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Excerpt of PUSH by Claire Wallis
Ten minutes after I finish unloading the groceries, there is a knock on my door. Even though I know it is David, I peer out the peephole before I open it.
"Hey," he says, with both hands in his pockets now.
"Hey," I say. "Everything okay?" He looks a little shaken. Or maybe I am just overly sensitive because of last night's online revelation. I don't know.
"Yeah. Everything's fine," he says with resignation. "I was just talking to Carl. We’re thinking of moving our poker game to different digs, and he isn't happy about it. That’s what Brad and I had to deal with yesterday. Carl can't fucking stumble home drunk if we go to this new place. He's such an ass."
"Yeah, I only met him twice, but he definitely set off my ass alarm. I can spot them a mile away."
David's face lightens immediately. "Ass alarm, huh? Is that like Gay-dar?"
"Yeah, kinda. Only an ass alarm is far more valuable. Keeps out the riffraff." I am smiling now, and David's head sinks to his chest and shakes back and forth. I think he is laughing at me, and frankly, I deserve it. Ass alarm. God, I am a loser.
"Good to know you've got one of those. I'll have to watch myself," he says, raising his head. "I guess all those shitty-ass boyfriends you had really lit it up, didn’t they?"
"Like a goddamned Christmas tree."
He is grinning again and shaking his head. I turn around and walk back into my apartment. I hear him follow me and close the door behind him.
"So, we still on for dinner tonight?" he asks. "You wanna just stay in and get some pizza or something?"
"Sure," I say, stopping short of the kitchen and turning to him, "and maybe we can watch one of the hundreds of man movies you've got up there. It was like a big box of testosterone. I grew hair on my chest just looking at them." I am teasing him, and I'm not quite sure how he is going to take it.
"Hair on your chest, huh? You should check out the other box of movies I've got up there. They'll make your hairy chest blush." Ahhh, so he does have a box of porn. I knew it.
"I doubt it. My brothers got the best of me already on that front. I stopped blushing at porn when I was eleven."
I don't think David knows what to say in response to my remark, so instead of talking, he comes over, wraps his arms around me, and kisses the top of my head. He holds me like this for a minute or two, then lets go and steps back.
"I'm sorry," he says.
We spend the evening eating pizza and watching Dirty Harry. When the movie is over, we sit on my couch, talking. We talk about our favorite movies, our middle names and our mutual love of Cheetos. David makes me laugh. Makes me feel at home. Makes me feel comfortable in my own company. There is something about him that is so real, so solid. He is soothing, which sounds utterly ridiculous, but I don't know how else to describe his temperament. I feel natural talking to him. It is genuine and sincere. And even though I am looking for sorrow, I don't see a single hint of it. At least not when he is with me. He is right. We are pretty great together.
BLURB FOR PUSH:
I feel like I am wrapped in a cyclone. Everything is whirling around me, drawing the air out of my lungs and filling me with the best kind of turmoil. Every time his tongue slides against mine, a prickle in my gut tells me how right we are together. How much I need David. How much I need us.
I hope the cyclone never stops.
Emma Searfoss has spent a lifetime trying to escape her abusive stepfather. It's why she moved far away from home. It's why she's kept no ties with her remaining family. And it's why she's got a major rage problem. When her neighbor shows up to fix the kitchen in her new apartment, his enigmatic charm calms the fire in her. David is cool and collected, and he makes Emma feel safe for the first time ever. But David has his own chilling past—his six previous girlfriends have all disappeared without a trace. Emma's walking a dangerous line, but David's pull is intoxicating. And impossible to resist…
Buy links for PUSH:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1lRFsIr
Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/1tjPd24
iBooks: http://bit.ly/1tirSiS
Book 2: PULL released Nov. 2014 as well.
Book Blurb:
***PULL is the continuation of Claire Wallis' sharp and shocking debut novel, PUSH. It is the second book in the series and is not intended to be a standalone.***
"It is impossible for someone like me—someone with a sin-list capable of wrapping itself around the world—to find redemption. To be repaired."
David Calgaro has secrets, and the only woman he's ever loved is about to pay the ultimate price to protect them. He's spent a lifetime searching for purpose and control. And the only place he's managed to find them is in a single, perfect moment; a moment in which he has absolute control over someone else's life.
David is unredeemable, unfixable, unsalvageable. But Emma Searfoss has forced a tiny sliver of hope to penetrate his soul. Hope that, even though redemption is impossible, maybe life isn't. Maybe he isn't who he thought he was. Maybe he's meant to be more.
"It is impossible for someone like me—someone with a sin-list capable of wrapping itself around the world—to find redemption. To be repaired."
David Calgaro has secrets, and the only woman he's ever loved is about to pay the ultimate price to protect them. He's spent a lifetime searching for purpose and control. And the only place he's managed to find them is in a single, perfect moment; a moment in which he has absolute control over someone else's life.
David is unredeemable, unfixable, unsalvageable. But Emma Searfoss has forced a tiny sliver of hope to penetrate his soul. Hope that, even though redemption is impossible, maybe life isn't. Maybe he isn't who he thought he was. Maybe he's meant to be more.
Buy links:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1sD8qv6
Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/1yfRzSM
iBooks: http://bit.ly/1wyEcuS
About the Author:
Claire Wallis has penned hundreds of magazine and newspaper articles over the last ten years, with science playing the lead role in almost all of them. Though non-fiction writing will forever be her first love, fiction has unexpectedly swooped in, hooked her by the soul, and become her true love. As a result of this coup d’état, Claire’s writing career has made a complete U-turn, and instead of rocks, plants, insects, and microbes, she is now putting human characters in the lead.
Claire’s previous jobs include working at a limestone quarry, hawking vegetables at a farmer’s market, clerking at the dollar store, and convincing new mothers that they need to renew their subscription to that parenting magazine in order for their child to survive. She lives in Pennsylvania with her amazingly awesome husband and son.
Find her online:
Author website: http://www.clairewallis.com
Twitter: http://bit.ly/1yfPS7U
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1u5cY0m
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/1AkIQgFa Rafflecopter giveaway
