After witnessing Makenna’s journey to find herself again, Callie is reminded of her own struggles with love. No, Wes wasn’t always the easy going guy that he is today. He was moody and unpredictable in the worst of ways, and she was certain to call him out on it every chance she got.
Looking back, she’s amazed at how much their lives have changed since they met.
Before tragedy shook them to the very core of their lives. Before her dream career began. And before Wes wasn’t a broody jerk with a closet full of personalities.
Yes, just four years ago, everything was different…
Makenna and Shane are just a couple of lovesick college students, and Callie is doing her best to keep up with the demands of her junior year. Life is boring, and she is totally fine with that. But boring flies right out the window the day Makenna cons Callie into helping with Shane’s brother’s birthday party. She expects a gangly pimple-faced teenager, but Wes is far from it. He is temperamental and opinionated, but he is also incredibly hot and thoroughly enjoys pushing her buttons. And she pushes his right back.
Even though their undeniable attraction draws them to one another, Wes is clear with Callie about one thing. Relationships are off limits. Friendship is all he has to offer, unless of course, Callie is willing to add a few benefits to that. He works hard to keep the reasons for his aversion hidden, but secrets have a way of making themselves known sometimes, no matter how deep you bury them.
Two of those secrets hold the key to unlocking Wes’ fears of the ultimate betrayal. And the other secret has Callie falling even deeper than she ever dreamed.
But she’s unsure of one thing . . . is she enough to save him from himself?
Callie’s Birthday Surprise
I throw my pillow at her, nearly knocking her off balance. “For my first birthday surprise, I’d like to sleep, thankyouverymuch.”
“No way. Not happening. Besides, it’s after ten.” She bounds off the bed and flings the double doors to the balcony open. “Do you see this? You’re going to sleep the entire day when you could be out there?”
“Well, when you put it that way . . .”
“I’m always right. You know that.”
We both look at each other before bursting into laughter. Never right would be more like it, and she knows that.
“So what are these big birthday surprises you have in store for me? It may be a determining factor of whether or not I choose to get out of bed.”
“Be right back.” She races from the room and downstairs before racing right back up and pouncing back on the bed. “Surprise number one.” She shoves a wrapped gift at me. Although
I’m not entirely sure that “wrapped” is what you’d call it. It’s more like there’s some paper wadded up around it and some tape stuck on there haphazardly. The girl can’t wrap a gift to save her life, but it’s the thought that counts.
I tear at the first opening I can find to shed the box of the layered mass of paper surrounding it, and I lift the lid from the top. Inside is a brand new Breaking Benjamin t-shirt.
“You know me too well. I love it, Mak.”
A sly grin curls up the corners of her mouth. “Look underneath it.”
I lift the shirt carefully to find two concert tickets nestled in the tissue paper. They’re for one of their upcoming concerts in Atlanta this summer. I have no words. So I just squeal.
Finally, after a few minutes of hugging her and bouncing up and down, I shower and get ready for the day. She tells me there’s more in store for me, so if the other surprises are anything like those tickets, it’s going to be a damn good day. Makenna knows me better than I know myself most of the time, so she knows exactly what I want or need, even when I don’t know sometimes. That’s one of the many reasons she’s my best friend.
My hair is dry and styled into the perfect beach waves, I’m wearing my favorite denim shorts and new t-shirt, and I just polished all of my nails in the perfect shade of ocean blue. I feel fantastic for a change, and today is going to be a great day. I have no doubt about that.
Descending the stairs, I look back and forth at the shoes I’m holding in each hand.
“Makenna, which shoes look best? These black flip flops or the sandals?” I’m nothing if not a shoe whore. Like I’d totally sell myself to buy shoes. Okay, maybe not, but I’d come awful close
to it.
“Sandals,” a voice calls back from the living room. But it’s the fact that it’s a male voice has me flinging shoes across the room and screaming.
Wes throws his arms up to keep from being pelted in the face by a wayward flip flop.
“Take it easy. It’s just me.”
“What the hell are you doing here?” I pound a fist into his chest when he approaches me.
My heart is hammering in my chest so hard that I feel somewhat dizzy. I’m not sure, though, if it’s the fact that I thought a man broke into the house or if it’s the fact that it’s Wes. So much for
my troubles not following me here.
Wes grabs my swinging arms and steadies me. “I think we’ve been set up.”
Tasha Ivey is a literature fanatic, whose love for the written word fostered her development into the writer she has become. A lover of an extremely erratic mixture of literature, she has been influenced by authors from Jane Austen and E.M. Forster to Charlaine Harris and Alyson Noel. But her biggest influence and literary hero? Nicholas Sparks. Aside from writing, since she
doesn't have anything other than a shriveled up prune on the left side of her brain, she prefers to spend her time being creative in other ways like painting, cake decorating, and various types of crafts. That is, if the constant voices streaming through her head allow her to stop making up stories for a while. Lucky for her, she has a huge supportive family, including her amazing husband and two kids, who doesn't complain too much when she hangs out with her characters more than she does with them. Sophie, the dog, however . . . she does complain. A lot.
Tasha is giving away 3 signed copies of Every Kiss and 3 $10 Amazon Gift Cards
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