Bittersweet (Redemption #3) - Jessica Prince Page 0,3

sixteen years and taking me down a totally different path.

A path I never would have expected, and one that would end with my heart being stomped to dust.

Chapter One

Shane

When I was younger, I had all these very specific ideas about what my future was going to be like. While most girls grew up wishing for Prince Charming, a white picket fence, and two-point-five kids, my plans went in a different, far less romantic direction.

But that was what happened when pretty much everyone you ever loved bailed on you. Having my mom, dad, and big brother kick up dust in their hurry to leave was enough to seriously screw with a young, impressionable girl’s head. I had enough abandonment issues to fill the Grand Canyon, and then some. I’d walked around on eggshells for years after Stone left, just waiting for the day when I’d somehow lose Aunt Caro and Uncle Scooter, the only two people I had left.

Even though that day never came, the damage had already been done, so when other girls my age were honing their flirting skills and shopping for those outfits that would catch the eye of a hot, popular jock, I was concentrating on being as independent as humanly possible. I kept myself closed off from the idea of long, lasting relationships. After all, what was the point of letting people into your heart when they would end up leaving anyway?

I didn’t want to depend on anyone. It was easier that way. I was determined to do everything I could to make sure I would always be able to take care of myself. I’d work my ass off in school so I could get scholarships to the college of my choice where I’d major in something that would guarantee I’d be able to get a well-paying, steady job after graduating.

I was laser focused on accomplishing every goal I made for myself. I was a straight-A student. I had enough extra-curriculars under my belt to make me look appealing to any admissions board, and I’d started working as soon as I turned sixteen, squirrelling away every dime I made for the future. I had a plan, and a backup plan. Hell, I even had a backup for my backup. Everything had been going according to plan. Then I met him.

Jensen Rose blew into my life with the force of a category five hurricane and ripped my carefully constructed life to shreds. I didn’t have a choice when it came to falling in love with him, he’d made damn sure of that. He’d pursued me relentlessly, with a single-minded determination I couldn’t help but admire. He made me want more. He made me dream of a different kind of life. But worst of all, he made me hope I was enough, that I was worth sticking around for.

As it turned out, I wasn’t.

He’d given me everything I didn’t know I was missing. He made me realize how lonely and closed off my world had been. He swooped in and filled it with color and laughter. With him, the ideas for my future changed. Jensen took over my mind, leaving no room for thoughts of independence. He was all I cared about. He became my future.

Then he ripped it all away.

I’d given up everything for him, becoming dependent on him for my very happiness. But I wasn’t enough. Just like everyone else, he’d walked away. However, unlike all the others, he’d at least left me with a gift: something more precious than anything else in the world. There wasn’t much I was willing to give him credit for, but at least, thanks to him, I had my son. Brantley was the most important person in my life. I loved him with everything I had, and as much as it irked me, I couldn’t help but be thankful to Jensen for giving him to me.

It had taken every single day of the four and a half years he’d been gone for me to mend my broken heart, trying to piece it together with bits of tape and string until it was a poor reflection of what it had once been. However, it still didn’t work quite right.

It wasn’t too long ago that I was finally able to go longer than a handful of hours without thinking about him. I’d finally felt like I was in a place to start moving on. I’d begun to date casually. Brantley was my sole focus, so there wasn’t room in my life for