Series: Alpen Springs #1
Tragedies.
Those were the root of all evil. One of those became the root of mine the day I
lost the love of my life. My best friend. My lover.
Everyone disregarded it, saying, “Let’s face it, Averie, you have the rest of
your life ahead of you.” They were wrong. James Lawrence was my ever after . .
. until Ashton.
If only he didn’t come bearing his own brand of evil.
A secret.
The reason he wanted me to stay away.
I should have listened, and he should have tried harder, but both of us failed.
And if we hadn’t, if he had told me when we first met, would it have altered
the moment I realized that I was falling for him?
The slight variation in the air. The hitch in my breath. The lightness in my
chest.
Impossible to know; I’d already fallen.
I was already ruined.
***A standalone sports romance that takes place in senior year high school. Due
to explicit content, this book is suitable for 17+
retailers for a limited time
caramel-colored eyes, my hands running up his jaw. “You’re going to do great
today.”
around James and me, and I shivered. He tugged me closer, a charming smile
pulling at his lips.
hair in his hands, carrying it over my shoulders to curtain my face as he
leaned against his car. “I love you.”
called, and his gaze shifted to the sound while I kept my eyes on him. He
looked uncertain, exhausted almost.
forehead.
We got a game to win, dude.” Ben winked at me from across the high school’s
parking lot, a lopsided grin on his face and his duffel bag slung over one
shoulder. “You can snuggle with your sweetie later. Hey, Averie.”
hand and waved before giving James Lawrence, my number nineteen, one last hug.
you in a bit. You’ll be getting a winning kiss tonight. I can feel it.” He
grinned, and I chewed on the smile that stretched across my lips as I watched
him go before turning around.
Nicky and Sydney, would be here soon, but as I scanned the nearby vehicles and
the people walking through the gates to the football field, I realized that
they were nowhere in sight. Instead of waiting, I headed to the gates and
showed my student ID to the teacher responsible for the ticketing tonight.
already were scattered across the metal seats on the bleachers, most of them
being parents. Once I got there, I climbed up to sit on the far-left side and
pulled James’s hoodie over my head.
multiply soon and everyone would be shoulder to shoulder. Because in Alpen
Springs, Colorado, a small mountain city with a population of about sixteen
thousand, this was one of the main sources of entertainment.
minutes later, James ran out onto the field. Moments later, I began to tense.
wasn’t the best, but we weren’t the worst either. And as time flew by, the
former was clear, because now, at almost an hour into this game, things weren’t
looking too good for us.
bench, my feet tapping restlessly as I waited with bated breath for the second
half of the game to kick off.
competitive and hated losing, so I really wanted our team to win tonight.
by fourteen points at the end of the third quarter when it became so noisy I
could barely hear what Sydney was saying to me.
think . . . catch up . . . win!”
clear enough—we had a chance. We’d caught up, and everyone on the bleachers was
just as anxious as the players. Night had fallen upon us so fast that
everything outside of the field was dark, non-existent. Kind of like everything
was beyond the finite views that surrounded us due to the mountain peaks and
hills in every direction.
fresh air and freedom.
a whiff of marijuana.
disturbance of said fresh air, I covered my nose with the sleeves of my hoodie.
The no-smoking rule became muddied at night, because with a crowd like this, it
would be impossible to find the culprit.
quiet, I glanced at the scoreboard.
forty seconds remaining in the game, we were only down by one point.
line of scrimmage formed at the thirty-five-yard line in the Hollis territory,
Alpen Springs North on the offense.
the ball and shuffled to the side before hurling the football to James. He
caught it and took off running as a chant broke out behind me, around me.
“Lawrence, Lawrence, Lawrence!”
James as he ran, did a three-sixty-degree turn, escaping two of the defenses
from the other team who stumbled trying to tackle him. Then he was a lone
figure running down the field and straight into the end zone for a
sixty-five-yard touchdown.
seat, I screamed, “Yes! Oh my God!” Barely able to hear myself as the crowd
went wild.
long the excitement lasted, because in the next
second . . . my life would change forever.
Casey rediscovered her passion for writing and hasn’t stopped writing since.
She writes sexy, funny, sweet, and emotional stories that are a bit more in
depth, but so much fun to read.