$2.99
Savannah Parker is the only one who knows what happened three and a half years ago. It’s what caused her to leave her hometown of Madison, North Carolina, and it’s what’s kept her away ever since. But when she needs to return home for her sister, Savannah knows that she must face the painful memories that Madison holds for her and the person she ran away from to begin with: Wade Devereaux, the first and only guy she’s ever loved. As soon as she sees him again, all of the feelings she used to have for him rise to the surface, but she knows that she must fight them.
Wade has spent the past few years wondering why Savannah left so abruptly, ending their relationship without even telling him it was over. He wants her back, and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to prove it to her. But he wants answers, too, because all he has left are questions. He quickly realizes that getting an answer out of Savannah isn’t going to be easy, though. But what he can’t figure is what she could be hiding from him. Even more importantly, is it as bad as what he’s keeping from her?
Disclaimer: This New Adult novel is best-suited for readers ages 18+ due to strong language, sexual situations, and other mature topics.
Excerpt:
Chapter 1: Savannah
How many clothes could I have possibly bought over the past few years? That was the only thing I could think as I sorted, folded, stacked, and packed all of my belongings into big cardboard boxes.
“Do you want some of these sweaters?” I asked, holding a few of them up for Danielle, my best friend and former roommate, to see. We hadn’t lived together for the past year and a half, but she had come over to help me pack.
Her eyes widened. “Weren’t some of those really expensive? That one was from Nordstrom’s, wasn’t it?”
I nodded. “Yeah, but I’m not going to need them once I go back to North Carolina. I only need a few sweaters to get me through the year, and I have probably about fifty here. Some of them are brand new,” I said, holding up a blue cashmere sweater that still had its price tag on as evidence.
“Well, if you’re sure that you really don’t want them, then okay,” Danielle replied with a grin. I knew that she wouldn’t be able to resist adding more clothes to her wardrobe, and fortunately, we were close to the same size. Shopping happened to be one of our favorite things to do together since we’d met three and a half years ago, and we often raided each other’s closets for fun.
I went back to piling my jeans into a box and cranked up the music I had on. “Dirt Road Anthem” by Jason Aldean was playing.
As she finished taping up one of my boxes she’d been working on, Danielle glanced over at me. “Are you listening to Blake Shelton again?”
I laughed. Even though she and I had a lot in common, one of the things that my best friend never really understood was my love for country music. She was more into rap and hip hop herself. “No, it’s Jason Aldean.”
“Oh.” She began going through the pile of sweaters I’d laid out for her and glanced over at me. “I really wish you weren’t going back to North Carolina, Savannah. Do you know how much I’m going to miss you?”
I glanced over at her sympathetically. “I’m really going to miss you, too, but just because we won’t be living in the same city anymore doesn’t mean we won’t still keep in touch. We can call and Skype and—”
“And even though we can do all of those things, it just won’t be the same,” Danielle replied with a pouty expression. “Who else am I going to go out drinking with?”
“Hopefully someone who makes less of an ass out of herself?” I asked with a shrug.
Danielle rolled her honey brown eyes at me. “You don’t make any more of an ass out of yourself than I make out of myself.” She hesitated for a moment before adding, “I want you to promise me something, though.”
“What?”
“That you won’t let any weird guys buy you drinks, and that you’ll always make sure you have a designated driver. Because I won’t be there to make sure you don’t go home with some total creep, and I doubt there are that many taxis in your town.” I wanted to think she was joking, but her eyes were full of concern.
I laughed. “You make it sound like I have a drinking problem.”
“Well...” Danielle darted her eyes away from me teasingly and then shrugged. “Anyway, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t have fun. I just want you to be careful, that’s all. We all know that you and alcohol don’t mix well. I can’t even count on one hand how many times I needed to clean up your vomit when we used to live together.”
“Sorry,” I replied, feeling my cheeks reddening in embarrassment. “To be fair, though, I always used to get woken up by the sound of you having crazy sex with some of the grossest guys I’ve ever met, so I think it’s an even trade.”
Danielle laughed, her brown eyes smiling. “Yeah, I guess you’re probably right. Ick, do you remember that guy Anthony?”
“The one who acted like he was interested in you, when really he just wanted to hire you to star in his porno?” I asked, wrinkling my nose. He was, quite possibly, the creepiest guy she’d ever been with.
“Yeah, that’s the one,” Danielle replied. “You won’t be here to protect me from him anymore whenever he hits on me at the bar.”
“Sorry,” I replied, feeling guilty about my decision to leave again, even though I knew it was the right thing for me. Growing bored with Jason Aldean, I turned on the song “Ticks” by Brad Paisley and began to sing along.
“Okay, I might have been wrong last time, but this is one of Blake Shelton’s songs, isn’t it?”
I laughed. “No, it’s Brad Paisley. I swear, you think I’m listening to Blake Shelton every time I listen to a country song by a male singer. And the funny thing is, I hardly ever listen to Blake.”
Danielle shrugged her shoulders. “I can’t help it. They all sound like him.”
“I think it’s just that he’s the only country singer whose name you know because of The Voice. I promise I’ll be careful when I drink, but you have to promise me that you’ll learn some country songs so you won’t always think I’m listening to Blake Shelton.”
“Okay, I will. You can teach me all about them when I come to visit you in North Carolina for Fourth of July.” She grinned.
“Really? You’re coming to see me for Fourth of July?” I squealed, jumping up and giving my best friend a hug. “I’m so excited!”
“Me, too. I have it all planned out. I’m going to watch fireworks with you North Carolina-style, drink some of this sweet tea you keep telling me about, and turn my pancake ass into a round one with all of the Southern food I’m going to eat. And then, most importantly, you’re going to introduce me to a fine country man.” She winked at me.
I laughed. “Okay, all of that sounds great, but trust me. I really don’t think you’re going to find a ‘fine country man’ in Madison.”
“You never know,” Danielle replied, shrugging and pulling her light brown hair into a ponytail. “I’m so willing to try if it means that I might meet a man who actually has manners, for once.”
I smiled, but the truth was, I did know that she wouldn’t meet anyone during her visit. I knew exactly what types of guys there were in Madison, and most of them weren’t exactly up to Danielle’s standards. Most of them weren’t even up to my standards… except for one, that is.
I’d had the best guy in town before I’d ripped his heart out of his chest and stomped all over it like a heartless bitch.
No comments:
Post a Comment