Love
Wasted
By Shirl Rickman
Genre: NA Romance
Release Date: June 22, 2017
She
loves him. She loves him not.
When
Cassandra Porter was seven years old, she fell in love with her next door
neighbor and her best friends brother. Cass loved that boy every single
day…until he broke her heart and all that remained were the pieces.
Ten
years and what feels like a lifetime apart, that boy—now a grown and sexy, warm
blooded man—is thrust back into her life. He might make her temper flair and
blood boil, but a few unresolved feelings are no match for the way her heart
races when he is near…
She
drives him the good kind of crazy.
Paxton
Luke led his life with one thing on his mind: success. Friends and family come
first, with no room for emotional attachments—not even with the neighbor girl,
who's turned into a complete knockout. His sister's best friend. Emotions only
lead to love, and love was trouble.
They’re
determined to fight this undeniable attraction to the bitter end. It’s too damn
bad their hearts are about to get love drunk-- wasted on love.
“Damn
it, stop trying to avoid this conversation. Admit it; you’ve been avoiding me
since New Year’s Eve.” I take another step in his direction, putting less space
between us.
“Fine,
maybe I have been, but I’m not now,” he admits, still a harshness to his voice.
Unemotional.
Shaking
my head, I think about laughing, but I really don’t feel like laughing. “Well,
that’s nice for you, but I want to talk. I want us to talk about that night. I
want to explain.” I keep my voice even although I feel like I’m about to fall
off the edge of a cliff.
The
hardness shows a little of itself again in his eyes. “What is there to talk
about? I think you made it pretty clear how you felt that night and I’m just
trying to remember you’re Cass. Cass who’s my sisters best friend. Cassandra
Porter the girl next door. The girl, who’s parents are best friends with mine.
The Cass I spent my entire youth trying to avoid while still trying to protect.
The Cass who was at every holiday or vacation for most of my life. Because that
all means something. I’m trying to remember everything I should so I can forget
the one thing I shouldn’t. The one thing that means nothing.” He sounds like
he’s out of breath when he steps to me, we’re now toe to toe. I realize I’m
breathing hard too.
The
last words to leave his mouth are my breaking point, that old feeling of
frustrated disappointment washes over me like a tidal. So unexpected although,
it happened to me before, on another day and what feels like another lifetime.
“Don’t you dare say that!” I shout, and without thinking, I put my hands on his
chest and try to shove him with all the anger and hurt inside of me. But, he’s
too fast. Too strong, and he grabs both of my wrists, holding them against his
chest. I try fighting him for my freedom, but he doesn’t let go. He just holds
them.
Then
we’re back there again, it’s as if the countdown started all over, and we’re
holding the other in the same intense gaze as we did that night. A war between
desire and fear. His head lowers, and I go up on my tiptoes, our mouths touch
lightly. We don’t move; we only press our lips together in tenderness. And,
just when we both decide to relinquish a little control, the door bell rings.
We freeze, our bodies still united by the mere connection of our lips. The air
that was once heavy around us begins to dissipate with every chime of the bell.
Then we
hear his voice. The one person holding us back. The person who isn’t really
between us, but there still.
Shirl Rickman is
a writer, a dreamer, and an optimist. A small town Texas girl currently residing
in the San Francisco Bay Area, Shirl adores her husband, daughter, and two
crazy dogs. When she's not dreaming up new love stories, Shirl can be found
reading, drinking her favorite coffee, Kona Blend with coconut milk. She loves
kindness, laughing and meeting her readers.
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