by Vanessa M. Knight
(A Ritter University Novel)
Publication date: January 26th 2016
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance
Megan Stewart has always been the good girl, living her life imprisoned by others’ expectations, always doing what’s she’s told, waiting for her life to begin. Going to Ritter University is her chance to break away. Her new beginning. To finally get the life she wants. But somehow she’s falling into the same patterns, the same habits. She never takes a chance. Never takes a risk …until Danny.
Danny Jones is the kind of guy every parent fears— tattoos and all kinds of sex appeal, wrapped up in trouble. No one knows the things he’s seen, the things he’s done. They haven’t lived through the shit he’s lived through or earned the scars he has to show for it. No one knows, because he’s never had the time or the desire to let anyone in…until Megan.
They are all wrong for each other, but they can’t stop themselves from rushing in.
Excerpt:
Megan woke to the bright light streaming from the open school-issue tan curtains. Her head rested on Danny’s stomach as his rhythmic breathing moved her head up and down.
Heaven. This was heaven.
The warmth of the hand resting on her naked back, the feel of his leg under her bent knee— he felt amazing.
Last night— perfect.
Today— who knew?
Danny wasn’t known for his stick-ability, date-ability or commit-ability. His abilities were impressive— as he’d proven over and over again last night, but faithfulness was not one of them. The reality of the situation started to sink in. Twelve hours too late. Another snatch in his bedpost. That’s all she was.
She’d known this twelve hours ago. She had. She thought sleeping with him would get him out of her system. But those damn abilities…
He wasn’t out of her system. Not even close. She wanted more. She didn’t want to walk away. She didn’t want to move on. But she knew what she wanted wouldn’t matter. Guys like him didn’t do picket fences, and girls like her wanted them. She couldn’t change who she was any more than he could.”
She inhaled. The scent of citrus and Danny tickled her nostrils. She would miss this. Him. Him this close. Close enough to feel, to smell. She drew in another breath. She just needed one more puff of the addictive ambrosia. After scent-stalking him for another minute or two— maybe ten. Who really paid attention when scent-stalking?— she lifted her arm and inched off the end of the bed.
The man in her bed groaned. “Where are you going?”
Away. She needed to get away. Get far, far away before she couldn’t walk away, before he saw how much she wanted him. She couldn’t let him know hard this truly was to walk away. “Thirsty. Want a drink?” She pulled on a tee as she shuffled across the purple throw rugs her roommate hated and threw open the mini-fridge. A whole bunch of nothing greeted her. “Well, we have water or seltzer water.”
“Seltzer?”
“Leftover from the last Mojito Monday.”
“Mojito Monday?”
“A long tradition here at Dickinson, built on embarrassment and heartbreak. If we’ve raised a mojito to you, well, you suck.”
“Any mojitos raised to me?”
Megan grabbed two bottles of water. She didn’t want to talk about that. A few of the devirginized undergrads had definitely raised a few mojitos to the man lying naked in her bed.
“I probably don’t want you to answer that, do I?” He sat up and took the bottle of water from her outstretched hand.
“Probably not.” She sat on her roommate’s bed, twisted her own bottle cap and took a cooling drink. She’d built up a thirst.
He patted the spot next to him and tilted his head. “Come over here.”
Megan understood the intention of the pat and head lean. She just wasn’t sure she wanted to get close to him again. It was hard enough to walk away the first time. The puppy-dog eyes and gorgeous face pulled at her, though. She got up and sat next to him.
She was weak. So weak.
“So, what are we doing today?” He finished off the bottle of water and replaced the cap. He stood, his rounded ass looking good enough to eat as he tossed the plastic in the garbage bin.
“We? Don’t you have important frat business or something?”
He looped a finger through a wisp of her hair. A warm hand slid down the side of her face, then neck, then… “I have nowhere else I’d rather be than here with you.”
Living in Chicagoland with my husband, son and menagerie of dogs and cats, keeps me on my toes. When not writing or working or playing wife and mom, I love to scrapbook, watch movies and read anything I can find.
