Slow No Wake - By Dakota Madison Page 0,65
his heart.”
“I will never break his heart.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
Eddie bent down, grabbed the last box and placed it in the back of his truck. “I remember the first time I laid eyes on you, you were moving in. I think I fell in love with you somewhere between moving your sofa and bedframe.”
I tried my best to stifle a sob.
Eddie’s gaze met mine. “They say if you really love someone, above all else, you should want to see them happy. You and I both know I could never make you truly happy. But I know Danny can.”
He reached down and closed the back of his truck. Then he grabbed me and gave me a big hug. “Goodbye, Lexie,” he whispered.
I wiped the tears from my eyes as he jumped into his truck and started the engine. I gave a quick wave as he drove away.
FOURTEEN
Zenith
(Nine Months Later)
Hannah and I stacked the last of the moving boxes near the front door. Everything was ready to be loaded into the moving trucks when the guys arrived.
“I’m sorta gonna miss this place,” Hannah said, taking one last look around the duplex.
Because my sister started seeing Brad as soon as she arrived, she decided to stay in Florida. She moved into the apartment with me and together we got the place fixed up fairly nicely. Well, as nice as anyone could fix up an old wreck like the duplex.
“But will you miss the bad plumbing, the black mold and the paper thin walls?” I joked.
“You have a point.”
The front door was propped open, so we saw when Brad pulled up with a small box truck. He hopped out and gave my sister a big hug. “Are you ready, my love?” he asked.
Hannah gave him a big smile.
Brad asked my sister to move into his house, which was a big step for both of them. The rationale he gave was that he lived close to the community college, so it would be easier for Hannah to commute to her classes. For all the issues people had with Brad, he was a different person with my sister. And my sister was a different person with him. They brought out the best in each other. My sister told me that Brad had motivated her to go back to school so she could have a career. She decided to sign up for a course in radiology to become an X-ray technician.
Brad and Hannah began loading her stuff into the box truck and a few seconds later, Daniel arrived with a small moving van. We were moving into a house he rented across town. He jumped out of the van and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “Excited?” he asked.
“And nervous,” I replied. “The last time I lived with a guy, it didn’t exactly work out.”
Daniel tucked a stray hair behind my ear. “You have nothing to worry about. I’m completely and totally devoted to you.”
“I know.”
He kissed me then said, “Now let’s get your stuff moved into our new place.”
With the four of us hauling boxes and furniture, it took less than an hour to get everything packed. I noticed Daniel standing by the mailbox. He removed a square beige envelope and handed it to me.
“That’s strange,” I said. “I had the mail forwarded.”
The four of us looked down at the envelope in my hand.
“It doesn’t have a stamp or postmark,” Brad observed. “Someone must have stuck it in your mailbox.”
Now overwhelmed with curiosity, I tore open the envelope. Inside was a wedding invitation. My throat went dry when I saw who the groom was: Ed LaRoche.
“Eddie’s getting married,” I managed to squeak out.
Then I noticed who the bride was: Christina Matthews.
“He’s marrying Miss Matthews, our English teacher?” I was in a state of shock. Never in my wildest imagination did I ever picture Eddie getting married.
“Joey-G told me they’re getting married in a few weeks,” Daniel said.
“W-why so fast?” I stammered.
Daniel, Brad and Hannah all smirked at the same time.
“Let’s just say they wanted to have the ceremony before Christina started to show,” Daniel replied.
Brad leaned in and added, “I heard Eddie took Christina into the laboratory supply closet almost every afternoon after school.”
I gulped. A memory of Eddie taking me to that supply closet flashed in my mind. I was surprised when the memory evoked no feelings the way my thoughts always had in the past. It just seemed like such a long time ago.
“You know,” Daniel said. “Eddie always did have a thing for English majors.”
The four of us laughed.
Other Titles by Dakota Madison
Be Good
The Bad-Girl and the Boy-Next-Door
After getting completely wasted at a wedding reception, bridesmaid Anna Hart wakes up in a strange bed and can’t remember what she did or who she did it with.
The stranger in bed with Anna is Brett Conner, a nerdy guy who she vaguely remembers from college, but only because everyone called him Clown Hair. Only Brett isn’t quite as nerdy as Anna remembers. His clown hair is long gone and Brett is almost cute—and kind of sexy.
Over the course of four weddings, in four cities, in one crazy summer, Brett and Anna start a mismatched relationship. But is there a future for the bad-girl and the boy-next-door?
MATCHPLAY
A Girl, a Guy, a Tournament and a Challenge
The Girl: At a time when most girls obsess about homecoming and high school prom, Rainy Dey spent her senior year caring for her dying mother. So when her father drops her off at college to start her freshman year, his words of advice to his bookish daughter are to start acting like a young person and finally have some fun.
The Guy: College senior, Aaron Donavan, aka Mr. Hot-and-Knows-It, is President of the Clubhouse, a social club for the college’s most wealthy and popular guys. Aaron can have any girl on campus except the one who challenges and excites him the most—Rainy Dey.
The Tournament: Every year, the senior members of The Clubhouse engage in a golf-inspired tournament to see who can sleep with the most freshman girls. When Rainy finds out about the tournament, she believes Aaron’s only interest in her is to score points by taking her V-Card.
The Challenge: Can Aaron convince Rainy that his feelings for her are true and that she won’t be just another notch on his tournament scorecard?
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