About The Whole Deal
by Lorne Rodman
102 pages / 36000 words
ISBN: 978-1-60370-679-7, 1-60370-679-8
Available file types - html, lit, pdf, prc
Denny and Robin meet when Denny falls in Robin's lap. Literally. Having lost a leg in a muscle car race, Denny wears a prosthetic, which sometimes leaves him unsteady on his feet. It's a good thing, though, as a shared table at the best pizza joint in town soon leads to a night of passion.
Robin, a writer, is footloose and fancy-free and brand new in town. He finds himself coming back to the more mature and settled Denny, loving the way the man makes him feel. But will it last? Will Robin get scared and run, or stick around for the whole deal?
Review
Mel Spenser, author of Rover, writes: Robin is young and a bit of a drifter, never staying in one place for long. He’s come to town, gotten a job at the local Borders, and has rented a room. He is a writer, and never plans on staying in the same place for long, ready to move on when the urge hits.
Denny, on the other hand, has settled down and intends to stay put. A big muscular guy covered in tattoos, he does metal work. At one time, though, he was a monster car driver. A fiery crash left him with one leg causing him to now get around on a specially made prosthesis.
It’s been a while since Denny has been with someone, but he takes to Robin almost immediately. When they meet one day at a restaurant, the attraction is mutual, and they waste no time getting to know each other intimately.
Robin finds out pretty quickly that Denny is a little more kinky: spanking, cuffs. It’s nothing too extreme, but it’s something that Robin readily responds to and can’t get enough of. There is a lot of sex. Actually Denny and Robin can’t be together for any length of time before their urges take over.
Denny feels himself falling for Robin. But he realizes their age difference and is hesitant to push the issue; although, he does want more. Robin, however, seems to be comfortable with the status quo.
This is an enjoyable story. Nothing too awful happens to the characters. They enjoy each other as they tentatively find their way along in their relationship. There’s a lot of hot sex, which is always a plus for me. I tend to like contemporary stories best, and this one, set in Colorado is a nice diversion. I did like both of the characters and would like to see them in a continuation story to see how their relationship further develops.
Sample
They called his number at the counter and Denny hopped up and went to pick up his three slices of Sicilian extra cheese and three meats, with a side of extra sauce. Damn, carrying everything was fucking hard juggling, especially when a little girl ran right in front of him as her momma came in the front door to order and almost sent him falling on his ass.
The only things keeping him upright were the paid-for food he wasn't about to waste, and the fact that he was big enough that if he went down it was freaking hard to get back up. And it wasn't the little rug rat's fault she was excited about pizza. D'nofrio's had the best damned slices.
Denny teetered, the gears in his fancy fake leg squeaking and whizzing, and did the dance of the clumsy one-legged bear, waltzing back out in the dining room at a hard stagger, and landing himself in a chair at a table that was so not his. Was, in fact, populated by someone else.
Brown eyes blinked at him through a pair of wire-rimmed glasses and a kid looked up from his book, a pizza slice halfway to his mouth. "Uh... hello?"
"Hey." Denny grinned. What else could he do? He'd hit hard on that chair and was a little out of breath and not inclined to move. "Hope you don't mind. My pizza liked the look of yours and wanted to get acquainted."
He got another blink and then a small smile teased at the corner of the kid's lips, growing into a grin. Oh, now that smile lit up that face very nicely. The kid pushed his plate, with a slice left on it, toward Denny's. "Bacon hamburger double cheese, pleased to meet you."
"Noah's Ark with extra cheese, sauce on the side. Sorry, man, but I was about to fall over." Denny motioned to his stretched out prosthesis. "Thanks for letting me sit a minute."
"Noah's Ark?" A soft giggle followed that and the kid leaned over to look at his leg. "Well, I suppose now that you're down, you could stay put. I wasn't using the other chair." A hand was held out to him. "Robin Dawes."
"Yeah? Rock on." Grabbing the kid's hand, Denny shook firmly, nodding at the table opposite them. "Can I ask one more favor? Could you get my drink? Oh, and I'm Denny."
"Sure. 'Denny,' like the restaurant, huh?" Robin got up and grabbed his drink, bringing it over for him.
"Thanks, man. I can only dance so much without sustenance." He looked the kid over. Nice. There was something to be said for a good view with a meal.
"Do you mind my asking what happened?"
"Huh? That little girl ran right out in front of me and knocked me winding. Of course, she was getting calzone, so who can blame her?" Damn, he was babbling, but he'd been caught staring.
Robin chuckled. "I actually meant, do you mind me asking what happened to your leg." Robin nodded at his prosthetic and blushed slightly. "It was kind of rude of me, actually."
"Oh! Nah, I'd rather people asked than stared and wondered." Denny didn't mind talking about it. "I used to race. Muscle car stuff. I crashed and burned in a big way, and it's funny, but I was hardly beat up except that leg. It was... well, you're eating." He grinned. It had been pretty gross.
"Oh, man, that sucks. The muscle car bit sounds interesting though. I ride a hog." Robin licked his fingers clean, took a gulp of Coke and started in on his second piece.