By
J. Saman
Genre: New Adult Romance
Release Date:
June 12, 2017
Abby Scofield's
love life has been all sorts of wrong.
So when lacrosse
star, Brandon Kessler, comes along with his all-American good looks, easy
disposition and magnetic charm, things seem to be looking up. Even if they come
from two totally different worlds.
Xander Novak is
the gorgeous, volatile and often times mean best friend of Abby's twin brother,
Aubrey. Her relationship with him is strained at best. But when Xander moves in
unexpectedly, things seem to shift between them. But in what direction?
One night of
deception, lies, and heartbreak are a common link the three share. When the
truth about that night comes out, none of their lives will ever be the same.
Will Abby be
able to find the love she's been searching for or will everything in her world
fall apart?
Warning: Strong
language and moderate sexual content.
I find my way back into the bar and am immediately accosted by
Aubrey, who is flanked by a seething Xander.
“What the fuck, Abby? Tell me you tossed that piece of shit to
the curb,” Aubrey fumes, grabbing my arm and looking me over like he’s
expecting to see signs of abuse.
“Can we just go back in and stop this? I don’t want to talk
about it anymore. It’s your birthday,” I say, looking at Xander.
“I need to talk to you,” he says with a tone I don’t exactly
appreciate. It’s authoritative and a bit belligerent, and it rubs me the wrong
way. Like all of this is my fault.
“I don’t want to rehash it.”
“Humor me. It’s my birthday.” He tosses his coat over my
shoulders, before spinning me around and directing me back to the door.
“I’m going to stay inside because it’s cold out and I don’t
really feel like listening to the two of you fight,” Aubrey says with his hands
up, palms facing out as he slowly back away from us.
“Coward,” I mutter, and both he and Xander laugh, which should
set me at ease, but it doesn’t.
I’m led back out into the frigid night and I wrap Xander’s big,
heavy coat around my body. It’s warm, despite the fact that he hasn’t worn it
since we got to the bar and it smells so good I want to bury my nose in the
collar and inhale.
I don’t.
That would be weird and embarrassing.
Xander is a pacing a heavy-footed circle and I can’t stop the
laugh that flies out of my mouth. “What? You’re laughing at me?” He’s smirking,
so I know he’s not all that pissed.
“I am. Why are you storming around? Out with it, Xander. I’m
freezing my boobs off.”
His eyes dip down to my covered chest before coming back up to
my face. “Your boobs?”
“Amongst other things. What’s up?”
“Did you break up with him?”
“No.”
“No? Why the hell not? He pushed Brian down and then squeezed
you. Are you waiting for him to hit you?”
I sigh. “You’re being overly dramatic. He didn’t mean to hurt me
and . . . well, yeah, he meant to push Brian, but I think he feels bad about
that. I don’t know. I’ll talk to him tomorrow once he’s sobered up.”
“Jesus, shit,” Xander snaps, walking up to me and grabbing me by
the biceps. “I can’t handle this, Abby. I can’t. I wanted to fucking kill him
when he had his hands on you like that. You have no idea the restraint it
took.”
I stare at him with wide, unblinking eyes. I’ve never seen this
sort of passion from Xander. Ever. I know some of his history. Why he spends all
of his vacations and holidays with our family or Gavin’s. I know some, but
definitely not all.
“He’s not good for you,” he whispers, some of his anger
dissipating the longer he stares into me.
I swallow hard, feeling the heat of his eyes
bearing down on me. I want to squirm. I want to look away or move or laugh or
do something that will ebb the thick tension. But I can’t do anything other
than look at him.
“He’s not.”
“It was one time. He didn’t even realize he was hurting me. He
wouldn’t do that.” I don’t know why I’m saying this to him. I don’t know why
I’m suddenly defending Brandon other than I don’t really know what else to say.
All of the real things I want to say, the words that are exploding around my
mind like a series of grenades going off, I’m not brave enough to utter.
“Is he what you want?”
Xander has asked me this before. Right after I told him that
Brandon and I were official.
“As opposed to what?”
Xander closes the small distance between us, hovering over me
like a dark knight.
His hands are still firmly affixed to my upper arms as he dips
his head closer to mine. Our breaths fog between us, mingling in the cool air.
He doesn’t respond. He just stares at me with pleading eyes, begging for
something he refuses to ask for.
“Abby,” he whispers softly, sweetly, like my name evokes
something warm from within him. “I want—”
“Are you two coming back in?” Aubrey’s voice interrupts whatever
Xander was about to say and right now, right this very second, I want to kill
my brother. Was he about to say the words I’ve wanted to hear for years? Was he
about to say that he wants me to end it with Brandon? Was he about to say he
wants to go back inside the bar and never speak to me again?
I have no idea.
And judging by the way Xander jumps a foot back from me like
Aubrey just zapped him with a thousand volts of electricity, I never will.
“You want what?” I press.
“I want—”
“Are you coming?”
“Yes. We’re coming,” Xander snaps out before his eyes refocus on
mine. “I want . . . to do a shot with you for my birthday.”
Goddammit, Xander!
I can only sigh, and sag with defeat. We’ve played this game
before. We’ve danced to this tune for most of our freshman year and it turned
into him hating me for the last two. So I’m done trying to read between the
lines that are so tightly pressed together, there’s no room for interpretation.
I can only take him at face value.
And while we may have a truce going, I have a sinking suspicion
it won’t last much longer.
Author J. Saman
lives in New England with her husband and three daughters. When she's not
writing romance and looking after her busy family, she works as a nurse
practitioner. J. is a lover of picking at old wounds and second chance
romances. She likes strong female leads and sexy alpha men with a sweet side.
No comments:
Post a Comment