by Hazel Kelly
My soulmate.
And somehow, despite all the commotion, his eyes found mine, and when he looked straight at me, his smile spread even wider, filling my heart with so much love I thought I might faint.
“Let’s go see if we can intercept him,” Patrick said, tugging at my arm as soon as he left the stage.
“Good idea,” I said, hanging my purse on the back of his chair and wheeling him towards the exit as fast as I could without crushing anyone’s toes.
“Shit,” he said when we reached the hall. “It’s mental out here, too.”
I scanned the room as the flashbulbs went off around us, the names of players and teams flying through the air like bees. “Where do you think we should—?”
“That way,” Patrick said, pointing towards a helium balloon in the lobby that looked like the head of a giant silver horse.
I turned on a dime and headed straight for the display, my eyes bouncing around like crazy as I looked for the man I loved in a sea of celebratory expressions.
When I found him, he was giving some guy in a suit a big hug, and as he patted the man’s back, he saw us coming and his eyes lit up.
I threw my arms around him the moment he opened his, and he picked me up, spinning me in a circle and smashing kisses against my cheek. “We did it, babe.”
“Congratulations,” I said, holding his face as I kissed him. “I couldn’t be prouder of you.”
He set me on my feet, and I grabbed the handle on Patrick’s wheelchair to steady my dizzy body as Luke scooped him from his chair, giving his brother the exact same twirl he gave me.
Tears came to my eyes as I watched them hug each other, admiring the fierce love between them that I knew was such an inspiration to them both. And when Luke set Patrick back down, he pulled his Broncos hat off and slung it on his brother’s head, which was when I really lost it.
“Don’t cry,” Luke said, reaching a hand for my hip and pulling me close. “This is a happy occasion.”
“Oh, don’t mind her,” Patrick said. “She’s just pregnant.”
My face fell.
Luke’s face fell.
“Patrick,” I hissed.
Luke looked at me, then at my stomach, then up at my face again, then at Patrick.
“Surprise!” Patrick said, throwing his hands in the air.
I wanted to kill him.
“Seriously?” Luke asked.
I lifted my shoulders. “Surprise.”
Luke wrapped his arms around me and squeezed me tight before peppering me with urgent kisses.
“Happy?” I asked when he came up for air.
“Happy?!” he said. “I’m ecstatic! Right when I thought this day couldn’t get any better.”
I exhaled, relieved and dazed and bursting with so many feelings I didn’t know what to say.
“Told you,” Patrick said.
I pointed at him. “That was not the plan.”
“Or was it?” Luke asked, hugging me to him. “Frankly, I wish I’d thought of it myself.”
“Thought of what?” I asked, looking up at his beaming face.
“Knocking up the girl of my dreams right before I have to ask her to move across the country with me.”
Patrick laughed. “Genius.”
I cocked my head. “I would’ve gone with you anyway.”
“Maybe,” he said, meeting my gaze. “But now I have even more to play for.”
My eyes smiled.
“Who would’ve thought?” Luke asked, looking back and forth between me and Patrick. “The same girl that laughed in my face all those years ago ends up trapping me right before I get drafted.”
“Who’s having the last laugh now?” Patrick asked.
I rolled my eyes. “Oh, come on, guys. I didn’t trap anyone.”
“I know,” Luke said, leaning close. “That’s just a ruse so you don’t realize you’re the one that’s been trapped.”
I laughed. “Is trapped the right word if I’m happy?”
“You can call it whatever you want, babe, as long as you accept that you’re never getting rid of me now.”
“Good,” I said, running a hand down his shiny new jersey. “Because you’re the one that I want, and I play for keeps.”
Luke gave me another hug, pressing his cheek against my head before stepping back and looking at me through glassy eyes. “I’m going to make you girls so proud.”
“What makes you think it’s a girl?”
“Just a hunch,” he said with a wink.
And even though it was far too soon, I could’ve sworn I felt a little kick.
Then again, if there was anything I’d learned over the last four years it was that—with Luke by my side—I could get a kick out of just about anything.
And I’ll be damned if there’s a better way to live.
N O T E F R O M T H E A U T H O R
Thank you for taking the time to read this story.
If you enjoyed it, please leave a review and tell your friends. I would be grateful for the support!
You can also contact me directly at [email protected] or find me on Facebook @ Facebook.com/HazelKellyAuthor.
I would love to hear from you.
Finally, if you’d like to be notified when the next book in the Soulmates Series comes out (and get a pre-launch sneak peek) just sign up for my newsletter at HazelKelly.com/InnerCircle.
Until next time, lots of love & happy reading,
Xo Hazel
PS- About the inspiration for this book…
The premise of this book really happened to me. My freshman year of high school, I was the new kid coming into an unfamiliar school district all by myself. I didn’t know anyone, and while I had a wide circle of friends in junior high, I became a nobody overnight.
I kid you not, I was so intimidated by the cafeteria first semester, I used to scarf my lunch in a bathroom stall and spend the rest of the period in the library. How sad is that? Honestly, if it hadn’t been for the swim team, I may never have come out of my shell.
Anyway, early that year, a boy who was as handsome as he was gregarious spoke to me out of nowhere in class one day and asked me out. As the story goes, I laughed in his face, and he didn’t talk to me for the rest of the year (which gave me plenty of time to castigate myself for being such an awkward freak).
But my odd reaction wasn’t entirely my fault. You see, my mom forbade me from having a boyfriend before high school, so I didn’t really know what a person was supposed to do in that situation. The only time I ever got asked out before that, I simply said, “I’m sorry, I’m not allowed.” End of. Her strictness was legendary, by the way. One of her other crazy rules was that I wasn’t allowed to wear a black dress until I was eighteen. And she was surprised when I went off the rails?!
I digress…
So sophomore year, handsome and I had another class together, and a tentative friendship blossomed when we were forced to work with each other on several occasions. By junior year, our chemistry became impossible to ignore and, eventually, we covered all the bases, if you will.
However, we never officially dated. And between you and me, I sort of regret that because we never had a chance to break up. As a result, we coexisted in a strange friends with benefits purgatory for a long time, and I suspect closure of any kind will always elude us.
Of course, I hardly ever see him anymore- not deliberately anyway. We have a lot of mutual friends so it happens from time to time, but, unlike Rosie and Luke, we aren’t soulmates. We’re just two friends who helped each other navigate our own sexual awakenings.
He was, coincidentally, on the football team back then, but he dropped out in college to become a full time frat boy. Don’t ask me what position he played. I know as little about football as Rosie. My first love is actually Rugby. In fact, one of the Irish rugby players was my “muse” for Aiden in the Fated Series.
I always have a muse for my characters, not only because it helps me picture them clearly, but beca
use it’s a handy trick for making sure I don’t change their eye color half way through the book.
As far as the location of this story, I had great fun setting it on a college campus since it allowed me to revisit a lot of fond memories. I went to a massive state school myself, and despite maintaining a pretty reckless blood alcohol level during my time there, I find my recall is surprisingly accurate.
This comes in handy when I need to add specific details. For instance, Forbes was a real dorm at my college, and although I wish I’d been exaggerating about the condition of the football house, it really was a dump.
Not only was there a perpetual pile of empty egg cartons in one corner of the kitchen that often reached my waist (because many of the players swallowed up to two dozen raw eggs a day), but I was genuinely partying there one night when the porch collapsed. Furthermore, not only did I drink my share of jungle juice, but one of my friends on the team actually went by the nickname Juice.
Also, like Nikki, I had a Singaporean roommate, who I absolutely adored. She was as delicate as I was unhinged, and she’d never been to America before so she believed anything I told her.
Naturally, I took this responsibility very seriously and tried to give her the full American Girl experience from singing into my hairbrush to teaching her to blow bubbles with chewing gum (gum is illegal in Singapore so this was a real thrill). We were surprisingly compatible, too, because she used to arrive home from the library around the same time I’d come home from the bar. The only real downside was that, if my computer crashed, I couldn’t use hers ‘cause everything was in Mandarin.
As far as the scene at the lake, that was inspired by a time several friends and I went skinny dipping with glow sticks in Michigan. Unfortunately, there was no muddy sex in the cards for me that night, though one of the other dippers was attractive enough that the thought entered my mind (and refused to leave).
But thanks to Rosie and Luke, I can now put that unfinished business behind me :)
As far as the moral of the story, almost all romances are about how love conquers all. But there’s an important caveat to that, which is that you have to let it. Otherwise, love conquers nothing.
Out of Bounds could’ve been a story about two star-crossed lovers who are so focused on their ambition that they refuse to pursue love or make it a priority. Of course, that would’ve been a pretty crap story even if they’d achieved their respective goals. Because what good is having success beyond your wildest dreams if you have no one to share it with?
Besides, I’m a big believer that true love is something that raises us up, not something that holds us back. At least, Rosie and Luke certainly seem to be proof of that.
But don’t worry. I’m going to keep searching for proof and offering it up to you because there’s nothing I enjoy more than going on a journey where love conquers all.
So thanks for coming along. Your company means the world to me.
Speaking of which, I usually only share this personal stuff with my Inner Circle. So if you’re really interested in knowing more about me and the inspiration for my books, make sure you sign up so you don’t miss any behind the scenes gossip (or giveaways!).
It’s easy. Just go to HazelKelly.com/InnerCircle.
You’ll even get a free romance when you join that’s not available anywhere else (inspired by an adventure I had as a young twenty-something).
Hope to see you on the inside ;)
That being said, thanks again for reading this story. I know you’re spoiled for choice, and I’m grateful that you chose to spend your valuable time with one of my books.
Entertaining you is both a pleasure and a privilege, and I look forward to my next opportunity to do so.
All the best,
Xo Hazel
O T H E R B O O K S I N T H E S O U L M A T E S S E R I E S
Roommates
A Stepbrother Romance
My Best Friend’s Brother
A Friends to Lovers Romance
The Boy Next Door
A Small Town Romance
First Love
A Second Chance Romance
O T H E R S E R I E S B Y H A Z E L K E L L Y
The Tempted Series
A seductive story about a woman who risks everything when she falls for her billionaire boss.
The Fated Series
A sweet story about two best friends whose relationship takes a sexy turn.
Club Abbott Series.
A suspenseful romance about a high stakes game of pretend that goes wrong in all the right ways.
The Wanted Series
A fiery story about what happens when two strong willed opposites attract.
The Craved Series
An uplifting story about a young woman whose life changes forever when a handsome stranger sweeps her off her feet.
The Devoured Series
A suspenseful story about a sex crazed college student who seduces her professor to impress her friends.
The Exposed Series
A gritty coming of age story about sex, love, and the pain of growing up.
