Short Stories

NEW BEGINNINGS (A Downey Series flashback)

(A Flash fiction featuring a young Tommy Gates and Kyle Anderson from the Downey Series)

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NEW BEGINNINGS

by Genevieve Dewey

Tommy’s favorite thing to do after school was cut through the park and play Hunt the Bad Guys in the baseball diamond. He’d walk straight to Aunt Claire’s house like he was supposed to, wait for his mother to call and check on him before she left for her other job, then sneak out while Claire watched her soap opera. Mama would freak if she knew he was wandering around alone—Omaha was by far the biggest town they had lived in so far—but the way Tommy saw it, he was only a couple weeks from turning ten. And once you hit the double digits, you were practically an adult.

He always began his game by sneaking behind the man-sized trunks of the cottonwood trees nearby and ambushing the bad guys that were after him and his mom with a gun he’d made out of wood and rubber bands. Then he would run a Coke bottle along the fence and imagine the chink-chink-chink was the sound of prison bars closing. There was weeping and teeth gnashing and the classic ‘I would’ve gotten away with it if it hadn’t been for him!’. The grand finish was pretending the snow-like seeds in the air were confetti celebrating his victory over the bad guys. He was never a cop or anything like that, though, in this game. Just a regular kid. That was why they were throwing the party, because he was a kid hero. And Mama would say, “That’s my little man!” and the kids would have to stop teasing him. In his mind, the bad guys often had the amalgamated faces of the boys who teased him. Ironically, it was the one constant in his life, other than Mama and Uncle Jack. Everywhere they lived, there were always bullies who taunted him about his run down, out-of-date clothes and having no family.

The best part was after Tommy’s victory over the bad guys, his father would come out of hiding—because he wasn’t really dead—and he’d bring with him a whole score of aunts and uncles and cousins and Tommy would have a big boisterous family like Aunt Claire had. Uncle Jack always joked that the Andersons had made an Olympic sport out of having children, so they did their part as Underwoods by not having any. Tommy reckoned he just said that to take Aunt Claire’s mind off the fact she couldn’t have her own kids. But Tommy figured there’d be nothing more fantastic than having a big family because it meant he’d never be alone. There’d always be someone he could count on wherever he went.

He was laying in the browning grass watching the fluffy white clouds glide behind the water tower when he heard the tell-tale crunch of leaves. He grabbed the rubber-band gun and rolled over like soldiers did in the movies. In front of him was a boy a few years older than Tommy in a Catholic school uniform. He had neatly combed brown hair and a big grin.

“Oh, sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. Aunt Claire told me to come look for you,” the cheerfully bored-looking boy said. Tommy always figured ‘cheerfully bored’ was the best way to describe that type of person that never seemed to mind having nothing to do. This kid was one of Aunt Claire’s many nephews and nieces that came to visit from time-to-time. Tommy couldn’t remember what his name was… something with a ‘K’.

“I’m Kyle, remember? From the picnic on Sunday?” Kyle said then flopped down on the ground next to Tommy, head on his crossed arms. Tommy stared in stunned silence for a moment then mirrored his body language.

“I’ll just pretend I found you in a bit, if that’s alright with you. I just gotta get away from Motor Mouth for a while.”

“Motor Mouth?” Tommy asked.

“My sister. She never shuts up. And I mean never,” Kyle said. “And she constantly follows me around. It’s the pits having a sister sometimes. And I got three of ’em.”

“What a pain,” Tommy said, but really, he figured it would be neat to have a pesky little sister.

“Saw you playing cops and robbers, but I figured you wouldn’t want me to bug you or anything. I’m going to be a cop when I grow up, I figure. Or a fire fighter.”

“I’m going to play professional hockey,” Tommy said. This was the nicest any kid had been to him in the four months they had lived here and he wondered how long it would last. He hoped this was one of those Anderson kids that lived nearby in Ashland. It really was hard to keep them all straight. It’d be nice to think he could finally have a friend, even if it was just a sometimes friend.

“Hockey?”

“Yeah, and I’m going to get rich and famous and buy my mom a mansion and a billion servants so she never has to work again.”

Kyle nodded his head a few times on his arms.

“Your mom’s the new choir director at St. Augustine’s, isn’t she? What’s your dad do?”

Tommy pressed his lips together and glared at the letters on the water tower until they merged a bit.

“He died. He was in the military,” Tommy finally said.

He had made that one up on the first day of school. He figured with Offutt Air Force base south of town people would buy it pretty easy. The truth was he had no idea how his dad died or what he had done for a living or even what his name was. Mama refused to talk about him. Tommy figured it had something to do with the bad guys that made them be on the run. He liked to imagine his dad had died a hero protecting them, like somebody in the military would. So that was going to be his story as long as they lived here.

“Oh. Sorry,” Kyle said softly after a minute. “That’s tough.”

Tommy shrugged.

“Kyyyyyyle,” a girlish voice called out.

“Ugh,” Kyle sighed as he got up from the ground. “Well, it was nice while it lasted. C’mon,” he held out a hand to help Tommy up. “Bet your mom’ll be by to pick you up soon anyway.”

“Yeah,” Tommy mumbled.

As they cut across the park towards the Underwood house Tommy felt a shiver cross his body. He stopped and looked over his shoulder. He scanned up and down the park but it was just kids and moms and parked cars. He figured he was just beginning to get as paranoid as Mama was so he shook it off with a laugh and jogged to catch up to Kyle and Motor Mouth. Tommy’s relief at Kyle’s welcoming smile and the idea he might have made a new friend had him on cloud nine all the way home. It also caused him to miss the Rolls Royce that pulled away from the curb and followed them there.

Copyright 2013 by Genevieve Dewey, All Rights Reserved.

~~~

You can read more about The Downey Series HERE.

Any Facebook addicts amongst the Downey/Dom&Kate fans?

I’ve set up Book Pages for each of the books on Facebook. I was nudged into this by some author friends. I admit it’s kind of a cool idea in that you can both “like” the Book AND “add” it to your list of books you’ve read on Facebook. This helps me immensely in search engines and when you click on that nifty “what are you doing right now” button in your status you can say you are reading my book (if you are, lol) and it will link people. Pretty cool huh? So, if you want to help, click “like” then “add”.

What’s in it for you? Well I will be posting snippets from the books on there, supplemental fictions, Pinterest pins, etc. Sure, you can still get these things here and on the my Facebook Author page too but these will be specific to the books. In the case of Third Time’s The Charm you can stay up to date without having to wade through other updates.

THANK YOU as always for your wonderful support!!!!

 

For the Dom & Kate Fans:

The Bird Day Battalion Book Page

The V-Day Aversion Book Page

 

For The Downey Trilogy Fans:

First, I Love You Book Page

Second of All Book Page

Third Time’s The Charm Book Page

It’s #Flashback time! Dom and Kate style…. | #ASMSG #BYNR |

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Here’s a little young love–erm, confusion–to read on a Friday night. Ever wondered about that game of Spin the Bottle that Katelyn mentions in Bird Day Battalion? Well, here’s a flashback to that night. I haven’t made up my mind whether it’s going into the Dom & Kate novel yet. PLEASE, tell me what you think! 🙂

 

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Fourteen years ago

 

“Hey, Motor Mouth!”

Katelyn continued walking, her arms pumping, hands balled and her eyes squinted in a fine line. This was the second week in a row that Dominic had followed her home from school. True, he lived next door, but he always took a separate route home. Except the last two weeks he had followed her and her—hopefully—boyfriend Humphrey the whole way mocking poor Humphrey’s name—he couldn’t help his name could he?—until Humphrey had refused to walk her home anymore. She figured Dom would stop then, but no, here he was.

“Come onnnnn, Skate…”

Katelyn swiveled on her heel and placed her fists on her hips.

“I…Told…You…To…STOP calling me that!”

Dominic ran a hand through his floppy curls—the only almost fifteen year old boy she knew who could have curls and still seem cool—then he grinned. He took a few more lazy strides to catch up and mimicked her stance. She complemented her glare with a pathetic sneer, pathetic because she sort of wanted to laugh at his superman pose. Dom had that effect on her, and it was one of the many things she hated about him. It was not natural or normal for a person to dislike another person the amount she disliked her obnoxious neighbor and yet he always knew how to get a laugh or smile out of her.

“Ok, I’ll stop calling you Motor Mouth. It’s your stupid brother’s nickname anyway.”

“Kyle is not stupid! And I meant Ska—”

“I was just wonderin’ if you wanted to come to my birthday party Friday night?” he interrupted in a lightning fast jumble.

She raised her eyebrows.

“I always come to your birthday parties, remember? And you come to mine. Because our moms are BFFs and we have no choice in the matter,” Katelyn replied, her nose in the air, and an impatient foot tapping. “And I thought it was on Saturday at two?”

He gave a carefree shrug and a lopsided grin but his eyes were on her front. She looked down at herself. Did she have a ketchup stain or something?

“No, I mean, my sister—you know how she just got her license? Well, she said she’d drive me and a few friends to Omaha this Friday night to watch hockey for my birthday. She’s going to just drop us off at the rink and go meet up with her friends, and she promised not to tell Mom because she’s cool like that. So I’m calling that my real party. Kandace is going. She said we can hang out at her friend Grace’s afterward.”

“Oh,” she said awkwardly.

That was possibly the longest thing Dom had said to her since she broke her arm after taking his dare to pop a wheelie on his skateboard. He had written her a horrible poem, horrible even for a nine year old. He called it ‘Ode to Skate’ and recited it to her after she got back from the hospital and his mother made him come over to apologize. It was really bad yet really funny. Which was basically Dom in a nutshell. But ever since he’d hit puberty he had been more prone to witty one-liners and snarky set-downs and avoiding her… until the last few weeks.

She frowned. How come Kandace hadn’t told her anything about this party? What good was it having a sister so close in age if she was going to keep stuff from her? Apparently she was just good for borrowing clothes. Katelyn shifted her feet and narrowed her eyes again. She wouldn’t put it past Dom to be playing some sort of prank on her.

“Won’t Demetria have to check in? I can’t imagine your parents will let her have the car the whole night.”

“Naw, you know how it is. Mom and Dad pretty much let her do whatever she wants.” His voice held resentment. She shook her head. He resented how his sister always got to do whatever, but speaking as the often overlooked kid in the large Anderson clan, she would love to have the amount of attention Ramona and Dino Valentini lavished on Dominic. The newly budding feminist in her also felt bad that Demi was overlooked not because she was one of many like Kate was, but because of the Valentini crime of not having a penis. In fact, new comers to the community were often surprised to learn the Valentinis had a daughter that was how much they forgot to mention her while they extolled Dom’s virtues to all that would stand still.

“Well… still… I don’t want to break any rules…” Katelyn began to say.

Dominic rolled his eyes and snorted.

“We’re not,” he drawled condescendingly. “We have permission to go into town with Demi. We are actually going to watch hockey. I thought you liked hockey?”

“I do! I just don’t want to get into trouble, that’s all. I’m going to be in high school soon. Stuff like that goes on your permanent record.”

“Stuff like what? What record?” he asked, looking confused. She noticed his eyes had made their way back to her front only lower this time. She was starting to feel self-conscious. She crossed her arms and his gaze rose to hers again.

“You know, your college resume? If you want to get the best scholarships to the best schools you have to have a flawless record.”

His mouth dropped slightly and his brow furrowed.

“I was actually thinking about studying my practice National Merit Exams this Friday,” she continued. “And you probably don’t want someone a year behind you tagging along anyway.”

His confused expression cleared up.

“Naw, that’s alright. Like I said, your sister’s coming and everyone knows you two hang out a lot. And that new kid Andrew is coming. He’s in your grade. Just no inviting Kyle, ok?”

“’Kay…” she replied softly. Her eyes were starting to hurt from keeping them narrowed for so long. She sighed. “Why are you being so nice to me?”

“What’d’you mean? I’m always nice to you. We’re friends.”

It was her turn to drop her mouth in confusion. Friends? They hadn’t been friends since grade school. Friendly neighbors, yes. Constantly forced into celebrating holidays and birthdays together by their mothers, yes. But the way she saw it, that made them more like… like… distant family or prisoners in the same jail or something.

“Anyway,” he paused with a huge grin and tapped her shoulder with his fist. “Rumor is we’re gonna play Spin the Bottle at Grace’s after the game, so better practice your pucker, Skate.” He laughed and sauntered off towards their houses. She stared at his back for a full minute. He had to be kidding, right?

Only… not.

All through the Lancers game he kept bending forward from two spaces over and making kissing faces, sending the boys next to him into gales of laughter.

Jerk, she thought. He had obviously just invited her to be entertainment for his friends. She nudged Kandace in front of her. Kandy turned around, looked between them and threw an ice cube from her drink at Dom.

“Quit it, moron!”

The boys started laughing even harder until the people behind them said,

“Shut it, dumbasses!”

Their equally scathing reply was lost in the dun dun dun dun of the hockey rink organ and the surge of the crowd as the Lancers almost scored. The boys completely forgot about her and started dissecting the play and the ice and the wobble in the puck and blah, blah, blah.

Katelyn sighed. She liked hockey, but not that much. She mostly liked it when the players got into a fight and the Zamboni guy shot hotdogs. And to think, she could be home reviewing her P-SAT words with a nice pint of Ben & Jerry’s…

It didn’t get any better once they arrived at Grace’s on the west edge of town. It was practically her bedtime yet everyone was jazzed like it was midafternoon. Katelyn stifled a yawn and jumped a bit in guilt when she felt Dom’s hand on her back pushing her through the door to Grace’s large family playroom. She looked at him, expecting a snide remark but he just flushed a bit and dropped his hand like she had cooties. There were four people sitting in a circle around a Ouija board. Each of them had a bowl of popcorn and M&Ms in front of them.

“Hey! We started without you guys! Come pull up a patch of carpet,” a girl with jet black hair a few years older said. “I’m Grace,” she said to Katelyn then pointed at the others in the circle. “This is Tommy, and Cam, and Mindy.”

Dom waved and pointed to Kate and Kandy.

“This is Katelyn and Kandace, they’re my neighbors. And you guys already met Hayden, Andrew and Jaxson.”

Grace nodded. “You staying, Demi?”

“Sure,” Demi said in a bored mumble then flopped down next to Grace. She was still going through her Emo phase, which was not quite Goth, more like Goth-Lite. All of the black wardrobe and morose demeanor, none of the Morrissey and facial piercings.

“Ouija boards are dumb,” Hayden said. “Thought we were going to play Spin the Bottle?”

Dom nudged him. Grace and Demi looked at each other, eyebrows raised.

“I don’t care if we play Spin the Bottle,” Cam replied, looking amused. He grinned at Grace and she flushed and brushed her long hair behind her ears.

“I think Ouija boards are fun!” Katelyn interjected. “And we all just met each other. It’d be a little weird to play a kissing game.”

“What’s the matter, Skate, you chicken?” Dom asked with a huge grin.

His posse started making chicken sounds. She raised her eyebrows and pressed her lips together. Boys were soooo predictable. She felt Kandy’s hand on her elbow.

“That’s the point, baby sister,” Kandy said. “To get to know each other?”

Dom and his friends started laughing again then argued about who was spinning first. Once everyone sat in a cramped circle, Katelyn started praying under her breath that the bottle wouldn’t rest on her. But fate was not on her side because the instant Dom had a turn the bottle spun right to her. If she didn’t know any better, she’d think he did it on purpose. His friends all started laughing again and Kandace pushed Katelyn towards the door.

“Go on. Two minutes,” Kandace said loud enough for everyone to hear, then leaned closer to whisper in Kate’s ear. “Just remember not to hold your breath.”

“What?” Kate whispered back, but Dom yanked her hand and shut the door.

The closet was dark and cramped, as closets were supposed to be, and Kate thought whoever invented the game of Spin the Bottle had to be a man because no girl would find it even remotely romantic. Dom’s hands fumbled on her until he found her face. When she could feel his breath on her face she leaned forward and to the side to give him a quick peck on the cheek.

“There. We can go back out when the timer goes off and you can say we kissed.”

He was silent but his face never moved away from hers.

“Dom?” she whispered.

She sucked her breath in as she felt his lips brush hers softly. It tickled with a prickly rush that made her want to rub her lips to make the odd sensation go away. But she never got the chance; his lips met hers again only firmer. The tingle went away, replaced with wetness and pressure. It… didn’t feel bad at all, but, it still felt… weird. Especially weird because it was her first kiss and she had never figured she would have her first kiss with the same boy who had potty trained with her.

She felt his tongue prod her mouth and she pushed him back.

“Dom!” she whispered as forcefully as she could.

“What?” he whispered back.

“What was that?”

“It’s called French kissing…”

“I know what it is, Dominic!” she retorted in a stern voice. “We’re not actually making out, were just supposed to pretend to!”

He was silent again. Then…

“We… we are?”

“Well, duh, Dom! We’re friends, like you said. Or were you just saying that and now you’re going to make fun of me with your friends?”

“I… no, I mean… yeah we’re… I mean no, I’m not going to…” he trailed off.

His hands left her arms and they felt cold from where his sweaty palms had been.

“Time!” yelled voices from the other side of the door.

Kate popped up and almost tripped over Dominic in her haste to get to the door. She breathed a huge sigh of relief after she opened the door. He stood up and rubbed his hands on his jeans. He looked pale and distracted.

“Are you alright?” she asked.

He looked up from the floor and flashed a quick grin, though he still seemed preoccupied. He shrugged.

“Sure. Think I just ate one too many hotdogs at the rink.”

He brushed by her and gave two thumbs up to Andrew. The boys guffawed, making Katelyn flush with embarrassment. She shot them all a furious frown and deliberately sat as far from Dominic as she could. Kandace tilted her head and looked between them then shared a quick look with Demi who rolled her eyes.

“I’m not playing anymore,” Katelyn said.

Her comment was greeted with a mixture of laughter and jeers.

“Hey, don’t make fun of her! She just doesn’t want to tarnish the memory of me,” Dom said with a smirk and traded high-fives with his posse.

“Or you were just that bad,” Kandy teased.

“Ooohh, ouch,” Grace laughed.

Dom glared at her but his grin slipped and he shot a quick look at Katelyn. Kate began to feel bad; it was his birthday after all…

“I’m sorry. I’m just not comfortable kissing strangers. Dom’s a friend so he doesn’t count,” Katelyn said with her chin in the air.

“Ouch,” Grace said again.

Katelyn couldn’t figure out why. Or why Dom was starting to look mad.

“I have to have the car back by midnight, so if we could wrap this up?” Demi half drawled, half whispered. She looked like she could just waste away from ennui. Katelyn had to give her credit, whenever Demi was in a new phase she went whole hog with the part.

The rest of the evening was fairly uneventful, but when she got in bed that night she thought about Dom and how, in retrospect, it was a really nice thing to invite her. She vowed to thank him properly the next day at the family birthday party. The only problem with that was, Dom pretty much avoided her the entire time. And come Monday, he didn’t follow her home. She was both disappointed and relieved. When he continued to avoid her for the next few weeks, she began to think he hadn’t meant it about being friends or she had hurt his feelings. On the third week, instead of reviewing SAT words at lunch with her friend Tracy she wandered over to the cubbie holes where the boys hung out.

“Hi, Dominic,” Kate said shyly. All the boys stared at her with dull eyes. Dom smiled a bit but he looked wary.

“Whatsup?”

“Oh, I was just saying hi.”

The boys started snickering. Katelyn flushed.

“Ok,” Dom said, eyebrows raised.

“Ok,” she replied.

Dom nodded, eyebrows rising even farther. Her flush deepened.

“Actually, I was just wondering if you were going to my Track Meet on Thursday?” Kate threw out, hoping to salvage her pride.

Dom shrugged but his face went back to normal and he sat up a bit.

“If football practice is over, I could maybe stop by,” he said. His friends all went back to looking bored, except the new kid Andrew.

“Are you two going together?” Andrew asked.

“Nah,” Hayden answered for Dom without looking up from his sketch pad. “Dom’s dating Mindy Potanski, where you been?”

Dom nodded but he looked at his shoes. Katelyn’s flush began to feel like the worst sunburn she had ever had. She had been worrying about hurting his feelings and the truth was he was just busy with his new girlfriend. She smiled brightly showing as much teeth as she could without looking like a horse.

“Yeah, we’re just neighbors and friends, right, Dom?” Katelyn replied.

“Right,” Dominic concurred without looking up. He looked bored again and started unfastening and fastening the Velcro on his sneakers.

She thought he maybe even looked a bit sad but figured she was imagining things, because on Thursday—and every Thursday after—he showed up at practice and cheered the loudest.

–Copyright 2013, Genevieve Dewey

Listen to me blather on You to the Tube | #ASMSG #BYNR |

Some of you ( most of you?) know that I have a YouTube Channel. It’s the Official Genevieve Dewey YouTube Channel, you know, in case I get outrageously famous someday. Anyway, in addition to the Music Playlists I have created for the Downey Trilogy I have done two author readings. Today I uploaded the Radio Interview I did on KLIN last Thursday for those of you who missed it. (Yes, I babble in person just as much as I babble when I blog, haha!) If you guys want YouTube to notify you when I upload new things (like readings/interviews/book trailers/additional music videos on the playlists) then hit that “Subscribe” button! I sure would appreciate it! 🙂 You know what else would be cool? If you’d leave a comment or two over there from time to time on what you liked, want more of, etc…

 

I visit Paloma Beck’s blog to talk about a Dom&Kate novel! #ASMSG Come chat!

Genevieve visits #RomanceBeckons to talk about POV #QuestionOfTheWeek (via Romance Beckons)

Welcome Genevieve Dewey to Romance Beckons. Genevieve Dewey is the author of The Downey Trilogy (First, I Love You & Second of All) and the short stories Bird Day Battalion & V-Day Aversion. She is a wife, mother, sister, friend and Anthropologist.…

(more…)

An EXCERPT from The V-Day Aversion #ASMSG #BYNR |

Have you read my FREE short romance The Bird Day Battalion?

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Did you know there’s MORE Dom & Kate in The V-Day Aversion

short romance for only $.99?

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Here is an excerpt from The V-Day Aversion to give you a taste:

Everything was always on his terms and his turf. He had just assumed she would move in with him without even discussing it with her. She ignored the little Kandy-sounding voice in her head that said, ‘duh because you’ve been avoiding him‘ and told herself it was perfectly natural to want to put off an unpleasant confrontation with the man she loved. She was still endlessly repeating this in her head (and almost had herself convinced it was true) when she pulled in to her driveway.

“Just because he’s used to having it his way in every other aspect of his life doesn’t mean he can push me into this decision,” Katelyn mumbled to herself as she fished her house keys out from her purse.

“That’s cute, two and a half decades of knowing each other and I never noticed you talk to yourself,” a voice said from the corner of her front porch.

Katelyn dropped her keys and jumped.

“Dominic!” she clutched the front of her sweater. “You scared the piss out of me!”

She glared at him then narrowed her eyes even more at the sight of him looking perfect and dashing as always. How did he do that? That combination of dangerous, disheveled and delicious. She knew for a fact he just got up in the morning, took a shower, sprayed some man-stink on and that was that. She had to spend an hour getting ready and still her hair always frizzed out and looked like she had done nothing to it.

“Not my problem you’re so unobservant you didn’t notice the guy sitting on your front porch.” He waggled his eyebrows and got up from the porch swing. She turned around and picked up her keys to unlock the door.

“First, you leave me hanging last night for supper—”

“We never had formal plans and something came up and—”

“Then you don’t even throw me a bone and come over after the game—” Dom continued.

“Oh, please, you only invited me over so I could help you clean up after my brother and brother-in-law—”

“Now you stand me up for lunch—”

“I told you I honestly lost track of time,” she said and turned back around. He was lounging against the railing on the porch by the steps with his hands in his pockets. She sighed. He was like sin in a man-shaped package. And her sister wondered why she was avoiding him? A nun would have no willpower around Dominic Valentini in full flirt mode.

“And I haven’t gotten any nookie since practically New Years…” Dom continued in a soft purr.

“Oh, what a load of bull! It was last week, ok, maybe the week before that, but I had my period and that totally doesn’t count—”

“I got blue balls, babe, it’s not pretty. Maybe you could put on that sexy nurse outfit you wore on Halloween and tend to my—”

“Oh, for God’s sake, Dominic! And who says nookie any more, I mean, really?” Katelyn spit out and crossed her arms, but she couldn’t help laughing a bit. He had always been able to get her out of a bad mood even when they had just been friends. Now that they were dating, he had even more ways to poke a laugh out of her. Why am I avoiding him again? She wondered. Oh, yeah, the house. She frowned at him. He stopped lounging against the railing and sauntered over to her, all the while grinning and clearly unfazed by her menacing look.

Oh man, not on the front porch, Katelyn thought as she recognized the mischievous twinkle in his eyes. She backed up until she hit the door, fumbling behind her for the handle. Mrs. Dickerson was going to have a field day with this, her panicked mind continued a beat before he squished her against the door. It seems like he’s always squishing me against something, she thought in irritation. Then Kandy’s voice in her head mocked, probably because he knows you secretly love it.

“I’m starting to think you’re avoiding me, Skate,” Dom whispered against her lips.

He had one hand flat against the door above her head and the other against the door next to her waist. The entirety of him was pressing against her. The entirety of her was now gooey and fuzzy headed.

“Are you avoiding me, babe?” Dominic asked while trailing his lips, without actually kissing her, along the edge of her jaw.

“Ahhhh… ummm… Why… um, whhhhy would I be avoiding you?” she managed to get out feebly as his lips moved to her neck and his hips ground against hers. “Dom-Dominic… there’s… there’s people out here!” She squeaked out the last word as his tongue licked the lobe of her ear just the way she liked it.

Dom’s head lifted and he raised his eyebrows. His hand above her head lifted from the door and looped behind her, scooping her flush up against him as he stepped back. His other hand turned the door knob, opened the door, and twirled her out of the way of it opening – all in one swift move.

“Exactly why we should take this inside,” Dom said with a grin. “Great idea, Skate.”

Then he let go of her abruptly and walked right into her home like he owned it.

–Copyright 2013, Genevieve Dewey. All Rights Reserved.

PS–In case you hadn’t heard, there will be a full length Dom & Kate novel coming this winter!

Thank you for being the best fans ever!

An EXCERPT from Bird Day Battalion #ASMSG #BYNR |

Have you read my FREE short romance The Bird Day Battalion?

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Here is a short excerpt to give you a taste:

(Copyright 2012, Genevieve Dewey, ALL Rights Reserved.)

 

“But… we’re nothing alike. It’s one thing for two people to be friends, friends who are almost like family, and be so very different, but if we dated, I’m pretty sure we’d drive each other crazy,” Katelyn replied, more to remind herself than anything, and still not daring to look at him. “Maybe it’s more about the ‘what if’, the fantasy or forbidden nature of it. Maybe what you’re feeling is just… curiosity.”

“Or maybe I’m just damned attracted to you and have been since puberty.”

“Or maybe—” She cut off as he reached forward and abruptly turned off the water, yanked the dish she had rinsed at least a dozen times over out of her hands, and cupped her face with sudsy hands.

“Or maybe I’m crazy about you. I tried to tell myself all those things over the years, that it was just because you’re my oldest friend, you’re an attractive woman and I’m a free agent, but it’s not. You’re absolutely right, you and I couldn’t be more different. You make lists for your lists, and I can’t stand following the rules. You get up and run every morning and I’m a night owl. You like working from home, I have to see at least three people by noon. But I like that about you. I like that I know all that about you. And I like that we’re opposites. Yin and yang…”

Katelyn’s mouth had dropped open in rapt fascination at his words and the warm tickle of the soap suds trailing down her cheeks and neck. Dominic took the last remaining step between them and dipped his head. Panic took over and she stepped back, pulling his hands from her face. He seemed undeterred and merely took another step forward.

“Sonny and Cher…”

She let out a nervous ‘tuh’ and rolled her eyes as she stepped back again.

“The first allusion was better,” she managed to get out feebly and put her hand up as he stepped forward again. She tried to step back again but her back hit the wall of the kitchen. His lascivious grin returned.

“My – my brother and dad are in the other—”

“Ted Turner and Jane Fonda…” he interrupted.

“Stop it,” she said but couldn’t help chuckling a little at his tenacity. His face was now centimeters from her own, his eyes twinkling with markedly sexual mischief and she was definitely having trouble breathing normally.

“Hatfield and McCoy…” he whispered against her lips sending a shudder through her entire body. She struggled futilely to hold on to the last threads of logical resistance.

“Technically, they were very similar culturally speaking as is the case a lot with these feuding fam—” she cut off as his mouth finally met hers.

Her heart drummed wildly and she imagined those little angel and devil cartoons popping up on her shoulders, saying, respectively, ‘stop it, this is Dominic, your oldest friend’ and ‘go for it, take a chance for once in your vanilla life’. Then he curved an arm behind her back and brought her forward from the wall, deepening his kiss. Both the little angel and little devil sighed in delight – or maybe that was her – who could tell? More to the point, who cared? His lips and tongue were currently rendering her brain into utter mush capable of only one clear thought:

Dominic Valentini was a seriously good kisser.

Like, could cause a Nun to lose her religion seriously good.

She didn’t remember him being this good in 7th grade. Of course that was ages ago and naturally they were older and more experienced and…

“Stop thinking,” he whispered against her lips.

Then his tongue was in her mouth again and his left hand tugged at her blouse until he could snake his fingers underneath and send a tickling, teasing trail up her side. She moved her hands from where they had perched against his shoulders up to his hair and gripped his head, deepening her participation in the kiss. He groaned in response and moved both of his hands under her shirt, both gripping and exploring her at the same time. His lips finally left hers and began a rough suckling trail down her neck as his hands found her breasts. She buckled into him, one hand tightly gripping his head in encouragement the other moving down to his ass and pressing him against her pelvis as her leg hooked up and around his thigh. She could feel his body’s growing eagerness against her belly and he growled deeply, captured her mouth again, and pressed her completely against the wall in a crushing full body kiss. The thunk of her head and the vibration of his guttural noises temporarily cleared her thoughts and made her remember they were not alone in the house. She quickly pushed him away. He stumbled back, hair mussed, lips wet, eyes foggy and frustrated with passion.

–(COPYRIGHT 2012, Genevieve Dewey, ALL Rights Reserved)

 

Bird Day is available at these Official Retailers for FREE:

 

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And don’t worry, there’s MORE Dom & Kate in The V-Day Aversion short romance for only $.99!!!

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For my rabid Dom & Kate shippers (oh, how I love you!) the third dose of Anderson-Valentini shenanigans will be in NOVEL form.

>>> HUZZAH! <<<

(And THANK YOU for your amazing support!)

I need your help!! Yes, YOU! #ASMSG #BYNR |

Poll

I thought it might be fun to do a reading from one of my books and post it on my YouTube Channel (and at Goodreads!) BUT! From which book should I read, and what scene? Please vote for a book then put your scene in the comments if you have a choice in mind. THANK YOU!

A very important question for Dom and Kate fans… | #ASMSG #BYNR |

I have an important question for the Dom & Kate fans. Would you like the next dose of Dominic and Katelyn to be another short story (hopefully done this summer) or a full length novel (which will, of course, delay its release until after Downey #3 is out). The poll is geared towards fans so there is no options for none at all. HA! #HatersToTheLeft

The Downey Series Goodreads Group Poll

DOM & KATE FANS! Would you like the next dose of Dominic and Katelyn to be another short story or a full length novel?


NOTE: I took out the PollDaddy poll because I was having embed issues with it. NOW I put it back and I hope it works, I realize not all of you have Goodreads accounts. I wish I could figure out how to embed it on the side but the code isn’t working for me like the Goodreads did.

Pssst…Dom & Kate fans…

Did you know that Kyle Anderson from The Bird Day Battalion  and The V-Day Aversion is briefly mentioned at the end of First, I Love You and shows up again at the end of Second of All?

Yep! Poor, long-suffering Officer Anderson–oh alright, cheeky, laid-back Officer Anderson–has been helping his old friend and former partner Detective Tommy Gates while he was away from the Omaha Police Department.

And as you know, Kyle’s mom Bridgette mentions that Kate once went on a date with Tommy in Bird Day, which is set just a few months before Tommy heads to Chicago for the human trafficking joint task force.

What you may not know is Claire Underwood from First, I Love You–Agent Jack Underwood’s wife and Mary Gates’ best friend–is an Anderson by birth. Her brother, Tom Anderson, is Kyle and Katelyn Anderson’s father. So, if you’ve read the Tommy Flashback, when Kyle Anderson refers to his Aunt Claire she is literally his Aunt, versus the fictive use of the moniker by Tommy. Despite their instant rapport, Tommy and Kyle only rarely saw each other growing up but quickly re-connected when they discovered they would be in the same training class at the Police Academy.

Whew!

All that aside, the reason I drug you all in here is to give you a sneak peek at the next Dom & Kate short story! This is partly the same teaser I put up on Facebook a week or so ago…only with a little more meat and potatoes added, as we say here in Nebraska.

🙂

(Remember the final version will be subject to editing and proofreading and editing, etc etc, of course!)

 —–

 

“Kate?”

“Mmmn.”

“Kaaaatelyn.”

“Mmmn.”

“Yo, Skate!”

Katelyn set her pencil down on the spreadsheet she was double checking—old school style—and took a deep breath.

“Yo?” she replied and finally raised her head. What part of ‘I’m working’ was he not grasping? “Are you Rocky now, Dom? Is this another role play thing?”

Dominic grabbed the back of her chair and rolled it away from the desk.

“Hey! I can’t—I’m almost done—at least let me save my work.”

“It’ll keep.”

“No, it won’t! What if the power goes out or something? I’ll lose all the stratigraphy data I just input.”

Dom reached up and scratched his head, scrunching his eyebrows.

“Are the dead things still going to be dead? Yes. Still buried in dirt? Yes. Are we going to be dead and buried in dirt if we don’t leave now for the engagement party my mother is throwing? Yes.”

Dom grabbed her hands and yanked her out of the chair. Katelyn glared at him.

“I don’t excavate ‘dead things’. Pottery is made of clay, sometimes—”

“Let’s goooo,” Dom drawled. When she started to pull him back towards the computer he looped an arm around her middle and hitched her over his shoulder.

“Oh. Em. Gee. You did not seriously just do that!” She pummeled his butt while he laughed and carried her down the hall.

“Oh, em, gee, I can’t believe a twenty-eight year old woman just said ‘Oh. Em. Gee.’ And please, babe, I’ve known you since infancy. You’ve backed that file up in at least three places and obsessively after each entry.”

She blew the hair out of her face and glared at him after he set her down by the front door. He grinned unrepentantly and handed her purse to her.

“Besides,” he continued, only slightly breathless. “Speaking of role playing… Didn’t you just say the other night you like the ‘caveman thing’?”

Katelyn flushed magenta. “Not when the caveman’s dragging me next door to his mother’s. I usually like to ignore the fact she lives next to me.”

“Well, I usually like to ignore the fact my fiancée lives a town away instead of moving in with me like she promised,” he replied as they walked across the freshly cut lawn.

“A suburb away, technically speaking,” Kate muttered.

“What’s that? Something about a Swingline stapler, Milton?” Dom asked, turning around and walking backwards. He smirked and waggled his eyebrows.

He’s damn lucky he’s so sexy, Kate thought.

“If you trip over a hose and land on your ass, don’t expect sympathy from me,” she said playfully. “Don’t worry, we all know your mommy will kiss it and make it all better.”

“Oh, burn!” Kandace shouted, leaning off the rail on Ramona’s porch. Her husband Steve chuckled and pulled her towards the door.

The smug smirk disappeared from Dom’s face and he froze mid-gait, wrinkling his nose. Katelyn grinned and smacked him on his firm rear as she walked past him. Her sense of victory was short lived, though, because not only was every member of both their families crammed into Ramona’s tiny living room—and looking quite sour about it—but judging from the mischievous gleam in Dom’s eyes as he sat down, he’d be paying her back… intimately… and soon.

“I would just like to start the festivities by getting the most important thing out of the way,” Kandace said as soon as everyone had sat down. Ramona looked affronted. It was rather sassy to upstage the hostess, Katelyn thought.

“And that is to say…” Kandace continued, pivoting in her seat to look Katelyn in the eyes. “I told you so. And you’re welcome. No really, there’s no need to name your first child after me. Just knowing I am his or her distinctly cooler Aunt will be enough payment.” She leaned back against Steve’s chest, crossed her legs on the coffee table, and smirked. Steve grimaced and checked his watch. Three-fourths of the room sent their eyes to the ceiling.

Dom nodded at her with a faux-smile and a falsetto ‘aww’. He flicked a baby carrot at her.

“Stay classy, Kandy.”

Kandace raised her middle finger.

“Quit it, you two!” Ramona and Bridgette said in unison. There was a beat of silence then both Kandace and Dom laughed.

Katelyn leaned forward in her chair and pushed Kandace’s feet off the table.

“Mrs. Valentini—Ramona—I appreciate you having us, but obviously, we’ve all known each other for many years so there’s no need for the ritualized meeting of the families prior to nuptials—”

“What she means to say, Mom, is we’re glad to be here, thanks.”

Ramona’s confused and glazed expression cleared up and she beamed adoringly at her only son.

“Wonderful!” Ramona clapped her hands together once. “I thought we could discuss how each of us can have a part in the wedding. Everyone here is delighted you two kids have finally decided to tie the knot.”

Katelyn looked around the room and ‘delighted’ wasn’t the adjective she’d use to describe the occupants. ‘Bored’ and ‘indifferent’ were more accurate descriptors with a heaping scoop of ‘smug’ from Kandace.

“Mom, actually we—” Dom began to say but Kellie interrupted.

“I’m quite certain I’ve faxed over the information on the venue to you. I’ve managed to reserve Dundee Bar and Grill for the rehearsal supper—”

“Oh, nonsense, it’s so small and such a run-down area,” Ramona said.

“Actually, no, it’s not. And it’s quite a trendy area for weddings these days,” Kellie argued.

“You know, we don’t need—” Dom began again.

“And easier for the out of town guests to see the sights of Omaha,” she continued over him.

“That may be, but it’s nowhere near where any of us live!” Ramona waved a piece of celery at Kellie.

“The point being, it’s close to the park where Kate and Dom will have the ceremony,” Kellie gritted out while glaring at the drooping celery stalk. Kellie’s voice was beginning to get that brittle and pert tone that everyone in the Anderson family knew signaled her digging in her heels.

“Kellie, while I appreciate you—” Katelyn started to placate but Ramona plowed over her.

“I see no reason why they can’t get married at Mahoney Park. It’s much closer. No need to hassle with downtown traffic. Am I right, Bridgette? Right?” Ramona asked Kate’s mother in an equally brittle, slightly hysterical tone.

Bridgette merely puckered her lips while slathering peanut butter in an agitated manner on the poor, battered celery.

“Pick your evil, I guess. Deal with tourists or deal with the Dundee DINKs,” Kandace drawled, placing her feet back on the coffee table.

“Watch your language, Kandace Marie!” Bridgette said and pushed Kandace’s feet back off.

Kyle snorted. “It means dual-income, no kids, Mom,” he said without looking up from his phone. “And can we wrap this up please?” He was still in his Police uniform and unsubtly standing right next to the front door.

Dominic’s sister Demetria laughed softly and somehow it captured everyone’s attention. Katelyn could never figure out how she did it. It was a sort of breathy, tinkling ‘ha-ha-ha’ that resonated on a different existential plane. Like the dog-whistle of laughs. She was perched in a zen-like position on an ottoman at the edge of the dining room, forcing most of the occupants of the living room to crane their necks to look at her.

“Forgive my interruption,” Demi breathed—because she never spoke like a normal person—she imparted wisdom…breathlessly. “Has anyone enquired what Dominic and Katelyn would like to do?”

—

Copyright 2013, Genevieve Dewey, All Rights Reserved