#Nerd (Hashtag #1)

by Cambria Hebert

  We drove in silence to his place. I stared out the window and didn’t look at him once. I wanted so desperately to reach out and touch him. To link our fingers together, to feel his heat. I denied myself because I didn’t know what was to come. He already owned too much of me. How could I give him more?

  I waited behind him as he unlocked the door. When it was open, he gestured for me to go in first. I walked past him stiffly, avoiding any kind of accidental touch.

  Sunlight poured through the blinds. It was bright and inviting and it made me hurt more. I bypassed the living room and went toward the kitchen, hoping it wouldn’t be so damn sunny and cheerful.

  When I passed by the couch, my eyes went ahead of me to the kitchen island.

  My feet stuttered.

  I stopped and stared.

  I blinked and stared again.

  Romeo was standing just behind me, and I glanced around with a question in my eyes. He smiled.

  Fresh tears welled as I surged forward toward the black, one-eyed cat sitting on the island, swishing his tail back and forth. “Murphy.” I choked and scooped him up and against my chest. I buried my face in his silky fur as he started to purr.

  I carried him to the couch and sat down. He curled up in my lap like he knew that was where he belonged.

  “You adopted him,” I said when Romeo sat on the coffee table in front of me.

  “You love him,” he said simply. Like that was all he needed to know.

  “But you’ll have to take care of him. Feed him. Give him water. Change the litter box.”

  “Thought maybe you’d want to help.”

  I looked up. Our eyes locked.

  “What if I say no?” I asked. “What happens to Murphy then?”

  He shrugged. “He’s a cool cat. I’ll keep him. He can watch football with me on Sundays.”

  I couldn’t help but smile at the image that cast in my head.

  “You’d really do that?” I whispered.

  He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Yes.” Then his stoic eyes turned playful and his smile came out. “You wanna watch football with me on Sundays too?”

  I sighed heavily and sat Murphy aside. “It’s not that simple,” I said, getting up and pacing the room.

  “Why?”

  I faltered.

  “Because I used you?” he said, standing. “I didn’t. Not really. The second I got to know you, the second I started having real feelings for you, I made a choice. It might have taken me a while to really admit that choice and to act on it, but it was made.”

  I stared at him, at the way his muscles moved when he talked.

  “I’m not in the frat, Rimmel. I told them to shove it. I never took a picture of us in bed together, which they wanted. Hell, as far as everyone knows, we’ve never had sex. I’ve been loyal to you. I still want you.”

  I sucked in a breath. I hadn’t expected this. The cat. The fight.

  He was fighting to keep me.

  “You know what I think?” he asked, shoving a frustrated hand through his hair. “I think you’re scared. I think you’re terrified to love me.”

  I winced. His words hit their mark.

  “You’re scared I’m going to disappear. Like your mom, like assholes in your past, hell, even your dad.” He surged forward and grabbed me by the shoulders. “I’m not going anywhere. You can push me away all you want, but it won’t stop me from loving you.”

  I sucked in a breath.

  His voice gentled and his touch became more like a caress. “I love you,” he whispered.

  “Romeo…”

  “I love your glasses, your clumsiness, your wild hair, even the way you snort when you laugh.” He smiled. “I love you in spite of yourself, Rim. Can’t you love me in spite of myself?”

  I couldn’t help it. I smiled.

  “You do come with a lot of baggage.” I sighed. “You’re impossibly good-looking, terrible at math, and you like to drink that swill you call beer.” I mock shuddered.

  He smiled, but I saw the relief in his eyes.

  “Me being good-looking is a bad thing?” he teased.

  “You have a lot of options,” I said seriously. “I’m not the best one.”

  “No.” He agreed. “You’re not.”

  Geez, he could have said it a little nicer.

  “You’re the only one.”

  Oh, well, that was much better.

  “I’m sorry for not telling you about rush right away. I’m sorry for everything I did to hurt you. Now please put me out of my misery, Rim. Tell me you’ll be mine. For keeps.”

  “For keeps?” I whispered.

  He nodded once. “No take backs.”

  I slipped my arms up around his neck and smiled. “No take backs.”

  He groaned, scooped me off my feet, and carried me into the bedroom.

  He was every #nerd’s fantasy.

  But he wasn’t a fantasy.

  He was mine.

  #Hater

  The Hashtag Series #2

  It started with unspoken animosity. The bitter bite of jealousy. And now it’s full-blown hate.

  It was during my first football game that I first felt the chill of hate. I looked it right in the eyes and felt its sticky tentacles reach out for me. I’d never experienced something so cold and empty before.

  The effect of that look lingered, like an unspoken promise, long after it was gone.

  Becoming a couple, becoming the other half of a campus celebrity, wasn’t easy. I let down walls that were guarding my heart, and he looked past my glasses and accident-prone tendencies. Romeo and I are an unlikely match, a #nerd and a jock. But we made it.

  And we’re happy.

  Zach doesn’t want us to be happy. He wants Romeo to pay for getting him kicked out of Omega and for the night he spent in jail. He’s going to use anything and everything he can to get his revenge.

  Including me.

  As the weather on campus grows cold and the days darken, revenge becomes the center of someone’s life, and the happiness Romeo and I have worked so hard for is threatened.

  I can’t help but worry that our love is going to be overshadowed by hate.

  Author’s Note

  I don’t even know where to start with this book. Ha-ha. #Nerd was/is truly a #LaborOfLove. The book idea for this series came out of nowhere. It was unexpected and unplanned (at first), but I think maybe all the best things are.

  It started really with an image. An outtake photo meant, I think, really as a joke. Regina Wamba (my cover designer and owner of Mae I Design) posted the photo on the front cover of this book on her Facebook page for fun one day. I felt like I was starring in one of those vegetable juice commercials. You know, the one where someone gets smacked in the head and then they say: “Someone should’ve had their V-8!”

  Yep. That was me.

  The second I saw that picture, I smiled. Like a genuine smile. And I wanted to tell that girl’s story so badly that it basically took over my brain. I mean, she is so adorably nerdy. What was her story? And who would be able to appreciate her?

  Also, when I looked at that photo, I got the feeling of cool nights, fall leaves, football, apple cider… basically college.

  And so the entire world of #Nerd was born.

  I was intimidated as much as I was excited. Most of you know I’ve been writing the Take It Off series for a year now and it is contemporary romance, but I don’t think I quite realized how suspense driven those books are. I love suspense. I love the way it drives the plot and keeps the reader on the edge of their seat. But #Nerd wasn’t to be suspense. It was basically straight new adult contemporary romance. I found myself asking, What will drive the plot? It took a lot of thought, but the answer came. It was the characters’ turn to drive the plot, and I think Romeo and Rimmel did that. At least I hope so.

  I planned a lot for this one, more so than some of my most recent others. I built an entire fictional world because I wanted the freedom to do what I wanted
. I came up with the college name, the frat names, the mascot. I decided to set it in Maryland because that’s where I grew up and I thought it would be a great setting for the book. As I started writing, I felt like it needed something, something more… something that would be fun and fresh but also maybe add just a touch to the story. That’s where the Alpha App notifications came in. The #BuzzBoss was created, and I decided to post Alpha BuzzFeed notifications at the beginning of every chapter. Some honestly just made me laugh out loud. There are thirty-eight notifications in this book, so it took some time and effort to create them all and decide where to place them. I think they turned out great. I hope they gave you a laugh.

  #FunFact: this series was originally supposed to be a series of standalones all set in the college world. But the more I wrote, the more I fell in love. The more I couldn’t let Romeo and Rimmel go. And so I decided I would do #Hater and #Player about them as well. #Selfie will still be part of the series, and I’m sure Romeo and Rimmel will be around, but I’m toying with the idea of making that a book for Braeden. I’d love to hear reader thoughts on that.

  Bascially, #IFellInLove, #RomeoGivesMeButterflies, and #RimmelRocks. For lack of a better way to put it: #IWantToGoToAlphaU!

  I’ve existed in this story for weeks now. I go to sleep with it on the brain and wake up with it being my first thought. I know it’s sort of a departure from some of my other work, but that’s also what makes it special.

  I’m honestly not sure why this one grabbed me so completely, but it did. I sincerely hope you love this book as much as I do.

  I’d like to #Thank the people who worked with me tirelessly to get this book ready for release. I did NOT do this alone. Regina Wamba created the cover and did such a good job. We had the same vision for this book. Fresh, new, and fun. Cassie McCown, my book doctor, stepped up to the plate to make this book read as good as it could. She put a lot of her time and energy into the edits, and for that I couldn’t be more grateful. My #WritingBesties Amber Garza and Cameo Renae listened to me talk almost daily about this book, plot this book, and let me bounce ideas off them. #LoveYouLadies. Stephanie Garza, another fellow #WritingBuddy, totally tossed ideas around with me, helped me work out plot points, and inspired me to make this book the best it could be. When I would fall off track, she would be there to remind me I had work to do.

  And finally, I’d like to acknowledge my husband Shawn, who also got on board and totally supported me on this one. He’s always supportive of my writing, but he took a special interest in this project. He read it as I was writing it. I would send him chapters as I finished. He isn’t much of a reader so it was really cool to see him sitting and reading. He says Rimmel is his #BookGirlfriend and that he wanted Romeo to break up with her so I could write him into the story so he could have her.

  Not sure if I should be offended or charmed by that?

  #I’llGoWithCharmed.

  Thank YOU for reading this book, for being part of Romeo & Rimmel’s world, and for all the incredible support you (the readers) have shown me along the way. This one is going to stick with me long after I close the cover.

  #HappyReading!

  XOXO ~ Cambria

  Cambria Hebert is a bestselling novelist of more than twenty books. She went to college for a bachelor’s degree, couldn’t pick a major, and ended up with a degree in cosmetology. So rest assured her characters will always have good hair. She currently resides in North Carolina with her children (human and furry) and her husband, who is a United States Marine.

  Besides writing, Cambria loves a caramel latte, staying up late, sleeping in, and watching movies. She considers math human torture and has an irrational fear of chickens (yes, chickens). You can often find her running on the treadmill (she’d rather be eating a donut), painting her toenails (because she bites her fingernails), or walking her chorkie (the real boss of the house).

  Cambria has written within the young adult and new adult genres, penning many paranormal and contemporary titles. Her favorite genre to read and write is romantic suspense. A few of her most recognized titles are: Text, Torch, Tryst, Masquerade, and Recalled.

  Cambria Hebert owns and operates Cambria Hebert Books, LLC.

  You can find out more about Cambria and her titles by visiting her website: http://www.cambriahebert.com.