Dreamspinner Press Year Eight Greatest Hits

by Brandon Witt

  Finally Travis pulled him toward the table. “Well, come on, you said you were hungry. And the burgers aren’t as good when they’re cold, no matter what Jason thinks.”

  Wordlessly Wesley allowed himself to be led to the table and followed Travis’s lead when he sat down across from him.

  The tension was so great Wesley was starting to sweat as well. Self-consciously, he tore open the paper bag from where it was stapled shut and began pulling out the burgers and wavy fries.

  Travis stood up so quickly his thigh bumped the table, nearly causing the drinks to fall over. “I can’t take it anymore.”

  Within two steps, he was in front of Wesley. Travis shoved his hand into his pocket, pulled out a ring, and dropped to one knee.

  “Oh, Travis—”

  “No, wait, please. I just need to do this all at once.”

  Wesley closed his mouth. Where was he supposed to look? At Travis? The ring?

  Travis wiped the back of his forearm across his mouth, then looked Wesley in the eye.

  “I love you. I know you know that already, but I do.” Travis paused, took a deep breath, then started once more. “I didn’t think I’d ever be happy again. Not like before. You don’t get that… a guy doesn’t get that more than once in his life. Most don’t even get once. I was done. You know?”

  Wesley started to reply, but Travis cut him off with a small shake of his head.

  “Sorry, babe, gotta finish.” He tried to smile but wasn’t successful. “I don’t wanna wait anymore. There’s no reason to. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Wesley.” He held the ring up between them, blocking Wesley’s view of his face.

  A simple, thick gold band.

  Travis spoke from behind the ring. “Shit, I didn’t even ask, did I?”

  Gently, Wesley pulled Travis’s hand down, lowering the ring. There was no way he was going to miss Travis’s face in this moment. Not for anything.

  This time Travis’s smile was brilliant. “Will you marry me, Wesley Ryan?”

  Part Four

  The Following Spring

  Epilogue

  AVERY EXAMINED her reflection in the mirror. She tucked a wayward lock of strawberry blonde hair behind her ear. Glancing back and forth between the framed picture on the dresser and the mirror, she decided that Wendy had done a good enough job. Her hair was nearly identical to what her mom’s had looked like on her wedding day.

  Taking a step back, Avery took in her entire reflection.

  She nodded. It was exactly what she’d wanted. It was perfect. From the sparkling silver cowgirl boots to the locket around her neck that had belonged to her mom, it was exactly what Avery Bennett had wanted.

  She’d had to fight for it. A few weeks ago, Wesley and Wendy had taken her on a shopping trip to Kansas City.

  Just her!

  Caleb and Mason had stayed back with Dad.

  It had been a perfect day.

  They’d started at Children’s Palace. It was the largest toy store she’d ever seen and it was shaped like an actual castle. It had turrets on either side and everything! She’d picked out a deluxe makeup kit for kids. Dad had glared at Wendy when he saw what Avery brought home, but he hadn’t taken it away. She’d also picked out a double pack of My Little Ponies. They were twins. One orange and the other pink. She’d known Mason would love them.

  He did.

  After the toy store, they’d gone out to lunch to this Asian place where they cooked the food right in front of you. The chef had spun an egg on his spatula, tossed shrimp into people’s mouths, and made a volcano out of a stack of onions.

  That all had been amazing. Amazing!

  Avery couldn’t wait to move to the city. One day, when she was older, she was going to move to Kansas City and be a movie star. Or maybe a model. Something. Something that had nothing to do with cows or chickens or buffalo or any kind of animal poop.

  And then, it had all gone downhill at the part she’d been most excited about. Dress shopping!

  That was when Ms. Ryan had shown up. She was Wesley’s mom. Uck.

  Avery loved Wesley so, so, so much, but his mom was bossy. She kept having Avery try on dresses that were pink or yellow. One of them was even red.

  Red!

  Avery was almost done with second grade, and she knew that redhead girls were not supposed to wear red dresses. And to a wedding of all things.

  Avery had picked out a long white sleeveless dress. The whole skirt was covered in lace and little white flowers. As she tried it on, she knew it was the one she wanted.

  It even came with a matching headband.

  But Ms. Ryan kept saying it looked like a wedding dress, and that wasn’t appropriate for a little girl to wear to a wedding.

  Even Aunt Wendy had started to irritate her. She hadn’t told Ms. Ryan to mind her own business or anything.

  Avery had decided she was going to throw a fit. A real one. Not a little kid fit, but one worthy of a soon-to-be third grader. She was going to teach that lady that she couldn’t just show up out of the blue and boss everybody around.

  Luckily, before she had to do that—if she had, she knew Wendy would probably take away the new makeup kit—Wesley had told his mom he thought Avery looked perfect in the dress.

  He was right.

  Even then Wesley’s mom had argued.

  Wesley had kissed his mom on the cheek and told her that since there was no bride at the wedding it wouldn’t hurt if Avery dressed like one.

  Avery really did love Wesley.

  She squinted at the mirror again, annoyed. The same lock of hair had slipped out of place. Again! She tucked it behind her ear once more, then noticed something.

  She lifted the picture off the dresser with both hands. The frame was a silver metal and it was heavy.

  She looked at her mother.

  Avery hadn’t noticed it before because of all the flowers in her mom’s hair. She hadn’t worn a wedding dress, but she did have a bunch of white flowers woven into her pretty red hair. Underneath the clump of flowers, her mom had a strand of hair hanging down in front of her ear.

  Placing the frame back, Avery looked again at her reflection, pulling the lock of hair free once more from behind her ear.

  Everyone told her she looked like her mom. She hoped she did.

  Her mom had been so beautiful.

  She wished her mom could be there to see Dad get married.

  With a lift of her lacy skirt, Avery twisted her foot to see the boot sparkle in the mirror. She was satisfied. She looked every inch a bride. She couldn’t wait! There was going to be wedding cake and dancing.

  Only a few more minutes and she was going to have to line up with Mason to walk down the aisle.

  Mason had a sparkly bow tie that matched her boots.

  The only thing she didn’t like about the wedding was that Daddy and Wesley had decided to have it in the barn.

  In the barn!

  Gross.

  She and Mason were going to walk down the aisle with Dunkyn and Dolan.

  Dolan was going to have a ring tied on his collar for Wesley to give to Daddy, and Dunkyn was going to have ring tied to his collar for Daddy to give to Wesley.

  She liked that.

  Author’s Notes And Acknowledgments

  I KNEW I would return to the world of The Shattered Door, the town I grew up in, one day. I wasn’t sure when or how, but then Travis and Wesley showed up, asking to be with Dunkyn and Dolan—or maybe it was the other way around. Shattered told the tale of the pain, fear, guilt, bullying, etc. that I felt growing up. However, there was another part during those years in El Dorado Springs. Lightning bugs. Thunderstorms. My grandpa’s buffalo. My chickens. Friends that I loved dearly. Simone’s Drive-in (if you’re ever driving on 54 and pass through El Do, you have to stop and get a burger. They’re perfect!). Despite the pain I felt a lot of the time, there was so much good, as well. So much beauty and love. I hope I was able to capture that aspect of El Do with Then the Star
s Fall.

  As strange as this may sound, I have to give credit to the ‘Red Family,’ as I call you, who attend church with Stephen and me. Though I’ve never spoken to you, I’ve watched the love you show each other. I’ve intentionally stayed away so that I didn’t accidentally write who you really are in these pages. However, when I needed a family for this story, it was you—a father and three beautiful children. Though I don’t know your own story, the love the Bennetts show each other is the love I see you show each other every day. And to Caleb (I don’t know your real name), I’ve never seen a better big brother in my entire life. The two little ones are so blessed to have you!

  First off, I’d like to thank all of you, readers, bloggers, and fellow writers of the M/M world. I’ve never been part of such a loving community before. You all are truly wonderful!

  Elizabeth—I will never be able to thank you enough or stop singing your praises. Thank you for continuing to support my attempts to fly!

  Desi—I love you more with each book we do together. Thank you for respecting my writing, my characters, and being strong enough to challenge me. I trust you fully!

  Anne—I am humbled and honored to have such a classic, beautiful, and moving piece of your art grace the cover of Then the Stars Fall. I pray my words embody your masterpiece.

  Stephen—Thank you for continuing to walk through this life with me. Thank you for letting your boyfriend disappear inside his own head while this book poured forth. Thank God that you are so patient. I love you with all of my heart!

  My family—Mom, Dad, Trenton, and Gavin. I love each of you, and I love how we never, ever give up.

  Brandilyn and Ruslana—Thank you for being my betas and seeing this book in its roughest moments. Thank you for your feedback, both the bits I stole from you and the parts I ignored because I’m a bitchy artist. I love you both!

  Amber—Thank you for letting Travis have your last name. I just couldn’t picture him not being a Bennett for some reason. Love you, lady!

  People of El Do, friends, family, and others, yep, even you others—Thank you for raising me my first eighteen years. Through the love, the friendship, and even some of the torture, you taught me to be brave and strong. Thank you for that!

  Cheryl—I love being a teacher in the same school with you! Your grace, strength, and humor are unmatched. Though you are so much different than the Cheryl in the book, I love seeing your name scattered throughout. I will never have a dirty martini with blue cheese stuffed olives and not think of you with love.

  Dunkyn and Dolan—I told you that your story was coming! Some people might find it strange to dedicate a book to you guys, but luckily, we don’t care, do we? You are the best corgis in the world. Dunkyn, there were many, many dark nights I would not have gotten through without you sleeping by my side. Dolan, you entered Dunkyn’s and my world and shattered any illusion we had of serenity. You always show your love and adoration, even when I’m at my worst. I love you both.

  —Dad

  Photo by David Schmidt

  Ink by Aries Rhysing

  BRANDON WITT resides in Denver, Colorado. When not snuggled on the couch with his beloved Corgis, he is more than likely in front of his computer, nose inches from the screen, fingers pounding they keys. When he manages to tear himself away from his writing addiction, he passionately takes on the role of a special education teacher during the daylight hours.

  Website: http://www.brandonwitt.com

  Author Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/brandon.witt.author

  Twitter: https://twitter.com/wittauthor

  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO5cFqYKyNyDCxExAonFPRA

  By BRANDON WITT

  Grand Adventures (Dreamspinner anthology)

  The Shattered Door

  Then the Stars Fall

  Published by DREAMSPINNER PRESS

  http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com

  Published by

  Dreamspinner Press

  5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA

  http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Dreamspinner Press Year Eight Greatest Hits

  © 2015 Dreamspinner Press.

  Cover Design

  © 2015 Paul Richmond.

  http://www.paulrichmondstudio.com

  Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.

  All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/.

  Digital ISBN: 978-1-63476-616-6

  First Edition May 2015

  The Last Thing He Needs previously published by Dreamspinner Press, July 2014

  Cover Art by AngstyG, www.angstyg.com

  Stay With Me previously published by Dreamspinner Press, April 2014

  Cover Art by Anna Sikorska

  The Blinding Light previously published by Dreamspinner Press, July 2014

  Cover Art by Bree Archer, http://www.breearcher.com

  BAMF previously published by Dreamspinner Press, July 2014

  Cover Art by Reese Dante, http://www.reesedante.com

  Then the Stars Fall previously published by Dreamspinner Press, September 2014

  Cover Art by Anne Cain, annecain.art@gmail.com

  Printed in the United States of America