Racing the Sky by Layla Dorine
When you race the sky,
gravity always wins
Racing the Sky Blurb
Nicky dreamed of Cliffhangers, Suicide Cams and the Kiss of
Death, wanting more than anything to make it to the professional motocross
circuit and dazzle fans beneath the bright arena lights. His bike was his life,
his world, especially after his boyfriend, Terry, dumped him for earning a
sponsor when Terry couldn't. It's still devastating, being cheated on and cast
aside by the only man he’s ever loved, but there’s little he can do about it
now but go out there and win, if only to spite Terry.
Enter Gray, and a chance meeting at a roadside diner that
leaves Nicky with something more to focus on than the Coffin and Lazy Boy and
how impressive a backflip he can pull off at the end of the next event. As the
sting of Terry’s betrayal begins to fade, Nicky finds himself drawn to the
older man, returning to the diner, and Gray, in every free moment he can spare.
It’s almost perfect, but nothing ever lasts, not in Nicky’s world and Terry
isn’t quite done making him pay for his success.
In the aftermath, Gray is left helping Nicky pick up the
pieces once again, only this time, nothing will ever be the same. Will Nicky be
able to see beyond his dreams of twisting in the air and dangling from beneath
his bike.... to learn that when you Race the Sky…gravity always wins?
Book Trailer
Excerpt
The guy chuckled again. “I know that
story, my friend. About three years back I came home to find my stuff on the
lawn and a foreclosure sign outside. Guess there was a second mortgage I didn’t
know about. I tossed most of the crap in the dumpster, packed my clothes and
music in my trunk, and lived in my car for a while, until the owner sold the
restaurant I was working at and the new management brought in their own people
and a menu I couldn’t even pronounce. They turned it into some snazzy upscale
thing, and me, I just started driving. Saw a ‘help wanted’ sign in the window
when I stopped for gas and I’ve been here ever since.”
“Hopefully not still living in the same
old car?”
“Nope, I have a trailer out back,” the
guy said. “So, what happened that you’ve got no place to go back to?”
“I guess it isn’t that bad,” Nicky
relented. “I mean, I’ve got a place to live, and I’ve got a job, even if I did
just quit my day job this morning.”
“Ah, so it’s a woman then?” the man
fished.
Nicky shook his head. “Not a woman.”
“Not a woman, but someone, ’cause I’m sensing
that if it isn’t home and it isn’t work then a relationship tanked somewhere.”
Nicky looked down. “Yeah.”
“How long were you and he together?”
“Since high school.”
The man studied Nicky for a moment, a
small smile on his face. “First and only relationship, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, time heals all things, kid. Was
with my guy for six years before I came home to that foreclosure sign. It don’t
get any easier the older you get. It still sucks when it all blows up in your
face.”
“Just wish he wouldn’t rub my nose in
it every time I turn around.”
“He can only rub your nose in it if you
let him,” the guy pointed out.
“I guess.” Nicky’s cell phone went off.
He flipped it open to see the call was from Vic. With a sigh, he answered it.
“Your boss has been leaving messages
all afternoon. Wanna tell me why you quit your job?” Vic asked.
“Nope.”
“Christ, Nicky, what did Terry do?”
“Just drop it, Vic.”
“You know what, Nicky, fuck you. I’m
trying to be your friend here, but you’re making it really fucking hard.”
“Just give me some space, Vic, please.”
“Fine, but if you end up drunk and
bloody instead of coming home and dealing with shit here, I’m going to be
pissed.”
“I hear ya.”
“Do you?”
“Yeah, I do. Look, I’m up at a little
diner. I’m not drunk. I’m not gonna drink. So just give me space; okay.”
“Be safe.”
Nicky slid his hand through his hair.
“I will,” he said before hanging up.
Looking at the big man, who was
watching him from the far end of the counter, Nicky gave a tense smile. “Could
I, umm, have another slice of pie? Apple this time, please.”
The man laughed. “How about ice cream
with that?”
“Sure. Maybe I’ll die of a sugar
overdose.”
They were alone in the diner, save for
the guy on the grill in the back.
“You know,” the man began, “there are
some fun ways to burn off sugar, if you’re interested. I get off in an hour.”
Nicky shivered, partly in fear and
partly in anticipation. He could say yes, easy. Hell, it wasn’t as if Terry had
even waited for them to break up before he’d moved on to someone else. Still,
Nicky had never been with anyone but Terry, and this was a stranger, even if he
was friendly as hell.
“Think about it,” the guy said before
he headed to the back.
Buy Links
US Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072YQX3J8
Hi and thank you for having me on your blog today. I’m so
excited to have released Racing the Sky and finally be able to share it with
readers. One of the things I love is being able to weave real life events into
my work, as well as scenes and moments that I’ve lived and cherished. The scene
with Nicky and Gray’s picnic beneath the meteor shower is one such moment, in
fact, it wasn’t part of the original draft because it hadn’t happened to me
yet. I added t later, when I sat back reflecting on how beautiful the sky had
looked with all those streaks.
Though I didn’t get to see it from the west coast mountains
as they did, it was still just as beautiful from the flat prairie lands of
north central Iowa. Those are the nights when we fill the bed of the pickup
with blankets and pillows and drive out on the dirt roads where there are no
wires to obscure the view. Some hot cocoa in a thermos in fall and winter, ice
tea in spring and summer, and a picnic basket and we’re all set to view just
about anything.
Its moments like those that remind me of why I don’t miss
cities and why I love living somewhere with more cows than people. You miss
those kinds of experiences when you’re hemmed in by buildings on each side. I
know I certainly did, and I never found the peacefulness in a city that I find
by the edge of a bubbling creek, listening to the water and the crickets and a
bullfrog serenade.
For that moment in the story, they might as well have been a
hundred miles away from civilization, for how isolated they were, able to enjoy
themselves without worry over interruptions or random passersby. It’s a moment
where I felt they deepened their connection, even if they didn’t fully realize
it at that point. It was also the moment
when, as I added that scene, I knew that Gray and Nicky would be more than just
a random hookup. I hope readers will enjoy the moment as much as I enjoyed
sharing it on the page.
About the Author
Layla got hooked on writing as a child, starting with poetry and then branching out, and she hasn’t stopped writing since. Hard times, troubled times, the lives of her characters are never easy, but then what life is? The story is in the struggle, the journey, the triumphs and the falls. She writes about artists, musicians, loners, drifters, dreamers, hippies, bikers, truckers, hunters and all the other folks that she’s met and fallen in love with over the years. Sometimes she writes urban romance and sometimes its aliens crash landing near a roadside bar. When she isn’t writing, or wandering somewhere outdoors, she can often be found curled up with a good book and a kitty on her lap.
Layla Dorine can be found at:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/layladorine
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/layladorine/
Tumblr: https://layladorine.tumblr.com/
Author Website: layladorine13.wix.com/layladorineauthor
Author on Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9814124.Layla_Dorine
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