Happily Ever After? (Sleeping Handsome Sequel) (11 page)

His eyes turn imploring, reminding me
of everything we’ve been.

I take a deep breath and
try to let the resentment
inside out with
an exhale. He’s not perfect. I’m not perfect. Are we perfect
together? I know love is more than the adoration of his blue eyes,
more than his lips on the skin behind my ear, or more than the
butterflies in my stomach when he’s close. Its trust and sacrifice
and yes, forgiveness. Do I love him enough to forgive
him?

His eyes plead. His hand
waits.

There’s really only one way I can
answer. With my heart. I put my hand in his. He grabs my other one
and gently lifts me onto the hood. “I’ve been dying each second
sitting here and waiting for you,” he says against the skin of my
neck. “Thinking you might not forgive me, I wanted to kick my own
ass.”

In his arms, bitterness
finally floats out of me and I feel free. Free of anger
and
misery. Surrounded
by the wonderful smell of him and feeling more content than I have
in a month, I let out a chuckle within a sigh.

He pulls back and runs a hand through
my hair before holding my jaw. His blue eyes bore into mine. “I
don’t want to let other people or jealousy or anger or anything
come between us ever again. But like you, I’m not perfect. However,
I can promise I’ll never turn my back on you again.”

I wrap my arms around his neck. This
is where I belong. Even with the recent heartache, I’ll always
belong in his arms. Even if everything isn’t always perfect. “I can
live and love with that.” I tug him closer. “I just want a perfect
kiss.”

He grins. “Well, I can do
that.”

And he does.

~~~~~~~

More books by Jean
Haus

Snow, Blood, and
Envy

Under a Blood
Moon

Sleeping
Handsome

After Midnight

~~~~~~~

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jeanhaus.com

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And coming this
fall
In the Band
,
a YA Mature Contemporary
Romance

Turn the page for a sample
of the first two chapters

Chapter 1

My finger hovers over the mouse button
that will change my life forever. I take a deep breath and will
myself to move, but still I hover. Come on. One click and the end
will be official. I close my eyes and lower my finger. Somehow, I
press the button. Whoosh. My future down the toilet with one email.
I lay my forehead on the computer desk and resist the urge to bang
my head against the wood.

The smack of my bedroom door opening
brings my back up against the chair.

“
Hey Riley,” Jamie, my
little sister says. She’s wearing a baseball cap backwards, a
yellow polka-dot bathing suit, and boots. Seeing her eight-year-old
sense of fashion helps lessen the sting of the email. Just a
little. She bounces into my room. “Chloe’s coming over
right?”

Keeping my face neutral, I
nod.

She flips a lid back and forth of an
open box between us. Packed boxes that never went anywhere. “So can
I invite Mandy over to swim?”

Still unable to speak I nod again and
I’m rewarded with a bright smile. “Cool.”

As she bounces away, I will myself not
to cry, not to remember hours and hours of drum practice. Not to
think of the glorious freedom I just gave up. But I’m giving it up
for a good cause. Two good causes actually. And I’ll still go to
college. Still have a future. Just not the one I’d planned
on.

With a sigh, I log into the local
university and pay for classes—awful choices this late in
August—with the bankcard connected to my college fund. I hadn’t
wanted to pay for my eleven credits of Philosophy 101, Roman
History, or Chemistry Analysis 230—I fear that class is going to be
a bitch but I’d tested out of the hundred level—until it was
official.

And now it’s totally
official.

The twist in my future completed I sit
staring at the screen saver of my one and only boyfriend I’d lost
to college in another state two weeks ago. Dressed in our band
uniforms we stand with heads together, sunglasses on, and drums in
front of us. We look happy together. Last year. Though I knew the
break up was coming, I’m still hurt and wishing I could call him.
It doesn’t seem like anyone stays together anymore. I really need
to change my screen saver, but my hands stay in my lap.

“
Hey girl, you coming
down?” Chloe yells from the bottom of the stairs.

Melancholy interrupted I shut the lid
to my computer and yell back, “Just a second.”

I find Chloe already on the deck,
overlooking the above ground pool. Wearing a halter tank top, wide
brimmed hat, and cat like sun glasses, she looks like she belongs
in a forties movie. Instead, she sits in the shade of our table
umbrella with its Mickey Mouse lights dangling. Her platinum blond
hair and curves only add to the look. With my long dark hair, big
brown eyes, and stick body, I look like I belong with the lights.
Physically, I can’t seem to get past the stage of thirteen.
Emotionally, I feel like a thirty year old lately.

Splashes and giggles sound from the
water beyond the deck. The smell of chlorine hangs in the
air.

She nods toward the pool. “I told them
I’d watch them until you came down.” She lifts a plastic cup with a
straw. “Mocha Frappuccino? Slushy caffeine and chocolate got to
help a little.”

“
I’m alright,” I say,
grabbing the cup and sitting in the chair closest to the pool under
the umbrella with her. Though I haven’t come to terms with what
went down today, I don’t want to worry my friends. It’s just
something I have to let slowly settle inside. It’s been settling
for a while though.

“
Yeah right.
Redonkulous
.
” Chloe takes a drink of
her coffee. How she can drink hot liquid on a hot August afternoon
is beyond me. “Every drummer is okay when they give up a percussion
scholarship.”

I glance at my sister and her friend
bouncing in the water. “Keep it down. I don’t want Jamie thinking
I’m upset.”

“
Like they can hear us.”
She waves a hand toward the giggling and shouting. “And to think
you probably would have made their drumline. How many times have
you watched that lame movie?”

Recalling the hours Marcus
and I sat playing
to
the movie, I snap, “Are you trying to make me feel like
shit?”

She rears back in her chair. It was
almost a head snap. I sense more than see her blinking behind the
dark glasses. “No. I’m trying to get the mourning over
with.”

I lean back and take a long drag of
caffeinated slush while the giggles in the pool turn to squeals.
The cup rolls in my hands. “No need. I’ve been thinking about this
since May.”

She jerks her glasses off and smacks
them on the table. Eyes heavy with mascara narrow on me. “Riley
Jones Middleton, you’ve been keeping secrets from me.”

“
I wanted to figure it out
on my own,” I say with a shrug.

Her fingers drum on the glass. Each
ping indicates her annoyance. “Same reasons?”

I glance at my sister twirling in a
floaty ring. Jamie with a sitter almost every day until nine
o’clock at night was the biggest reason. There were others though.
My mother already on the brink of financial ruin. My father not
being able to help as much with dorm fees. My mother’s growing
depression. All of these stem from one thing. “Yeah, the
divorce.”

“
Divorce sucks.” Chloe
takes a long drink of coffee and slides her glasses back on. “What
are you going do if that university band lady emails
back?”

“
Tell her I’m sorry. What
else can I do?”

“
Suppose that’s
true.”

The creak of the gate behind me sounds
and then a bam as it hits the wooden fence. Chloe’s lip curl
confirms my suspicion. I don’t have to look over my shoulder.
“Thought you weren’t going to talk to me?”

“
That would be too
awesome,” Chloe says under her breath.

“
So you did it?” Marcus,
my other best friend, asks from the bottom of the deck
steps.

I nod. “You could have just
texted.”

Instead of answering, he races up the
stairs and envelopes me in a hug. “Aw Riley, I’m pissed you had to
do it but I understand.”

With the Frappuccino smashed between
us, I say, “You didn’t have to skip practice to offer your
condolences.”

“
Sure I did.” He pulls
away and flops down on the nearest chair. “But we were near perfect
this morning. Got the afternoon off.” He brushes his unruly blonde
mop of curls from his eyes.

My brows rise. “Really, what kind of
band leader have you got?”

“
College band is
different. People actually practice.” He glances at Chloe and only
offers her a nod. “And I wanted to talk to you about
something.”

Chloe lifts her coffee. “You got named
tool of the month?”

I give her a look. I’m not in the mood
to listen to her and Marcus trade barbs.

“
Tool of the year
actually,” he says snidely and digs in his pocket. “I noticed this
on the message board in my dorm the other day.” He unfolds the
paper.

My brows rise. “I’m not moving into
the dorm.”

“
Yeah,” Chloe says. “What
kind of dork lives in a dorm thirty minutes from their
house?”

“
What kind of bimbo goes
to cosmetology school?” he says with raised brows then adds, “Oh,
ones named Chloe.”

Her eyes narrow. “I’ll remember that
next time you want a haircut.”

“
Like you can remember
that long.”

That actually causes a chuckle to
escape me. Not because Chloe’s an airhead but because of Marcus’s
overly long hair. Feeling a glare from across the table, I gesture
to the paper. “What was so important you came all the way from the
dorm?”

“
Well…there’s this band
and they need a drummer.”

My drink almost slips from my hand.
“You’re going to join a band? Like a rock band?”

“
From this,” he points to
the paper, “they play a variety of stuff, not just rock. But no, I
don’t have time for a band. I wish.” He leans forward. “But you
could.”

The splashing and shouting from the
pool sounds louder in the sudden silence. Stunned at the idea, I
simply stare at Marcus.

Chloe breaks the silence with a snort.
“That’s a wicked idea.”

I don’t break my stare. “You’ve got to
be kidding me.”

He shakes his head. “Why would I be
kidding? You’re the best drummer I know.”

My face twists into an incredulous
expression. “In a marching band.”

“
I’m not kidding,” Chloe
says excitedly. She slaps Marcus’s shoulder. “I’ve got to give it
to you tool of the year. Your idea is the cat’s ass.”

Marcus gives her a grin then looks
back to me. “Come on, Riley. You’ve been playing my drum set as
long as me.”

The frightening mental image of me on
stage in front of rowdy fans has me snapping, “Goofing
around.”

“
Your goofing around is
ten times better than my totally serious,” he says with a
snort.

They both stare at me with
anticipation lined on their faces. I slowly set my drink on the
glass table. “If I don’t have time to be in the university band,
what makes you think I have time to be in a stage band?” Marcus had
begged me to let him talk to his bandleader when he found out I
wasn’t going to Virginia, but watching Jamie almost every day
wouldn’t allow me the time.

“
That’s the beauty of it.”
Marcus taps the paper. “They only practice three times a week and
do two or three gigs a month. They’re all in school just like
us.”

“
He’s right. It’s
perfect,” Chloe says. “You’ll still get to play, not much time away
from your mommy duties, and it actually might be cool. Hot guys
could even be involved.”

Marcus scowls at her before they both
return their gazes to me.

I push my chair away from the table
and wrap my arms around my knees. “You two have fallen off the deep
end. I do not belong in a band. I don’t even look like I’m out of
high school.”

“
Four hours.” Chloe’s red
nails shine as she spreads four fingers out. “Okay, maybe five
hours,” she adds her thumb, “some dye, some makeup, and some
clothes and I’ll have you looking like a rock star.”

Chloe, me, and all of those things
together in a room for five hours has me shaking my head. And me in
a band? Um no, just thinking about it freaks me out.

Marcus leans forward
scrunching his
got milk?
T-shirt and rests his elbows on his knees.
“Listen, they’re playing tonight. We could check them out. If you
like their style, tryouts are next week. You can think it over.
Have some time to practice.”