Genre: YA Fiction
Publisher: Jaiten Press; 2nd edition
Release Date: February 20, 2021
Isabel Dearly is tired of feeling depressed. Still grieving over the death of her father from cancer seven months ago, the seventeen-year-old has immersed herself in dance. But just as she’s starting to emerge from the darkness, she’s brutally betrayed by the handsome boy she’d only recently begun to date.
Rescued by her best friend, Isabel falls into his arms… and his bed. And when the consequences threaten her career options, she fears she may never be happy again.
Can Isabel figure out her future when the complications of the present refuse to let her go?
Excerpt
“Dang it,” Isabel cursed to herself as she rode along the edge of the party, looking for a spot where she wouldn’t get boxed in. It was twelve-forty. Annie was so going to comment.
She probably should have set an alarm, but the distraction she’d been searching for with dancing had finally kicked in, and it had been hard to stop.
Finally finding a space not too far from Tucker’s Chevy, Isabel winced as her and Annie’s ancient Ford sputtered like it was coughing up a lung. She cut the engine, ignoring the looks the sound had brought, and peered around the gathered crowd for her friends.
The beach parties out at Corey’s were always big, at least the couple she’d been to before, but it was packed tonight with the first night of summer vacation crowd.
There were several people she didn’t know, but it wasn’t surprising. Tourists tended to flock to their small, picturesque beach town during vacation seasons, and it definitely kept things from getting boring. It was almost funny sometimes watching her classmates drool over the latest, temporary eye candy. Not that she’d ever bothered, not when they were destined to leave.
Glancing out her window, Isabel was surprised to find a guy watching her. Tall, dark, and classically handsome, he was leaning against a Mustang convertible, the shiny black lines of the metal obviously new and expensive. He smiled, and she blushed on instinct, not because of his car, but because something about him was…intriguing. Too bad he had tourist written all over him.
Recognizing the look of an oncoming pickup line if he came over, Isabel glanced away, not wanting to encourage anything that couldn’t happen, and almost immediately caught sight of Tucker nearby. His massively tall and muscled frame was hard to miss, and she watched him run a hand back through his sandy-blonde strands as he flirted with a couple of girls she didn’t know near the bonfire.
His gaze caught hers through the windshield, and that flirty grin of his shifted into a genuine smile. Watching him lean down to say something to his latest fangirls before he shrugged away from their suggestive touches, Isabel sat back as he ran up to her side of the truck.
Tucker leaned his arms against the open window frame and dragged his hand back through his hair again, the strands falling just so against the tanned skin of his brow. Isabel’s heart stuttered for a moment, but she ignored it. It was no secret that her best friend was insanely hot.
“Hey,” Tucker greeted. “You decided to join us for the party?”
Isabel rolled her eyes. “You know that’s a no.”
“You sure? I can go grab you a shot. Or maybe you’d rather ease in with a beer…” he teased.
“Tucker…”
He shrugged. “Just kidding. Wouldn’t kill you to come have fun with us, though.”
“You look like you’re having plenty of it without me,” she jerked her head to the girls that had just been hanging off his arms. One was frowning, looking concerned and disappointed, but the other was shooting daggers her way.
Whatever. It came with the territory this time of year.
“Tourist girls?” she surmised.
“The best kind,” Tucker grinned wide. Isabel rolled her eyes, and Tucker frowned, picking up finally on her mood. “Hey, you okay?”
Isabel shook off the weird vibe that had just come over her, forcing a smile back to her face. “Yeah. Annie called earlier about y’all needing a ride home. You ready to go?”
“Me? No. I’m about to give someone a ride myself,” he smirked.
“Tucker.”
“Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood.”
“Not working.”
“Got it. I am staying a while, though, but I’m pretty sure I saw Annie and Jet climbing into the bed of my truck earlier…”
Isabel released a deep breath. “Got it. I’ll text her then.”
“Probably a good idea. You’re sure you’re okay?” he asked again, the warmth of his brown eyes searching her expression.
“I swear. Just tired.”
He nodded. “’Kay. Call me if you need to. See you tomorrow?”
“Sure,” she agreed, wishing he would just go. Her friend was reading too far into her mood tonight for comfort.
***
“I told you, you’d be late,” Annie said smugly as she climbed in the passenger side a few minutes later, her ponytail loose and mussed from her last minutes with her boyfriend.
“How do you even know?” Isabel retorted. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Not that long, and I know because Jet and I didn’t even sneak off until twelve-thirty when you were supposed to be here,” Annie pretended to nag.
Trying and failing to look annoyed with her twin, Isabel shook her head as they shared their matching grins. “Fine, y’all have fun?” she asked as Jet settled into the seat beside Annie, his dark arm going to wrap around her sister’s waist.
“Plenty,” he winked one of his ocean blue eyes at her, and Annie smacked his stomach through his trademark Hawaiian print shirt.
“Babe,” she scolded. “It’s not like that, sis.”
“Yet,” Jet grinned. “I’m just teasing, sweetheart,” he added when Annie shot him a look, running a reassuring hand along her arm. “Izzy knows you wouldn’t hook up in the back of Tucker’s truck.”
“Where too many have gone before,” Isabel quipped, making them laugh. “And Jet’s right. I know you have better taste than that.”
Starting up the truck to head home, she noticed the honestly dreamy guy from before still watching her through the window, now talking to a couple of guys from school. She glanced away, though her cheeks flushed again at the attention.
Annie noticed, her gaze quickly shooting back and forth between them. “Who’s that?”
Isabel shrugged as Jet replied. “Wesley. He’s new. Tucker and I were talking to him earlier.”
“New?” Isabel questioned.
“Yeah, just moved to town like a week ago or something. He’ll be lifeguarding this summer, so you and Tucker should be seeing him at work soon, sweetheart,” Jet explained, his hand still stroking along the tanned skin of his girl’s arm.
“Not a tourist…” Isabel mused as she pulled away from the crowd, but then she shook her head. Boys were the last trouble she needed or wanted to mess with…
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