by Maci Dillon
“I fucking love you. Always and forever.”
Raven, Kassidy, and Miah cheered, and one by one they smothered us in congratulatory hugs and kisses.
I’ve never been happier than I am at this moment.
“Awe, you two are the most adorable couple,” Miah declared. She raised her glass across the table from us. “Here’s to second chances.”
“To second chances.” Chloe smiled and kissed me again.
And again.
Love conquers all.
Epilogue
New Beginnings
“As each breath goes out, let it be the end of that moment and the birth of something new...” ~ Pema Chodron
SEAN
“I’m telling you, man, I will run into her again.”
Miles threw his head back and laughed like the obnoxious jerk he is.
We have been best buddies since we hung out together in smelly diapers at mommy and me classes, and I valued our friendship
Sometimes he was the worst at nurturing my ego. Though it’s not as if my ego needed any love, it was perfectly inflated all the time.
But still.
Miles had never heard me mention the same girl more than twice. So, in his defense, the number of times I’d mentioned this in the past few weeks amused him.
Despite being frustratingly annoying for me.
With a few beers under my belt, I developed a newfound confidence. Without a doubt, I was certain I would be seeing her sooner rather than later.
“Of course, you will, man,” JJ added more confidently. “I mean, all you have to do is send Chloe a message and arrange it, right?”
I eyed them both with annoyance.
“Remind me again why you haven’t done it already? I mean, if you wanted to connect with this Raven bird so badly, it’s all you’ve gotta do, yeah?” Miles quipped.
“You know why,” I growled at them both.
JJ pointed his finger in the air. “Ahh, yes, that’s right. The Sean code. Never fuck the friend of a friend.”
“Fuck you, brother. I’m getting another beer. You guys up for another?”
“Why the hell not. I can’t believe we don’t have any plans for tonight. Since when do we have no fucking plans for New Year’s Eve?” Miles scowled.
“Since none of us bothered to organize anything because our careers run our lives?”
“We’ll hit the clubs later and find some hotties, calm down,” JJ added as I left the room to get another round.
For the first time in years, I had no fucks to give about going out and getting laid.
I must be heading down the road of a mid-life crisis or some crazy shit. I barely recognized my own thoughts anymore. Shaking my head, I grabbed the beers in the back of the refrigerator and wondered if I should send Chloe a text.
She had mentioned she and Will were spending the holiday period in a penthouse on the coast. I was so happy for her when she called me a few days after we met to say she and Will were giving things another go.
My phone buzzed in the side pocket of my swim shorts as I handed out the beers by the pool.
My hand froze when I checked the message.
“You’re fucking kidding me.”
My smile grew exponentially larger than it had in a long time.
I glanced up at the boys who stared at me, waiting.
When I opened the message, I counted my lucky stars.
Plans for the night suddenly took a sharp turn in my favor.
Chloe: Last minute, sorry. But have you got plans for tonight?
Chloe: Shots and cocktails in the presidential suite - Grand Avenue Apartment, Surfers.
Chloe: Raven is here too. No pressure.
Chloe: Tequila Girl + Raven
“Boys, we officially have plans,” I declared as I passed them the phone.
“Let’s book an Uber and take a ride, boys.” Miles stood from his chair, ripped off his shirt, and dove into the pool. “You might wanna cool off a bit before you get there, too, Sean.”
“Fucktard.” I was going to need more than a swim in the fucking pool to tame my excitement. There was something about Raven. She invaded my bones, and I needed to figure out why.
One night is all I needed to get her out of my fucking head for good.
I tapped out a quick response to Chloe and told her all three of us would be there within a few hours.
TO BE CONTINUED
NEXT IN THE SERIES:
Fail to Love: Unrequited Love Series Book 2
(Sean and Raven’s Story)
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COMING SOON:
My Five Night Fling (Secret Billionaire/Holiday Romance)
My Billionaire Fling (Billionaire Hookup Romance)
My Downtown Fling (Billionaire Friends to Lovers Romance)
OTHER BOOKS:
Twice Unwrapped: A Quickie Christmas Menage
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Crude Possession: Crude Souls MC Book 1
Maci Dillon and Kathleen Kelly
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Acknowledgments
First, to all the people in my world who stood by me, lifted me, and believed in me while I set about writing Will and Chloe’s original story.
My three amazing children who put up with my absence and craziness while working full-time, plus part-time building my book blog, PAing for authors, and also published a book. Thank you!
To my special author friends, Gwen, Kathleen, T, and Ann, thank you from the bottom of my heart! You’ve always been in my corner from the beginning, and I love you all for this.
To my beta readers, Gwen, Megan, Cherie, Robyn, Tara, Belinda, and Kylie. Thank you!
Trish Bacher—Thank you, my editing queen and devil’s advocate, I love working with you!
Kaylene & Nicki at Swish Design & Editing, I can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done!
My reader group, Maci’s Minxes. You all absolutely rock! Nobody would know about me or this book without you all, so thank you!
And to my favorite bartender, Morgan, who pushed me when I thought I couldn’t go on.
Moving on to the second edition…
A huge shout out to each of you above for staying with me on this journey because you are still here through the second edition of this book, and I couldn’t have done it without you.
Bossman, the love of my life. Thank you for loving me, encouraging me, and always believing in me. I never would have had the courage to start writing again without you.
Ally, I know you loved the original story, but thank you for cheering me on with these re-writes until my heart felt complete with their story.
All of my Minxes, you are incredible even all these years later. Thank you for sticking with me.
To all the bloggers, readers, reviewers, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for helping with the re-release of this book which is so much a part of me.
And credit to author, Belle Brooks, for her line… “I danced around the room like Baby in the corner. Nobody puts Baby in the corner.” Thank you, Belle xx
Best wishes,
Maci Dillon
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Author Note
Fail to Fight originally released in 2016 as a novella.
The story itself was extremely personal to me—many of the events a significant part of my own story. While the ending and circumstances around Will and Chloe may not have been all fun and games, the way in which everything happened from beginning to end was a true recollection of a time in my life.
This new edition, now extended to include a true HEA and the increased age of the characters, reflects more of a fictional piece. However, the truth and detailed events remain true to my personal experience.
I hope you enjoyed this new edition as much as I have enjoyed writing Chloe and Will’s happily ever after.
About the Author
Maci Dillon is a self-confessed lover of margaritas who has recently experienced her very own second chance at true romance.
Maci is a daydreamer and true minx at heart who loves to read and write steamy romance filled with love, lust, angst, and humor. Her favorite tropes to write are second chances, forbidden romance, enemies to lovers, menage, reverse harem, hate sex, drunken hookups, playboys, and billionaires. She also enjoys writing raunchy short stories within these tropes.
Her heroines are strong, experienced, foul-mouthed, and feisty with loads of sass and wit. Her men are deliciously hot, dominant, often arrogant, and entitled smart-asses. You will experience all the feels across Maci’s books.
You will often find Maci in her PJs writing and watching Netflix. She is an expert procrastinator, a superior planner, except with her writing, and loves a social drink and BBQ with friends and family.
Maci lives in Brisbane, Australia, and is a mother of three teenagers and a Maltese Shih Tzu.
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