This month I’ve been pulling from my short story collection, Us, Together. Here’s one last excerpt, from the first story, “Us, Together.”

In this scene, Andrea is concerned she might be pregnant, and Jake thinks he might be falling in love with her.

* * * * * * * * * * *

We’d been responsible, or as responsible as two teenagers having sex in the back of a car could be. This wasn’t supposed to be happening.

Andrea leaned against me, and I slipped my arm around her. In a voice muffled against my chest, she said, “If it comes to it, there’s always the clinic. They could…do something about it.”

She’d never been much for snuggling. This felt nice, comforting.

“Maybe we could just wait and see,” I said and pulled her more tightly against me, that swelling inside my chest getting warmer with each beat of her heart next to mine.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Read more in Us, Together, just $.99 at Amazon, then post a link to your eight sentences blog entry, or join the fun at the Weekend Writing Warriors website.

And then help me out with my Thunderclap campaign! My short story anthology The Futility of Loving a Soldier is on sale next week and I’m trying to spread the word. Simply go to this website, sign up through your Twitter or Facebook account, and a message will post automatically for everyone next Friday.

All month I’ve been pulling from my short story collection, Us, Together. Since today is Father’s Day, this week’s excerpt is from “Man of the House,” the second story in the collection.

In this story, a little boy is confronted with his parents’ failing marriage as he spends the afternoon watching a baseball game with his dad.

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Her voice raised, Mom railed at Dad. Jerry Jr. squeezed his eyes shut, then went to the corner, picked up his sister, and took her outside, watching from the stoop as she toddled around the yard in the too-high grass, grass that Dad used to keep greener and better cut than any other house on the block.

He sat there and watched the sun dip low in the sky. The game would be over by now and he wondered how badly the Cubbies had lost. He watched Jennifer sit in the flower bed, pulling the petals off all the tulips and dandelions; last year there hadn’t been any dandelions in there, just tulips of every color he could think of and some he couldn’t even name.

Dad came out of the house just as the street lights were flickering on, suitcase in hand, and nearly tripped over Jerry Jr. sitting there on the step. He paused, looked down at his son, and Jerry Jr. stood up.

“Well, son, looks like you’ll be the man of the house now,” he said as he clapped his hand on JJ’s shoulder for a moment, then threw his suitcase in the back of his truck and backed out of the driveway.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Read more in Us, Together, just $.99 at Amazon, then post a link to your eight sentences blog entry, or join the fun at the Weekend Writing Warriors website.