The Wanderers Beginning: The Wanderers, Reborn, & Unforgiven

by Jessica Miller

  I write Sins not Tragedies (Laundry room) * The Civil Wars – I Had Me a Girl

  Chapter twenty three

  Believe (Wake up) * Tori Kelly – Dear No One

  Perfect Situation (2nd breakfast) * Fall Out Boy – Alone Together

  Dark Side (Nightmare/spiders) * MS MR – Dark Doo Wop

  You and I (Dinner) * Vampire Weekend – Unbelievers

  Only One (Ella/Roman reconnect) * Joshua James – Surrender

  Brighter than Sunshine (Morning after) * Joshua Radin – My My Love

  Chapter twenty four

  Don’t’cha Wish (Talk w/Kyle) * The Boxer Rebellion - Promises

  Chapter twenty five

  Royals (First day of school) * Lorde – The Love Club

  It’s Like That (Dinner) * The Civil Wars – Kingdom Come

  Chapter twenty six

  Hang On Sloopy (Party) * New Politics – Harlem

  More Than Anyone (Alone time with roman) * Bosshouse – Vampire Kiss

  Over My Head (Bad dream in forest) * The Neighborhood – Afraid

  Let Go (Ella visits Tristan in dream)* Lia Ices – Love is Won

  Magic Carpet Ride (Dances w/Lucas) * Melody Gardot – Your is as Black as Night

  Chapter twenty seven

  How Do You Want It (Getting ready for dance) * Fitz and the Tantrums – The Walker

  Let Me Clear My Throat (Dance) *Ellie Goulding - Burn

  I Turn to You (Special dance) * One Republic – Au Revoir

  Should I Stay or Should I Go (Dance with Tristan) * The Airborne Toxic Event – All for a Woman

  Chapter twenty eight

  The Joker (Ella runs out of dance) * The Civil Wars – The One That Got Away

  Best of You (Fight in fountain) * Fall Out Boy – The Phoenix

  Murder She Wrote (Killing jack/End )* The Animals – The House of The Rising Sun

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Jessica is a budding new author with a passion for writing in her veins. She stems from the suburbs of Pennsylvania where most of her time is spent writing, listening to new music, or reading a good book. When not busy writing, Jessica works part–time in a salon where she enjoys making people look beautiful. You can catch up with Jessica on her blog or follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

  Thank you for Reading!

  Dear reader,

  I hoped you enjoyed the first three book sin The Wanderers seris. I love writing this series and creating new characters. I can’t wait to share the next book with you. I am so thankful for all the readers and bloggers who helped support me and spread the word about my books so I can keep writing and bringing you more!

  As an author, I love feedback. You, the reader, are the reason I keep writing and exploring new ideas to come up with to entertain. I’d love to hear from you. You can reach me at my website – www.jesslmiller.blogspot.com

  Finally, I need to ask you a favor. If you’re so inclined, I’d love a review of the books. Loved them or hated them, I just enjoy your feedback. Reviews are hard to come by these days and you, the reader, can make or break a book. So I ask this small favor to let the world know what you thought.

  Thank you so much for reading the first three books in The Wanderers series! More to come soon!

  Love Always,

  Jessica Miller

  Stick around for a special sneak peak at my latest New adult Contemporary Romance, 500 Days.

  Now available.

  Casper Covington has his music, women, and pretty much anything he wants at his disposal. But the one thing that plagues his thoughts constantly is the one thing he can’t have. The girl he met six months ago. A drunken one night stand that he can’t get out of his head. The only thing he remembers from that night is her green eyes and the ivy tattoo that stretched the length of her body. In his attempts to put an end to the tortuous dreams of the mysterious girl, Casper’s attention is caught by the new bartender. There’s just something so familiar about her that his need to get to know her becomes more troublesome than he expected.

  Alexis Radcliff was raised by her four brothers making her as tough as nails on the outside but on the inside she wants what every girl did – someone to love her, faults and all. She would be damned if she admitted that out loud and made a point to show she could use men just as easily as they used women. But when a sexy musician starts to show interest in Alex she has a hard time convincing herself to stay away. Alex knows everyone has secrets but hers are ones she doesn’t want to share. But when she can no longer fight her feelings, her dark past slowly starts to unravel.

  Can true love conquer all? Or are past ghosts a haunting premonition of what lies ahead?

  500 hundred days until she is free.

  500 hundred days until I can escape the confines of these stuffy rooms.

  500 hundred days until I can have my family back.

  It all seems like an insignificant amount of time, but in 500 hundred days a lot can happen.

  In just 500 hundred days my life will change forever.

  Chapter one

  Casper

  Every night when I closed my eyes I saw her. She haunted my dreams and made me want to do terrible things. Things that most women would never have the courage to allow you to do inside of the bedroom. But not her, not the girl with the ivy tattoo. She gave me one night of unadulterated sex. The kind of sex that blew your mind and had you begging for more, but just as quick as she came, she was gone. She gave me the slip and I never saw her again. The only thing that let me know it really happened was the empty condom wrapper on the floor. My friends told me I made her up, that I was so drunk I would have fucked anyone that night. And they weren’t wrong. My memory was hazy and it was possible it could all have been a dream, but every time I closed my eyes I saw that ivy tattoo that stretched all along her sides down to her hips and those piercing green eyes.

  Ever since that night girls have come and gone from my bedroom but none have compared. None of them have lived up to the expectations that I held so high. I wasn’t a hard man to please. Any girl with a short skirt usually got me going, but lately I was having a hard time getting passed the fantasy.

  “Yo, Cas, you ready?”

  I met Greyson’s sharp eyes in the mirror. “Give me another minute.” That’s all I needed. Just one minute.

  “Make it a quick one, you know how these chicks get,” he said, throwing me a lopsided grin. I nodded and went back to fighting my internal struggle with reality. I placed my hand over the tattoo on my chest and took a breath. I had to get a grip. I stared back at the worn out blue grey eyes in the mirror. I managed to convince myself she was just a dream so I could get my head straight. I was always nervous enough as it was before a gig and I didn’t need some crazy chick clogging my brain. I shook my head and scrubbed my hands down my face. I adjusted my crazy wide Mohawk in the front, pulling some of the spikes down and to the side and pushing a few up. I stood up from the mirror and jumped up and down for a few seconds trying to pump myself up. When I was ready I met Greyson and my other band mates by the stage. Colton handed me my guitar and I strapped up, getting ready for the roar of screaming fans that were waiting for us.

  “Don’t you just love this?” Greyson asked, slapping his hand on my shoulder. He got off on all the screaming chicks and the attention that came along with being in a band. I was in it for the music. For the rush you get when you sing your heart out and strum the strings of the guitar so hard you think they might snap.

  “Check out the blonde with the tits in the front.”

  “Which one?” Greyson laughed.

  “Who you think? Cas’s number one fan. The chick that’s at all the shows.” Colton angled his head to the end of the stage on the left. There she was in all her glory, wearing a small, gray halter and jeans so tight they looked like they were painted on. I’ve seen her at almost every show and each one she wore something tighter than the last.

  Greyson nudged me in the ribs. “You gonna hit that tonight?”


  “Wait, you telling me you haven’t fucked her yet?” Colton fiddled with his drumsticks.

  “He just didn’t want to scare off his number one fan by showing her he’s got more talent on stage then he does in the sack.” I flipped Greyson off as he took the stage, followed by Colton and then me. The roar of the fans pounded in my ears as I stood before the mic. Colton counted off with his drumsticks…one, two, three. He twirled his stick between his fingers and then slammed them down starting our first song.

  We were just a small time rock band – popular on the local circuit. We played gigs all around town and were booked for most of the summer. We wrote our own music and sometimes did covers, but most of it was ours that we played. The crowd loved us and by the end of the night I was always drenched head to toe with sweat. I always brought extra clothes so I could change out of the sopping wet ones. The sensation I felt every time we played was unlike anything I could describe. I was on a natural high and I never wanted to come down, but when the lights dimmed and the crowed subsided I knew it was time to come back to reality.

  By the time the last band played their last set I had downed a fifth of Patron and had the cute blonde with the tight jeans secured nicely on my lap. She was the one feeding me the shots all night, encouraged by my friends. The tequila was slowly making it’s way through my system and I knew if I didn’t seal the deal with this chick soon I would be too out of it to even function. I slipped my hand around her hip pulling her tighter against me while the other hand slid up her inner thigh. She turned to me with a lazy smile, letting me know she was probably just as drunk as I was. “You ready to get out of here?”

  She bit her lip and nodded her head as she stroked the back of my neck with her long finger nails. I gave her thigh a squeeze before patting her on the behind. “Just gotta pay my tab first.” She stood up, allowing me to stand. I made my way over to the bar and waited to get the bartender’s attention. It was last call so I knew I would be here for a bit. I took a seat on one of the stools while I waited. I watched the girls as they rushed back and forth trying to fulfill everyone’s orders. One of the reasons I liked this place so much was because all the bartenders were girls and they all had to wear very small uniforms that showed a lot of skin. Half the girls were either dressed in black or red leather shorts that just barely covered their asses with matching halter tops. Others wore tiny white dresses that were cut so short that if they bent over you got full view of everything they had going on underneath, but most of the girls wore shorts. Everyone one of them had a different colored wig on and so much makeup you didn’t know what was real and what was hidden behind the mask of colored shadow.

  “Hey sweetie!” I turned my head to the sugary sounding voice.

  I smiled at the cheery face before me. “Hey Declan.”

  She leaned in for a quick kiss on the cheek. “Do you need something?”

  “Just you.”

  She rolled her big blue eyes and pushed on my chest. “Save it for the white trash you got waiting for you over at the table.”

  “Declan, I’m hurt. Really I am.”

  She gave me another eye roll before setting her tray of shots on the bar. “When are you going to stop taking home all these skanks? I can tell you now once she scrapes off all that war paint there will be nothing left but a whole bunch of ugly.”

  I pinched her chin between my thumb and forefinger turning her head back and forth. “You’re one to talk.”

  She slapped my hand away. “I have to, it’s my job. That clown does it because she knows she ain’t got nothin’ going on but a pair of tits and a tight ass.”

  I raised my brows at her. She swatted my arm and narrowed her eyes at me. I laughed, putting my arms up in surrender. “I never said I was picky and you know I don’t take them to my house.”

  “I know. You make them take you to their place or the fraternity house so that way you can sneak out on them or get one of the guys to get rid of them for you.” I shrugged my shoulders. She wasn’t wrong. “You know you’re a real class A piece of shit.”

  “Yeah, but you still love me.” She crossed her arms over her small but perky chest, making them pop up even more in her low cut dress. I gave her my pouty lip causing the one corner of her mouth to twitch slightly.

  “Stop it,” she growled. I grabbed her and pulled her close to me. She squealed and tried to shove me away. “You’re going to get me in trouble.” I stole a kiss on the cheek before I let her go and caught a glimpse of the blonde who was waiting for me. Her eyes were narrowed into slits as she glared at me from the table. Shit.

  “Hey, can I get my tab.”

  “Yeah, just give me a sec.” She dipped underneath the bar and searched through the pile of receipts. Declan was the only girl who put up with my shit – besides my sisters – and gave it right back to me. I met her our freshman year of college and spent the first month trying to get in her pants. She was a cute, tiny redhead, with killer legs, and smile that could bring any man to their knees. She was beautiful and smart and the only girl I haven’t sleep with. Declan claims she never slept with me because she was too smart to fall for my bullshit. But we both knew, given time, it would have happened. It almost did. The only thing that stopped me from bending her over my couch was because Colton, my best friend, pulled me aside and told me he had a crush on her. So out of respect for him I backed off. Now Declan is more like a sister to me and I would do anything to protect her.

  I felt a hand slip across my shoulder. “You soon ready?” It was the blonde. I really should have gotten her name. She might have given it to me earlier in the night but by this stage she would be lucky if I could remember her face in the morning. With her this close up I was starting to think it was probably better if I didn’t.

  “This might take a minute. Why don’t you go have another drink at the table and I’ll be there in a few.”

  “Hey Cas, who is the tab under?” Declan turned around with several papers shoved in her hands. The blonde looked over her shoulder at Declan and gave her a nasty look before she turned back around to me. The look on Declan’s face told me if I didn’t get rid of this chick she would do it for me and I knew Declan was one broad you did not want to piss off.

  I stood up and reached behind the bar, grabbing two beers out of the cooler. I handed one to the blonde and pushed her in the direction of the table with a warning that if she kept it up she would be going home alone. I cracked open the second beer and took a swig while Declan continued to search for our bill. “Try under Greyson,” I suggested as I took another swig.

  I looked over my shoulder at the blonde who was sitting impatiently with Greyson. He had his arm wrapped around the back of her chair and she looked ready to hit him. Ready to get this night over with, I hopped behind the bar to help Declan find our tab. One of the bartenders rushed by knocking into me. “Sorry,” I mumbled. She was dressed in red leather shorts and halter top. Instinctively my eyes traveled down her legs. She was wearing fishnet stockings and red high heels that I wouldn’t mind having her dig into my backside. The short red wig that cropped at her chin made her face appear more round and soft. She wore tons of black eye shadow underneath her mask and blood red, glitter lipstick. She oozed confidence and what I wouldn’t give right now to have that lipstick all over my dick. She was sexy as hell, even with all that makeup on.

  She narrowed her big, green eyes at me, eyes that looked so familiar. “You can’t be back here.”

  “Have we met?” I couldn’t shake this feeling that I knew her from somewhere.

  “I highly doubt it.” She stood there with her hands on hips, waiting for me to leave.

  “He’s fine Alex,” Gus, the owner said. She rolled her eyes and turned around to grab the empty bottles off the bar.

  I jumped in front of her. “I’m Cas,” I said, extending my hand and giving her my most charming smile.

  “I’m not interested,” she responded without even looking in my direction. I heard Gus let out a s
mall laugh under his breath. I was ready to try again when one of the patrons started giving her a hard time.

  “Look, I told you last call was twenty minutes ago. It’s not my fault you missed it.” The guy reached across the bar, taking her hand. He leaned in close and tried to seduce her into giving him another drink. I was about to step in when Gus held up a hand to me. She leaned closer to him and gave him a heart stopping smile of her own. She slipped her hand behind his neck and then brought his face down hard on the bar. His head bounced back up and he stumbled slightly before regaining himself. “I’m sorry, looks like you had enough.” She snapped her fingers for one of the security guards. He saw the guy stumble, making it look like he had one too many which I’m sure he did. The bouncer swept an arm over his chest to steady him before he took him out. “Have a nice night, come again,” she waved, flashing the sexiest smile I have ever seen.

  Gus just shook his head, smiling, while I stood there. “I think I’m in love.”

  “Get in line,” Gus said, patting my shoulder.

  “Finally!” Declan yelled, holding the receipt in the air like it was the golden ticket. “You guys are a bunch of idiots.” She slammed the receipt on my chest. I took the paper and looked at the name on top – Dixie Normous. I shook my head and laughed. Fucking Greyson. I took my wallet from my back pocket and gave Declan my card.

  “Who’s the new chick? I haven’t seen her here before.”

  Declan leaned back and looked down at the end of the bar where I gestured. “No,” she said, handing me back my card.

  “No, what?”

  “Just no,” she said, shoving a pen at me. I signed the slip and then kissed her goodbye just as the new girl made her way to the register. I leaned in, ready to put on the charm.

  “You never told me your name.” It was lame, I know, but I was a little off my game tonight.