. I really love the dynamic she has with Rebecca. Jamie … I absolutely dislike with an intense passion. Just saying. Coach Beard is awesome. And so is Nate.

Caught another episode of The Brokenwood Mysteries. I'm kind of bummed I only have one more left of the season. This show makes me happy.

Finished up the second part and final episode of Silent Witness's season nineteen. Looking forward to starting the new one next week.

Watched another episode of Classic Who. I'm a little lost with what's supposed to be going on but I had a few distractions while I was watching this episode. Looking forward to the final two for this season.

Enjoyed another Strangest Things. This one had several fun artifacts. One happened to feature in a middle grade book I edited a few years ago. Very fun to see a breakdown of the item the author wrote about in his book.

Caught another episode of The Book of Boba Fett. I actually love this show a lot. It's right up there with The Mandalorian. I'm hoping there will be another season of this one.

That's pretty much it for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Drowning Pull, a novella that explores one way grief brings a couple together.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Lane Addison drowns his grief over losing his brother in alcohol, until a blonde distraction sits down beside him. Injured and off the circuit, Weslee decides to have a pity party for one until she sees someone deeper in the well than she is. A hot hookup later, Lane thinks he's found the perfect woman in Weslee, until she mentions her fiancé.

And a snippety peek…

Shit. What the hell am I doing?

Weslee dashed back into the apartment, hastily donned shorts and a tank top then went to greet Brad. "Okay, totally obvious what happened last night. But—"

Brad waved a hand. "Whatever, Wes. One-time thing, right?" He dumped his bag by the door then moved into the kitchen to start making some coffee.

Weslee blinked. He's shrugging off the indiscretion? Wow. His lack of giving a shit spoke volumes about what he'd probably been up to on the road.

She glanced at the door. Watching Lane leave hurt more than it should, especially after one night. And it broke her heart a little to see his eyes go flat and dead again—like they'd been when she met him in the bar.

The difference from the night before when they'd shared her bed almost took her breath away. When he asked if he could see her again, she had a moment of indecision, wanting to possibly pursue something with him … but she had to be honest—a little late, but necessary. And Lane had rightfully shut her down. Her own stupid fault for being depressed and moody and taking one night to do whatever she wanted, no holds barred. She honestly didn't want to examine the reasoning too closely right now, because she wouldn't like what it said about her state of mind.

Entering the kitchen, she grabbed a mug.

Brad leaned against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. "How did your appointment go?"

Surprised he even remembered, she didn't mince words. "After this week, I'm cleared to do PT on my own and I can compete, but..." She paused a moment, the decision sitting heavy on her shoulders. "I run the risk of doing further damage that I won't come back from." She met his gaze. "So, I'm done professionally. I'll do exhibitions and hopefully stay on as an ambassador for the sport." She stirred some creamer into the coffee.

Brad pushed away from the wall. "You know, Wes … that doesn't really work for me. We're supposed to be a golden couple, one on the ice, one on the snow. If you're out, maybe we should end things now." He shrugged, almost like ending an engagement ranked with ordering a pizza.

Angry, Weslee called him on the bullshit. "Right. Let me get this straight. You're fine with me sleeping with someone else, but you'll break our engagement because I'm no longer going to be pro?" How did that make sense?

And she might have let a potentially great thing walk away because she couldn't end things with Brad herself.

He rolled a shoulder again. "Look, mistakes happen. You hooking up with someone else, especially when I'm on the road, well, it would've happened sooner or later."

He told on himself with every word, pretty confirming her suspicions about what he got up to when the team traveled. She could kick herself for not confronting him about it. And she hated herself for being no better than him.

Brad propped a shoulder on the door jamb. "Your professional days ending changes the dynamic a little too much. Won't be mutually beneficial anymore and I have to think of my career, especially when it's still going strong."

And if that didn't lay everything on the line, and distill Brad's priorities down to their essence, nothing else did.

She nodded toward the door. "In that case, I'm keeping the apartment. Get whatever you need for a few days and go crash with one of your teammates." She dumped the coffee into the sink. "I'm getting a shower. Be gone when I'm done. You can arrange a time when I'm not here to get the rest of your stuff." She left the kitchen without looking back.

And wondered why her heart felt more bruised over the lost chance with Lane Addison than it did for a broken engagement.

This story deviates a little from the regular path but I'm kind of happy with where it's going. I like to challenge myself and getting Weslee and Lane to their happy end is stretching me to see things from a different perspective.

 

That's it for this week. Happy reading!

Skylin