We're celebrating the release of Living With Regret by Lisa De Jong! Check out the excerpt below!
Title: Living with Regret (Rain #3)
Author: Lisa De Jong
Age Group: NA
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Cover Designer: Mae I Design
I had my whole life mapped out. Perfect guy. Perfect friends. Everything was exactly the way I wanted it.
That was until that night--the one I can’t remember. It’s all my fault, and now the memories are all I have left of him. Of us.
My guilt drowns me until Sam Shea steps back into my life and helps me to the surface. He slowly opens my heart and crawls deep inside before I even realize what’s happening. I know I don’t deserve him.
While I’m trying to get used to my new life, pieces of that night slowly start to come back to me. Lies and secrets shatter everything I thought I knew.
Maybe I’m not the only one living with regret.
I think back to the day Cory first asked
me out. He was that guy … the one who girls have in mind when they get dressed
for school in the morning. The one you can’t help but smile at when you walk
past, but you tuck your hair behind your ear casually, hoping he doesn’t notice
that you’re staring.
I’d gone to the first high school
party with my friend, Madison. It was a night I’d never forget.
“Will
you quit pulling at your skirt already?” Madison says, pushing my hand from the
hem I’d been tugging at since we walked into the packed house. “It’s supposed
to be that short.”
“I
can’t believe you made me wear this.”
She
rolls her eyes. “You shouldn’t hide your body … especially those legs.”
Shaking
my head, I follow behind her as we weave our way through the crowd. The good
thing about growing up in a small town is I pretty much know everyone here, but
it’s still a who’s who of our high school. I don’t think we should even be
here.
I
spot Sam, my next-door neighbor across the room and start toward him. “Where
are you going?” Madison asks, wrapping her hand around my forearm.
“I’m
going to go talk to Sam.”
“Seriously,
Rachel. You shouldn’t be hanging around him.”
“Why?”
I ask, waving in his direction.
“You
don’t want to be the girl who’s seen with him. People will talk. They’ll make
assumptions.”
Sam’s
quiet and has an aura of darkness that follows him wherever he goes. It might
be the black leather jacket he wears or the classic car he drives. Whatever it
is, most of the girls in our high school find it irresistible, and while some
have had their shot with him, it never goes beyond a night in the backseat of
his Camaro. I asked him about it once, and he told me life’s simpler if you
don’t let yourself get too attached to anyone. It seemed honest because I’m the
only person he’s really ever attached himself to.
People
in town talk about him like he’s a destined felon, simply because his dad went
down that path when he was younger. It didn’t matter that it was almost twenty
years ago when his dad had one minor theft conviction and way before they even
moved here. I guess, in their minds, crime is a genetic, chronic disease but
they don’t know Sam like I do. Over the last seven years, I’ve spent more time
with him than I have anyone in this crowded house—Madison included.
Before
I have a chance to argue with her, I feel a hand squeeze my shoulder, and I spin
around. Cory Connors stands behind me with a cocky grin spread across his
handsome face. His eyes are even bluer than I’d thought, and his light brown
hair is sun-kissed from spending hours outside this summer. He’s the definition
of perfect.
“Hey,
it’s Rachel, right?” he says in his deep, masculine voice. It floats through my
mind like sugar, coating every part of me in happiness.
“Yeah,”
I say, trying to pry my eyes from his full pink lips. They’re hard to look at
without imagining what they’d feel like on mine. Not that I’d really know what
that feels like since I’ve never been kissed. I think about it a lot, though. A
whole lot.
His
grin widens as he follows the path of my eyes. “What are you looking at?”
I
swallow the lump in my throat, shifting my focus up. “Umm … nothing. I mean. I
was—”
He
laughs. “Hey, I was only teasing.” He reaches his hand up toward my face but
quickly pulls it back. “Did you just get here?”
I
nod, still shocked that Cory is actually talking to me. I’m afraid if I say too
much, it’s all going to come out looking like a pile of rubble. And this is
probably the one and only time he’s ever going to talk to me. I have to make it
count.
“I
was just heading outside if you want to come with me,” he says, interrupting my
thoughts.
I’m
frozen in place, staring into his glassy blues. This is my chance, but I’m not
sure I’m ready for it. “I don’t know.”
Madison
pushes against my back, practically sending me straight into his chest. “I’ll
just wait in here, Rachel. Go ahead.”
Before
I have time to argue, he wraps his hand around mine and pulls me toward the
back of the old farmhouse. As I follow close behind, I glance around the packed
room noticing all the sets of eyes on us. Most notably is Sam whose hooded eyes
follow me. When I notice him pushing back against the wall, I shake my head.
He’s always been my protector, but he’s a senior and won’t be around next year.
I need to learn to navigate through life on my own. He stops, his eyes
narrowing in on me, but I quickly look away before he convinces me otherwise.
When
Cory and I step outside, he still doesn’t let go of my hand. I don’t pull it
away either because it feels too good. “Are you having fun?” he asks, so close
I can feel his warm breath against my cheek.
I
open my mouth, but quickly close it again, trying my best to compose myself.
The last thing I want to do is sound like a complete idiot the minute I’m alone
with the god of our freshman class. “I just got here,” I finally reply, gazing
up at him. He’s lit only by the moonlight, and Cory under the moonlight is
something to be seen.
“Well,
you’re staying for a while, aren’t you?” He smiles, and I swear I’ve never seen
dimples like his.
I
nod, feeling his warm finger brush against the skin below my ear. “Good.” His
voice is soft but smooth, like melted butter. Warm tingles run the entire
length of my body. Everything about this suddenly feels right.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lisa De Jong is a wife, mother and full-time number cruncher who lives in the Midwest. Her writing journey involved insane amounts of coffee and many nights of very little sleep but she wouldn't change a thing. She also enjoys reading, football and music. She is the author of When It Rains, After the Rain, Plastic Hearts and Glass Hearts.
Contact: lisadejongwrites@gmail.com, @LisaDeJongBooks
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