Friday, February 8, 2008

Flashback Fridays--Surrender's Edge



Ahh. Surrender's Edge. It is one of my favorite books, and not just because it's a big seller for me. I started it, ran out of steam, and then let it sit for months. But I decided I wanted to finish it, and so I went to my cubicle on campus every morning at 7 am to work on it for 90 minutes before I had to teach. It was slow going, but I finished it, and it was released in February 2007. I was chatting with Vivien while working on it, but because of school and what not, we weren't collaborating full-time. Even so, she very sweetly helped me think of a title, and so I owe this title to her. I probably would have gone with something dumb like "Untitled" or something. I suck at titles.

Anyway, here's the blurb:

Geoffrey Kirk has been in love with his best friend, Nash, since almost the moment they met. Convinced that Nash would never return his feelings, he forced himself to move on, and fell for his assistant, Sunny. Despite his strong feelings, he never acted on them, and when he discovered Sunny and Nash together, he thought he lost his chance for happiness forever.

Until Sunny and Nash make it clear that he hasn't lost anything...and he still has a great deal to gain...


And here is a never-before-posted excerpt.

Geoffrey pushed his food aside, hoping that now he could give up the pretense of caring about dinner. “What were you trying to tell me today?”

“I was hoping we could get through the meal first,” Nash said wryly.

“It’s been driving me to distraction all day.”
Nash leaned back in his chair and dropped his fork. “Yeah, me, too. But probably for
different reasons.”

“Probably for the same reason,” Geoffrey corrected.

“Our first place was smaller than this room, wasn’t it?” Nash asked conversationally.
Geoffrey looked up, surprised by the parallel to his own thoughts. “If it wasn’t smaller, it wasn’t much bigger either.”

“We practically lived right on top of each other.”

Geoffrey nodded. “Yeah, I remember.”

“Sleeping in the same room every night, sharing a bathroom, pooling our money for beer and smokes. I thought we didn’t have a single secret between us.”

Geoffrey stiffened. “If you’re suggesting I ever did anything that was inappropriate…”

Nash shook his head quickly. “No, I’m not. And that’s just the thing, Geoff. I don’t understand how we could be so close for so long, and I just never knew. I keep thinking about it. Either you’re a great actor, or I’m the biggest jerk on the planet.”

“Can’t it be a little of both?” Geoffrey asked with a smile.

“It probably is,” Nash acknowledged. “I’ve also been thinking a lot about missed chances, about things I could have done, should have done, differently. You may never have done anything to tip your hand, but there were…openings. There were times I could have acted.”

“And you wish you had?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“Because I liked the way you kissed me.”

“Oh. And you…want to make up for lost time now?” The question was more curious than hopeful.

Nash nodded.

Geoffrey’s stomach dropped like a stone. He reached for his beer, hoping the cool liquid would help sooth the sudden dryness of his tongue. Nash silently watched him drink, and his eyes seemed riveted to Geoffrey’s mouth as he licked the drops of beer from his lips.

“Do you?”

Geoffrey blinked, surprised that the question even had to be asked. But then, Nash had extended such an invitation before, and Geoffrey had done everything he could to get away from the issue.

“Nash…” Now seemed the time for open honesty, and Geoffrey tried to brace himself for the fallout. “This isn’t…this isn’t a game to me. This isn’t something I can just do on a lark. It’s…it’ll hurt me too much.”

“What will?”

“If you wake up tomorrow morning and decide this was all a mistake.”

“That won’t happen.”

“How do I know that?”

“Because I’m asking you to trust me.”

Geoffrey swallowed. It was as simple as that. All he had to do was trust their
friendship, trust Nash’s word, as he always had.

“You do trust me, don’t you?”

“Of course.”

Nash smiled. The smile that stopped Geoffrey’s heart in his chest. It was rare, that smile. And perfect. He’d smiled that way when he landed his first job after they graduated, and again when they opened the doors of their own firm. It was the smile Geoffrey had seen when he opened Nash’s door and saw him with Sunny. It was the smile that Geoffrey had always coveted.

“I was hoping you’d say that.”

1 comment:

Cathy M said...

Haven't read this one yet, and really liked the excerpt, so on the wish list it goes.