{"id":8128,"date":"2019-11-17T11:45:12","date_gmt":"2019-11-17T19:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/?page_id=8128"},"modified":"2019-11-17T11:52:52","modified_gmt":"2019-11-17T19:52:52","slug":"8128-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/8128-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Excerpt: Skin and Bone by Keary Taylor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Skin<\/a>
click to purchase<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Skin and Bone Excerpt:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

CHAPTER ONE
<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eight surgeries, twelve hair dye experiments, 1,834 hours of video observation, two years of yoga practice to try to make up that extra inch of height, and the public loss of gluten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s what I\u2019ve gone through for love.  That\u2019s everything I\u2019ve given up\u2013all the money I\u2019ve spent, all the hours I\u2019ve invested\u2013to finally be with the man I\u2019ve loved for more than a decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They say nothing worth having comes easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everything comes with a price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve paid my dues.  I\u2019ve been more patient than anyone could ever comprehend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And now it\u2019s finally my time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I step from the closet into the bathroom.  I check my makeup. What the surgeries couldn\u2019t accomplish is made up for with some well-practiced cosmetic techniques.  The contour is just right. The eyebrow lift did exactly what was needed. My jaw is still sore, even though all of the swelling and bruising has finally gone away.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But as I apply a coat of lipstick\u2014Apple Sunrise, her default color\u2014I smile at myself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even my teeth required altering.  Thirty-five thousand dollars, and they look just right; are just the right shade of white.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s perfect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m perfect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am my own creation and I have to admire my hard work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s brilliant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I press my lips together, blowing my own reflection a kiss, and step out of the bathroom.  I cut through the nearly empty bedroom and aim for the dining room. My laptop sits on it, a cheap piece of technology, because after today, it\u2019s going in the crusher of the cement company down the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can\u2019t leave any evidence behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which is tragic, because really, this amounts to the same amount of work as a doctoral degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s okay though.  I\u2019ll take the loss, so long as it gets me the prize, the reward for all my hard work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I open the web browser and sign into my email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

iamsawyerjames@gmail.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just seeing the signature at the top of the page feels good.  My insides flutter in excitement. Goosebumps wash over my skin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sawyer James at IMT Homes, I type in the address.  I attach just one file and leave the body of the email empty.  In the subject line, I type It was never really about you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that\u2019s a lie.  She may not be my main target, my main motivation, but there are fourteen years\u2019 worth of resentment that brought us to this point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My gaze re-focuses on the screen, and once more, I see my reflection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perfect, soft blonde hair.  Blue eyes that border on green, thanks to contacts that are purely for color, not prescription.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A pretty face with hope in her eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here we are.  One last out before it all goes down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One last opportunity to change my mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I see myself smile in the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not a chance.  I\u2019ve worked too hard for this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I press SEND and smile.
<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Skin and Bone Excerpt: CHAPTER ONE Eight surgeries, twelve hair dye experiments, 1,834 hours of video observation, two years of yoga practice to try to make up that extra inch of height, and the public loss of gluten. That\u2019s what I\u2019ve gone through for love.  That\u2019s everything I\u2019ve given up\u2013all the money I\u2019ve spent, all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"spay_email":""},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8044,"url":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/excerpt-the-conman-by-mike-murphey\/","url_meta":{"origin":8128,"position":0},"title":"Excerpt: The Conman by Mike Murphey","date":"2019-11-15","format":false,"excerpt":"Click to purchase Title: The ConmanAuthor: Mike MurpheyGenre: Sports Fiction (Baseball)Release Date: November 11, 2019 (What follows is based on a true story) CHAPTER ONEOctober 1992Phoenix, Arizona Failure can be an acute condition, perhaps even chronic, but quitting\u2014quitting is fatal. Conor Nash believed this to his marrow. 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Not that Sam\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8479,"url":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/excerpt-kiss-me-with-lies-by-s-m-soto\/","url_meta":{"origin":8128,"position":3},"title":"Excerpt: Kiss Me With Lies by S.M. Soto","date":"2019-12-08","format":false,"excerpt":"click to purchase I don\u2019t know how much time passes, but it\u2019s long enough that it dawns on me Winnie is still gone. She\u2019s no longer in the spot she was when she left to go mingle. She\u2019s nowhere to be found actually. My stomach sloshes as I sway when\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","img":{"alt_text":"Kiss Me With Lies by SM Soto","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/KMWL-BT-banner.jpg?fit=1200%2C443&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1564,"url":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/stan-morris-excerpt\/","url_meta":{"origin":8128,"position":4},"title":"Stan Morris - Excerpt: From Chapter Four Death; Becomes Us","date":"2014-01-23","format":false,"excerpt":"Then the Chief looked at the prisoner and said, \"Bring him.\u201d The man started yelling at us, and he threatened to kill the Chief. \u00a0He described some really vile sexual things that he would do to us girls if we didn\u2019t let him go. \u00a0Some of the kids got really\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 10 comments","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8272,"url":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/excerpt-outmatched-by-kristen-callihan-and-samantha-young\/","url_meta":{"origin":8128,"position":5},"title":"Excerpt: Outmatched by Kristen Callihan and Samantha Young","date":"2019-11-20","format":false,"excerpt":"click to puchase How could I put much-needed distance between me and Rhys if I confided deep, emotional history to him? \u201cIt\u2019s not relevant.\u201d \u201cI think it is, if your boy is making such a big deal about it. My guess \u2026 Theo is some rich little f***er who screwed\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","img":{"alt_text":"Outmatched by Kristen Callihan and Samantha Young","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Outmatched-RB-banner.jpg?fit=1200%2C443&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8128"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8128"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8128\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8133,"href":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8128\/revisions\/8133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}