Bless his heart. LOL.
I'm going to use this review to respond to something KevinD said earlier, so apologies in advance for the tangent. Streak has been posted on a four day interval, and that's been pretty consistent. That may change in a few chapters, but for right now, that's our schedule.
Most of the guys in this story have fucked first, and then fallen in love (or lust) later. There are a few notable exceptions to that, the biggest being Matt and Wade. I can see JJ ultimately being a little wild man in bed, but not until he was really comfortable with someone. He's no Will (or Darius).
Excellent insights! I think that Brad doesn't really need to be JJ's friend, but I do think he needs to back off. We'll see if he can actually do that.
The verdict is still out on Alex, and whether his deal with Matt and Wade was his norm, or an aberration. Regardless, he's fallen into JJ's clutches, and it seems Alex is the one who is much more vulnerable. :-)
Thanks! Brad has always been a little thick-headed when it comes to his family. I really can understand where he's coming from on this. He's looking at JJ, visualizing all that he's been through (the coach, his cutting incident, Shane's death, then losing his mother and Robbie), and it is reasonable for him to be concerned. And for Brad, concern so easily morphs into control.
Thanks very much! I think that Matt will actually fall into line on this...if you think about it, he's largely let Wade set the tone where Alex is concerned, especially with their meeting in Paris. I think Matt will follow Wade's lead.
I agree with you. Everyone is worried about JJ, the pure and fragile flower, but we see that he's really quite capable of taking care of himself. Or at least it seems that way.
September 28, 2002
Lafayette, CA
Zach
We were having a team meeting at our house. The coach liked to have these on Sunday evenings, when we were all getting our heads back into the week ahead. Or maybe it was to help us get our heads into the week ahead. Anyway, they relied on the players’ families, for the most part, to host these events, so Frank and Isidore had generously agreed to sponsor it tonight. Usually the parents cooked some food for us, but Isidore had
I'm so glad you picked up on that. JJ really is justifiably accusing them of checking out on him, and remaining uninvolved in his life. He's basically found someone to pay attention to him and fill the void, so it makes sense that he'd go apeshit when they try to rip that away, especially when no one seems willing to step in for him.
I think that before Brad was able to ruin JJ's career, other members of the family would intervene. Plus I think that Brad is posturing, because I don't think he'd really do that.
Thanks Maarten. Sometimes when the story is just rolling along, I feel like I need to throw drama in for effect, but I'm learning to resist that. It's better if it just goes naturally
I can't see JJ doing what Will did, although he's probably close to the same point from an emotional maturity level. I think JJ would probably just get incredibly bitchy and snarky, until the target of his ire was pretty much ready to kill him.
It is a tough choice for Brad to make, and he hasn't been able to let his kids go out on their own without a major battle, but then again, he's been through quite the crucible, so maybe he'll do better.
November, 1799
HMS Valiant
“Land ho!” came the shout from the foretop. It was a remarkably pleasant morning, as if to make up for the storms they’d endured. The wind was weak, barely providing enough power to propel Valiant, while the seas were so smooth they looked like glass. The only deterrent was the slight chill in the air, but it wasn’t enough to take away from what was a beautiful sunrise. Granger thought the sun rose more quickly than it usually did, even as he wat
There's a different takeaway from this. JJ isn't like Will, and he doesn't usually get upset and raise hell about things. The fact that he's doing that, stepping completely outside of his box, should give us all a big clue as to how obsessed he is with Alex.
Brad hasn't done much of anything yet, other than to plot behind the scenes with Stef, Matt, and Wade to interfere in JJ's life. I think the big challenge comes when he has to face up to that, and I think that's where he'll either change his ways, or fall into old habits.
As for Will, I think that his desire to take some time and think about things may have been what changed his mind.
Thanks for the review. This may be egotistical, to really enjoy some of my own dialog, but I could so vividly see JJ saying this to Matt, and see Matt flustered by how true it was:
“Maybe he just acted that way because Wade is like a princess and you are like a whore.”