A beat, another, and it keeps going until that beat is in my blood. My own hands begin to wander. Along his strong shoulders, down his back and along his arms.
“Violet,” he whispers again, but this time his voice is rough and strained.
“Yes?”
“Lift your head.”
I do and he cups my face. Heat encompasses me and so does the feeling that I belong, that I’m loved, that I’m his and he’s mine.
“I love you,” he says and his lips come so achingly close to touching mine. “And will you grant me the honor of going to prom with me?”
I’m beaming. Beaming. There’s no other word for it. “Yes.”
“Now, will you kiss me?”
Yes, a million times, yes.
* * * * *
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
TO GOD: PSALM 112: 7–8 NIV: They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord. Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.
For Dave: Thank you for teaching me that I don’t have to choose the paths set before me. That I’m free to create a brand-new path no one has traveled down before. I love you, always.
Thank you to...
Kevan Lyon, Margo Lipschultz, Suzie Townsend, Colette Ballard, Angela Annalaro-Murphy, Kristen Simmons, Kelly Creagh, Bethany Griffin, Kurt Hampe, Bill Wolfe, my parents, my sister, my Mount Washington family and the entire McGarry “Madness” clan. It takes a village and I thank you for the support.
PLAYLIST FOR
LONG WAY HOME
Theme:
“The Sound of Silence” by Disturbed
“With or Without You” by U2
“Too Close” by Alex Clare
“Immortals” by Fall Out Boy
Chevy:
“Down the Road” by Kenny Chesney with Mac McAnally
“John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16” by Keith Urban
“Somewhere in My Car” by Keith Urban
Violet:
“Out of the Woods” by Taylor Swift
“Ghosttown” by Madonna
“Wonder” by Natalie Merchant
Chevy on Violet:
“Whatever She’s Got” by David Nail
Violet, Chevy, Oz and Razor in Church:
“Renegades” by X Ambassadors
Chevy and Violet’s Future:
“Where It’s At” by Dustin Lynch
If you loved LONG WAY HOME, you won’t want to miss the rest of the titles in the THUNDER ROAD series from critically acclaimed author Katie McGarry—jam-packed with romance, adventure and danger!
Read the complete series here!
NOWHERE BUT HERE (Book 1)
WALK THE EDGE (Book 2)
LONG WAY HOME (Book 3)
An unforgettable series from acclaimed author Katie McGarry about taking risks, opening your heart and ending up in a place you never imagined possible.
For even more from Katie McGarry, check out the PUSHING THE LIMITS series!
It all starts with book 1, PUSHING THE LIMITS...
All Echo Emerson wants is to remember—the brother she lost, the friends she once had, the traumatic night that left scars on her arms.
Noah Hutchins just wants to forget—the parents who died, the foster system that failed him, the future that can never be his.
They should have nothing in common. Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And now each must ask themselves just how far they’ll push the limits to reclaim what they want most—and how much they’ll risk to learn truths that might change their lives forever.
Read them all!
PUSHING THE LIMITS (Book 1)
CROSSING THE LINE (Novella)
DARE YOU TO (Book 2)
CRASH INTO YOU (Book 3)
TAKE ME ON (Book 4)
BREAKING THE RULES (Book 5)
CHASING IMPOSSIBLE (Novella)
Connect with us at www.HarlequinTeen.com for info on our new releases, access to exclusive offers, free online reads and much more!
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Facebook.com/HarlequinTEEN
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If you loved LONG WAY HOME, you won’t want to miss this heartfelt, hopeful, must-read romance—SOMETHING IN BETWEEN by Melissa de la Cruz, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Isle of the Lost and Return to the Isle of the Lost!
She had her whole life planned.
She knew who she was and where she was going.
Until the truth changed everything.
Jasmine de los Santos has always done what’s expected of her. Pretty and popular, she’s studied hard, made her Filipino immigrant parents proud and is ready to reap the rewards in the form of a full college scholarship.
And then everything shatters. A national scholar award invitation compels her parents to reveal the truth: their visas expired years ago. Her entire family is illegal. That means no scholarships, maybe no college at all and the very real threat of deportation.
Connect with us at www.HarlequinTeen.com for info on our new releases, access to exclusive offers, free online reads and much more!
Other ways to keep in touch:
Facebook.com/HarlequinTEEN
Twitter.com/HarlequinTEEN
Did you enjoy LONG WAY HOME? Then you’ll absolutely fall in love with the addictive, page-turning romance in IF I FIX YOU by Abigail Johnson!
Some things are easy to fix...but are some meant to stay broken?
Struggling with her mother’s abandonment and a lost friendship, Jill Whitaker becomes consumed with fixing the life of the inappropriate boy next door. Intense, seriously cute, but with scars—on the inside and out—that he thinks don’t show, Jill finds herself trying to make things better for Daniel. But over one long, hot Arizona summer, she realizes she can’t fix anyone’s life until she fixes her own. And she knows just where to start...
IF I FIX YOU is an unforgettable debut novel perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen, Cammie McGovern and Morgan Matson.
Connect with us at www.HarlequinTeen.com for info on our new releases, access to exclusive offers, free online reads and much more!
Other ways to keep in touch:
Facebook.com/HarlequinTEEN
Twitter.com/HarlequinTEEN
If you loved LONG WAY HOME, you won’t want to miss another compelling, contemporary YA romance—FLOWER from authors Elizabeth Craft and Shea Olsen!
These are the things that I’ve always wanted:
To get the top grades in my class. To make my grandmother proud. And most of all, proof that I could succeed where the rest of my family had not—a Stanford acceptance letter, early admission.
My mother and my sister were obsessed with boys and love and sex. So obsessed that they lost sight of their futures, of what they wanted. And in the end, they lost everything.
I’ll never let a boy distract me. I promised myself that.
But that was before Tate. Before the biggest pop star on the planet took an interest in me. Before private planes and secret dates and lyrics meant for me alone.
There’s so much I don’t know. Like why he left music. Where he goes when we’re not together. What dark past he’s hiding. But when we kiss, the future feels far away. And now...I’m not sure what I want.
Connect with us at www.HarlequinTeen.com for info on our new releases, access to exclusive offers, free online reads and much more!
Other ways to keep in touch:
Facebook.com/HarlequinTEEN
Twitter.com/HarlequinTEEN
ISBN-13: 9781488015267
Long Way Home
Copyright ©
2017 by Katie McGarry
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, M3B 3K9 Canada.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and in other countries.
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