Break Me (The Summer Series) (21 page)

“Nate, this is Cameron.”

“Hey,” he said, clearly uncomfortable with his
current audience and looking between the girls.

“Nate.” She licked her top lip, trying for sexy
but accomplishing crazy. “I think you owe me a dance.”

He looked to Olivia, and when she didn’t say
anything, he shrugged. “Sure, why not.” Olivia couldn’t figure out the
frustrated expression that crossed his face. She didn’t force him onto the
floor. She sure as hell had nothing to do with the fact that Cameron had walked
up.

Olivia watched as Nate and Cameron made their
way to the center of the floor. She had to admit Cameron wasn’t terrible
looking. Her dark skin, flowing curls and plump lips had an appeal that more
than a few frat guys had taken advantage of already this year. She had just
hoped Nate wouldn’t be one of them. Honestly, since she had spent so much time
with him this summer, she had been dreading the first time she saw him with
someone else. There was just something about him that was borderline
intoxicating. When he was around, she felt important, funny, clever, and
special. It was just Nate though. Clearly, Cameron was feeling pretty special
right now too.

She tried to ignore them as she gave up on him
coming back for her and started toward the dance floor and the guys who still
seemed to be waiting. Luckily, one grabbed her and pulled her toward him before
she made it too far. The thought of walking out to prove she didn’t need Nate
only to stand alone in the middle of the room was not only mortifying but too
depressing to consider. Finding him through the crowd, she attempted to see if
he was watching her without letting on that she was staring at him to no avail.
It seemed he was content with his new partner. Apparently, her friendship with
Cameron was over.

~*~

Nate

He had danced three songs with her
sorority sister and then excused himself as politely as he could. If her hand “accidentally”
slipped below his belt one more time, he was going to cause a scene. He
couldn’t take it anymore. He had stood to the side, walked around the back, and
come back inside to find Olivia was still taking turns dancing with every guy who
asked, and he was about to explode with jealousy. He decided to man up and just
make a move. Questions needed to be answered, and if he didn’t at least put a
feeler out, he would never know. Nate stormed through the crowd and pulled
Olivia out of the groping hands of the latest douche to try to cop a feel,
causing her to stumble into his arms. She turned and looked up at him in a
haze. “What are you doing, Liv?” He couldn’t keep the growl out of his voice.

“Dancing, hello.” She began to sway against him,
and he pushed her as far away as he could in the crowded living room.

“Liv, stop it.”

“What?” She looked at him startled and then
pouted up at him, pushing her pink lip out as her beautiful eye lids drooped.

“Just . . .” He groaned and looked toward the
still-waiting guys. “Come on, damn it.”

Olivia let out a squawk as he pulled her
roughly through the house and out the front door. “Is Hope home?” He looked
over his shoulder to see that she was listening to him.

“No.” Olivia narrowed her brows at him and then
looked over her shoulder toward the party. “Last I saw she was still at the
party. Why? What’s going on? Are you about to leave?”

“Yes, actually, we both are.” He answered
without turning around and narrowing his eyes on his destination.

“What? Why?” She pulled back, trying to free
her arm from his grasp, but he only tightened his hold.

“Because you’re pissing me off.” Nate didn’t
look back, and as Olivia tried to pull him to a stop in protest, he bent,
throwing her over his shoulder, much like her brother had with his girl
earlier. “If you’re going to throw up, could you aim out?” He sneered, getting
more and more disgusted with her behavior by the second.

“If I throw up, it’s going all over you, you
big oaf.” Nate tried to keep the chuckle quiet but knew instantly that she
could hear by the way she tensed in his arms. “Ass. I wasn’t even drinking.” She
grunted.

It was a long walk back to the dorm, but he
could feel his nerves calming with each welcome step away from the party. He knew
she was exhausted. Unlike everyone else, he actually paid attention. She was in
class from eight to one every day. She had tutoring for two or three hours a
day, depending on the subject. She had a sorority schedule to keep, she
volunteered for the basketball team boosters, and she studied constantly.
Essentially, she wasn’t sleeping, eating, or relaxing. She hid it well. The
fact that he saw it so easily only served to prove what he knew he couldn’t
avoid for much longer. He was into his Little Livvy, dangerously into her.

He wasn’t surprised at all when her breathing
slowed and she calmed down pretty quickly on the walk. Nate almost wished he
could cradle her in his arms so she could get some much needed rest while he
had an excuse to watch. Upon entering her dorms, he was disappointed and then
not disappointed at all to see that the front desk was empty. When a girl
coming out of the elevator saw him carrying the now-exhausted Olivia toward her,
she stepped out of the way. “Excuse me?” she asked meekly.

“Yeah.” Nate looked over his free shoulder
toward her.

“Is she okay with”—the girl pointed to Olivia
over his shoulder—“that? You aren’t doing anything shady, right?”

“No.” He laughed. “But I like that you care.
What’s your name?”

“Leigh.” She narrowed her eyes at him in
confusion.

“Well, Leigh”—he shifted the now-compliant
Olivia on his shoulder—“I’m Nate Fennell. Her name is Olivia. Find her tomorrow
and make sure she is okay for me. Would you mind? Room 412.”

“You do know I can talk and function, right?”
Olivia put her elbows on his back and rested her chin in her palm, shocking
both Leigh and Nate to find she was suddenly awake. “I’m Olivia. Nice to meet
you, Leigh.”

“S-sure.” Leigh walked away with a lost look on
her face as Nate pressed the four on the elevator, chuckling at the startled
look on the girl’s face.

When he let himself in her dorm suite, he
checked Chloe’s room first. He didn’t know if he was hoping she was there with
Scott or not. On the one hand, they could take Olivia off his hands. On the
other hand, they would take Olivia off his hands. Why did giving her up hold
absolutely no appeal?

She was already snoozing again by the time he
walked into her room. He was beginning to worry about her. She shouldn’t be
this exhausted, and if she was, what did that say about everything she had on
her plate? As gently as he could, he lowered her off his shoulder and onto her
bed. He looked toward Hope’s side of the room and wondered where she could be
but was quickly brought back to reality by Olivia and her grumblings. “What was
that, Liv?”

“Nate.” She sat up and pushed her hair out of
her face “Thank you for tonight. I’m always glad when you come.”

His brows drew together. “Yeah. Always.” He
didn’t know what she meant, but he knew that for her, his little Livvy, he
would always be there.

“Why?” There was a touch of longing and a hint
of sadness in the question. He ached with the word. Lowering himself onto the
bed, he leaned closer to her.

“Why, what, baby?”

“Why don’t you want me? It is because I’m too
tall? Most guys like girls like Chloe. They don’t want to look a girl in the
eye.” She was being honest. She wanted the truth. He wanted to let her know of
his absolute interest, but he wasn’t sure where this was going, and he sure as
hell wasn’t sure he was ready to say some things she may not want to hear.

“Liv . . .”

“Is it my hair? Did you like it better short? I
can cut it, you know.”

He studied her for a minute as she slowly
regained some of her senses in front of him, wilting under his scrutiny and
clearly shocked with her own forwardness. Of course he loved her longer hair.
It took her beautiful face and added a softness to it that he hadn’t seen on
her since she was a child. The waves enticed his fingers. The way it now hid
her neck made him ache to search out her pulse. It made those baby blues of
hers shine in contrast to the long gold strands. He sat back a little as a revelation
hit him. She was perfection: smart, loving, somewhat crazy perfection. “Liv, I
love your hair.” He reached out and ran his fingers down a strand, allowing
them to brush the hollow of her neck.

She let out a moan that had him jerking his
hand back in surprise. “Nate.” She leaned forward, bringing them closer,
curiosity and vulnerability radiating off of her. “Why do you want her?”

He was too confused by the change in subject to
understand what Olivia was getting at. “Who?”

“Chloe.” She leaned away and pouted as she lay
back down. “Why do you and Scott only have eyes for her? What do I have to do
to get those eyes to see me like that? To
want
me like that?” She was
losing the battle with sleep as she laid her head on her pillow, and he
struggled to keep up with exactly what she was implying. Clearly school and all
her activities were starting to get to her. Or maybe he missed her taking some
drinks? Whatever it was, she was losing him.

“Which eyes?” he said loudly, trying to keep
her coherent a little longer.

“Those”—she barely lifted her hand toward him—“the
beautiful and mesmerizing eyes I would kill to have yearn for me. The ones that
follow Chloe out of a room and sneak sideways glances when you think no one is
paying attention.”

“I don’t . . .” Nate stopped as he heard Olivia
let out a quiet snore. She was gone for the night. He shook his head and stood,
rolling her comforter up and over her back so she wouldn’t get cold in the
frigid dorms. Unable to help himself, he leaned forward and gently kissed her
temple. “These eyes only follow Chloe out of the room because she is taking
your brother,” he whispered, right into her ear. “When she takes him away, I’m
free to be near and watch the girl I really want. Good night, my little Livvy.”
He started to leave and then thought better of it, wanting to be near in case
she needed him. He decided to collapse on Hope’s bed until she got home. There
was no way he was letting Liv wake up and get away with the conversation they
had. He wanted some answers. He knew now there was something worth finding out.

Saving
Tatum

by Micalea Smeltzer coming
Fall
2014

Synopsis

Even tough girls need saving.

Jude Brooks is bad news. He’s the kind of guy
that leaves behind a string of broken hearts and Tatum O’Connor is not about to
be one of those girls, despite all of Jude’s advances. They have a past, and
Tatum’s determined to make sure they don’t have a future.

Unfortunately for her, “no” isn’t a word in
Jude’s vocabulary.

The more she backs away, the more he pushes.

But what if he pushes too far?

Tatum’s hiding a pain that no one sees and
holding on to a hurt that may never heal. Letting Jude into her heart could
shatter her completely—and what if she opens up to Jude and he can’t handle her
baggage?

Love is never easy—especially when the person
you’re falling for is the person you blame for the worst event in your life.

Love, heartache, and despair.

That’s the name of the game when you’re
Saving Tatum..

Excerpt from
Saving Tatum

(unedited and subject to change)

Prologue

I jolted awake at the sound of someone trying
to beat our front door down. I sat straight up, the blankets pooling at my
waist. My head twisted to look at the blinking orange numbers flashing on the
clock beside my bed. Three in the morning.

Fear slithered down my spine like a serpent.

Nothing good came from someone at your door
that early in the morning.

I heaved my tired body out of bed. My muscles
were stiff and overworked from a rigorous cheerleading practice the night
before.

I opened my bedroom door and poked my head out.
I saw my mom and dad coming out of their bedroom. A baseball bat was clutched
in my dad’s hand. What did he think he was going to do to an intruder with
that? Knock them out? Besides, if someone was trying to break in, why would
they be knocking on the door?

“Stay up here, Tate,” my dad warned, quietly
tiptoeing down the steps. My mom followed him even though he warned her to stay
put as well.

I kept watch on the door.

My dad looked through the peephole and
muttered, “What the hell?”

Swinging it open, I saw red and blue flashing
lights and an officer stood at our door.

I rolled my eyes. The neighbor’s kids were
probably vandalizing again.

I was about to close my door and get back in
bed, when I heard the officer speak.

“Mr. and Mrs. O’Connor?” He asked. He was young
and nervous, obviously new to the police force.

“That’s us,” my dad answered, “is there a
problem?”

“It’s about your son, there’s been an accident.
I’m so sorry to tell you this, but he didn’t make it.” His face was somber,
eyes downcast.

My mom let out a piercing, soul-crushing wail,
and started to fall. My dad’s arm held her upright.

But there was no one there to hold me up.

I crumbled to the floor, clutching at my chest.

I couldn’t breathe.

I was suffocating under the pressure.

He didn’t make it.

He was dead. My big brother—my best friend—was
gone.

“I’m sorry,” I heard the officer say one more
time before my dad closed the door. His cries soon joined the sound of my
mother’s.

Tears streamed down my face, but my sobs were
silent.

Graham was gone. In a matter of hours he’d been
ripped from my life forever. I’d just seen him at dinner! We’d been talking
about school and how I’d be cheering at the football game on Friday! He was
telling me how proud he was of me!

Everything had been perfect! The way it was
supposed to be!

Something like this wasn’t supposed to happen!

Graham was a senior! This was his last year! He
was supposed to leave for college and study to be a lawyer like our dad!

He. Wasn’t. Supposed. To. Die.

None of this was supposed to happen.

My perfect life wasn’t supposed to explode like
this.

But it did.

Over night, I went from having it all, to
having nothing.

I watched my mom close herself off from
everybody.

I watched my dad spend his every waking hour
slaving over his job so he didn’t have to think about Graham, or mom, or even
me.

I watched myself slowly spiral from a carefree
happy girl, into a complete and utter cynic.

And I knew exactly who was to blame for
everything.

Jude Brooks.