Nate lays me out on my bed, lying on his side beside me and lifting my head to rest on his arm. His other arm is bent, his hand holding up his head above me.
Nate studies my face, his weight hovering over me, his arm muscles taut. I’m dazed because of him, and since that frenzy at the door, all I want to do is enjoy him being here to comfort me tonight.
“I’m such a dick. I should have told you I’d be late.”
“No you weren’t. That’s a special day. I didn’t expect you to come, I’m just so sorry I badgered you at first.”
He knows why I left the party. I told him my plan to surprise him with the chai latte and the photo I wanted to print of us, and my scribbles and hearts left at his door. Still, I say, “I feel so stupid he did all that.”
“Hey.” Nate pulls back hair from my face, watching his fingers stroke it away, and then he smiles at me. “Not your fault. I was meant to be there right after Scout left.”
I try to nod but can’t do that. I guess this is something we’ll disagree on for a while yet.
“Kall?”
I turn back to him, his expression suddenly cautious.
I say, “Yeah?”
“We’re still together? Because I fucking love you, and I’d do anything to keep you happy. Even if that means breaking up if these couple of days have been too much.”
“Nate?”
“Yeah?”
I make him wait, expression frozen except for his eyes searching me. I could lick him all up staring at how cute he is.
“I’m all yours. Still am.”
“You don’t have to.”
“This is becoming unnecessarily long-winded,” I say, creating a loose fist and rubbing the back of my hand down his chest. His warmth against me makes me shudder.
“Why?”
“Because I can’t imagine ever loving someone how I love you. So it’s quite simple—us.”
Nate blinks, smiles and then stops as if he’s been caught out in a test. He leans down and pecks a kiss on my lips. When he sees me still waiting, he gets it, and it’s like this big warm light bulb is heating him from inside his heart, out. Last is the elation on his face.
“Really?” He smiles bigger. “Kall Bell, I love you. So much.”
“I’m sorry it took so long, but I’m never going away.”
He lays his head down and we lie tangled in each other for the rest of that day, watching Big Bang Theory, fighting spoon wars to eat ice cream from the tub, and me happy being this new-found Kalli.
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Acknowledgements
Being Kalli was a hard book to write. I adore New Adult books, and when this idea came to me about this fearless bad girl, her only kryptonite, being alone with a guy, I was even more excited. By the time I finished this story, Kalli became like a real person to me through her uniqueness and dark past, but this book wouldn’t be here without generous help.
Two talented novelists who helped me were Emily Tippetts and Lauren McKellar. Kalli hadn’t been broken down yet, and it was only via these amazing girls’ pointers, that Kalli became so much better in the end. Girls, there’s so much more that you did for this book and I’m extremely grateful.
Caisey Quinn and Marion Archer, thank you for your notes and overall help. Many thanks!
Lauren, you get another mention as my editor because you swept through this novel again and made it even better! My love for your talents has no end.
As a side note, I need to thank my family and boyfriend Ashley for their support. Writing difficult topics is incredibly taxing and I’m so lucky to have you all.
Lastly, thank you, my lovely readers, for helping this girl’s dreams come true.
About the Author
Rebecca Berto is the Amazon bestselling author of Drowning in You and writes stories about love and relationships. She gets a thrill when her readers are emotional reading her books, and gets even more of a kick when they tell her so. She’s strangely imaginative, spends too much time on her computer, and is certifiably crazy when she works on her fiction.
Rebecca Berto lives in Melbourne, Australia with her boyfriend and their doggy.
You can find Rebecca at:
Her website/blog, Novel Girl
Facebook
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Other Books by This Author
Precise (Pulling Me Under #0.5, a prequel novella) — Try it for free from one of many retailers!
Pulling Me Under (Pulling Me Under #1, a novel)
Drowning in You (Finding Forever in Us #1)
Entwine (Entwine #1)
Table of Contents
Prologue
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Other Books by This Author
Being Kalli Page 23
