We go out to my car and drive to the house, which is only ten minutes away.
When we go inside nobody's there. We go out to the patio and find my mom and Cal sitting by the pool.
"Hey, Mom, what time is lunch?"
She gets up. "In a few minutes. We were waiting for you two to get here." She smiles at Luke and me. "Cal just told me the news."
"What news?" I ask.
"That Luke is moving to California. Aren't you excited?"
"Well, yeah, but we didn't tell anyone yet."
"I told Cal," Luke says.
"When?"
"Last night."
"You told Cal before you told me?"
"I wanted to know if your dad would kill me if I asked you to move in with me. I knew you wouldn't tell me the truth so I had to ask Cal."
"Don't be silly." My mom laughs. "Taylor's an adult. She can make her own decisions."
"Tell that to Dad," Cal says. "I told Luke there's a small chance Dad will kill him." He looks at Luke. "Sleep with one eye open, man."
"Cal, stop it," my mom says. She smiles at me. "So did you agree to it? Are you moving in with him?"
"Yeah." I smile up at Luke. "We're going to live together."
"You're what?" I hear Birdie's voice and see her coming through the sliding glass door to the patio. "You're moving in with Luke? You're not going back to school?"
"I'm going back, but Luke's coming with me. It's a long story. I'll tell you later. So what are you doing here? You didn't tell me you're coming over."
She rolls her eyes. "I'm here for my stupid swim lesson."
"Hey," Cal says, "if you think it's stupid, we'll just forget the whole thing. I have better things to do."
He's trying not to look at her but his eyes keep going back to her. She's got her red bikini on with a white cover-up over it. The cover up is mesh so you can see right through it and Cal seems to be enjoying the view. She does look really good. She lost a few pounds over the summer but still has curvy hips, a round butt, and big boobs.
"Cal, you already agreed to teach her," my mom says. "You're not backing out now."
"She just said she didn't want to learn," Cal says. "I'm not going to force her to."
"You're not forcing me," Birdie says, laying back in the lounger directly across from Cal. "I actually think this'll be good. I'll learn faster from you than anyone else."
"Because I'm such a good teacher," he says, smugly.
"No. Because we can't stand each other so we'll hurry through each lesson and I'll try to learn as fast as I can."
"Good." He glares at her. "Because every second of this is going to be torture for me. I'm only doing this because you're Taylor's friend. And because I don't want your sorry ass to drown."
She cocks her head. "You're so sweet."
"Don't push it, Birdie."
"You two aren't going to survive," I say. "One of you is going to end up drowning and it's not going to be accidental."
Luke laughs. "I have a feeling it's going to be Cal."
"Me too."
"You kids are terrible," my mom says. "I'm going inside to get lunch."
"So living together, huh?" Birdie says to Luke and me. "That's a big step. What's next? Marriage? Babies?" She laughs. "Just think of you two with kids. They'd all be wearing little polo shirts and golf shorts, walking around with golf bags and golf clubs in their hands."
"They wouldn't have to play golf." Luke smiles at me. "Only if they wanted to."
He's already thinking about having kids? Truthfully, I've thought about it too. I'm not ready for it but I've thought about it.
Last May, when I found out Luke was living with us, I thought maybe we'd flirt a little, maybe kiss, or maybe do more than that. At most, I thought Luke would just be a summer fling. But it turned into so much more than that. We got to know each other. Love each other. And now we're planning a future together.
Albert said the secret to happiness is doing what you love, and finding love. Some people take a lifetime to find that but Luke and I already found it. We got lucky.
Or maybe someone intervened.
Looking up at the sky, I smile and whisper, " Thanks, Albert."
###
From the Author
Thanks for reading Anyone But Her! Please take a moment to leave a review wherever you purchased the book. Reviews are greatly appreciated and one of the best ways to show your support for an author!
Want to read more about some of the characters in Anyone But Her? Taylor's friend, Lilly Kensington, has two books: Lilly and Lilly and Reed. Taylor's friend, Willow, has a standalone book called Still Love You. It's the story of what happens when Willow's ex-boyfriend, Silas, returns for the summer. Garret Kensington, Lilly's brother and owner of WaveField, has an entire series that starts when he's in college and ends years later. It's called The Jade Series and starts with Choosing You. Garret and Lilly also appear in The Kensingtons, a romantic suspense series about their billionaire father who is a member of a very exclusive secret society. To learn more about these books and get links to buy, click here.
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***
Books by Allie Everhart
The Jade Series
(New Adult Romance/Suspense)
Choosing You
Knowing You
Loving You
Promising You
Forever You
Finding Us
Becoming Us
Always Us
Garret: A Jade Series Companion Novel
The Kensington Series
(Romantic Suspense)
Needing Her
Keeping Her
Protecting Her
Only Her
Kensington Family Novels
Lilly
Lilly and Reed
Moorhurst College
(Romantic Suspense)
Secrets Kept
Secrets Told
Contemporary Romance
Standalone Novels
Next to Me
Give Us a Chance
Can't Let You Go
More to Us
Still Love You
Holding On
One Night
The Geek and The Goddess (young adult)
Road Trouble (suspense)
***
THE JADE SERIES is a story of forbidden romance, deadly secrets, hidden agendas, and rules that must never be broken. It starts with Choosing You!
CHOOSING YOU (Jade Series, book one)
When Jade is given a scholarship to an elite private college in Connecticut, she sees it as a chance to finally escape her painful past and get a fresh start. She's determined to succeed and that means keeping her focus on school and not guys. But that plan falls apart her first day on campus when Garret, a wealthy prep school boy with swimmer abs and a perfect smile, offers to help her move in.
Jade tries to push him away but she can't deny her attraction to him and Garret won't let her. Things quickly heat up between them, but then come to a sudden halt when reality hits and Jade realizes that a relationship with Garret may never be possible. He comes from a world of wealth where there are rules, including rules about who he can date. And not following those rules has consequences.
As the two of them try to overcome the obstacles working to keep them apart, Jade is confronted with another challenge. On her 19th birthday, she receives a letter that her now deceased mother wrote years ago. In it are revelations that explain her traumatic childhood but also make her question the past she's
been running from.
Here's Chapter 1...
October 30
The lines on the track are like a map telling me where to go. I follow their orderly path, my arms and legs moving in a rhythmic pattern. My body repeats the motion effortlessly, leaving my mind to replay what just happened.
I see a girl at a party. She's drinking. She never drinks. Ever. But there were no other options. It was history repeating itself. Like the script had already been written and she just had to let the scene play out. For 18 years, she promised herself this would never happen. And then it did. She lost all control within a matter of seconds.
That girl was someone else. I will never be her. And I will never be her mother. I refuse.
My legs take longer, quicker strides as I become aware of my body again. I pump my arms because I'm not going fast enough. I still feel all of it. The confusion. The rage. The pain. And I just want it to go away.
The cold night air clings to my skin, cooling the sweat and sending an icy chill through me. My arms and legs ache and my lungs burn from inhaling the frigid air. But I keep going. Because I like feeling this pain. I understand it. And it keeps my mind off the pain that I can't understand.
A drop of rain hits my face. Then two, then three. Soon rain pours from the sky, stinging my skin.
"Jade, what the hell are you doing out here? I've been looking everywhere for you! Jade!"
It's Garret, the boy who made the girl live out that scene at the party. The scene that was never supposed to happen.
My eyes remain on the lines in front of me and I run past him like he's not even there.
"Jade, stop! Wait!"
I make another loop around the track as he continues to call out my name. As I approach him again, he moves into my lane and I veer to avoid him.
There's a sharp tug on the back of my shirt and I stumble forward to a stop. I'm gasping for breath as Garret turns me around and holds me against him so tightly I can't move despite my efforts to break free.
"Stop." He says it quietly now as he presses my head against his chest. "Just stop running."
I give up trying to fight him and let my body collapse into his.
A minute ago I never wanted to see him again, but now I don't want him to let me go.
"Tell me what's wrong," he says. "If it's something I did, I'm sorry. I'll fix it."
The cold rain continues to pour down in a steady stream. My shorts and shirt feel heavy against my skin and I shiver as the wind blows around us.
He runs his hand along my arm. "What are you doing out here? It's freezing and you're soaking wet. Let's go inside."
My legs aren't ready to move. My entire body is aching, leaving my emotions numb, just the way I want them.
"Jade, talk to me."
I look up and see him watching me, waiting for some kind of answer. Before he can speak again, I reach up and press my lips to his. I shouldn't be kissing him so I don't understand why I'm doing this. But I don't understand anything right now.
Garret gently pulls away. "Tell me what's going on. Why are you out here? Why were you at the party? And why were you drinking?" His voice is filled with so much worry and so much concern. After seeing him at the party I don't know why he even cares. But I know he does. I can feel it and I can see it in his face and it pisses me off. I don't want him to care about me. Not now. Now after what he did.
I push away but his arms tighten around me. I won't look at him. Because when I do all I see is the image of him coming out of that room. With her. And then I see the vodka bottle and it reminds me of my mom and that letter she wrote.
It's too much. It's too many emotions. I want the numbness back.
The rain continues to pour and I shiver again.
"We're going inside." Garret's tone is forceful. He finally lets me go but grabs my hand, pulling on me to go with him. "Jade, come on. I'm not leaving here without you."
My mind is still racing, trying to make sense of things that make no sense at all.
When I don't move, he picks me up and carries me up the hill to our dorm.
Want to read more? Choosing You is available now in ebook, paperback and audiobook!
***
BONUS Excerpt from STILL LOVE YOU, a standalone contemporary romance, available now in ebook and paperback!
Willow
I cannot believe Silas is standing in my dorm room. Driving me home. Back to Berkeley. Where he is now living...and working for my dad! How could my dad hire him? Out of all the people he could've chosen, he had to pick Silas?
What is Silas even doing here? He's supposed to be traveling the world, hiking up mountains, doing volunteer work.
"Willow?" He's standing in front of me now. The door is closed and it's just the two of us. His full lips—the ones I know so well because they've touched every single part of my body—slowly slide up into a smile. "Are you going to say something? Maybe a hello?"
I swallow, my eyes diverting back to his. "Oh, um, yes. Hello. Sorry. I'm just surprised to see you here."
"I thought your parents told you I was moving back."
"Yeah. They did. I just didn't believe them."
His eyes remain on mine. "Why wouldn't you believe them?"
I glance away from him. "Because you have a history of not following through on things."
I shouldn't have said that. He just got here and I don't want to start fighting with him before we even get in the car.
Silas and I used to fight about a lot of things. The fights were intense but short-lived, always ending in a passionate kiss, followed by clothes being ripped off and our bodies colliding. Just the thought of that has me sweating even more in this sweltering hot room.
"They turned the air off," I say, fanning myself. "That's why my room is so hot. I guess they thought we didn't need it since everyone's moving out today."
Spring semester at Camsburg College just ended and half of the girls on my floor have already left for the summer. I was saying goodbye to my friend, Lilly, who lives next door, when Silas appeared. Months ago, my parents told me Silas might be moving back to Berkeley and working on their farm, but I never thought it would actually happen. Silas is a free spirit. He changes his mind all the time. He said he'd be in Europe for two weeks, but ended up being there for two years. I assumed he'd never come back.
My parents were supposed to pick me up today but instead they sent Silas. I'm sure this was all some ploy to get me to be friends with him again, or more than friends. My parents always liked Silas and wanted us to be together. But all good things must come to an end. And they did, the day he left.
"I don't think it's hot in here," he says, "but I spent the past couple years working outside all day in some of the hottest regions on Earth, so this is nothing."
I haven't talked to Silas in two years. When he left, he told me he was going backpacking in Europe, but apparently he only did that for a couple weeks, then spent the rest of the time doing volunteer work. I only know that because my parents told me. They're good friends with Silas' parents.
"So you've been volunteering?" I ask, still fanning myself.
"Yeah. Building houses. Bridges. Planting crops. Mostly physical labor."
I can tell. God, he looks good. All muscle. He was always lean, with defined shoulder and ab muscles that come from surfing. But now? His shoulders are wider, his arms bigger. He looks older, more like a man than the teen boy I remember. His jawline is sharper, more defined, and covered with a thin layer of stubble.
It's feeling even hotter in here. Did they turn on the heat? Or why is it so hot? And why am I the only one sweating? Silas isn't sweating. He seems perfectly comfortable. And he's wearing jeans! Jeans are heavy and hot. I'm wearing a short red cotton sundress with cutouts in the back. I should feel cool. But instead, I'm on fire. Maybe it's early menopause. Maybe this is a hot flash. At 19? Probably not.
I need to face facts. I'm burning up inside because the man I was in love with—the man who turns my insides i
nto hot molten lava—is standing before me, looking even better than I remember.
"Should we get going?" he asks. "The truck is parked right outside."
"Your mom got a truck?" I ask, shocked that his mom would drive something that uses that much gas.
"No, it's mine. It's not brand new. It's a couple years old. Anyway, it's still cool from the air conditioning. I'll get it running again and you could wait out there while I load up your stuff."
"You used the air conditioning?" I ask, shocked again. Silas comes from a family of hippies, as do I. Both our families believe in embracing what nature gives us, which means if it's hot outside, you suck it up. They're always trying to conserve energy, and since air conditioning uses gas, a natural resource that's dwindling in supply, they refuse to use it.
I'm all for conserving energy, but I don't like sweating and feeling like I'm going to pass out, so I have no problem running the air conditioning.
"I know you don't like the heat," Silas says, "so I made sure to cool down the truck before I got here."
"Thanks." I smile.
His gaze pauses on my lips. Silas always liked my smile. He said it was what made him want to be friends with me when we met on the first day of second grade.
"No problem," he says.
We both keep staring at each other. It makes sense that I would stare at him. He's changed a lot since I saw him last. But me? I look pretty much the same.
Our eyes meet again. I've always loved Silas' eyes. In fact, I'm jealous of them. They're this rich turquoise blue that doesn't even look real. If I saw them in a photo, I'd think they were doctored to look that color. But no, his eyes are actually that color, surrounded by thick black lashes, which I am also envious of.
Anyone But Her Page 26
