Free New Forever by Yessi Smith

occupy my mind. I don’t know what’s going on—Adam didn’t want to go in to detail on the phone. All I know is that something’s wrong with Max. He’s hurt, he’s in trouble – I don’t know. What I do know is that something is wrong and I’m not there for him.
    Instead, I’ve been flirting with topless men, or rather a topless man. It doesn’t matter, guilt and fear consume me. I tap my foot on the floorboard while my hand pulls and twists at my hair, all the while willing Dee to drive faster.
    “Read ‘Something Sweet’,” she tells me, breaking my trance.
    I stare back at her blankly, not comprehending what she just said.
    “My friend, Mary, wrote it.” She shuffles through the books on my lap and sets a book with a gorgeous cover on top. “You’ll like it.”
    She’s thinking it’ll keep me from jumping out of the car. Maybe I should have taken a plane back home. The trip would have been quicker. Of course, on another note, the flight could have been hours from when we actually left Tampa and I’d be pacing the airport like a lunatic until someone handcuffed me and took me in for questioning. Riding in the car is better.
    I open up ‘Something Sweet’ and focus on the words until they make sense. Within seconds, I’m fully immersed in Ainsley and Gresyon’s lives and, well, hello Greyson’s abs! I feel my lips curve into a smile while my stomach settles as I live vicariously through my new literary friends, until, well until...
    Men! Typical men! I grunt loudly and slam the book shut, making Dee laugh out loud.
    “Keep reading, Hayley.” The patience in her voice is the only thing keeping me from throwing the book at her face. That and the fact that she’s driving and a book to her face may cause an accident which would only prolong our arrival back to Ft. Lauderdale.
    “But-”
    “Take a deep breath,” she interrupts, “and keep reading.”
    I do as she says, quickly flipping through the pages as I engross myself in the story again. The trip back home is quieter, but just as quick. Luckily for me, I finish reading ‘Something Sweet’ fifteen miles from Dee’s home.
    I look over at my friend and smile. “What else you got?”
    “Lee’s books, but you’ve read them already.”
    “You have Alec?” I go through her books and squeal when I find Alec. He is so hot and thick! Or at least his book is thick. Although I’m sure Alec is pretty thick himself. “Think Lee would mind if I dry humped him?”
    “I’d mind!” She snatches the book away from me and secures him between her legs. The slut!
    Unable to sit still, I shuffle through the radio stations, never staying on one station for long. Normally, this drives Dee insane but today she leaves me to it, only reminding me of why we’re almost home in the first place. Any other time and she’d be swatting my hand away to make sure I leave the radio on one station, but today she knows I need the constant distraction.
    Max, my wounded sun. Bright and beautiful, but jaded from life.
    I let him push me away a couple days ago, but I’ve decided I’m not staying away. I need him in my life. I need to know he’s okay. I need to know he still loves me. And I need to know what happened in his life that’s left him so jaded.
    And if he doesn’t love me? Tough shit—I’m not giving him much of a choice in the matter.
    I storm into Dee’s house, ready to give him the lecture of a lifetime only to find him gone. Apparently, he took off as soon as he heard I was coming back.
    “He got the crap beat out of him pretty bad and he didn’t want you to see him like that,” Adam explains as I glare at him with my arms folded across of my chest.
    “Stupid, arrogant, pigheaded, dipshit!”
    “Shit!” Josie squeals. Of course, that’s the word she clings on to. “Shit, shit, shit!” Dee puts her hand over Josie’s mouth but it’s no use. Josie’s found a new favorite word and she can be pretty relentless when something entertains