The Ever After of Ella and Micha

by Sorensen, Jessica

  “Did you hurt your foot or something?” I follow after her as she limps down the sidewalk. Blondie calls out that she can’t find her shoe, but I ignore her, walking after the girl. I’m not even one-hundred-percent sure why other than I’m worried she might be hurt or that she might have been trying to hurt herself on purpose, like my sister Amy did, only she never walked away from it.

  “I’m fine,” she says and then picks up her pace when a guy shouts something out the window she fell from. “Now go away.”

  I look down at her ankle, hidden under her boot. It’s obvious it’s causing her pain by the way she won’t put pressure on it. “You shouldn’t be putting weight on it if it hurts. You could fuck it up more.”

  At the corner of the sidewalk, she veers to the left, and steps into the light of the lampposts surrounding the parking lot. I finally get a good look at her and recognition clicks. She’s got long black hair with streaks of red in it that match the shade of her plump lips. She’s wearing a leather jacket over a tight black dress and her boots—the ones that put a lump on my head—go all the way up her long legs, stopping at her thighs.

  “Hey, I know you,” I state as we step off the curb. “Don’t I?”

  “How should I know?” She peers over her shoulder at me, giving me a once-over. I can tell she does know me, by the recognition in her expression, just like I’m almost certain I know her.

  She continues to hobble toward a row of parked cars and I walk with her.

  “Wait… I’ve seen you around at UW… We have Chemistry together.” I make the connection as she stuffs her hand into the pocket of her jacket. “And I think you’re Callie Lawrence’s roommate?” I point a finger at her. “Violet… something or other?”

  She shakes her head as she removes her keys from her pocket. “And you’re Luke Price. The stoically aloof and somewhat intense man-whore/football player who dorms it up with Kayden Owens.” She stops in front of a battered up Cadillac. “Yeah, we know each other. So what?” She extends her hand toward the lock on the door, holding the key, but I grab her arm and stop her.

  “Wait, ‘stoically aloof’?” I ask, slightly offended. “What the hell does that mean?” I’ve crossed paths with her quite a few times, but never actually talked to her. I’ve heard Callie say she’s intense, which I’m getting right now. But people say that about me, too, and it’s for a reason. A dark reason I don’t like to talk about. I wonder if she has a reason, too, or if she’s just a bitch. Plain and simple.

  “It means whatever the hell you want it to mean.” She jams the key into the lock and unlocks the door, glancing over the roof of the car. “Now will you please let go of my arm?”

  I’d completely forgotten that I was touching her and I instantly let go, tracking the line of her gaze to the sidewalk and a guy heading toward us. When I look back at her, there’s panic in her eyes, but when she notices me staring at her, the look quickly disappears and is replaced by indifference.

  “Is that guy messing with you?” I ask. “Because if he is I can kick his ass if you need me to.” I cringe as I say it because most of the time when I start swinging punches I have a hard time stopping.

  She seems shocked for a very intense split second but then again the look vanishes. “I can take care of myself.” She leans into the car and falls into the driver’s seat. She puts her hand on the steering wheel and takes a breath before looking up at me. “Look, I’m sorry I kicked you in the face during my fall.” She carefully pulls her leg in, wincing from the pain. “I didn’t mean to.”

  I touch my finger to my forehead, feeling the forming lump. “It’s not a big deal,” I tell her. “But I’d really like to know why you… fell out the window.” I’m not sure if “fell” is the right word. She could have jumped. On purpose. For so many reasons.

  “I didn’t fall… I jumped.” She stares up at me and I see something in her eyes. I have to search my hazy brain for what it is, but finally I get there. Detachment. Like she feels and cares about nothing. For a brief second I envy her.

  Before I can say anything else, she glances through the windshield at the guy who’s reached the border of the parking lot and then she slams the car door. She revs the engine and I have to jump back as she peels out of the parking lot, driving away like her life depends on it and all I can wonder is what the hell she’s running from.

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  THE SECRET OF ELLA AND MICHA

  A rule-breaker with a fiery attitude, Ella always wore her heart on her sleeve. Then she left everything behind to go to college, where she transformed into someone who follows the rules, keeps everything together, and hides all her problems. Now it’s summer break and she has nowhere else to go but home. But once there, Ella fears that everything she’s worked so hard to bury might resurface—especially with Micha living right next door.

  Smart, sexy, and confident, Micha can get under Ella’s skin like no one else. He knows everything about her, including her darkest secrets. If he tries to tempt the old Ella to return, he will be impossible to resist. But what Ella doesn’t realize is that when she left, she took a piece of Micha’s heart with her. Now he’s determined to win back the girl he lost, no matter what it takes.

  * * *

  THE FOREVER OF ELLA AND MICHA

  Ella is back at school, trying to focus on her future and forget the darkness of her past. Still, her ongoing family drama is making it harder and harder to get through the days. All she really wants is Micha, but no way will she let her problems get in the way of his dreams.

  Micha is busy touring the country with his band, seemingly getting everything he’s ever wanted. But deep down he knows something is missing. Being away from Ella is harder than he expected. And while he longs to have her with him, he won’t ask her to leave college just to be at his side.

  When Ella and Micha are together, anything seems possible… but lately those shared moments aren’t so easy to find. When a new tragedy shakes their already fragile world, one of them will make a dramatic choice that could break them apart forever…

  * * *

  THE TEMPTATION OF LILA AND ETHAN

  On the surface, Lila Summers is flawless: good looks, expensive clothes, and a big, beautiful smile. But a dark past and even darker secrets are threatening to bubble over her perfect façade. She’ll do anything to keep the emptiness inside hidden—which leads her into situations that always end badly. Whenever she hits bottom, there’s only one person who’s there to pull her out: Ethan Gregory.

  Ethan set the rules a long time ago: He and Lila are just friends. He doesn’t do relationships. Although his tattooed, bad-boy exterior is a far cry from Lila’s pretty princess image, Ethan can’t deny they have a deeper connection than he’s used to. If he’s not careful, he could be in serious danger of becoming attached—and he’s learned the hard way that attachment only leads to heartbreak.

  When Lila falls further than she ever has before, can Ethan continue to help as a friend? Or is he also getting close to falling… for her?

  * * *

  THE COINCIDENCE OF CALLIE & KAYDEN

  For Kayden, suffering in silence was the only way to survive. If he was lucky, he could keep his head down, do as he was told, and make it through the day. But one night it seemed like his luck—and his life—might finally end… until an angel named Callie appeared just in time to rescue him.

  Callie has never believed in luck. Not since her twelfth birthday when everything was taken from her. After the worst was over, she locked up her feelings and vowed never to tell anyone what happened. Now, six years later, she continues to struggle with the painful secret that threatens to consume her.

  When fate lands Kayden and Callie at the same college, Kayden is determined to get to know the beautiful girl who changed his destiny. Quiet and reserved, Callie still
fears letting anyone else into her world. But Kayden is certain that Callie has come back into his life for a reason. And the more he tries to be a part of her life, the more he realizes that, this time, it’s Callie who needs to be saved…

  * * *

  THE REDEMPTION OF CALLIE & KAYDEN

  The dark secret Kayden has kept hidden for years is finally out. Worse, he’s facing charges for battery. The only way to clear his name is for Callie to speak up—something he’ll never ask her to do. Instead, he’ll do whatever he must to protect her… even if it means letting go of the only girl he’s ever loved.

  Callie knows Kayden is going back to his dark place and desperately wants to save him. But that means facing her greatest fear and admitting her own painful secrets aloud. The thought of breaking her silence terrifies her—but not as much as the thought of losing Kayden forever.

  Deep in her heart, Callie knows the time has come for her and Kayden to forget the pain of the past. With the help of her friends Seth and Luke she makes a plan to show Kayden the life they could have. But can she convince him they can make a fresh start together—or is she already too late?

  * * *

  THE DESTINY OF VIOLET & LUKE

  Luke Price’s life has always been about order, control, and acting tough on the outside. For Luke, meaningless relationships are a distraction—a way to tune out the twisted memories of his childhood. He secretly wishes that one day he’ll find his perfect match… but he doesn’t really believe perfection exists.

  Violet Hayes has had a rough life. When she went to college, she thought she could escape it all—her irresponsible parents, the drugs, the neglect—but her past catches up with her. To protect herself from getting hurt, she grows a thick skin and keeps her distance from everyone. But then she meets Luke. The two clash instantly, yet they can’t seem to stay away from each other. Soon they begin to realize just how similar they are.

  For Violet and Luke, perfection has never felt so close. Can two people so burned by the past ever take a chance on the future?

  * * *

  BREAKING NOVA

  Nova Reed used to have dreams—of becoming a famous drummer, of marrying her true love. But all of that was taken away in an instant. Now she’s getting by as best she can, though sometimes that means doing things the old Nova would never do. Things that are slowly eating away at her spirit. Every day blends into the next… until she meets Quinton Carter. His intense, honey-brown eyes instantly draw her in, and he looks just about as broken as she feels inside.

  Quinton once got a second chance at life—but he doesn’t want it. The tattoos on his chest are a constant reminder of what he’s done, what he’s lost. He’s sworn to never allow happiness into his life… but then beautiful, sweet Nova makes him smile. He knows he’s too damaged to get close to her, yet she’s the only one who can make him feel alive again. Quinton will have to decide: Does he deserve to start over? Or should he pay for his past forever?

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  IF YOU STAY

  Twenty-four-year-old Pax Tate is an asshole. Seriously. He’s a tattooed, rock-hard bad boy with a tough attitude to match. His mother died when Pax was seven, leaving a hole in his heart filled with an intense guilt that he doesn’t understand. What he does know is that he and his dad were left alone, and they have never been close. Now, he uses drugs and women to cope with the black void in his soul. He pretends that the emptiness isn’t there and this has always worked… until he meets Mila.

  Sweet, beautiful Mila Hill is the fresh air that Pax has never known in his life. He doesn’t know how to not hurt her, but he quickly realizes that he’d better figure it out because he needs her to breathe. When the memories of his mother’s death resurface to haunt Pax, Mila is there to save him from his overwhelming guilt. Mila restores his broken heart, even as she evokes his powerful, sexual desires. Now for Pax to keep Mila, he needs to work on his issues and stop being an asshole. But is that enough to make her stay?

  * * *

  IF YOU LEAVE

  Twenty-six-year-old Gabriel Vincent is a badass hero. Or he used to be, anyway. As an ex-Army Ranger, Gabe never thought he needed anyone. But after one horrible night in Afghanistan scars him in a way that he can’t get past, he needs someone who can help him heal… even if he doesn’t realize it.

  Twenty-five-year-old Madison Hill doesn’t need anybody… or so she thinks. She grew up watching her parents’ messed-up, abusive relationship and she knows there’s no way in hell that she’s ever letting that happen to her.

  They don’t know it in the beginning, but Gabriel and Madison will soon develop a weakness: each other.

  But Gabriel’s got a secret, a hidden monster that he’s afraid Maddy could never overcome… and Maddy’s got issues that she’s afraid Gabe will never understand. They quickly realize that they need each other to be whole, but at the same time they know that they’ve got demons to fight.

  And the problem with demons is that they never die quietly.

  * * *

  Sometimes before we fall… we fly.

  One dark moment was all it took to turn twenty-four-year-old Dominic Kinkaide’s world black. On the night of his high school graduation, a single incident changed him forever, and he became a hardened man—famous in the eyes of the world, but tortured inside. Now all he cares about is losing himself in the roles that he plays.

  At twenty-three years old, Jacey Vincent doesn’t realize how much her father’s indifference has affected her. She is proof that sometimes it isn’t one specific moment that wrecks a person but an absence of moments. She tries to find acceptance in the arms of men to fill the void—a plan that has worked just fine for her until she meets Dominic.

  When jaded Dominic and strong-willed Jacey are thrown together, the combination of his secrets and her issues turns their attraction into the perfect storm. It could change their lives for good—if it doesn’t tear them both apart…

  * * *

  No one knows who twenty-one year-old Adrian Westfall is behind his façade. After what he’s done, he deserves to live alone with his pain, even if he’d do anything to forget. Anything for a moment of quiet without his past haunting him.

  Eighteen-year-old Delaney Cross wants nothing more than to absolve her family from her father’s sins. To keep her suicidal mom off that ledge, and help her brother Maddox get the light back in his eyes. She thinks their road to freedom is through Adrian.

  Adrian and Delaney are bound together by tragedy… only Adrian doesn’t know it.

  As their lives intertwine, they find a solace in each other they never knew existed. Laney knows she needs to tell him—to come out from behind her smoke screen, but to say the words could mean losing him.

  Two people. Two disguises. True love.

  Will it be enough to save them when all secrets are bared?

  * * *

  After his father is put in prison for murder, leaving his mother suicidal, Maddox Cross has always put his sister, Laney, first. Now living in Brenton, Virginia, Maddox has no idea what to do with his life, especially since Laney no longer needs him. One thing he does know is for the first time since losing football, he’s found something else that’s just for him—tattooing. When he meets a feisty young woman in the club where he works security, he has no idea that she has the ability to change his life forever.

  Bee Malone has just moved to Brenton to open up her first tattoo parlor, Masquerade. Despite her young success, nothing is ever as it seems. After being kidnapped at a young age, Bee has difficulty being the daughter her parents lost and letting go of the “parents” she was raised with. When she meets Maddox, she’s immediately attracted to him and what starts out as a one-night stand leaves Bee wanting to connect with him in more ways than one.

  Once Maddox finds out about Masquerade
, he wants nothing more than to join Bee. But letting him in means trying to figure out who she is, and she’s not ready for that. And yet, as the two get closer, they find themselves leaning on each other more than they are comfortable with. Will their stubborn nature tear them apart? Or push them closer together?

  * * *

  Sometimes life takes you off course…

  THE EDGE OF NEVER

  Twenty-year-old Camryn Bennett thought she knew exactly where her life was going. But after a wild night at the hottest club in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, she shocks everyone—including herself—when she decides to leave the only life she’s ever known and set out on her own. Grabbing her purse and her cell phone, Camryn boards a Greyhound bus ready to find herself. Instead, she finds Andrew Parrish.

  Sexy and exciting, Andrew lives life like there is no tomorrow. He persuades Camryn to do things she never thought she would and shows her how to give in to her deepest, most forbidden desires. Soon he becomes the center of her daring new life, pulling love and lust and emotion out of her in ways she never imagined possible. But there is more to Andrew than Camryn realizes. Will his secret push them inseparably together—or destroy them forever?

  * * *

  Five months ago, Camryn and Andrew, both dealing with personal hardships, met on a Greyhound bus. They fell in love and proved that when two people are meant to be together, fate will find a way to make it happen.

  Now, in the highly anticipated sequel to The Edge of Never, Camryn and Andrew are pursuing their love for music and living life to the fullest as they always swore to do. But when tragedy befalls them, their relationship is put to the ultimate test. As Camryn tries to numb her pain, Andrew makes a bold decision: To get their life back on track, they’ll set out on another cross-country road trip. Together they find excitement, passion, adventure—and challenges they never could have anticipated.