Unbreakable Forever: A New Adult Romance Novel (3 page)

Devon’s heart
raced when she curved her body into his.

Just then a ruckus ensued in the adjacent room. Two guy
s had pushed each other while another partygoer held the other one back by his arms to keep him in place before it came to blows.

Matt stormed into the room and pushed them both toward the door. His huge frame dwarfed them as he scooted them out the door.
“Out you go before you do any damage. Zero tolerance, boys. You know that.”

“This asshole pushed me for no fucking reason. He’s got an attitude problem.”

The other guy just gave him a wry smile. “See you outside, asshole.”

“Not in my yard
, jackass. You both get the hell out of here. Don’t come back.”

Matt pushed th
em out the door and kept an eye on them as they walked behind the tree line. After they disappeared, distant yelling ensued, and he shut the door.

Matt eyed the group still playing with the dog and shook his head.
“It’s only nine o’clock,” he sniffed. “C’mon, Callie. Stop bothering the nice people. Get the hell out of here.”

“Aaww,” the girls whimpered in unison.

“C’mon, Callie. Go do your business.” Matt opened the door as Callie hustled out into the yard.

“Now,
where we’re we? Party time,” he howled. “Drinks are over there,” he said, pointing to the kitchen.  “Smoke outside only, and bedrooms are upstairs for some privacy, but only use the two on each side of the stairs,” he said with a wink. “The others are for residents only.” Matt lived in a four-bedroom house and was an only child.

Devon head
ed to the kitchen to grab a drink as the group dispersed.

Erin walked out to the balcony and could see the preparations for the fireworks at the park.

“Beautiful night. It’s perfect for fireworks.” Curtis Stuart was a wide receiver and lived fairly close by. He also played on the basketball team. He had known Matt since he moved in three years ago.

Erin lifted
her eyes to take in the clear summer sky filled with stars. “It’s perfect.”

“I’m Curtis.
I’m a friend of Matt’s.” Curtis folded his hands over the balcony and smiled sideways at her.

“Hi, I’m Erin,” she said
, smiling sweetly at him.

“I’ve seen you around. You’re on the volleyball team, right?”

“Yep.”

“Yeah, I remember seeing you guys almost make the playoffs. You’re really good. I mean, you guys took on some really good teams and did well.”
Curtis stood up and leaned his back on the rail.

“Thanks. We h
ad a decent year, but we didn’t make the playoffs. So much for my professional volleyball career,” she said with a twist of her mouth.

“Is there such a thing?” Curtis kidded, smiling at her.

“Pro circuit beach volleyball – I think that’s about it,” she said, returning the smile. “I don’t think they make much money, either, unless you are in the top ten or something. And you look good in a bikini.”

“The glass c
eiling has hit sports, too, huh?” Curtis snorted.

“Tell me about it!” she said
. “Of course the better you look in a swimsuit, the more you get paid.”

“I don’t think that would be an issue for you
.” He smiled. “So what are your plans for college?” Curtis asked her.

“
I’m trying to get into Stanford with my boyfriend.”

“That’s awesome
,” Curtis said with pretended enthusiasm. “Who’s your boyfriend?”

“
Devon. Devon Coury. He’s around here somewhere. He got a letter from Stanford. I didn’t.” Erin stared at the railing on the balcony. “I have to figure out a way to get in.”

Curtis shook his head.
“How are you going to do that?”

“I have no idea,” she said with a shrug.

“You’ll figure something out.”

“I hope so
.”

“It was nice meeting you
, Erin.”

“You too, Curtis.”
Erin glanced at him as he left before focusing back on the view in front of her.

“She has a boyfriend. Too bad. Damn
, that girl is smoking hot. Look at her.” Curtis jutted his chin toward Erin.

Nathan Caplan was C
urtis’s best friend. He played center field on the baseball team. “You know who that is, don’t you?”

“Her name is Erin. I’ve seen her
around. She’s fucking beautiful,” Curtis said.

“Yeah, you best stay the hell away from her, dude. That’s Devon’s girl
,” Nathan added.

“
And?” Curtis said in a “so-what?” tone.

“Dude, Devon. He beat the shit out of Pelton.
Even Matt got involved.”

“
Okay, fine, dude. When she said she had a boyfriend, I figured that was her way of letting me know she was off-limits. They say that whether it’s true or not. You know how girls do that. I don’t know about all this other stuff.”

“So what
’s the inside scoop with her and Devon?” Nathan asked, taking a swig of beer.

“He got into Stanford. She’s trying to get in
, too.”

“Good luck wi
th that plan.” Nathan smirked.

“Hey, beautiful, where’ve you been?” Devon stood next to Erin, kissed her on the top of her head, and pulled her close. “It’s almost time for the fireworks.” Devon wrapped his arms around her and leaned his chin on top of her head as they faced the summer sky.

“Where will we be this time next year, Devon? Will we really be together, or will life separate us?”

Devon turned a
round to face her. A tear left a path of moisture on her cheek. “Hey, why are you talking like that? I told you we can figure this out. We can stay together.
Through anything
.” Devon’s eyes met hers.

“What if I don’t have what it takes to get in
? What if I can’t get in?” Erin’s eyes fluttered as she looked back into his eyes.

“Baby, I promised you that I would never leave you. Do
n’t you remember?”

“Yes. We were kids. We’re grown up now.
Everything is different.”

“Yes, we’ve grown up. Life is full of surprises
, and we don’t know what’s going to happen. I get scared, too, Erin. We don’t know what the future holds for either one of us. None of us do. But do you know what I’ve realized through all of it? Through all the high school and college applications and all the bullshit? Do you know what I think about when it’s all said and done?”

“No.”

“I think about moments like this. Holding you in my arms, us…together. That is all that matters. The rest is a bunch of noisy bullshit.”

“You can’t throw your college career away for me, Devon.”

“I don’t plan on throwing away my career for you, Erin. Because I know that you’re going to get in. With me.”

“How do you know that?”

“I just know.” Dev
on placed his fingers around her wrist and pointed her hand up with his toward the night sky. “It’s written in the stars.”

“You’re so corny.”
She sniffled.

“Yeah, but you love me for it.
There is one thing that matters to me more than everything else, Erin. And that’s you. There’s a lot of noise out there, Erin. A lot of things that are going to try to rip us apart. But the more they happen, the more I know I want to be with you, and nothing else is more important than that.”

The first firework trailed up to start the show.

Erin flung her arms around him, and met him with an eager and passionate kiss. The sound of fireworks boomed over them.

Devon held her close, their lips
warm and moist and melting into each other as the fireworks exploded over them.

Nathan nudged
Curtis’s arm and jutted his chin toward Devon and Erin. “That’s Devon,” he said with a squint.

“Some guys have all the luck
,” Curtis said dryly.

“Sometimes luck changes.” Nathan
called Steve on his cell phone. “Steve, Nathan. I’m here at Matt’s party. Did you know pretty boy was accepted into Stanford?”

“Is that a fact?”

“We heard it from his girl himself.”

“Sounds like we should have fucked him up just a bit more,” Steve scoffed.

I
went to lunch with Kathy to discuss ideas for my short film.

“
Did you know that there are over thirty five hundred case studies in the medical literature documenting spontaneous remission?” Kathy pressed the straw to her lips between words. “It has the medical field mys·ti·fied.” She enunciated each syllable of the word with her lips while looking at me intently.

“
Spontaneous remission? Is that when people catch on fire?”

“
No silly, that’s spontaneous combustion. Spontaneous remission is when an illness suddenly goes away. Science is still clueless about the miracles of the human body.” She gave me a suggestive wink.

“Which
body are we talking about?” I said, smiling at her.

“There will be plenty to choose from where we’re going. A
playground of pecs and other P’s.”

“Get y
our mind out of the gutter, Kathy. As a pre-med major, you’re supposed to be looking at the human body objectively and professionally.”

“
Whatever…we’ll be surrounded by all those sexy, gorgeous college men. Not all of us fall in love with our one and only when we’re sixteen.” She wiggled her nose at me.

A shadow of concern clouded my face. “
Yeah, one of them will be Devon. And where will I end up?”

Kathy patted my hand. “
Hey, don’t worry. So you have a documentary to work on?” She shot me a comforting smile. “I have your ticket.” She gave me a furtive smile.

“Shoot!” I said with an air of excitement.

“So you want to get into Stanford. There’s a doctor at Yale who’s a leading researcher into spontaneous remission. The medical field doesn’t talk a lot about it, because it borders on the miraculous, and they don’t like to discuss the ‘M’ word whether it be miracles, mysteries, or magic. They like
science
.”

“So
where do I come in?”

“
Because facts are facts. The body does something to heal itself. If you can document that, then you are going to have a captive audience, presented with evidence they cannot deny, and with the added bonus of the prestige of one of the top medical schools in the nation.” Kathy’s eyes were shining with excitement. “You should email Dr. Brenner. Tell him that you’re doing a documentary film. He’ll respond. He would love to have a talented filmmaker document his case studies. Dr. Howard Brenner.”

“Wow, Kathy. How do you know all this?”

Kathy glanced down before taking a drink of water. “My sister. My sister had thyroid cancer. It was a few years ago, before you became my best friend. She really struggled with it. Nothing worked. She went through treatments, chemo, all that. She stopped when she was getting worse. But one day it was just gone. There was no explanation, really.” Kathy’s eyes covered in mist before she regained her focus. “No one really knows. But it’s what got me first interested in medicine. I realized this happens to thousands of people every year. But science really has no understanding of it.”

“That is amazing. I had no idea.
Is your sister okay?”

“
Yes. That’s what’s so amazing. I haven’t talked about it. It’s just a memory now. I mean, it’s like it never happened. She has a family now, and she’s doing great. It never came back. There has to be some reason for it, but it just doesn’t get much attention in the medical community. You would be doing a service to the medical profession by at least shedding some light on this, and letting people know that it happens…even though no one knows why.”

“It sounds a bit over my head.”
I said, biting my cheek.

“You don’t have to be the expert, Erin. You just have to interview patients, or ex-patients, interview Dr. Brenner, and let the cases speak for themselves. You can even interview my sister. I can give you her number. She would be glad to talk to you about it. She doesn’t know what happened
, either, but she can tell you what she knows.”

“That would be incredible.”

I arranged to interview Dr. Brenner along with several patients who’d experienced spontaneous remission. I included everything from the most severe cases, from terminal cancer to less threatening illnesses. “Our objective is not to provide any false hope, but to see what each of the patients had in common for documentation.” Dr. Brenner explained. “From there we hope to understand these cases more fully from a scientific perspective.”