Title: Skating Through
Author: Jennifer Cosgrove
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: July 2, 2018
Heat Level: 1 - No Sex
Pairing: Male/Male
Length: 70500
Genre: Contemporary YA, BFF, coming of age, coming out, high school, hockey, homophobia, sports, YA
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Synopsis
There are two things Ben Lewis has
convinced himself he can never have at the same time: playing hockey and being
openly gay. Hockey is looking to be his only choice. Until now. Being captain
of the team and starting his senior year of high school is a lot to handle.
Throw in a budding friendship with his crush, Marcus, and Ben is faced with
deciding if he’s brave enough to take the next step.
Fortunately, courage can come from
unexpected places. His BFF Ryan, new friends, and a voice from the past are
great assists to his determination to be true to himself and keep playing the
game he loves, but will they be enough?
Excerpt
Skating Through
Jennifer Cosgrove © 2018
All Rights Reserved
Chapter One
“There you are.”
A murmured meow was Ben’s answer as
Biscuit settled next to him, curling close to his side. He was wide awake. It
was still dark outside, the only light in the room coming through the window
from the streetlight on the corner. The alarm hadn’t gone off yet, but he’d
trained himself to be up at the crack of dawn. He stretched, careful not to
disturb the cat, and ran a hand through his hair in an attempt to flatten out
the mess. He was in dire need of a haircut. Every year, he decided to grow it
out, and every year, he changed his mind as soon as hockey season was on the
horizon. It was just too much to deal with under a hockey helmet. Besides, he
looked a little ridiculous with long hair.
He stared at the ceiling and let the
rare quiet of the house wash over him. Most guys his age would sleep until
noon, especially on summer break, but that wasn’t going to happen. The alarm
started going off and Ben grabbed for the phone, accidentally knocking it off
the nightstand along with his Band of Brothers DVDs and sending Biscuit
scurrying away and out the door. He fumbled over the side of the bed, finally
snagged the phone, and swiped across the screen to turn off the cheerful
beeping.
Maybe he should just give in and go to
the rink, get in some early ice time. He sat up and swung his legs over the
side of the bed. His dad would probably get up and give him a ride. Ben rose
and took a step toward the door. Or he’d tell him to go back to bed—it’s an off
day, for god’s sake, Ben. Probably not, then. He shut the door with a click and
got back in bed, scrolling through the texts from last night out of habit.
Ryan: he was in the shop again
Ben: …
Ryan: I didn’t say anything
Ryan: I wouldn’t do that
Ben: I know.
Ryan: you’re going to have to talk to
him eventually
At that, Ben had put his phone down and
gone to bed. Ryan meant well, but he wasn’t ready to deal with that. It just
didn’t work that way. Not for him. Not now.
Ben looked at the time and groaned. When
the phone beeped again, he turned it completely off and tossed it back onto the
nightstand. He thought about getting up anyway but dragged a pillow over his
head instead. Sleep deserved another try.
The next time Ben woke up it was to a
pounding on his bedroom door that could only be one person. “Cut it out,
Bethy!”
“Quit playing with yourself and get up,
Benny!” The giggling that followed was cut short when he heard his mom’s voice
coming up the stairs, followed by her light footsteps.
“Beth! Leave your brother alone.” A
pause. “And don’t be crude.”
Ben rolled his eyes and struggled to sit
up. There was a gentle tapping on his door. “Ben, honey?”
“Yeah, Mom.”
The door opened and she peeked in
cautiously.
“Remember we’re going to help Gran
today.” How could he forget? She’d reminded him every day for the past week. It
wasn’t like he was going to suddenly develop amnesia or something. “And we need
to leave soon, so if you want breakfast, you’d better get a move on.”
He definitely wanted breakfast. “I’ll be
right down.”
“Hurry. The vultures are circling,” she
said with a wink and closed the door behind her.
Ben got up, stretched, and rolled his
shoulders. He thought about going through the flexibility routine Coach Jordan
recommended, but he just didn’t feel like it. It was his day off, and he was
going to stick to that. He let his routine slip a bit during the summer, and
he’d get enough of a workout moving heavy boxes and furniture, anyway. His
grandma was leaving the cold winters of upstate New York to escape to Florida’s
warmer climate. She’d laughed when he told her she was a walking, talking
cliché.
“That might be true, my love, but I’ll
still be the youngest one down there.” It was true. She’d taken early
retirement when his grandfather had gotten ill, and now that he’d passed, she
had the means to make a move closer to her sister. He was going to miss her.
“Ben?” His mom’s voice floated up the
stairs.
He sighed and picked up the DVDs that
had fallen down beside the bed and started pulling clothes out so he could tell
her, honestly, that he was getting ready.
“Five seconds!”
“Plate’s on the table.”
Ugh. He’d better hurry. He could smell
bacon, and either Beth or his dad would have no qualms about stealing it right
off his plate. Always the bacon. And today it would be real bacon instead of
turkey bacon, so that made it even more tempting. Not that turkey bacon ever
stopped them. He felt a twinge of guilt for making his mom fix two different
breakfasts most days, but it was something they’d lived with from the time he’d
started high school. Ever since he got serious about hockey.
It was all he’d ever wanted to do. He’d
known from the first time he stepped out on the ice. He was good at it, and he
was lucky to have supportive parents. It hadn’t been easy. The equipment and
fees were expensive, and the demanding training and game schedules were always
a challenge. But he was never late to practice, and they’d never missed a home
game. It would be worth it, he thought. The college scholarship would make a
huge difference. He didn’t want his parents to bear all the burden of putting
him and his sister through school, not if he could help it.
He pulled on a faded Flyers T-shirt and
opened his door, almost tripping over the ball of fluff waiting right outside.
“Dammit, Biscuit!” He received a put-upon meow in return as he scooped the cat
up in his arms. Biscuit’s rumbling purr was comforting against his chest as he
carried him down the stairs. The cat started to squirm as soon as they got to
the kitchen, ready to get at the food waiting in his dish.
Ben absently brushed cat hair off his
shirt before sitting at the table in front of a plate piled high with eggs,
bacon, and fruit. He was just in time because his dad and sister had almost
finished their own breakfasts and were already eyeballing his. It was a cheat
day, for god’s sake, but they were all vicious when it came to bacon.
“Morning.”
Not quite sociable yet, his dad answered
with a grunt. He’d be better after his second cup of coffee.
His mom swooped by and ruffled his hair.
“You have ten minutes.” Ben ran a hand through his already messy hair and
groaned. She narrowed her eyes. “Get a move on.”
He took her at her word and dug in.
After he finished, he slurped down coffee and juice and took the extra
precaution of downing a glass of water. It was already warm outside, even for
August, and it’d be a long sweaty day.
“When do you think we’ll be getting
home?” He’d promised Ryan he would go to a party with him tonight. It was a
promise that only a best friend could drag out of him. Ben didn’t like parties
for the most part, especially ones where there was drinking and other stuff. He
knew it made him look like a goody-goody or a stick-in-the-mud or whatever
other term Ryan could dream up to tease him with, but he didn’t like to take
any chances. He couldn’t put his future in danger, as dramatic as that sounded
in his own head.
His mom was digging through her purse
for her keys. He let her look for a few seconds before reaching over and
plucking them off the hook. She took them with a lopsided smile. “Sorry, what
did you say?”
Ben rolled his eyes with a grin. She
knew his practice schedule better than he did, but could never keep up with her
keys. “What time do you think we’ll be back?”
“Why? Got a hot date or something?”
Ben grimaced behind her back. There was
a lot she didn’t know about him, especially in that respect. He opened the front
door and gestured for her to go ahead.
“Nah. Ryan talked me into going to a
thing at someone’s house. Holtsy’s girlfriend’s?” He didn’t think she’d have a
problem with him going to a party, but he didn’t want to have to answer a lot
of questions. Plus, she loved Ryan.
She gave him an odd look before
unlocking the car. She knew he didn’t like parties. “We should be back in
plenty of time. You want to drive there or back?”
He’d had his driver’s license for only
two weeks and was still nervous behind the wheel. It hadn’t helped that he’d
put off learning how to drive until this summer, right before his senior year.
The only reason he finally relented was because he’d be off to college soon,
and his dad pointed out they wouldn’t be there to drive him to practice or
class. So Ben had sucked it up and decided to learn. Driving still scared the
hell out of him, though.
“Back.” The traffic would be lighter at
least.
“All right.” They had a brief squabble
over the radio that his mom won, before heading out. It was just the two of
them, as Beth would be coming later with their dad after running some errands.
“But no trying to get out of it this time.”
Ben shook his head and smiled out the
window. “I won’t.”
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Meet the Author
Jennifer has always been a voracious reader and a well-established geek from an early age. She loves comics, movies, and anything that tells a compelling story. When not writing, she likes knitting, dissecting/arguing about movies with her husband, and enjoying the general chaos that comes with having kids.Website | Twitter
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