About Founder
Written by Jodi Payne
137 pages / 51000 words
ISBN: 978-1-60370- 076-4, 1-60370-076-5
Available file types - html, lit, pdf, prc, paperback
When Aubrey Jacek hits bottom, he goes all out. When he finds out his man is cheating on him, all of the trouble at home spills over into work, and Aubrey just can’t keep it together. He hits the bottle hard, hits other things harder, all the while spiraling out of control.
The one good thing in his life is Kelly, the kid who might just turn his life around. Through all of the wandering from one dead end job to another, through all of the drinking and despair, Kelly is like a shining beacon at hope. Can Aubrey clean up his act and make his way home to Kelly before it’s too late to start over?
Review
Kiernan Kelly, bestselling Torquere Press author, writes:
Love doesn’t always come easy. Sometimes it comes only after a long, hard road, bumpy and full of hairpin twists, mostly uphill.
Jodi Payne, in FOUNDER, brings us such a love story. Thick with emotion, Payne examines the road a man might take clawing his way from desolation to redemption, from loneliness to love. Aubrey Jacek is a character you’ll not soon forget; the sort of man who fights himself, his feelings and his flaws, eventually finding the courage that all of us hope we have within ourselves.
Filled with beautifully developed characters and a richly drawn backdrop, FOUNDER is a rare work that isn’t afraid to examine man’s darker nature, his dubious decisions and weaknesses, his bravery and self-control, and to rejoice in his ultimate triumph over himself as he makes his way along the long, hard road to love.
Sample
Aubrey Jacek arrived home to find his front door wide open. He squinted at it and then took a long look at the unfamiliar truck in his driveway. Chet never left the damn door open, he complained it let in the prairie dust and the dry summer air. He and Chet were like the Odd Couple; Chet liked everything just so, and Aubrey had more important things to think about than a little dust on the hardwood floors.
Strange truck, front door wide open.
Fuck.
He rolled his eyes and sighed. It wouldn't be the first time that Aubrey had been robbed, but Christ, he was so tired and it had been such a long, goddamned day. Was it too much to ask just to come home, have a whiskey, fuck his lover, and crash?
Aubrey peered inside, hoping to hell whoever had broken in wasn't waiting around the corner for him. He was too fucking tired for a fistfight, and he didn't feel like getting shot at today.
He found the living room empty, though some of the furniture was out of place. The ottoman was flipped on its side and one of the couch cushions lay on the floor along with a table lamp. The rug was bunched up in one corner and the blinds against the far window were hanging at an odd angle.
It looked like there’d been a struggle.
Aubrey's swore under his breath and his heart started to pound. Chet had gotten a ride home from the farm a couple of hours ago and if he'd surprised someone breaking in...
He backed up a couple of steps and opened the narrow hall closet by the kitchen. He'd fully expected his rifle to be missing, but was relieved to find it was still sitting, undisturbed, in its place up on the top shelf. He grabbed it, loaded the rifle quickly, and closed the closet door just in time to hear a groan coming from down the hall.
Gingerly, he made his way toward the sound, first checking the bathroom, but finding it empty. Flipping the rifle's safety off, he continued down the short hall toward the bedroom.
"Fuck!"
The voice wasn't Chet's, and it was loud enough to set Aubrey even more on edge. He quickly pushed open the bedroom door, rifle up and ready.
"Fuck, yes. Come on!"
That was definitely Chet's voice. And Chet's bare ass, too. Chet's cock was buried in a smaller man with pale skin and he was thrusting hard and fast. Aubrey knew the look on Chet's face well. The other man was on his hands and knees and he whimpered as his arms gave out. He dropped his shoulders to the bed leaving his ass high in the air. Chet seemed to like that, and dug his fingers into the guy's hips and yanked the guy back onto his cock.
"Oh, yeah, you love it." Chet's voice was tight and strained. "Come on, now, give it up."
The air was filled with the sound of skin slapping skin. Aubrey's anger flared higher and hotter, partly because Chet was his lover and this was their bed and that pale-skinned asshole wasn't part of that equation, and partly because Chet had gotten a good look at Aubrey as soon as he'd come in, grinned at the rifle in Aubrey's hands, but hadn't stopped fucking the guy.
Growling, Aubrey leveled the rifle at the window nearest the bed, took aim, and pulled the trigger, shattering the glass.