Title: Ricochet
Fear.
It's the last
thing I remembered.
I was
afraid.
Afraid to fight,
afraid to run… afraid to breathe.
Then, everything
had gone dark. As if life was finally hearing my pleas, my cries to end the
torment. To end the fear.
But even in the
dark, I still felt it.
I always felt
it.
My life had been
a ricochet of one event leading to the next. Bouncing back and forth from good
to bad. Happiness to despair. Hope to fear.
My name is
Arianna West. I'm stronger now. Steady. Alive.
I can find a way
to survive on my own. I can see what is coming for me. I can channel my fear
into strength.
Except… I didn't
see Jack.
And Jack changed
everything.
For readers 18+ due to language, violence, and
sexual content.
PLEASE CHOOSE 1 of the excerpts:
#1
I laughed. A laugh so deep that the muscles in my abdomen
flexed. How long had it been since I had felt that? Too long. I hadn't really
laughed in a long time and something so simple had brought it out of me.
Jack had brought it out of me.
"God, I missed that laugh," Jack
whispered.
I went silent, so suddenly that my breath couldn't keep up and
it came rushing out with the emotion that had been built up inside of
me.
Tears immediately sprang to my eyes and the heaviness in my
chest was back.
My life had changed so much. Everything
had changed.
"Jack..."
"Ari, please don't cry."
He had turned his body towards me and was holding my face in
his hands. The tears running down my cheeks didn't make it far. He wiped each
one away.
He saw the moment my control slipped and I just couldn't seem
to stop the tears. That's when he pulled me into his arms. Arms that had always
made everything better. Strong fingers combed through my hair, down my temple,
across my jaw, then retraced their way back up and into my hair once more. He
was giving me whatever comfort he could while I sobbed on his chest.
I should have been embarrassed about the quick change in my
mood. I should have felt ridiculous. Childish. With Jack, though, I never had
to worry about being anyone but myself no matter who I was now.
"So much is gone," I said in a broken and weak
voice. "So much is missing from me."
"No, Ari. You're still in there, babe, just a little
harder to reach."
I shook my head. In denial? I wasn't sure. He was only half
right.
"I've bent too far for too long. I'm broken," I
whispered. So much regret came pouring out of me and I couldn't control
it.
I had been slowly breaking for three years and my
determination to move on was waning much faster than I could ever keep up
with.
Jack buried his fingers in my hair and I felt the press of his
lips on the top of my head. When he spoke, the tone of his voice sounded
defeated. Resigned. "The world breaks everyone, and afterward, many are
strong at the broken places."
I sniffed as the rumble in his chest vibrated against my
cheek. His shirt was wet from my tears and I knew I looked like a mess, but I
looked up at him anyway.
"What is that from?" I asked.
"What? You don't think I could come up with something so
profound by myself?" he teased.
"I know damn well you could, Jack."
He looked at me for a moment, his eyes searching mine and his
fingers sweeping a lock of hair back behind my ear. If I didn't know any
better, I would think he was reading my mind, seeing all my secrets, all my
broken places. "It's Ernest Hemingway. He said that."
"Do you believe it?"
"I do. So much so that I tattooed it on my shoulder the
first chance I got," he mumbled with a short chuckle.
I glanced down at his shoulder. It was too dark to see much of
anything, but the moonlight streaming in the window showed enough when he
lifted his shirt sleeve. The words were there, permanently inked into his skin
just above a complex shape that I couldn't quite make out.
Or
#2
"No, Jack. It's over now, it doesn't matter. I don't have
the ability to focus on that part of my life. I've got too many other things to
take care of before I go back to being... well, a woman that just wants to be
loved." "Ari, I -" "Let me finish," I said sharply and
held my hand up in between us. He shut his mouth and nodded. "I know I
should be grateful for what I had and I have no one to blame but myself for the
decisions I made, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to be that woman. Every
woman just wants to find that kind of love, that kind of companionship, but I'm
not like them anymore." Jack's frown deepened and I could see that he
wanted to argue.
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I live in Morgan Utah with my husband, daughter, and dog,
Kolo. I write as often as my active daughter will let me and my husband has the
patience of a saint. I find inspiration from dreams, people I meet, and life
experiences. When I write, I usually end up drinking one too many cans of Peace
Tea, eating three too many Fruit by the Foot fruit snacks, and accidently
kicking my pup and best buddy, Kolo, too many times since he loves to sleep
under my desk at my feet.
I started writing as a teen, but my fear of
the unknown won out every time and I threw everything out. After becoming a
mother and deciding to stay at home to raise my beautiful little girl, I tried
again when I couldn't stop thinking of ideas. I loved every minute, every hour
of sleep lost, and every character that came to life in my mind.
It's strange, but my favorite moments are
when I have writer's block because I can turn to my husband and find
inspiration through him by just doing what we do best together. Talking,
laughing, and just being in love. He doesn't like to read, but he never stops
encouraging me to keep going.
Writing has become an important part of my
life and every book has a special place in my heart.
Thank you so much for sharing the blitz!! <3 <3 So amazing!
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