His hooded eyes spark in the dimly lit room. “Unless you’d rather your first time be with a stranger.”
Even though nerves crackle and sizzle inside of me, I swat his arm. “Will you ever let me live that down?”
He shoots me that crooked smile of his I love so damn much. “Most definitely not.”
A new song comes on. I hear the words girl crush, but not much else over the earsplitting beat Jasper has layered over Little Big Town’s song. I slot my fingers through Ten’s and lead him through the swaying clusters until we come upon Rae. She’s sitting on her kitchen counter, head thrown back in laughter, legs swinging around Harrison.
The second she spots me, she squeals and hops off the island, then ties me up in a big hug. “Have soooo much fun,” she whispers.
I blush. “Shut up.”
It just makes her smirk. “Get out of here already.”
“Night, Rae. Night, Harrison.”
After I climb into Ten’s car, I ask, “So where are we going?”
He reaches for my hand. “You’ll see.”
When we pull up in front of my house, my heart starts thundering so hard I fear for the safety of my ribs. Ten jumps out of the car, circles the front, then opens my door before I’ve even unhooked the seat belt. I let him pull me out, then pull me into the house, because my pulse has short-circuited my brain’s ability to control my muscles.
LED candles flicker on almost every surface.
And there are rose petals again.
Everywhere.
“I think you secretly watch chick flicks,” I tell him.
He laughs, then spins me so that I’m facing him. He gazes down at me and tucks a loose strand of hair behind my ear.
“But it’s missing something,” I say.
His fingers are still on the shell of my ear. “It is?”
I draw him toward the piano, which glitters with tea lights, and sit on the bench, pulling him down next to me. “Remember when you asked me if I would sing for you someday?”
He frowns. “And you did.”
“I sang ‘Made’ for a lot of people. Not just for you. Tonight, I want to sing you something I’ve never sung in front of anyone.”
He lifts my palm to his mouth, kisses it, then places my hand delicately back on the piano keys. And I begin playing the song I wrote for him.
A song titled “Someday.”
A song about first love.
A song about him and me.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
NOT ANOTHER LOVE SONG has been a labor of great love. My first and greatest thanks goes to Kat Brzozowski, who tirelessly went through version after version (there were oh so many) of my book to help me shape it into the one you’ve just read. Thank you, Kat, for your vision, your enthusiasm, and your support throughout this musical journey.
A great big thank-you to the entire Swoon Reads team that worked on Not Another Love Song. Your efforts and hours honed my story into a book I’m extremely proud to call my own, even though it’s just as much yours as it is mine: Starr Baer, Sophie Erb, Holly Ingraham, Heather Hughes, and Lauren Scobell.
Thank you to Jean Feiwel for making all of this possible. You’ve created such a wonderful community, which I’m so proud to be a part of.
To the Swoon Squad: Your support system and friendship have blown me away. To many more years of having each other’s backs.
Thank you to all my first readers on Swoon, who praised and voted for this book when it was still just a one-woman show named Harshville. You made this happen.
To my author besties and beta readers extraordinaire—Katie Hayoz, Theresea Barrett, Astrid Arditi—I love you girls and value your opinions so darn much (even when they completely diverge from my own).
To my sister Vanessa, who would’ve made one heck of a singer, a huge thank-you for all your musical knowledge.
To my parents and other two siblings, thank you for listening with unwavering enthusiasm to all the canine novellas I wrote as a kid and would read you during family meals.
To my husband and three crazy kids, thank you for being the best cheerleaders in the world. And no, I don’t love my computer more than you…;)
And last but not least, thank you for joining me on my foray into country music.
About the Author
Olivia Wildenstein grew up in New York City and earned her bachelor’s in comparative literature from Brown University. After designing jewelry for a few years, Wildenstein traded in her tools for the writing life.
When she’s not sitting at her computer, she’s psychoanalyzing everyone she meets (Yes. Everyone), eavesdropping on conversations to gather material for her next book, and baking up a storm. She is the author of Not Another Love Song. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
A-Side Ten
1. One Strange Cookie
2. The Boy with the Princess Band-Aids
3. Rules Are Meant to Be Broken
4. The Beast in Tennessee
5. A Tall Order of Insufferable
6. Crushes and Crushing Comments
7. InSinkErating My Dream
8. Even Lawyers Have Pinterest Boards
9. Defrosting More than Freezers
10. The Voice
11. Long, Boring Conversations
12. Bwirling Hearts
13. Operation Inanimate Object
14. Ovaries Can Apparently Melt
15. Red, White, and Super Bluesy
16. The Chicken with the Bad Timing
17. The Invisible Stone and the Inflatable Sword
18. Never Have I Ever Felt This Bad
19. A License to Drive People Insane
20. Crash Into Me, Why Don’t You?
21. Spite and Stones Can Hurt Your Bones
22. Back Rolls and Spring Rolls
23. The Destruction of Idols
24. The Drawer of Abandoned Gifts
25. Some Ashtrays Have Warts
B-Side Nev
26. Nevada in Nashville
27. The Shade of Water
28. Back in Sync
29. The Short Stranger from My Cookie
30. Crushing My Crush
31. Twelve Isn’t Ten
32. A Knight in Moisture-Wicking Armor
33. Ten Facets of Ten
34. A Fleck of Light
35. The Boy Who Blushes
36. Sweet-Toothed and Weak-Kneed
37. A Slice of Boredom
38. Mailing My Heart Away
39. Blinding Dreams
40. Killing Me Softly with Food
41. Easy Come, Easy Go
42. My Rae of Sun
43. Leaving My Mark
44. The Non-Date Date
45. Humans Aren’t Reeds
46. The Squeak of Bluebirds
47. Cheese Balls and Osso Buco
48. The Clashing Stones
49. The Devouring Melody
50. Finding Love in Tennessee
51. The Fame Game
52. T-Minus One
53. The Beds We Make and Lie In
54. Win Some, Lose Some
55. A Means to an End
56. Inflatable Hearts
57. My Last Stand
58. The First Stage of Stardom
59. Ad Lib
60. Hear Us Roar
61. My Time
62. The Dotted Line
Outro
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Copyright
Copyright © 2020 by Olivi
a Wildenstein
A Swoon Reads Book
An imprint of Feiwel and Friends and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC
120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271
swoonreads.com
All rights reserved.
Feiwel and Friends logo designed by Filomena Tuosto
Library of Congress Control Number: 2019948818
Our eBooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at (800) 221-7945 ext. 5442 or by email at [email protected].
First hardcover edition 2020
eBook edition July 2020
eISBN 9781250224637
Not Another Love Song Page 28
