“Can I trouble you for a lift?” She asks.

  “Anytime,” Harrison laughs. He opens the front passenger door and Margaret climbs in with her purse. Harrison helps me into the backseat. Then he gets in the front of the car, and he drives away from the house.

  I look back behind us to see a few faces standing on the porch, but I can’t bring myself to care that Frank looks lost or scared.

  I can’t bring myself to care that Natasha and Tamara are crying.

  “You did a good thing, Harrison,” Margaret says.

  “I don’t know about all that,” he says.

  “You did. You were brave. Your mama would’ve been proud,” she tells him.

  “Thanks,” Harrison says.

  “And you, Miss Adalee,” Margaret looks back over her shoulder. “I’m glad you finally found your spine, girl. I always knew you had one in you.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Things aren’t going to be easy for you, too,” Margaret says. “But you call me if you need anything. I don’t got no money, but I’ll offer you advice, and there’s always a place for you at my table.”

  The offer means more to either of us than I think Margaret could possibly know. We drop her off at her house, and I climb up in the front seat. Harrison starts driving, and for a long time, we’re both quiet.

  Finally, I speak.

  “Where are we going now?”

  “We need to go somewhere until school starts back up,” he says.

  “We could go stay in the dorms,” I offer.

  “They’re closed except to the international students,” he reminds me.

  “Do you think they’d make an exception?”

  “I have a better idea.”

  “What?”

  “Remember my mom’s lake house?”

  Oh, yes, I remember Lily’s lake house. It’s not so much a house as it is a cabin. It’s tucked away in the woods and it’s located on the shores of a beautiful, small lake. We spent so many weekends there are kids just splashing around in the waters.

  “Do you have a key?” I ask him.

  “I’m never without it,” he points to his key ring and I see it there: the big skeleton key that unlocks the ancient front door of the cabin.

  So this is it.

  This is where we’re going.

  Harrison and I aren’t going to have an easy time of it. I’m under no impression that our relationship is going to be easy. We’re both making a clean break from his dad, and that’s going to be hard for us for awhile. It might mean that our job prospects are limited. Frank O’Conner has quite a say in the business world around here, after all.

  Something tells me, though, that Harrison and I are going to find a way to make things work. So maybe we’ll go to public colleges and maybe we’ll take out student loans instead of floating by on his parents’ money. Maybe we’ll have to get jobs sooner than we thought. Maybe we’ll live in a dingy little apartment.

  I don’t care about any of that.

  All I care about is the fact that we’re together, now and forever, and our story?

  It’s going to be one for the ages.

  Epilogue

  Two Weeks Later

  Harrison

  “You did what!?!?” Emilia’s voice is so loud and shrill that the entire cafeteria turns and looks at her. Quickly, she seems to realize just how loud she’s being, and she plops back in her chair. She lowers her voice, and repeats, “You did what?”

  “She told my dad to fuck off,” I say, reaching for one of Adalee’s fries. To my delight, she slaps my hand and shakes her head.

  “No way,” she laughs. “I’m literally eating every single one of these.”

  Emilia notices this and smiles.

  “Hey, if you managed to get her to eat, then more power to you,” she says. “I’ve been worried about Adalee for a long time.”

  “Hey,” Adalee says. “I’m right here.”

  “It doesn’t change the fact that your friends worry about you,” Karen tells her.

  “So what happened?” Emilia asks. “Tell us all of the details.”

  “Well,” Adalee starts, and then she blushes.

  “You slept together, huh?” Karen asks, winking.

  “Hey!” Adalee blushes even harder.

  “It’s okay,” Karen reaches for her hand. “You don’t have to tell us any of the details. It’s okay to have secrets, remember? It’s just important to tell your besties the most important stuff so we can look after you.”

  “Yeah,” Emilia adds. “We have your back.”

  Emilia’s boyfriend, Gavin, comes up and wraps his arms around her.

  “And I’ll beat up anyone who tries to hurt any of you,” he adds. Then he looks at me and winks. “Not including you.”

  “I’m not about to hurt Adalee,” I say.

  I don’t add it because it’s personal, and it’s not really time to admit it, but I want to marry that girl. Seriously. As soon as we graduate, I plan on proposing. Fuck the plan. Fuck waiting. I don’t need to be out of college and I don’t need to be financially stable. I don’t care about any of that. The only thing I care about is taking care of Adalee.

  The only thing I care about is protecting her.

  Loving her.

  Treating her like a princess.

  The first day back at school after winter break, Adalee and I went and spoke with the principal of Crescent Academy about our financial situations. As expected, my dad pulled the funding for both of us. Fortunately, my mom had already spoken with the principal years ago, and he was well aware of the fact that my dad might do something crazy. The good news is that Adalee and I can both finish high school here, and after we graduate, we’ll each have a little bit of money left over that we can use to help us get started in our new lives.

  I don’t know what the future is going to hold. I don’t know what kind of jobs we’re going to get or whether we’ll end up living in the same town or venturing far away, but I do know one thing: with Adalee by my side, nothing else matters. I’m the luckiest bastard alive because I have the love of an angel to keep me going.

  I have Adalee, and I plan to spend the rest of my life worshipping her.

  THE END

  Deleted Scenes

  Authors note: Do you want more of our main characters? Writing a book takes a lot of time, effort, and difficult choices. One of the tough decisions placed on writers is which scenes to curate once a book is complete. If you want just a little bit more of what life is like for these incredible characters, you can keep reading for a sneak peek into the lives of our heroes. These scenes take place randomly throughout the story but have been placed here for your enjoyment. Thank you for reading! -Sophie

  Harrison

  IT’S NOT THAT I HATE her.

  The problem is the complete opposite, actually.

  The problem is that I’m so fucking in love with her that it makes my heart ache. She’s beautiful and sweet and lovely, but she’s also so damn untouchable that it hurts.

  I will never do anything to hurt Adalee, and unfortunately, that means I need to stay far, far away.

  Adalee

  “STOP PICKING AT YOUR food,” Karen says. “What’s your deal with food, anyway?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You don’t think you’re fat. You aren’t anorexic. You just...don’t like food. Is that it?”

  I can’t tell her the truth.

  I can’t tell her that Frank makes me weigh in literally every day.

  I can’t tell her that my obsession is just him. I don’t want to piss him off. I don’t want to anger the beast. If I do, there will be hell to pay, and I’m just not ready for that. Instead of answering, I go for the bimbo response, and I shake my head.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say. “I’m just not hungry.”

  “You’re full of shit,” Karen says. Somehow, she always sees through my lies.

  Harrison

  ONE.

  Two.

  Three.

  If I hold my breath long enough, maybe I’ll stop dreaming about her.

  Maybe I’ll stop thinking about her.

  Maybe I’ll stop fantasizing about sinking into her and losing myself in our love.

  The truth is that Adalee is the best fucking thing that’s ever happened to me and I don’t want to lose her. The problem is that I’m not so sure she was ever mine to begin with.

  When she came to my family, we were both so small and tiny.

  We were both so very small, and so easily hurt.

  We both believed all of the lies that my parents fed us, and the problem now is that I don’t know where the lies end and the truth begins.

  Will I ever know?

  Author

  Sophie Stern loves cowboys, soldiers, and shifters. When she’s not busy writing, she’s got her nose buried in a book. Sophie lives with her husband and two little boys who are always keeping her on her toes.

  You can connect with Sophie through her website or on Facebook.

  Make sure to sign up for Sophie’s mailing list here! You’ll receive updates when new books come out and be the first to know when something goes on sale!

  Books

  If you enjoyed this story, check out these other books!

  CONQUERED (The Hidden Planet)

  Abducted.

  Taken.

  Locked away.

  Fiona doesn't know true fear until she is whisked away from her loving family and doting boyfriend. When she finds herself on an alien ship with only a giant beast for company, her fear turns to anger when she realizes her loved ones have betrayed her.

  Quinn doesn't know what to do with the squirrely little human aboard his ship. Yeah, he bought her, but only to save her from a worse fate. She has no idea what could have happened to her if he hadn't found her. She has no idea what could have happened on Dreagle. But now she's on his ship and somehow, she's wormed her way into his heart. Can he ever let her go?

  CONQUERED is available wherever eBooks are sold.

  ALIEN BEAST

  He's a war hero.

  She's a virgin.

  He's broken.

  She's perfect.

  When he finds her in the midst of an alien war, Luke takes Willow for himself. He can't help himself. He's never taken a prisoner alive before, but Willow is different. He needs her. He wants her. Most of all, he craves her.

  Willow is a human who has the worst luck in the world. When the tour ship she's on malfunctions and crash-lands on the wrong planet, she's thrust into the middle of a war: one she has no desire to be in.

  Then everything changes.

  She's captured by an alien beast unlike anything she's ever seen before.

  And the worst part is that after awhile, she's not so sure she wants him to let her go.

  ALIEN BEAST is available wherever eBooks are sold.

  ALIEN DRAGON

  I'm on the last ship out.

  I don't think I'm going to make it, but I do. Earth is dying and there's only one way I can possibly survive: fight for a spot on the dragon planet of Taneyemm.

  They don't want humans there.

  They don't like us.

  They don't know us.

  But when I step foot on the ship bound for Taneyemm, I know it's my last hope. I'll do anything I have to survive.

  I'll do whatever it takes.

  When I finally reach my destination and I see the alien dragons for the first time, I realize I'm in way over my head.

  And I don't know if my heart is ready for this.

  ALIEN DRAGON is available wherever eBooks are sold.

  Hybrid Academy

  If you love urban fantasy and fairies, you might also enjoy Hybrid Academy, a story by my alter-ego, L.C. Mortimer. Check out the first chapter here!

  Chapter 1

  "This isn't what I ordered." The tall man in the suit looked at the coffee and sneered. He thrust the cup back at me. A little bit sloshed over the side of the cup and onto the counter. "And you'd better clean that up."

  Biting back irritation, I managed a smile.

  "Of course. Anything else I can do for you?” I asked politely. Inside, I felt anything but polite. This guy was being a total jerk, as always. I knew for a fact that his coffee had been made perfectly. He just didn’t like me because I couldn’t do magic.

  He wanted Maggie to make his drink.

  “A free bagel couldn’t hurt,” the man said, jerking his head toward the display of blueberry bagels.

  “I’ll have to get my manager’s permission,” I said. “Please wait just a moment.”

  I scurried to the back of the café and knocked on the door to the office.

  “Come in.”

  I yanked the door open and peered inside. Tony was sitting at his desk with his ankles crossed over the top. He looked bored out of his mind.

  “What do you want, Maxine?” He asked.

  “It’s Max,” I said. “Not Maxine. And there’s a customer who wants a free bagel.”

  “We don’t give out bagels for free,” Tony said with a yawn. He was obviously bored. He was always bored at the café.

  “I know, but he said that his drink was wrong and he wants to be compensated with free food.”

  Tony glared at me and got up with a huff. He acted like it was my fault that he was the manager of the café or that he had to leave the safety of his office to come do his actual job. Whatever. I’d been dealing with Tony ever since I started working at the café. He was neither a good boss nor a team player, so I tried to stay as far away from him as possible. Besides, something about Tony made me uncomfortable, and I couldn’t quite pinpoint why.

  “Is there a problem, Lionel?” Tony asked the tall man.

  “Yeah, your em-ploy-ee,” he dragged the word out sarcastically. “Messed up my drink. I asked her nicely if she could fix it.”

  “Not a problem,” Tony said. He jerked his head toward one of my coworkers. “Maggie, make Lionel a new drink.”

  Maggie shot me a nasty look but nodded and started the drink. The café wasn’t busy and the drink wasn’t complicated, so I wasn’t sure what the big deal was. Actually, I had the distinct feeling that Lionel’s original drink had been just fine, but that he wanted a bagel out of the deal.

  Correction: he wanted a free bagel.

  Tony and Lionel sat and chatted while Maggie made the drink. I cleaned up the spill on the counter before starting to check our inventory. I wasn’t a magic user, so I couldn’t just summon cups whenever we ran out of something we needed. Instead, I’d have to trot back to the stockroom, find what we needed, and carry it back. It was kind of a drag for everyone, which was just another reason nobody liked me.

  By the time I left work that day, I was tired, exhausted, and spent.

  And I knew my grandmother was going to be beyond pissed that I was late.

  I RAN UP THE STEPS to the little log cabin where I lived with my Grandmother. My heart was pounding, racing, and I silently begged it to stop. Slow down. It needed to chill out, to be honest. Overreacting never turned out well for anyone, least of all me.

  I smelled sweaty and I was tired: both signs that I left work much later than I should have. I didn’t want her to give me a hard time about it. Mémère had enough to worry about. She didn’t need to be concerned that my boss still wasn’t letting me leave on time or that my customers were constantly giving me a hard time.

  That’s the price I paid to work at a café in Brooksville.

  Nobody liked me because I was poor, and an orphan, and I couldn’t do magic.

  All of those elements combined to make me one of the most disliked people in town. Despite trying to have a charming personality and showing kindness to the people around me, I somehow still managed to catch the eye of every magic-user within shouting distance, and not in a good way.

  I glanced down at my work clothes. My once-white blouse was now splattered with coffee, no thanks to Maggie and Justine for their “assistance” at work. My jeans had fared just as poorly. They had a few new stains, a new tear, and smelled slightly questionable. I sighed. Mémère was definitely going to notice something was wrong.

  I hated to make her worry.

  I hated to make her sad.

  She worked so hard to raise me, to take care of me, that the idea of letting her down again filled me with stress and anxiety. I wished for the millionth time that I could use magic. I wished that I had a wand, that I knew spells, or that I had, you know, powers. I wished that I could whisper a few carefully practiced words and somehow whip up an appearance she could be proud of.

  But I couldn’t.

  In my case, practice hadn’t made perfect.

  I stared at the front door of our home for a long minute. My breathing finally began to stabilize and I began to feel like everything was going to be okay. Maybe it would. Maybe everything would be fine. One bad day at work wouldn’t kill me.

  A hundred bad days at work wouldn’t kill me.

  Besides, I owed Mémèreeverything. Without her, I wouldn’t exist. I would have died when my parents did. I would have been killed or lost or starved. No one else in this place was about to take in a little orphan kid who couldn’t do spells. Nobody. Yet my grandmother was ready.

  My grandmother was brave.

  I reached for the door and pressed my hand against it, but I didn’t turn the knob. Not yet. I needed a few more minutes to be alone with my thoughts, to focus on the fact that today had been the worst day yet. Today seemed different somehow. Part of me thought that after awhile, things at work would get easier. I thought that they’d improve and that I would finally begin to connect with people who understood me.

  I was so wrong.

  I’m not understood now, just like I wasn’t understood before.