Driven(book one)(121)

His brow creases momentarily as the tears that burn the back of my throat well in my eyes and spill over. The hurt from his callous words turning my stomach and wringing my heart. My head tells my legs to move—to leave—but my body doesn’t listen. When I just stand there, dumbfounded and shell-shocked, he grabs my bag from the bathroom counter and strides forward to shove it forcefully against my chest, propelling me backward through the door I had just entered. “Out!” he grates through gritted teeth, growling at me for good measure. His bare chest heaving. His pulse pounding in his temple. His fists clenched. “I’m bored with you already. Can’t you see that? You’ve served your purpose. A quick amusement to bide my time. Now I’m done. Get out!”

Blinded by tears, I fumble with my bag and run blindly down the stairs. I can feel the weight of his stare on my back as I descend. I race through the house, my heart lodged in my throat and my head an absolute mess. My chest hurts so bad that pain radiates in it as I drag in each labored breath. Thoughts elude me. Hurt engulfs me. Regret fills me for I thought what between us was so much more.

I burst through the front door and into the brightness of the early morning sun, but all I feel is the darkness in my heart. I stagger, drop my purse, and fall to my knees to retrieve it. I sit like that, staring at a beautiful morning, but seeing none of it.

Letting the tears wash over me.

Allowing the humiliation to consume me.

Feeling my heart break into two.





THE END

Colton and Rylee’s journey

continues in Book #2 of The Driven Trilogy

FUELED

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I HAVE TO START by thanking my husband, friend, and partner in crime, J.P. When Rylee and Colton started buzzing around in my head, he looked at me and said, “What are you waiting for, write the book already. Quit talking about it and just do it!” So thank you for pushing me to take the chance. And then when I started dragging my feet with nerves whether the story was good enough, thank you for telling me to press the “go” button repeatedly. Thank you for keeping the kids happy and entertained so that mommy had time to write. And for trying to understand that even when a scene was stressing me out, the chance to write, allowed me to relax. Thank you for understanding and not being upset the many times when you went to bed alone and I stayed up with Colton for a little while longer. And more important than anything, thank you for telling me endlessly how beautiful I am, inside and out, even when I felt/feel ugly. Your words have given me confidence and a sense of self that I’ve lacked for so long.

To my three wonderful, beautiful, demanding, headstrong, passionate, loving and very active children for letting mommy sit at the computer a minute longer than she should have when you needed a refilled glass or help with something so that I wouldn’t lose that thought in my head. You’ve taught me what true, unconditional love is and that a bad day truly can be erased with the grace of your smile, the sound of your giggle, or the squeeze of your hug. You are my world, my life, my happiness. I love you.

To my parents, who have probably read every horrible and not so horrible story I have written throughout my life, thank you for always being my number one fan and believing in me. For always surrounding me with positivity and encouragement. For taking chances in life to show me that most times the risk is worth it. For showing me humility, that sometimes less is definitely more, and for demonstrating what true love looks like. Thank you for always wanting more for me than you ever had.

To my sister, for always being great at everything so that I always had a bar to hold my accomplishments against. Thank you for being my friend and an ear to use when I needed it the most.

To the rest of my family (MC, SB, RK, BB) and everyone else I’m not mentioning, thank you for your support. To AK, for sharing my love of reading as well as helping promote my book—and for being the only person I can ask what the rating is on a book and knowing exactly what I’m talking about. Thank you to all my other friends that didn’t look at me like I was crazy when I told them I wrote a book and for being supportive (even if it’s not their type of book) – you know who you are, so thank you.

Thank you to Sarah Barbour at Aeroplane Media for the wonderful copy-editing on Driven and for unknowingly soothing my nerves with some of her comments. Thank you to Deborah at Tugboat Designs for not telling me “What?” when I said I don’t know what I wanted but that I definitely didn’t want a person on the cover. And then when she gave me mock images, for not getting whiplash when all of the sudden I knew exactly what I wanted and it was definitely the image of the woman’s hip that we ended up using.

Thank you to all of the BLOGGERS out there! If you didn’t do what you do on your sites, there would never be a chance for independent authors such as myself to succeed. So thank you for reading my emails, accepting my ARC’s, offering to give me space on their blogs, and for taking the time to read a debut novel and offer a review—especially during a crazy month with so many other great releases. Thank you for being patient with me as I figured out the correct protocol in going about all of this. Thank you for taking the chance on me. A special thank you to Emily of the SubClub—you were the first person to finish the ARCs I sent out and your comments allowed me to own the confidence I felt in the story I’d written. Thank you to Jess from Fab, Fun, and Tantalizing Reads for commenting on Goodreads as she read her ARC and starting a buzz about Driven on that site.