Tales from the Dark Side...of Love Giveaway - Luke Murphy Shares the Tale of His Worst Date

I’ve been asked to write about my “worst” date, but before I can do this I need to give you some background information.

I admit that I was one of those rare boys in early high school who didn’t think much about girls or dating. Of course I noticed the opposite sex but I, unlike most of my friends, had set high goals and wasn’t going to let anything get in my way of achieving them.

I grew up in a small rural town in Canada. Living in Canada meant one thing: I lived and breathed hockey. As a child, I only thought of one thing, being an NHL superstar…period.

In high school, while all of my friends were dating, partying, drinking and smoking, I spent my weekends going to the gym, eating properly and getting plenty of sleep. I know, I was a square, but I was chasing my dreams. I was never persuaded by peer pressure and to be honest, since my friends knew my goals, they never pressured me into joining them.

With the death of my mother when I was 15 years old, losing a battle to cancer she had fought so hard against for years, I sensed it was time to get serious about reaching my dreams, and I moved away to pursue hockey. I had also promised my mother that I would go to college, so I also had that weighing on me.

But as disciplined and dedicated as I was to my cause, I couldn’t resist the temptation of the female sex. Okay, maybe I wasn’t as strong as I thought, LOL.

So I know what you are thinking…hockey player = “player.”  I never considered myself a “player,” it’s just that I was never interested in getting “serious,” so it seems that I hopped from girl to girl. I didn’t do the “one-night stand” thing, but I did have many “girlfriends.” Is that bad?

It started by leaving home to play hockey. I was 16 when I had my first girlfriend, a girl in the town where I was playing hockey. It didn’t last long, but it gave me a taste of what was about to come.

Because I left home for:  three years of junior hockey, four years of college, and six years of pro hockey, I got into the habit of having a girlfriend during the winter when I was away, then breaking up when I went home for the summer, and finding a girlfriend for the summer when I was home.

Like I said, I might sound like a “pig,” but I treated these girls well, never cheated on them, we had a lot of fun together, and they knew going in that I would be leaving. We never went into these relationships with any misconceptions. I never led them on and was straight with them from the start. They knew what they were getting into.

So from 1993-1999, I did the “summer” girlfriend and “winter” girlfriend thing. Don’t judge me. J

In the summer of 2000, I returned home from my first year of professional hockey. Again, I never came home with the idea of getting a girlfriend for the next three-four months, it just kind of happened.

I played ball every summer. I live in a small town, where everyone knows each other, so after the game, the guys all stay to have a beer and BS over the “glory” days.

That summer, I first noticed the younger sister of one of the guys I played ball against. She was at one of the “after-hours” gatherings and we got to talking. Next thing I knew, we agreed to meet that weekend at the bar. The following week, we decided to go on our first date together.

This is the date I’ve been leading up to.

We agreed to dinner and a movie. I wasn’t sure what to expect going in. She was a few years younger than me, I wasn’t looking for anything serious (as I was heading back to hockey in a few months) and she knew that as well.

I picked her up and we headed to the closest city with a theatre, which was about 45 minutes away. The drive was fine, she was shy, but there was no “awkward” or “uncomfortable” silences. We went to dinner first at East Side Mario’s, where again we talked and laughed. I remember she had a great laugh, and laughed at everything I said (bonus, because I’m not that funny). Next came the movie. We watched “A Perfect Storm.” Pretty good movie. Evening = so far so good.

So after the movie, we got in the car and headed home. It was dark by this time, so I couldn’t see my date in the passenger side beside me. I began talking about the night and maybe getting together again. She didn’t say much, so I just thought that maybe she was just back to being shy and quiet. I changed the subject and began talking about something else but again she didn’t respond. I thought that maybe I had insulted her somehow, so I didn’t say anything else and we drove in silence the rest of the way home.

I wasn’t sure what would happen when we got to her house. I was pretty sure that we would never see each other again, seeing as how she refused to talk and there was this awkward tension between us.

I finally pulled into her driveway 30 minutes later, we still hadn’t said two words to each other, and I parked in front of her house. I didn’t say anything, hoping she would break the silence. When she didn’t, I listened carefully and I could hear that her breathing was louder and steadier than when we had first left. So when I turned on the interior light, I saw her head was cocked back onto the seat headrest, eyes closed and mouth wide open.

She had fallen asleep!!! That’s the first time a girl had ever fallen asleep on one of my dates. I guess that’s how boring I was, LOL.

So what did I do? I dated her for another six years and married her. We’ve now been happily married for eight years and she hasn’t fallen asleep on me since…well, okay, maybe she has. But with three small girls, there isn’t much sleep for either of us.

Bianca’s Note: A bad first date with a happy ending!  When does that ever happen?  Indeed, there can be a bright side to the dark side of love ;)!   My worst date was probably a toss-up between the guy who took me to Taco Bell for our first (and last) date and the guy who “forgot” his wallet (another first and last date).    

Thanks to Luke for sharing his story and please be sure and enter below for your chance to win an eBook copy of Luke’s book, “Dead Man’s Hand,” (click here for more information) along with tons of other prize, including a Kindle Fire HD!

 

Back cover text for DEAD MAN'S HAND

 

What happens when the deck is stacked against you…

 

From NFL rising-star prospect to wanted fugitive, Calvin Watters is a sadistic African-American Las Vegas debt-collector framed by a murderer who, like the Vegas Police, finds him to be the perfect fall-guy.

 

…and the cards don't fall your way?

 

When the brutal slaying of a prominent casino owner is followed by the murder of a well-known bookie, Detective Dale Dayton is thrown into the middle of a highly political case and leads the largest homicide investigation in Vegas in the last twelve years.

 

What if you're dealt a Dead Man's Hand?

 

Against his superiors and better judgment, Dayton is willing to give Calvin one last chance. To redeem himself, Calvin must prove his innocence by finding the real killer, while avoiding the LVMPD, as well as protect the woman he loves from a professional assassin hired to silence them.

 

Short Bio:

 

Luke Murphy lives in Shawville, Quebec with his wife, three daughters and pug.

 

He played six years of professional hockey before retiring in 2006. Since then, he’s held a number of jobs, from sports columnist to radio journalist, before earning his Bachelor of Education degree (Magna Cum Laude).

 

Murphy`s debut novel, Dead Man`s Hand, was released by Imajin Books on October 20, 2012.

 

For more information on Luke and his books, visit: www.authorlukemurphy.com, ‘like’ his Facebook page www.facebook.com/#!/AuthorLukeMurphy and follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/#!/AuthorLMurphy

Review Blurbs:

"You may want to give it the whole night, just to see how it turns out."

-- William Martin, New York Times bestselling author of The Lincoln Letter

 

 

"Dead Man's Hand is a pleasure, a debut novel that doesn't read like one, but still presents original characters and a fresh new voice."

-- Thomas Perry, New York Times bestselling author of Poison Flower

 

"Part police procedural, part crime fiction, Dead Man's Hand is a fast, gritty ride."

—Anne Frasier, USA Today bestselling author of Hush

 

  

 

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