Between Forever, page 1
CHRISTA LYNN
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, organizations, and events are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual person’s, living or dead, events or situations is purely coincidental. This book includes intense sexual themes and profanity. This work of fiction also contains sensitive subject matter, of which the author is not an expert, nor has the author experienced the sensitive issue enclosed herein.
Except as provided by the United States Copyright Act of October 1976, Public Law number 94-553 no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher and author.
Copyright © 2018 Christa Lynn
All Rights Reserved
Cover Model: Chase Ketron
Photographer – FuriousFotog
Cover Designer - Concierge Literary Designs
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Time
Love
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Other works by Christa Lynn
Sneak Peek into Batteries Not Included
Acknowledgements
Well, this book took me some time to finish, as I wanted it to be right. I hope you enjoy it.
First of all, I need to thank my own person ass kicker, Kimberly Dean. Girl, you and I go way fucking back (30 years or so) and I’m so very thankful to have you in my life. You’ve been with me every step of the way during my writing journey, and you’ve never let me down. You kick my ass when needed and let me cry on your shoulder when I need that. Thank you for being my Ethel.
Thank you to my beta readers: Lonnie Hebert, Tara Greseth, Dusty Payne, Helena Rizzuto, Mandy Hellam and Tammy Becraft. Your spying eyes helped divert crisis after crisis. Thank you for reading and for your hard work and scrutinizing brains.
Thank you to my very special PA, Eva Poole. Girl, you came to me right when I needed you to the most. I can’t wait to see what our friendship and business relationship have in store.
And most of all, thank you to my readers. Because without you reading my books, I’d not write them. I write for you guys, so that you have an escape from the real world and can lose yourself in my words. I hope you enjoy this book as much as you have my others.
Now, stop crying and get to reading! Evan and Trudi await you.
Time
It’s something we have plenty of, but never enough.
It stands still as my knees penetrate the wet ground at the foot of her headstone. “Now I have forever,” is the engraving. Every night before bed, her warm body up against mine, “Now we have forever.” She’d whisper that to me before she’d fall asleep. It was even engraved into our wedding bands. Only her’s is on her finger, and she’s six feet under.
I still wear mine, three years later, and I can’t bear the thought of taking it off. I know I should, she’d want me to move on. But I can’t; not yet anyway. My life stopped when hers did. Now, my time is passed with a bottle in my hand and my dick in whatever bimbo I can find that’ll spread her legs for me. What used to be a fun past time, now gets me through the long days and even longer nights.
Sometimes I feel her next to me whispering; “Now we have forever.” But she’s not there. Her side of the bed is cold and made up. I sleep on top of the covers because she’s not under them.
She’d hate me for the man I’ve become, but when she died, something in me died with her. This is how I cope, wrong or right; it’s who I am now.
A man with too much time on my hands, and no more forever.
Love
It’s something so many never find, or it slips between their fingers.
It’s right in front of him, but he can’t see it through the bottom of a bottle. When his wife died, he crashed and burned. But he kept burning the candle at both ends, and now he’s so far gone even he doesn’t know who he is.
I’ve watched him self-destruct for months now, keeping just enough distance to be able to catch him when he crashes. He continues to grieve over his dead wife while I’ve bailed him out of jail, held his ponytail while he puked his guts out and held him in my arms when he cried. I’ve watched him take home any woman he could find, while I’m standing right in front of him.
But he doesn’t see me anything more than a crutch; a pillow to land on when he falls. I can’t bear it anymore. He’s a fraction of the man he once was, and no matter what I do, I’ll never be able to bring him back.
I deserve my own forever.
Chapter 1
Fourteen Years Ago
“There he is,” I giggle as he struts down the English hall, his entourage falling in his footsteps. Evan Wallace, the star quarterback for the Camden County Football team. He made the State All-Star team as a junior in high school, and rumor has it, colleges are already trying to recruit him.
“Careful Trudi, your glasses are fogging up,” my best friend Lani tells me as she nudges me in the shoulder. I push my black-rimmed glasses back up my nose as Evan turns back around, his green eyes catching my brown ones. “He’s looking at you,” she whispers in my ear.
“No, he’s not,” I say as the blonde bombshell Lindsay Buchannan saunters up to his arm, taking it and smiling up at him like he’s a dreamboat. Well, he is. But she’s his dreamboat, has been since Freshman year.
“You’ve crushed over this guy since Algebra in the 9th grade, Trudi. You need to introduce yourself.”
“Oh right, and he’s gonna drop Lindsay like a hot potato for me? Pahlease, Lani. You and I both know we are not in the same league. He lives on the North side of town; I’m on the Southside. Those two don’t merge well, and you know it.” I say as I squeeze my books close to my chest. The warning bell rings, and Lani stands at attention.
“Gotta get to class, see you after school?”
“Yeah, I’ll meet you at the goal posts.”
“Ok, bye!” She squeals as she takes off down the hallway to her class. I shove my way into my English class and find my seat in the back of the room. Terrance Black who sits behind me is smiling as I walk in between the rows of desks.
“Hey Tru,” he croons.
“Hey Terrance,” I respond, shoving my books under the desk and taking a seat. My loose bun has come free, so I pull the remaining pins out and let my black hair fall down my back, before pulling it up into a pony.
“You’ve got such pretty hair,” he grunts as his fingers tug on my ponytail.
“Stop Terrance,” I say like a robot because he’s always playing with my hair. This is the reason why it’s still up in a bun, to keep his nerdy fingers out of it. I wrap my hair around and start putting the pins back in, only to keep Terrance out of it.
“What are you doing this summer?” He leans his desk forward.
“Working,” I say curtly.
“You got a job?”
“Yeah,” I say, but I dare not tell him where. He’ll be hanging out daily, and I can’t handle that.
“Where at?” He asks, but thankfully the teacher walks in and drops his bag on his desk. Two more days of school, I keep telling myself. I only need to get through two more days of this hell and then summer break. I’ll get to sleep in, stay up late and do what I want. The teacher passes out our exams, and the room goes silent while we go through the hundred questions. This exam is needed to pass the eleventh grade. We’ll be seniors next year, the top of the food chain.
I’m known as a nerd in Camden County High School. I get straight A’s, and I’m in the running for Valedictorian next year. All I have to do is keep my grades up, and I’ll nail it. I already have colleges and universities offering me scholarships and grants; I just need to decide which way to go. I finish my exam before anyone else, and I’m quietly excused to the cafeteria, where everyone goes when they finish their exams. The school doesn’t like us staying behind and find ways to help the others cheat.
As I walk into the cafeteria, there are about five other students in there, mingling in the corner near the doors outside where kids go to smoke. I imagine they Christmas tree’d their exams just to be done with it, and now they wait until the bell rings to head to their next class, where they’ll probably do the same thing.
I sit down and pull out my book and bury my nose in it, ignoring the stares from the potheads in the corner. People hate that I’m smart, and the bullies come out in full force at exam time. Those guys will be lucky to graduate, and half of the lower classmen will drop out over the summer. Our school is so divided that you can almost see the red line painted down the main hallway.
The popular kids from the North Side and the potheads from t
Problem is, the community pool serves both the North Side and the South Side, so I also had to take a self-defense class on top of the lifeguard certification class, even though I’ll be serving up drinks, ice cream, and pretzels. Typically there are police on site, keeping the pool area as safe as they can, but sometimes things get out of hand, especially after the sun goes down and the families with kids go home.
The pool opens this weekend, so I will only have two days to deal with my deadbeat mom. She’s why I’ve studied so hard in school. With my grades, I have a one-way ticket out of Camden, and once I’m gone, I’ll never go back. But I still need to get through my exams and graduation; then I can move on and leave this place behind.
The bell rings, jolting me out of my thoughts and I gather my things and head to my next exam. I’ll be the first one finished again and back in here waiting for everyone else to finish. Why they schedule them all in one day, I’ll never know. As I stand up, one of the North Side floozies brushes past me, purposely knocking my bag onto the floor and kicking it across the room while her friends are to the side, laughing. I could jump on her and beat her ass, but I don’t. I just get to my knees and gather my things. Before I can stand up, a crisp white pair of tennis shoes enters my vision. I push my glasses up and look up, only to see Evan Wallace looking down at me, smirking.
My heart jumps out of my chest, and I quickly stand with my bag and duck around him, not looking back. Was it his girlfriend that bumped into me? I shake my head, because I don’t know, or care. I feel their eyes on me as I leave the cafeteria and head to my Calculus class for my final exam of the day. Tomorrow is just a formality at school, signing yearbooks and a silly ice cream social, then we’re done for the year. And done with this town.
“Yo dude! Did you see that girl staring at you?”
“Yeah, she’s had the hots for me since Freshman year,” I say with a laugh.
“You should fuck her,” Andy says.
“Hell no, might catch something,” I laugh, keeping up the bully persona for just a few more days. “Plus, with Lindsay by my side, who needs that skanky snatch.” I laugh, my boys laughing behind me. One more summer and I’m off to play football at State since I got a full athletic scholarship. I managed to keep my grades just high enough to keep me eligible to play, but I couldn’t give a shit about that. Once I get to State, then I’ll kick ass and move onto the NFL. I just know it, my agent said so too.
Lindsay sashay’s up to me in the hallway as we move towards our classes, her floral scent invading my nose. Her blonde hair and perky tits keep me coming back for more. We’ve been together since Freshman year, and I plan to marry her, once I’m out of college. She puts up with my antics, and I put up with hers, but we’re a match made in heaven. I never thought I’d fall in love in high school of all places, but I have, and I can’t imagine living without her. We had to convince her dad that we’re meant to be as he’s the Mayor of Camden, and he won’t settle for anything else for his baby girl.
“You need to play the field man, you’ve been with Lindsay since ninth grade,” Andy says quietly in my ear.
“No way,” I say pulling Lindsay closer to me. I give her quick kiss as I make my way into my English class for the final exam and she skips off to her American Lit class for hers. One more day after this and we can get on with summer. Days at the pool, fighting with the South Side kids and drinking beer in the woods. Camden is such a small town that there isn’t much to do, so we manage to find trouble.
My crew and I watch Lindsay get cocky with that nerd girl, knocking her books out of her hands. We laugh, but the look on nerd girl’s face bugs me, so I go over to help her pick her stuff up, only she’s done before I get there. When she realizes who’s standing in front of her, the look of fear fills her eyes. She runs off before I had the opportunity to say something to her, even though I have no idea what I was going to say. I hate the feud between the North and South sides, but the South Side kids egg it on, asking for a fight. And we’ll give it to them, though lately, they’ve been bringing weapons rather than fighting with their bare hands.
I like a good fight, but I can’t get into the middle of most of it, or I’ll lose my free ride to State, and that’s my one-way ticket out of this crap town. Lindsay is headed to State too, so she’ll stay by my side the entire way. Then we’ll move to whatever city I get drafted to. I’m confident that’ll happen, I have to be. It’s my only way. Sure, I’ll get a degree at state, but football is my life, my future.
We finish the school day, and as I’m headed towards my F150 in the parking lot, I see that nerdy girl sitting on the hill beside the goal posts. She has papers spread about her and those black rimmed glasses framing such an intense green. Her dark hair is pulled into a tight bun, and her pencil is in between her full lips, and suddenly I realize that she’s kinda cute. Nerdy, but cute.
I watch her for a few minutes before Lindsay comes up, “Hey sexy, take me home?” She whispers in my ear.
“Sure,” I say with a smile and take her hand. As we’re walking away, I see out of the corner of my eye a bunch of my friends, lurking around the nerdy girl on the hill. I stop to watch, but Lindsay pulls me back towards her and tugs me towards the senior parking lot.
“Why do you keep looking back at that girl?” She asks, a hint of jealousy in her voice.
“I just…I just think we should leave her alone.”
“But she’s from the Southside,” she giggles. I drop her hand, and it falls to her hip.
“And? What if YOU were from the South Side? Why do these battles go on? Some people are rich, some aren’t, but that’s no reason to constantly fight.” I bark.
“Easy, Evan. It’s been a turf war here longer than you, and I have been alive. It’s a small town, divided into two demographics. Our parents lived it, our grandparents lived it…and now we’re living it.”
“But why can’t we end it? It’s so unnecessary.”
“When did you become Mr. Humanitarian?” She chuckles.
“I dunno, I saw the look in her eyes when you knocked her books out of her hands earlier.”
“Oh pooh, she’s a nerd. She means…”
“Don’t say it, Lindsay. She’s still a person, and she’s obviously doing what she can to get out of this shit town too.”
“Okay, Mr. Good Guy…let’s go, I have to be at work by four o’clock.” We make our way across the parking lot, and I open the passenger door to my truck and watch Lindsay climb in, her short skirt exposing her crisp white panties. I place my hand on her ass and she giggles.
“Stop that,” she whispers. I wink at her as she buckles her seat belt. I close the door and round the front, and the nerd girl catches my eye as she comes up the hill. I glance in her direction but climb into the truck to take Lindsay home. As I drive, my mind travels to the day I can get out of this town.
Chapter 2
“Well, I’ll be damned, look what the cat dragged in,” Lani asks me as her eyes lift from her beer.
“Who?” I ask, scanning the bar.
“You, of all people can’t pick him out of a crowd?” Lani laughs. I nudge her on the arm and continue my eye drift of my favorite bar, Grungy’s. It’s a total dive bar with a mix of clientele…from rednecks to suits. But in the end, most of them are looking for one thing and one thing only.
“I don’t see anyone familiar.”
“Look closer,” she says, her eyes cutting over to a guy in the corner with a shot glass and a full bottle of Johnny Walker. Tan skin, long hair pulled back into a ponytail, full beard and sad, sad eyes. I know those eyes though, the clearest shade of blue I’ve ever seen, though. Fuck, “Evan Wallace? Is that really him? What the fuck happened to him?”
