Free Preying on You by Elise Holden

smile. Biting down on my lower
lip, I unlocked the door.
    Ethan sat on the lower step. He hadn’t
left me. He’d lingered, unwilling to go far. Knowing that I would
agonize over that letter. He had no way of knowing how I would
react. If I would open the door and throw something else at him.
Hit him for dredging up memories best left buried.
    He’d stayed...for me.
Again.
    When he looked up at me, I smiled my
first completely genuine smile in a very long time. His gaze never
left me as I sank down onto the step beside him and pulled his hand
into mine. I raised it to my lips and kissed his palm, whispering,
“I remember you, Ethan…”
     
    T he
voice message ends with a beep, and I blink as my surroundings
return to me. The silence is nearly deafening in the wake of Ava’s
voice, and I can’t help but wonder if that was really her name at
all. I rise from the couch to switch off the machine, still lost to
the tale I just journeyed.
    Beatrice leaps down onto the floor and
arches her back, digging her claws into the lush carpet before
dashing toward the kitchen. My wine glass is still half-full,
forgotten on the side. My notebook is a mess of frantically
scribbled notes, thoughts on the elations and heartaches that Ava
experienced during her story.
    Countless questions plague me. Are
Ethan and Ava still together? Did she move beyond her first love to
truly embrace her second chance? Did they find their happiness in
each other’s arms, or did Ava run again?
    I suppose not everyone gets their
happily ever after. Some do, just not in the way they expected or
planned. Ava and Ethan’s story will stay with me long after I put
down my pen and retire for the evening. A tale of pain, loss,
healing, and a love that could see past all of the flashing bright
lights and seedy back rooms to a pure girl who was running from
herself.
    Setting my notebook aside, I stretch
my arms over my head and stare outside, where night has fallen over
the city. An array of street lamps, headlights, and illuminated
office windows twinkle like stars before me. So many lives being
lived out there.
    Maybe that is the lesson I can take
from Ethan’s story. The only way to truly live is to go after what
you want most, no matter the consequences or the time it takes to
acquire it. If something is meant to be, it will happen.
    Staring out over a city I am slowly
coming to love, I know what I fear most with my mystery man isn’t
his immediate rejection. It’s that I might only be allowed a little
taste of happiness, and that simply will never be
enough.
     

Looks what’s coming
soon…
     
    One Hard Ride

     
    Growing up in a small town
in the Midwest, where everyone knows her name and her business,
Olivia is untouchable. Preacher’s daughter. Good girl. Excellent
student. She is going places and Gage Memphis has no business
knocking on her door, but that doesn’t stop her from wishing he
will.
    Gage knew he wasn’t good enough for Olivia Sinclair when she took
notice of him back in high school. Born on the wrong side of the
tracks. A lengthy womanizing reputation. Dead end mechanic job. The
bane of her Daddy’s existence. Gage is all kinds of wrong for
Olivia, but she is the only girl for him. Determined not to let his
second chance pass him by, Gage discovers that one ride with Olivia
will never be enough.
     
    Coming July
12 th , 2015.

 
    Four the Night
     

     
    People like to call Vegas
“Sin City.” Seems fitting enough for Cash Madison. By the time he
leaves the glittering lights of the Strip, he knows he will be
making regular visits to confession to make up for it.  His
friends decide Vegas is the place to celebrate his 21st birthday,
without his girlfriend, and Cash is game for anything. When a
not-so-innocent bet puts his pride on the line, Cash is goaded into
attempting to bed four women in less than eight hours.
 
    But what happens in
Vegas...sometimes comes back around to kick you in the
ass.
     
    coming Aug