Stream of Consciousness Saturday: “His/hers”

His hand engulfed her smaller one, but he only squeezed it gently. “You have to go talk to her, Carisa,” Carlos told her.

Carisa shook her head. “She doesn’t want to talk to me. I already told you that.”

Carlos sighed and leaned back, sitting against the edge of his desk. He muttered something in Spanish she couldn’t quite make out. It hadn’t been allowed in their house, but that had never stopped Carlos. None of her father’s rules had really ever stopped Carlos. He’d still turned out to be a pretty good man.

She’d tried to follow every rule, and what had it gotten her? Absolutely nothing. So, maybe Carlos had always had the right of it.

“You’re being foolish,” he said. “The both of you. I’ve seen the two of you together. It’s right. Pushing each other away isn’t going to do any good. Why can’t you just learn from my mistakes?”

Her lips twitched up. “Hey, you got the girl anyway,” she reminded him. “And now you have the perfect little family.”

“And almost got her killed in the process. You always forget that part. Everyone does, but I can’t. Trust me, you don’t want that weight on you. Jayla won’t, either.”

“She doesn’t want me,” Carisa said. “So, it doesn’t matter anyway.”

“You know that isn’t true. She’s just scared. From what you told me, she has every reason to be.”

“Then why won’t she let me help?”

“Foolish, like I already said. But, it can be hard to see that when your heart’s involved.”

Carisa shook her head. It seemed like the only heart that was involved was hers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt was to use “his/her(s) in the post. Bonus points for starting with one and ending with the other. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get the other in at the end, but I managed it. This fits right in with where I’m at in Whatever It Takes.

Writing Wednesday: Sentimental Value

I mentioned in Sunday’s post that we just bought my father-in-law’s old motorcycle. My husband’s stepmom sold it after his dad died. Both she and my husband have connections through their work(in road construction, though stepmom got out of that now) with the guy who bought it. And when he decided to sell after his wife got in a bad accident with her bike, he got in touch and offered it to us. We managed to work something out and instead of having our bike paid off in 2 more months, we’ve got a few years of payments left. We took it out twice this weekend, put about 150 miles on it.

My father-in-law on the bike when he first got it.

This is the bike my father-in-law had when I first met him. An ’03 Harley Davidson Road King. It’s what he rode to the family reunion in Ohio in August of 2006. And offered to give me a ride on around the campground where we had the reunion. And it was what I refused to get on then, still afraid of pretty much everything at that point in my life(really only a slight exaggeration, this was my first time meeting his dad’s extended family, so I was nervous anyway). About a month later, he was dead(he’d been sick, but we didn’t know how  bad it was). I never did take that ride with him, and that’s something I’ve regretted since. Sunday when we were out for Wendy’s ride(an informal support ride for a member of our fire department’s Explorer post who faced a lot of bullying this past school year. We’re planning to turn it into an annual event), that’s all that I could think of. And that I was now finally getting that ride. I don’t know why that didn’t hit me when we were out on Saturday. But, it didn’t until Sunday.

On a friend’s trailer so we could bring it home.

Anyway that’s it for my emotionalness(shut up, wordpress, it’s a word. I said so) about a motorcycle. 😉 It’s WiPPet Wednesday time! Today I’m working on Whatever It Takes, so you get another snippet from that. You haven’t met Jayla yet(unless you read Healing the Heart which released last December, and she was only in 1 scene of that. Konner was in that same scene). You have met the boy Konner’s talking about here, though. 😉 I have 10 paragraphs(1+9 for the day) from a scene I wrote last night(so very unedited).

A body flopped against the counter, and she jerked her head up. “Konner. You ass. Why did you have to scare me like that?”
Her youngest brother laughed. “That’s no way to talk to a patient, is it?” His hair was probably the straightest out of all of theirs. And he wore it a little long, so now he had to push it out of his face.
She worried for a moment, her gaze skating over him, looking for what could be wrong. “What did you do to yourself?” She didn’t see anything.
He sighed dramatically and put a hand over his heart. “I think I have love sickness. I met a boy today.”
She arched an eyebrow at him. And he launched right in, never needing much encouragement. “I guess that’s not true. I’ve seen him. He’s in my Writing 101 class, so I’ve seen him a couple times already. But, I spoke to him today. And he left his sketchbook behind, so you know, I had to go and return it to him.”
“Of course you did,” Jayla said, not able to hide her smile. “Did he thank you?”
His face dimmed slightly, though she thought that might be more concern than upset. “He acted like he thought I was going to hit him. Can you believe that? Like I’ve ever hit anyone in my life.”
“What did you do?”
“I asked him to lunch,” he said, grinning again. There was very little that kept Konner down for long. At one time that had been a coping method for him. Now, it was just a part of who he was. “And he came. And, God, Jayla, I think I’m in love.” He sighed and leaned against the counter as if it was the only thing holding him up.
“You dork,” she said, shoving against his shoulder. “I think you should have gone for a drama major instead of psychology.”

If you want to know who Konner met, I wrote this from the other guy’s perspective. 😉

Writing:

• Heart of Christmas – 10000 words – 7658/10000 words, 2118 this week
  • Now, he finally got why Declan was telling him all this. “I don’t plan to leave her,” he told the other man. If anything, she’d figure out he wasn’t good enough, and leave him. And she’d probably be smart to do it.
• Still Burning – 10000 words – 7727/10000 words, 2506 this week
  • It was probably toxic to live like this, letting her in only to have her push him out again. Over and over, until he was sure he was going to break apart. But, he couldn’t seem to give her up anyway.
• Whatever It Takes – 10000 words – 6381/10000 words, 1148 this week
• High on Loving You – 10000 words – 5245/10000 words,
• By the Gun – 10000 words – 5146/10000 words,
• Side Projects – 10000 words – 6676/10000 words, 1436 this week
  • Midas’ Daughter – “Sweet dreams, princess,” he murmured. “We’ll figure everything out when you wake.” *This is finished! At least this draft. I’ll revise and find some readers for it then decide what to do.

Editing:

• Stained Blood – Beta edits – Chapter 1/26, 0 this month
• Flames of Renewal – CP edits –
• In the Moonlight – Read Through & Revise – Read through Chapter 19/32.
• Hang On – Polish & Submit – 10/50 polished

Reading:

• Listen: 5 books – 5/5, 1 this week
  • Honestly Ben(Bill Konigsberg) – Started this Saturday morning. Finished this Tuesday morning. Really enjoyed it.
  • The Delphi Effect(Rysa Walker) – Started this Tuesday afternoon. On Chapter 4/22.
• Read: 30 books – 19/30, 1 this week
  • The Three Brooches(Katherine Lowry Logan) – Started this Saturday morning. At 28%
  • No Good Duke Goes Unpunished(Sarah MacLean) – Started this Monday morning. Finished this Tuesday evening. Really enjoyed it.
  • Wayfarer(Alexandra Bracken) – Started this Tuesday evening. On page 83/532

Writing Wednesday: “Every Second”

Yeah, I’m listening to the Hamilton soundtrack. Again. Hey, when I obsess about something, I go all in. 😉 And these lines get me every time:

How do you write like tomorrow won’t arrive

How do you write like you need it to survive

How do you write every second you’re alive, every second you’re alive, every second you’re alive.

I know that answer!! I’ve been feeling that way, especially this week. The words are coming and coming almost faster than I can manage to write them down. Even ones I haven’t started yet(yes, I’m looking at you Jonas & Isaac). I had to jot down notes just to get the characters to leave me alone until I can get to them. I’d actually got through all of Wednesday’s writing goals by Tuesday night. So, that’s how my week is going. 😀

And that leads in to WiPPet Wednesday!! Wooooo! Whatever It Takes was supposed to be Thursday’s project. But, I’ll be getting to that one in just a bit. It takes place about two years after Not Meant to Be. And speaking of Jonas and Isaac, you’ll get a peek at the directions they’re heading in this snippet. Their story will take place probably about 4-5 years after this. And last weekend, I wrote a bit that happened about 4 months earlier. For now I have 15 sentences(7+12+2+0+1-7) from the first scene of Whatever It Takes. Carisa is Carlos’ little sister, and they’re at his restaurant.

She knelt down to catch Pia then lifted her in her arms. She smiled at Jonas, who her niece had just abandoned. “I didn’t know you were home already,” she said. And she couldn’t help glancing past him. His shadow from the last two years was nowhere to be seen. “Is Isaac going to meet you here?”
His face went from warm to cold almost instantly. “No,” he said.
Shit. Well, she’d known they’d had a falling out before Jonas had left for boot camp, but she was sure they would have made things up by now. They had always seemed to work so well together. “He already left for college anyway,” Tereza said softly. But, Carisa could tell that wasn’t all.
“He’s going to a local one and still living with Roman and Cristine,” Jonas said, his eyes riveted to the floor. “Not like he’s all the way on the other side of the country or something.”

Yeah, Jonas isn’t taking the break up too well. I’m already figuring out how I’ll get them back together(those notes I mentioned above).

As for my progress this week:

Writing:

• Heart of Christmas – 10000 words – 5292/10000 words, 2339 words this week. Posted a bit about this story on my Patreon(at the moment, I’m making all my content available for $1 monthly patrons, at least until I build up a following).
  • She let out a soft sigh as his lips pressed to hers. “Oh, aye,” she mimicked his accent. “Matches what I was thinking.”
• Still Burning – 10000 words – 5102/10000 words, 2323 words this week
  • There was a flash of heat in his eyes then his lips quirked up. “Because I know us, Jess. I let you talk me into your bed, and we won’t have dinner. Or probably breakfast tomorrow. Except for the fact I got to work. And I really want to take you to dinner.”
• Whatever It Takes – 10000 words – 2737/10000 words,
• High on Loving You – 10000 words – 2824/10000 words,
• By the Gun – 10000 words – 4997/10000 words, 2384 words this week
  • But, it was too late to change any of that. All they could do was move forward. And he finally felt like he was doing that.
• Side Projects – 10000 words – 5240/10000 words, 2778 words this week. I’ve already met my goal on this for the week.
  • Midas’ Daughter – Flip glared over at him for a moment then returned his attention to Mr. Midas. James didn’t matter here, not if Mr. Midas decided he didn’t. “You might think I don’t have any power, but I also don’t have a lot to lose. You already destroyed what I could have had with her. All I have left here is a job.”
  • Patrick & Sarah – 283 words – The boy’s lip curled up into a sneer, a look that should not have fit on the face of a boy so young. “You and every other man in this town,” he said.
  • Tavin & Haiwee – 191 words – No,” she said, shaking her head. His mind must really have traveled far away. “Haiwee.”
  • Roman – 207 words – He sat beside her and followed her gaze to the television screen. Where the newscaster was wrapping up a story. And there was video of Carlos being led back to his cell. Well, that explained the tears. 
  • Dougal & Shae – 187 words – She let out a soft laugh but didn’t bother turning around. “Sure you didn’t. Don’t try to tell me Donnie didn’t send you out here to try to push us together once more.”
  • Jacob & Matthew – 250 words – “Oh, I responded to all of Pa’s letters,” Matthew told her. “I just didn’t send any of them here, as I figured you would throw them in the fire before letting him read them.” He glanced at the boy again and saw the confusion in his furrowed brow. Exchanging verbal blows with his stepmother would get him nowhere and only upset his little brother, so he took a step back. “I take it Pa is not at home today.”
  • Mike & Fadil – 327 words – “You aren’t an all-powerful being, Jess. Do you want me to keep Alexa a little longer until things settle down more?”
  • Preggers – 317 words – Missy gave them increasingly dirty looks every time she passed the table, but Lyndi didn’t seem to notice. So, Marika decided to ignore it as well. What she couldn’t ignore was how nervous the other woman seemed to grow as the minutes ticked away. 
  • Hawk – 220 words – I nodded, but I wasn’t sure what else to say about it. I thought it had been the worst thing to feel my father’s fists and feet slamming into me then having him pushing me out of his truck into a ditch and leaving me there. Until he’d shot at me.
  • Sean & Braeden – 227 words – He saw his parents exchange a glance and wish he’d decided to do that before they’d even sat down to eat. Like maybe as soon as he’d realized Braeden was here. He should have known that would only lead to disaster. 
  • Jared’s Stepfather – 196 words – But, he made the vow anyway. He didn’t care if it cost him his life. He would never let that man hurt Denise or hand her off to another man to do it. Not as long as he breathed.

Editing:

• Stained Blood – Beta edits – Chapter 1/26, 0 this month
• Flames of Renewal – CP edits –
• In the Moonlight – Read Through & Revise – Read through Chapter 13/32. And posted a teaser of this yesterday.
• Hang On – Polish & Submit

Reading:

• Listen: 5 books – 2/5, 1 this week
  • The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue(Mackenzi Lee) – Started listening Thursday morning. Finished Monday afternoon. Loved this one so much.
  • When the Moon was Ours(Anna-Marie McLemore) – Started this Tuesday morning. On Chapter 20/47
• Read: 30 books – 13/30, 3 this week
  • Winter of the Wolf(Christina Ochs) – Started this Saturday night. Finished it Sunday afternoon. Really enjoyed it, though I still can’t believe one of the characters she killed. 😥 Seriously, no one in this series is safe.
  • Dating Sarah Cooper(Siera Maley) – Started this Sunday evening. Finished it Sunday night. Really, really enjoyed this one.
  • Hard Justice(Lori Foster) – Started this Monday afternoon(after starting 2 other books and setting them aside). Finished it Tuesday night. Enjoyed it.