I Promise You: Stand-Alone College Sports Romance(88)
Blaze, his arm looped around a smiling Charisma, looks up and sees us. He’s the starting wide receiver for the New York Jets. “Yo, about time you got here! This party has started, man. Get your ass down here and stoke this fire. It’s going out.”
Damn, I missed him.
“I love you, Serena,” I murmur softly.
She leans against me. “You like it?”
“I’m the luckiest man in the world.”
She takes my hand and we walk down the steps and meet them.
Maverick, a killer player for the Titans in Nashville, slaps me on the back and congratulates me on a good season. I comment on the defensive records he’s broken in football. The man is incredible.
Serena, Bambi, Delaney, Penelope, Chantal, and Charisma drift over to the stream where we strung up fairy lights next to the water. They grab drinks from Nana along the way. I smile as Nana starts talking. She’s probably regaling them with stories of her latest boyfriend Antonio.
Ryker, the starting quarterback for the New York Giants, gives me a bear hug. “Good to see you, man. This place is amazing. We need a ski trip out here.”
“Come anytime you want.”
Blaze gives me an arm punch. “How’s the season looking this fall?”
“Good. Gonna beat you.”
He laughs and gives me a hard time about a sack I took against the Jets’ defense last year.
Sawyer and Blaze compare their stats while Ryker and I discuss summer camp. Maverick talks about winning the Super Bowl and flashes his gold ring. We laugh about the bonfires at Waylon, the girls that captured our hearts. Whether the legend is true or not…
Before long we’ve eaten some fancy tacos and downed some beers and are sitting in chairs around the fire while the girls laugh nearby. Dad and Brianna have taken the girls to bed and Nana has retired to watch TV. Someone, probably Romy, has turned on the speakers, and music plays in the background.
“Girl on Fire” by Alicia Keys comes on and I can’t help but smile around my beer. Serena was listening to it the night she saw me in the Pig. It’s her theme song, and man, it fits her. She looks like a girl, but she’s a flame. My flame.
I glance over at her, and as if she senses me, she turns her head and our eyes cling. Contentment and satisfaction unfurl inside me.
Dandelion, my eyes say. Thank you for loving me, needing me, trusting me. I promise to love you until my dying breath.
She knows my heart is true.
She smiles and blows me a kiss.
Dear Reader,
Thank you for reading I Promise You! I hope you enjoyed Dillon and Serena’s love story! A charmer and a bit of a player (Alexa, play “Womanizer”), Dillon needed a kickass girl, and I couldn’t WAIT to write Serena into his world. Nana and Romy; Sawyer, Troy, and Owen; Chantal and Bambi: I loved them so much. Tentatively, I’m saying this is the last of the Waylon University books although I may do a spin-off someday.
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Reviews are like gold to authors, and I read each and every one. If you have a few moments, please consider leaving a rating or a review for I Promise You.
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A SPECIAL NOTE! Please Read!
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Below I have a short excerpt of Dear Ava, an epic, powerful romance that brought me to my knees when I wrote it. There is a trigger warning for sexual assault. It’s there so you aren’t surprised, and I think that’s important. No, the assault does not happen on the page, but she does recall it, and the incident becomes the driving force for the heroine. I wanted you to be aware of this before you scroll to the end of your kindle. It’s my most highly rated book with over 1600 reviews on Amazon.
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Xoxo, Ilsa MaddenMills
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About: Dear Ava
Dear Ava
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#1 Amazon Charts and WSJ bestselling author Ilsa Madden-Mills delivers a gripping, enemies-to-lovers, secret admirer, high school romance.
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The rich and popular Sharks rule at prestigious, ivy-covered Camden Prep. Once upon a time, I wanted to be part of their world—until they destroyed me.
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The last thing I expected was an anonymous love letter from one of them.
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Please. I hate every one of those rich jerks for what they did to me. The question is, which Shark is my secret admirer?
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Knox, the scarred quarterback. Dane, his twin brother. Or Chance, the ex who dumped me. . .
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Dear Ava, your eyes are the color of the Caribbean Sea. Wait. That’s stupid. What I really mean is, you look at me and I feel something REAL.