by Julie Cross
A few minutes later, Jake is finally done with his speech and Brody is standing beside me, staring at his GED. I lean in close to get a look.
“Pretty cool, huh?” he says.
I take the certificate from him and set it on the table beside us before reaching up to bring his face closer to mine so I can kiss him. “It would be even cooler with my last name,” I say.
Brody laughs, but when his eyes meet mine, I can tell this idea isn’t so much of a joke to him—well, the name part is, because what would people do with all those Jason Brody Rookie of the Year cards?—but us being together forever…he’s pretty serious about that.
And so am I.
I glance over at Dad and catch him reaching for Savannah’s hand. I shake my head, hardly able to believe they’ve gone there. Life is funny sometimes…the worst possible things can get you to the best possible places.
If you just enjoy the game.
Acknowledgments
I’d like to thank my super star agent, Nicole Resciniti for being the first to listen to this book idea and keeping me sane while I worked through the editorial phase. My Entangled editorial team: Heather Howland, Kari Olson, and Liz Pelletier for all the time and passion put into this story. Mark Perini and Gaby Navarro for helping with the Spanish translations.
My family, for their continued support, and all the readers who have stuck by me.
About the Author
Julie Cross lives in Central Illinois with her husband and three children. She’s a former gymnast and longtime gymnastics fan, coach, and former gymnastics program director with the YMCA. She’s a lover of books, devouring several novels a week, especially in the young adult and new adult genres. Outside of her reading and writing credentials, Julie is a committed—but not talented—long-distance runner, creator of imaginary beach vacations, Midwest bipolar-weather survivor, and expired CPR certification card holder, as well as a ponytail and gym-shoe addict. Visit her website.
Check out more of Entangled Teen’s
hottest reads…
Love and Other Unknown Variables
by Shannon Lee Alexander
Charlie Hanson has a clear vision of his future. A senior at Brighton School of Mathematics and Science, he knows he’ll graduate, go to MIT, and inevitably discover the solutions to the universe’s greatest unanswerable problems. But for Charlotte Finch, the future has never seemed very kind. Charlie’s future blurs the moment he meets Charlotte, but by the time he learns Charlotte is ill, her gravitational pull on him is too great to overcome. Soon he must choose between the familiar formulas he’s always relied on or the girl he’s falling for.
Cinderella’s Dress
by Shonna Slayton
Kate simply wants to create window displays at the department store where she’s working, trying to help out with the war effort. But when long-lost relatives from Poland arrive with a steamer trunk they claim holds the Cinderella’s dresses, life gets complicated. Now, with a father missing in action, her new sweetheart, Johnny, stuck in the middle of battle, and her great aunt losing her wits, Kate has to unravel the mystery before it’s too late. After all, the descendants of the wicked stepsisters will stop at nothing to get what they think they deserve.
Flawed
by Kate Avelynn
Sarah O’Brien is only alive because of the pact she and her brother made twelve years ago—James will protect her from their violent father if she promises never to leave him. Until, with a tiny kiss and a broken mind, he asks for more than she can give. Sam Donavon has been James’s best friend— and the boy Sarah’s had a crush on—for as long as she can remember. But as their forbidden relationship deepens, Sarah realizes her brother is far more unstable than she thought, and he’s not about to let her forget about her half of the pact.
Opposition
by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Katy knows the world changed the night the Luxen came. The lines between good and bad have blurred, and love has become an emotion that could destroy her—could destroy them all. Daemon will do anything to save those he loves, even if it means betrayal. When he and Katy team with an unlikely enemy, it quickly becomes impossible to tell friend from foe. With the world is crumbling around them, they may lose everything— even what they cherish most—to ensure the survival of their friends…and mankind.
Perfected
by Kate Jarvik Birch
Ever since the government passed legislation allowing people to be genetically engineered and raised as pets, the rich and powerful can own beautiful girls like sixteen-year-old Ella as companions. But when she moves in with her new masters and discovers the glamorous life she’s been promised isn’t at all what it seems, she’s forced to choose between a pampered existence full of gorgeous gowns and veiled threats, or seizing her chance at freedom with the boy she’s come to love, risking both of their lives in a daring escape no one will ever forget.
Will the Real Abi Saunders Please Stand Up?
by Sara Hantz
When kickboxing champion Abi Saunders lands a job as a stunt double for hot teen starlet Tilly Watson, she’s a little freaked out. But once the wig and makeup are on, Abi feels like a different person. When Tilly’s gorgeous boyfriend, Jon, mistakes Abi for the real star, Abi’s completely smitten. In fact, she’s so in love with her new life, it isn’t long before she doesn’t have time for her old one. But when the cameras are turned off, will she discover running with the Hollywood A-list isn’t quite the glamorous existence she thought it was?
The Winter People
by Rebekah L. Purdy
Salome Montgomery is a key player in a world she’s tried for years to avoid. At the center of it is the strange and beautiful Nevin. Cursed with dark secrets and knowledge of the creatures in the woods, his interactions with Salome take her life in a new direction. A direction where she’ll have to decide between her longtime crush Colton, who could cure her fear of winter. Or Nevin who, along with an appointed bodyguard, Gareth, protects her from the darkness that swirls in the snowy backdrop. An evil that, given the chance, will kill her.
the Book of Ivy
by Amy Engel
After a brutal nuclear war, the United States was left decimated. A small group of survivors eventually banded together, but fifty years later, peace and control are only maintained by marrying the daughters of the losing side to the sons of the winning group in a yearly ritual. This year, it is Ivy Westfall’ s turn. Only her bridegroom is no average boy. He is Bishop Lattimer, the presi dent’ s son. And Ivy’ s mission is not simply to marry him. Her mission, one she’ s been preparing for all her life, is to restore the Westfall family to power...by killing him.
