by Lindy Zart
“It doesn’t,” I vow next to her ear. “It doesn’t have to end. I’ll go where you are, if I have to. If we both find ways to compromise, we can do this. I want this to work.”
“It’ll work,” she promises.
Hannah hugs me, her small body tight to mine. I enclose her in my arms and look into the distance at the rising sun, her head tucked under my chin.
“The car won’t start.”
We break apart as my pulse hitches in shock, and I whip my head to the side.
Jessie stares back at us, shrugging when I frown at him. His eyes are bloodshot and his face looks worse in light than it did in the dark of night. “I got hungry and wanted to find something to eat. I didn’t plan on breaking up your scene, but Catherine said we should find you. Dickie thought you’d head this way.” He nods to the battlefield.
I look past him and see Dickie struggling up the short hill, his hand clasped with Catherine’s. It looks like she’s pulling him along, both of them tired but happy. My gaze flickers to Jessie as a wide grin takes over my mouth. He rolls his eyes and shakes his head, like he can’t understand it.
Dickie gasps for air, wiping bangs from his forehead. “We got ahold of a mechanic. He’ll bring over a tow truck this morning to pick up the car. He says it might be a day before he can get to it, but from the sounds of it, it’s the alternator. He says it’s not too expensive or timely to fix.”
Catherine smooths down an especially rebellious chunk of Dickie’s hair, smiling when he looks at her and blushes. Her lithe frame paired with Dickie’s is oddly perfect, her sweetness mirrored in him. He’s brave for her, and he needs someone to fight for, to show him that he can. And he should. He’ll be okay in New York, especially with Catherine there with him. I can see the two of them years from now, Dickie with his computers and Catherine with her babies. Together.
“Now what?” I ask the group.
Jessie replies, “I guess we relax.”
“You? Relax?” Hannah teases, giving him a real smile.
“I’m trying,” he reminds her.
Jessie will run the bowling alley, and maybe he’ll find someone he cares for and respects enough to make his wife. Then again, maybe he won’t. I have to think some of the humility stamped into him on this trip will linger on, but I could be deluding myself.
“This is turning out to be the best trip ever,” I comment, blissful in a way I haven’t felt in a long while.
“I don’t know if I’d go that far,” Jessie responds, but he’s smiling.
“We needed the hiccups in order to smooth out the rest of the journey. It had to be this way,” Dickie quietly states.
I take Hannah’s hand in mine. I don’t know where I’ll be or what I’ll be doing in years to come, but it’ll be with Hannah. She latches an arm around my waist, leaning into my embrace, and I anchor her to my side with my arm around her back. We’re crisscrossed, intertwined, two parts of one.
The five of us form a line that faces the sun, a bonded force that’s sturdier now than ever. Blazing strong in hues of orange and red and pink, the sun signifies new beginnings, new lives, a new us. All of us. We are going to rock the rest of the eighties.
If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review on the site from where you bought it. If you did not enjoy this book, please consider leaving a review on the site from where you bought it. Keep it classy—all hateful posts will be framed and hung on a wall in my home for my kids to read. Please don’t traumatize my kids.
Lindy
Lindy Zart is the USA Today bestselling author of Roomies. She has been writing since she was a child. Luckily for readers, her writing has improved since then. She lives in Wisconsin with her family. Lindy loves hearing from people who enjoy her work. She also has a completely healthy obsession with the following: coffee, wine, bloody marys, peanut butter, and pizza.
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Before the internet…before sext messages, selfies, like buttons, and d**k picks…epic loves and broken hearts played out offline, on mixtapes that became the self-made soundtracks of a generation.
Love in the 80s: A New Adult Mix is a collection of ten contemporary romance, new adult, stand-alone novellas set in the 1980s.
Written by award-winning and bestselling authors, one digital novella will be released on the last Friday of each month January - October in 2016.
The title of each love story will be a hit song from the year that the novella represents. The totally awesome authors include: Casey L. Bond, Lindy Zart, Cambria Hebert, Amber Lynn Natusch, Misty Provencher, Rebecca Yarros, Rachel Higginson, RK Ryals, Cameo Renae and Chelsea Fine.
Love in the 80s: A New Adult Mix was created by UTOPiAcon founder, Janet Wallace, and is co-produced with award-winning book cover designer, Regina Wamba (together they are WaWa Productions).
Check out the other available titles in the Love in the 80s: A New Adult Mix collection:
My name is Tina. I’m a freshman at USC, a good student and friend…
And I’m a victim.
Hot guys make my brain turn to mush. So, the fact that I was arrested then survived a massive earthquake only to be shackled to the fox next to me can all be overlooked, right?
Okay, so I was arrested before I met Luke. A tremor that caused a blackout at the LAPD precinct where we were being held. Although technically, I wasn’t shackled to him, I was handcuffed, but still. Any and all lapses in my usual—totally sane, I might add—judgments, are his fault. Totally.
I wouldn’t typically do the things I did. I’m no outlaw. I’m a college student.
Read it now:
Watch out, girls. Here she comes.
There’s always that girl. She’s popular, beautiful, and has everything together. The one with the perfectly teased hair, arms full of colorful (but coordinated) bangles, and expertly painted bright-pink lips.
A teacher’s pet. Daddy’s girl.
Everyone loves her.
Because everyone is afraid to challenge her.
Kelly Ross is that girl. She uses her powers of popularity for good… her own good. She doesn’t care who she hurts.
She always gets what she wants.
Including your man.
When she walks down the hallway in her hot-pink heels and ruffled denim miniskirt, all the boys’ heads turn. And all the girls start whispering.
Man-eater.
There hasn’t been a single guy Kelly hasn’t been able to chew up and spit out.
Until now.
Kelly has finally met her match. He’s been there all along, and he’s the exact opposite of everything you’d expect.
Don’t miss the release of
Maneater
by Cambria Hebert
March 25, 2016
Join the Love in the 80s Facebook event party for giveaways and surprises all year long!
