Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 69772 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69772 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
One word. Two consonants. Five letters. Two people.
Quinn James Carter met Solei Shayne Rodriguez his senior year of high school.
At first, he tried to stay away from her. But the heart wants what the heart wants, and if there were two people in this world who were meant to be together, it was Shayne and him.
Sadly, life doesn’t work out like you plan.
A single, brash, knee-jerk reaction has them both deciding that their relationship is never going to work. A cop and a notorious criminal’s sister can’t have a happily ever after, can they?
Consequently, they go their separate ways.
They live their lives.
And time after time, they come right back to each other, giving the term ‘toxic relationship’ a new meaning.
Anger, jealousy, hurt, and pain run hand in hand with their persistent need to stay in each other’s lives, no matter if it’s in a healthy way or not.
But eventually, time catches up to them.
Fate decides their path for them, and one of them has to wind up nearly dead for them to admit that they can make it work if they want to. They only have to try.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Part One
Before Shayne + Quinn
A harmless man is not a good man. A good man is a very dangerous man who has it voluntarily under control.
—Germaine to Quaid
QUINN
I clocked her the moment she walked in the room.
“Who. Is. That?” I said to no one in particular.
The table holding my brothers collectively turned to look at who I was talking about, and a few of them drew in deep breaths upon the sight of her.
“That’s Shayne Rodriguez,” Quincy announced as he turned around. “That’s the girl Ande’s been talking about for ages.”
It was second semester of my senior year.
Our sisters, Addison and Ande, were three years younger than us.
Though, technically, they were more like two-and-three-quarter years younger than us, but three was easier to say.
“That’s the gang leader’s sister?” I felt my stomach drop.
Out of all the people who could’ve walked into this place and caught my eye, I had to be intrigued by the gang leader’s sister?
My mom was going to kill me.
My mom and dad were both cops for Dallas Police Department.
My grandfathers were, too.
If there was a single person in this school I didn’t need to be hanging out with, it would be her.
My mom had already had a serious talk with Ande as she spoke to her about the dangers of being associated with Shayne but Ande hadn’t listened.
Apparently, they were soul mate best friends, and it didn’t matter what we said to her. They would remain best friends because that was just how it was going to be now. No matter who she had to piss off in the process.
“How do you know who she is?” my brother, Auden, asked.
Auden was younger, but didn’t look it.
We were all the same size and build, though that was likely due to our parents’ inability to allow us any free time. When we weren’t playing sports, we were outside working. When we weren’t doing chores, we were actually working.
Speaking of work…
“Hey, Quincy, can you take my shift today at the video store?” I asked. “I have a paper due.”
“I’ll take it if you write mine, too.” Quincy shrugged.
“Deal,” I said as I gathered my trash and headed toward the exit.
After dropping the remnants of my lunch off into the trash can by the door, I left, only looking once over my shoulder as I did.
My eyes connected with those of the newcomer.
Momentarily, I was stunned by her light gray eyes.
They were something out of a magazine, or a freakin’ movie.
They looked almost unreal.
And her hair.
It was long, black, thick, and straight, coming to a stop somewhere right above her hips.
Hips that went on for days.
She gave the perfect example of pear-shaped.
Great breasts, curvy legs and ass.
She was the epitome of pin-up model perfection.
But she looked at me like I was a new and interesting bug that she hadn’t quite figured out yet.
I hesitated in the doorway, staring at her, temporarily forgetting my parents’ warnings. However, just as I had the thought of going back inside, she turned away from me and gave me her back.
Maybe I’d imagined everything…
I didn’t imagine anything.
Not a damn thing.
The first time I talked to her was when she came into Mr. Glee’s class and took the seat right in front of me.
I had to tap her on the shoulder and ask her to move her hair when I went to take the pop quiz that Mr. Glee had handed out the moment that the tardy bell rang.
She’d moved it, but not before saying a husky, “I’m sorry.”
From that moment on, I was hooked.
I was drowning, and it was the sweetest death I’d ever experienced.
Too bad I couldn’t freeze time. Make everyone forget where we both came from.
I can’t prove this, but I swear I used to be smarter, funnier, and less tired.
—Shayne’s secret thoughts
SHAYNE
2 years later
“I’m sorry, but what?” I laughed at the joke Quinn made, thinking that I surely hadn’t heard him right.
But no, he repeated the words, and there wasn’t a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
“I think we should break up.”
I tilted my head, unsure what to say to that.
“What are you talking about, Quinn?” I asked, voice slightly hurt.
He looked down at his hands. “I joined the force today.”
My stomach dropped.
“You’re not twenty-one,” I countered.
He shrugged. “I’m a few months away from twenty-one.”
I opened my mouth and then closed it.
“But what about school?” I continued. “You’re not even finished with your degree. What about the Marines? You can’t become an officer if you don’t finish your degree.”
He was going to school for criminal justice with a minor in criminology. Once he’d finished that, his entire life plan was to go into the military as an officer.
I mean, sure, we’d talked about him going into the police academy, but ultimately, he’d decided to finish his degree first. Do the Marine thing. Then, when everything he’d wanted to do had been done, he’d consider the police academy.