“I’m almost convinced that my dad never sleeps,” I said, sighing.
He holds the bag over my head with his fingers on the dispenser. With wide eyes, I take a hesitant step back.
“You haven’t even told me what I’m supposed to be doing!”
“Drink,” he deadpans.
“Here, I’ll show you,” Lea said, pushing her way in front of me.
She twists the knob and braces for the wine to flow. The chair angled behind me slides across the pavement, Lea stops, wiping the back of her hand across her lips and stares at the guy behind me. He twists his blue hat around, shoving it over his eyes and lights up.
With a deep inhale he holds the smoke in then turns to us. With a cough, smoke tumbles from his mouth.
“What?” He croaks out, staring at Lea.
“Amazing, just amazing. I can’t even come over without you guys pullin’ some stupid shit! Taylor, let’s get out of here.”
“What’s wrong?” I asked, grabbing her elbow.
“Lea’s just acting like a fucking saint. She gets on her kicks sometimes. Like she’s never lit one up with us,” he chuckles.
“Cops are standing at the gate. Someone probably called in on you idiots,” Lea said, shoving her finger in their direction.
He dips his shades down and snorts. “Those are security guards, big difference.”
“Yeah? Well, don’t call me when they arrest you for possession.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it. For the record, you’d get off my back if knew what Hayze did earlier,” he laughs.
“I honestly don’t want to know. Fucking idiots,” she said and storms away.
It takes all the energy I can muster to match Lea’s sharp strides. With her fist balled at her side, she curses with each step. When we reach the car, Lea’s anger has somewhat dissolved.
“What was that about?” I reluctantly asked.
She grabs my door handle and slings it open. She lets out a long exhale, trying to calm down.
“Just a bunch of careless assholes; some of these guys can be very persuasive, just be smart.”
“Okay.”
“Be careful. Especially the idiots you saw today,” she huffs.
I crank my car and sit. With cold air blowing in my hair, I tap my fingers on the wheel, waiting for Lea to elaborate. My mind has come up with a million different scenarios. I want to ask if she’s talking about Hayze, and what her warning means, but I patiently wait.
“You ready? I need to make a call when we get back.”
Shifting into drive, I smile, “Just waiting on you.”
Before anyone else, I want to think my husband for supporting me while I wrote this book. Without you, I wouldn’t know what true love feels like, and for that, I am forever grateful.
You are my past, my future, and my present. I can’t wait to have your love and support indefinitely while I turn into a madwoman while I am writing.
Avery, thank you for giving me patience while I write; I know you have the toughest position while I am writing a book, but you are supportive in your own little way. You are the best son I could ever ask for.
For my friends, Jeanetta and Shealee, thank you for reading everything I sent to you and making me feel encouraged. Because of you two, I kept writing.
Shealee, thank you for showing me that happiness is thinking outside of the box.
For my readers and Brittany’s Bookies, thank you so much for waiting YEARS for me to put out another book. You will never know how much it means to me that you still support me and still want to read my books. I am so thankful for each and every one of you!
My name is Brittany Butler and I started writing my first novel at age twenty- two. One year later Forever Careless, my debut novel, was self- published and was an Amazon Best Seller. I am a paralegal from East Texas. During my free time, I write, read, or binge watch shows. Sometimes I go to friends’ houses to listen to their drama for good book material.
I've always had a crazy imagination and I loved writing. So, I started writing Forever Careless to see if I had it in me. It was too much fluff for me, however my friends loved it. So, I published it. I wrote another, this time I pushed to boundaries of “fluff.”
One day, while in a very bad mood, I thought of a story without a happy ending; one with real problems and real people. A story that was very close to my heart. It nagged me constantly. Months later, I sat down and started Hazed. At first, he was going to be a part of the Forever Series. Just come in and wreck their lives. Instead, I went another route.
Only weeks later, Hazed was finished. I was obsessed with it. It took me over a year to finish my first novel and weeks to finish this one. I knew what that meant. I liked to write about bad people who do bad things. I like to get inside their minds and feel their crazy. So, if you're looking for hearts and flowers, you won't find them here. My stories are real and they aren't always pretty. If you do stick around, I will be eternally grateful. Happy reading!
My first novel, Forever Careless is a New Adult Romance with a novella, Forever Reckless to follow. My second novel, Hazed is a New Adult Romance about love gone wrong. Unfazed and Ruined as also a part of the Hazed Series. Currently, I am working on Damaged, a book about Lea Clark, a character from Hazed. I also have plans to finish Grove, a mystery novel.
You can find me at Brittanybutlerbooks.com or Facebook.com/Brittanybutlerbooks or [email protected] or on Instagram as @Brittanyntarkington.
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