RELEASE BOOST
Title: The End Game
Author: Kate McCarthy
Release Date: September
8, 2015
Blurb
“Professional
athletes are pillars of their respective communities. They are heroes in the
eyes of boys and girls and are expected to conduct themselves in a manner that
positively represents their community.”
The
public loves a good scandal. Seeing someone fall from the pinnacle of success
makes a great headline. No one knows that better than I do. What started out as
a promising career in college football, spiraled into scandal and shame.
But
being a hero is easier said then done. Especially when there are those who
expected to see the great Brody Madden fail. I craved nothing except being the
best—willing to do anything to prove them wrong. But I went too far, and I
tried too hard, and it broke me.
“At
the time of going to print, Jordan Elliott was unavailable for comment.”
I
met Brody Madden in my senior year of college. An Australian native on an
international scholarship, I was the female soccer sensation with stars in her
eyes and no room for a hotshot wide receiver with a chip on his shoulder.
But
a heart bursting with ambition and a driving fire to succeed isn’t made of
stone. I became his strength, his obsession, and the greatest love of his life.
Only I wasn’t there when he needed me most.
This
is a story about love and a game that takes everything. Where the path to glory
is paved with sacrifice. Where pressure makes you, or breaks you, and triumph
is born in the ashes of failure. Where two people’s end game will change
everything.
Purchase Links
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SMASHWORDS
Excerpt
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SMASHWORDS
Shutting
the door, I walk up the slight incline behind Brody. He sits down at the top of
the crest and pats the grassy spot beside him.
“You
didn’t mention this part when you explained our date.”
“I
can’t give away all my secrets now, can I?”
The
grass is a thick blanket on the ground and when I stretch out flat, the rich,
earthy scent of soil sweeps over me. My eyes lift to the sky and that’s when I
get it. It’s perfectly clear and millions of stars are scattered diamonds twinkling
above us—bright and magical.
“Besides,”
Brody adds as he lies down beside me and sweeps out his arm, encompassing all
of it. “How do you explain that?”
He’s
right. You can’t. “It’s beautiful.”
“Is
this what the stars are like for you back home?”
“No.
Back home it’s different.”
“Different
how?”
Homesickness
swamps me. As beautiful as Texas is, it’s not Australia. Somehow the stars are
always brighter where you belong. “Because there’s no place like home.”
“You’re
wrong.”
I
turn my head and stare at Brody. He’s not looking at me. His head is tilted
toward the sky, eyes riveted on the beauty above him. My gaze follows the line
of his profile. From the curl of his hair to the perfect line of his nose, down
to the mouth I want kissing me right this very instant.
“Home’s
not a place where you live. It’s a feeling.” His hand nudges my own. An
invitation. I twine my fingers with his and he squeezes them lightly. “Whether
it’s where you are, like the football field, or who you’re with.” Brody turns
his head, looking at me when he says that. It’s comforting because it unites us
somehow, like it’s slowly becoming us against the world. “You can be anywhere,
Jordan. Home will follow you if you follow your heart.”
My
breath hitches from the beautiful simplicity of his words. Before I can talk
myself out of it, I roll over and straddle him. My knees hug his hips, and he
stares up at me from my seated position. My pulse pounds a heavy beat in the
silence. Thump, thump, thump. It’s so loud in my ears I’m sure he can hear it.
“Show
me,” I breathe. A gleam lights his dark eyes, and he sucks his lower lip inside
his mouth. He knows what I’m asking, but I spell it out anyway. “Show me one of
those wicked things.”
In a
move that steals the air from my lungs, he takes both my hands and pulls me
down against the broad width of his chest. I’m rolled over and underneath him
before I can blink. The squirm in my hips is instinctive, the ache between my
thighs relentless.
“Careful
what you ask for,” Brody says roughly, every exquisite inch of his body
pressing down on mine.
“Why?”
His
lips curve. “Because when I give it to you, it won’t be enough.”
My
fingers trail down the side of his face, grazing the firm jaw, cupping his
cheek in my palm. Foreboding swamps me. I’m falling hard into uncharted
territory, and all I see is a broken mess at the end. How is this going to end
well for either of us?
“You’re
an arrogant man, Brody Madden,” I whisper.
He
brings his face to mine, so close I see the brilliant gold in his eyes, like
flecks of light in the dark. “And you, Jordan Elliott, will be the woman who
brings me to my knees,” he whispers against my lips.
“Show
me,” I beg on a shaky breath.
Brody’s
lashes lower and he presses a kiss to the corner of my mouth. I tilt my chin
upwards, inviting more. Rather than take my lips like I ache for him to do, he
shifts sideways and begins nipping at my jaw. His breath is a rasp when he
reaches my earlobe, taking it between his teeth. A sharp pinch from his bite
forces a whimper from my throat.
“More?”
he asks, drawing back to look at me.
“Is
that even a real question?”
Brody
chuckles as I slide my hand up and around his nape, dragging his mouth down to
mine. He groans and kisses me gently, once, and then twice.
“Brody,”
I whisper, and he kisses me again, forcing my mouth open hard like he can’t
hold himself in check anymore. My hair is loose and he fists chunks of it in
both hands while his tongue rubs against mine, hot and aggressive. It’s almost
too much, and when I jerk away I’m left gasping.
Brody
doesn’t pause. He ducks his head to my neck, his tongue tasting its way down.
He finds my pulse point and sucks. It’s fierce and my back arches
involuntarily. His mouth shifts further down, moving on before he leaves a
mark.
Sitting
up, he takes the neckline of my dress in both hands. Five dainty buttons hold
it together. A single wrench will rip the flimsy fabric in two. He pauses and
looks at me, inhaling raggedly. “Jordan … I don’t want to ruin it.”
My
brow furrows. I glance to the hands poised on my dress. They’re tense, veins
straining under his skin. My head is lost in a fog when my gaze returns to his
face. “Ruin my dress?”
Brody
groans, a deep sound of regret and frustration. “Us.”
“You
don’t want to ruin us?”
He
draws his hands away from the neckline of my dress. “No.”
“How
would you do that?”
“I
don’t know. I just get this feeling I’m going to.” He shifts away, moving off
me and rolling to his back. I turn my head. Brody’s gaze is back on the stars.
I watch his throat work as he swallows, the pulse in his neck pounding visibly.
“All I’ve ever wanted is to be the best. Whatever it takes. I’ll do anything.
That’s how I’ll ruin us, Jordan. How can something so sweet survive a sentiment
so dark?”
I
roll to my side, holding my head in my hand. Cupping his face with the other, I
nudge gently until he’s looking at me. “I won’t let you.”
Brody’s
voice is urgent, his eyes fierce. “Promise me.”
I
can’t shake the apprehension. It’s set in my bones and when I speak it feels
like a lie. “I promise.”
Author Bio
Kate
McCarthy is an Australian, living in the pretty sunshine state of Queensland
with her two kids and two dogs, Rufus and Pete.
She
loves to bake sweet stuff and eat it too. With an exciting degree in business,
she works as an accountant by day, and an author by night. In between family
life, she is most often found in bed reading, or at the beach, still reading.
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