The Last Star and Other Stories

Book excerpt: From the AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR, D. L. ORTON, comes a funny, provocative, and sensual collection of short stories. Laugh, cry, and linger over these brief but intense glimpses into the lives of two hesitant young lovers, a billion-year-old AI and his female companion, a human-dolphin friendship, a lonely divorcée who believes she's too old to fall in love and much more. Share the wonder. ⭐️ Experience the passion. 💋 Take the journey. 🚀 The Last Star • Two beings watch the last star in our universe wink out and discover the answer to how it all ends. Just Friends • Best friends since they had matching Scooby-Doo lunch boxes in second grade, two twenty-somethings take the awkward, irreversible, and breathtaking step away from "just friends." Phoenix • If you think your roommate is bad, then try living with a practical-joke-playing, drop-dead-gorgeous, celebrity femme fatale. No one is safe from her feminine wiles, least of all you. My Kingdom for a Double Espresso • Is sex just a physical thing for guys? You know you're in trouble when your girlfriend tosses that one out the morning after you make the mistake of falling asleep on her... Down in Flames • Personal tragedy played against a background of public disaster leaves one woman stuck in a very personal hell--and hoping for a second chance. Willing • Right now—at this very instant—you are older than you have ever been and younger than you will ever be again. There will never be a better time to fall in love. The Idiot's Guide to Writing Workshops • Or "How I Survived Publishing My First Novel." The Devil and a Hard Place • After all the time spent apart—all the doubts, all the denial, all the lonely nights—a love that refuses to die draws them back together like moths to a flame. (Warning: contains adult content and language.) Like Wild Horses • Sometimes a girl's best friend has four legs and a tale...