by Anna B. Doe
The pressure I was feeling slowly melts away. “I shouldn’t have given you false hope.”
Noah shakes his head. “You gave me a chance, and I blew it. The rest is on me.”
I step closer, taking his hand in mine. “You’re a good guy, Noah.”
“I’m not so sure about that anymore. But either way, you’re in love with Liam.”
“But I’m in love with Liam,” I agree. “I’ve always been in love with Liam. I don’t think anything could have changed it.”
“He better make you happy.”
“He already is.” I smile tenderly at the thought of the guy waiting for me inside. My whole body aches for me to go back to him. But I have to finish this first. “Noah?”
“Yeah?”
“Promise me something?” He gives me a wary look but nods for me to continue. “Promise me you’ll never let anything like this happen again.”
“I promise,” he answers instantly.
I nod, offering him a small smile. “Then I forgive you.”
He returns my smile, although I can still see that what happened is weighing on him. The door creeks open, drawing my attention. Liam is standing in the doorway. He taps his wrist impatiently.
“You should go,” Noah comments, looking at him too.
“He gets a little grumpy when I’m not around,” I offer in a way of explanation. My eyes are still glued to my best friend, a small giggle escaping at his impatience.
“Do you think we’ll ever be friends again?” Noah asks.
Breaking my staring contest with Liam, I turn to look at Noah’s serious face. “Maybe. One day.”
“One day,” he agrees.
LIAM
Brushing my damp hands against my pants, I step forward and press the doorbell. I can hear the sound echo inside the house, followed by the footsteps and then the door opens.
“Liam?” Evie’s mom looks at me for a moment, confused. “Why are you knocking?”
Wards and Clarks don’t have the habit to knock on each other’s door, but if I’m going to do this, I’m going to do it right.
“Hi, Aunt Emma.” I give her a nervous grin. “I’m here to pick up Evie for our date.”
Her mouth opens in a little O, before she nods. “I see.” She gives me an approving smile. “Come on in.” Then she turns toward the staircase and shouts, “Evie, Liam’s here!”
“Coming!” Evie yells back.
While we wait, Emma turns toward me. “Going somewhere special?”
“Yup, but it’s a secret.”
“That’s what he told me too,” Evie complains as she descends the stairs. I turn around slowly, taking her in.
Her locks are bouncing with every step she takes, pink lips frowning in displeasure. She’s dressed in a light gray sweater and one of those plaid gray-yellow skirts with black tights and boots. Just like a ray of sunshine in the middle of the dark sky.
“You look beautiful,” I say, wrapping my hand around her waist when she hops off the stairs.
“Flattery won’t get you far, Ward,” she pouts.
“It got me you, didn’t it?” I grin.
“You two are so cute!” Evie’s mom sniffles loudly.
We look at her. I completely forgot she’s still standing there and by the look on Evie’s face so did she.
“Mom!” Evie drawls, her cheeks turning pink in embarrassment. “It’s just Liam.”
“Just Liam, she says!” Emma rolls her eyes. “You kids go, have fun.” Then she turns to me, lifting a warning finger. “You better bring her home by midnight, mister.”
“Sure thing. Let’s go?”
“You brought me to the ice rink!” Evie squeals happily, looking out the window as I park my car.
“It was always our thing.” I shrug, trying to play it cool. “Ready to go?”
Evie nods, and together we get out of the car. Grabbing our skates out of the trunk of my car where I stashed them earlier, I lock the car and meet her. I take her gloved hand in mine and we walk to the stand to buy our tickets. We have to wait a bit since it’s Saturday evening and there is a lot of people, but we don’t mind. Instead, we spend time rehashing all the times we’ve done this exact same thing before, only now it’s different. Better.
As soon as we get on the ice I grab Evie’s hand in mine and we start to skate through the rink at a slow pace.
Christmas lights illuminate the space and make Evie’s hair shine. When we start our second lap, I finally confess. “I lied earlier.”
“What?” she turns toward me, confused.
“I lied. When I said I brought you here because it was our thing. I mean, it was, but I remembered all the times you looked at the couples skating around the rink holding hands under twinkling lights. You said it was romantic.”
Wide amber eyes look at me, a soft smile spreading on her lips. “You remembered.”
“I remember everything about you, Evie. You’re my best friend, but you’re so much more too. It might have taken me getting stuck in the penalty box to figure it out, but now I know and I’m not letting you go.”
Evie jumps into my arms, her hands wrapping around my neck. “I’m not letting you go either.”
She pulls back, her bright smile blinding me, but then her lips land on mine, and all I want is to feel. Because there is nothing better than having my best friend, my girlfriend wrapped in my arms.
THE END
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Acknowledgments
You didn’t expect this, now did you? Well, neither did I! Finishing Rules was supposed to be “The end” for Greyford High, only it didn’t turn out that way. After a discussion with some of my author friends, Liam’s story came to my mind and it didn’t let me go, so I went ahead and wrote it. And I’m so happy I did because it was the most fun I had in some time.
While I do love both Habits and Rules, those stories overflow with emotions. There was darkness, heartbreak, and angst that destroyed me, and this story just brought back fun and light into my life. And I really hope you enjoyed Livie’s (for real, how cute is that ship name?!) story!
Will there be more GH stories? Well, you never know! The idea is to concentrate on my upcoming series, but GH will always be the place that owns my heart.
As always, I want to take a moment to say a huge thank you to my team. This journey wouldn’t be the same without my beta readers Nina, Stephanie, Carrie, and Melody. Thank you for sticking with me when I’m at my craziest! To my lovely cover designer Najla, thank you so much for making these beautiful covers! I wouldn’t do this with anybody else but you!
To my Supergirls and Bookmantics, I love you guys to pieces! This one’s for you.
To YOU, my readers… Thank you so much for reading and loving my books! I hope you enjoyed Evie and Liam’s story. Please consider leaving a short review if you have time.
Until the next book…
xo,
Anna
Did you like The Penalty Box?
Here’s the first chapter of Underwater, my sweet, summer YA modern fairytale/sports romance! I hope you enjoy it!
Chapter One
MARISSA
“You should really pick that tongue up off the floor, Marissa.”
I turn my gaze to my giggling best friend. I’m going to strangle her one of these days, and I’m not even going to feel sorry about it.
“My tongue isn’t anywhere near the floor, Noel.” I shove her away playfully. No matter how annoying she can get sometimes, Noelani is still my best friend.
My sister.
We both start laughing, bu
t my eyes find a way to sneak a peek at the ocean.
The endless azure surface has always been my home. Living in the small beach town on the island of Hawaii my whole life, I grew up at the ocean and I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world.
I learned how to swim even before I could stand on my own two feet, and there was nothing quite like it. The lightness of my body cutting through the waves. The saltiness dancing on my skin. Diving underwater only to feel the chilly kiss of the ocean on my cheeks, lifting my hair all around me as I go deeper inside.
It’s simply magical.
Watching Taylor Reed surf is just a bonus. His wetsuit-covered body taming the waves beneath his board. His blond hair, messy and wet, a shade darker than usual. The look of complete concentration crossing his handsome face as his blue eyes scan his surroundings, always expecting the unexpected.
“You’re looking at him again, Risa.” Noel jabs me in the side with her elbow. “He’ll notice.”
“We’re friends. It’s not strange if I look at him.”
“Friends don’t look at each other the way you look at Ty,” Noel contradicts.
It’s all in a playful manner, but I know somewhere deep down, under all this cheer, she’s worried about me. If the situation were reversed, I know I’d be worried about her, too.
“And how is that?”
“Like he’s your favorite dessert, and you’re in need of a sugar fix.”
I roll my eyes, trying to play it off.
We’ve been friends since diapers. We grew up together, living next door to each other. And although we come from different families, we are more sisters than some blood relations.
“Noel!” I scold, hiding my bright red cheeks behind the wall of golden brown hair. We went swimming earlier, and after my hair air-dries, it always gets this kind of crazy curly look that only a day at the beach can give you.
“Don’t ‘Noel’ me, missy! I say it like I see it.” A light breeze picks up, messing Noel’s pale, blond hair. Sighing, she pulls up the long strands and ties them to the top of her head in a ponytail. “This weather is no joke.”
“They did say the storm is coming,” I agree, happy with the change of subject.
The crush I have going on for my friend isn’t news or anything like that, but Noelani likes to tease me any chance she gets.
I’ve been crushing on Ty since kindergarten, but he looks at me as a friend only. On various occasions, I debated whether to confess my feelings or keep quiet but, in the end, the need to have Ty in my life, if only as a friend, won over. We’ve known each other almost as long as I’ve known Noel, and I don’t want to ruin it by confessing that my feelings for him have changed.
“Maybe we should go back. When that dark cloud comes, I don’t want to be present.”
I nod in agreement.
It’s not strange to have big storms pass through our town. Usually, they come out of nowhere, fast and furious. A bright, sunny day is quickly exchanged for dark clouds, cold, hard winds and rain. The ocean darkens, too, losing its usual bright blue shine. The smooth surface ruffles, and the waves rise high toward the sky.
Angry and untamable.
We collect our things in a hurry and start walking back inland with a few other people who lingered on the beach.
“Oh, shit!” I tap the top of my head. “I left my sunglasses on the beach.”
Noelani looks at me before her brown eyes lift to the sky. It’s even darker than it was only a few minutes ago. “Do you really have to go back now?”
“If I don’t, I’ll probably never find them again. And you know they are my favorite.”
Sighing in surrender, Noel turns toward the beach. “Let’s go then.”
“No, you go home.” I wave my hand. “I’ll just run and grab them and be home in no time.”
Noel nervously bites at her lower lip. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah.” I smile reassuringly. “You go home. I’m right behind you.”
“Text me when you get back, okay?”
“Will do!” I throw over my shoulder, then start jogging down the beach to the spot where we were sitting earlier.
The whole beach is deserted. Nobody wants to mess with the force of nature thunderstorm can be. Islanders learn it early on, and when tourists come around, they’re always warned. Not that they all listen. Every once in a while, some crazy tourist would show up and decide the storm is the best day to go out on a boat or something equally crazy. So far, we were lucky because in our town everybody returned home safely, but I knew it wasn’t always the case.
Once I get to the spot, I bend down, my hands gripping my knees. I’m panting hard from exertion, since the biggest workout I get is riding a bicycle a couple of times a year.
Taking a few deep breaths to calm my racing heart, I start looking for my sunglasses.
“Gotcha!” Grabbing them from their hiding place behind a rock, I pop them on top of my head.
The first drops of rain start falling and, after a few more, it’s a real downpour.
Turning on the heels of my feet to go back home, I notice one lone figure in the ocean.
“Ty?”
I narrow my eyes, trying to see through the heavy rain if it’s really him or not. I call out to him, but my voice is lost in the wind. He’s getting out of the water, his board close to his side so he doesn’t lose it to the waves, but he’s still far from the safety of the beach.
Then I see it. As if in slow motion, a wave starts lifting high in the sky.
“Ty!” I scream, but it’s no use. Angry raindrops crash on the sand, and the howl of the wind makes it impossible to hear my own voice.
Running toward the ocean, I hope Taylor will see me coming so I can warn him in time, but he’s too focused on getting out of the tempestuous ocean to look around.
“No… Ty!”
A wave crashes over him hard and fast, pulling him underwater. The force of the impact suppresses my loud scream.
Running faster than I thought possible, I scan the surface of the ocean, hoping to catch a glimpse of him, but Ty’s blond head is nowhere to be found. Only waves upon waves, crushing and colliding against each other.
My flip-flops fall off, and my bare feet touch the water.
Struggling against the angry nature, I look around, searching for him.
“TY!”
Waves crash against me, pulling me here and there, impeding me from moving farther into the water. I continue to fight against the force, trying to keep calm when all I can feel is desperation.
“Where are you, dammit?!”
One wave rises higher than others and crashes against my back, making me stumble on my own feet. I feel myself lose balance, so I take one deep breath and let myself be pulled under.
The current is strong, even beneath the water, but Taylor isn’t anywhere near the surface.
I have to find him. The ocean can’t take him away.
Forcing my eyes open, I fight against the blurriness clouding my sight. Something on the right catches my attention, but the need to inhale fresh air is strong. Too strong to resist it. Giving up, I start swimming toward the surface. If I don’t get some oxygen into my lungs, I’ll be of no use to Ty.
Only it’s not the air I find when I break the surface. Without a second to compose myself, another wave is waiting for me. Falling over me and pulling me under.
Deep, deep under.
Want to find out what happens next?
Grab Underwater here.
Other Books By Anna B. Doe
New York Knights series:
#1 Lost & Found
#2 Until
#3 Forever
Greyford High Series:
#1 Lines
#2 Habits
#3 Rules
#4 The Penalty Box
Standalone:
Underwater
Coming soon:
TBA (Blairwood University #1)
About the Author
Anna B. Doe is a
young adult and new adult contemporary romance author. She writes real-life romance that is equal parts sweet and sexy. She’s a coffee and chocolate addict. Like her characters, she loves those two things dark, sweet and with little extra spice.
When she’s not working for a living or writing her newest book you can find her reading books or binge-watching TV shows. Originally from Croatia, she is always planning her next trip because wanderlust is in her blood.
She is currently working on various projects. Some more secret than others.
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