Fall Away

Her name is Tate. He doesn't call her that, though. He barely refers to her at all, and he hardly ever speaks to her. But he won't leave her alone. They were best friends once. Then he turned on her and made it his goal to ruin her life. She's been humiliated, shut out, and gossiped about all through school and his pranks and rumors just got worse. But she's done hiding from him, and there's no way she'll allow him to ruin another year. He has not changed, but she has. It's time to fight back.

He travels between fury and indifference with no stops in between. He doesn't care about anything or anyone. Except Tatum. They used to be friends, but he found out that he couldn't trust her or anyone. So he hurt her and pushed her away. Engaging her, challenging her, pushing her, it's the only way he can feel anything. But then she screwed everything up. She left for a year and came back a different girl. Now, when he pushes, she pushes back, and now neither one of them will ever be the same.

She's back. For the two years she's been away at boarding school, there was no word from her. Back when they lived in the same house, she used to cut him down during the day and then leave her door open for him at night. He was stupid then, but now he's ready to beat her at her own game. She won't be scared away or pushed down. She'll call his bluff and fight back. That's what he wants, right? As long as she keeps her guard up, he'll never know how much he affects her.

K. C. Carter has always followed the rules-until she makes a mistake that leaves her the talk of her college campus and brings her carefully arranged life crashing to a halt. Now she's stuck in her small hometown for the summer so she can complete her court-ordered community service. To make matters worse, trouble is living right next door. Jaxon Trent is the worst kind of temptation and exactly what K. C. was supposed to stay away from in high school. But he never forgot her. She was the one girl who wouldn't give him the time of day and the only one to ever say no. Fate has brought K. C. back into his life-except what he thought was a great twist of luck turns out to be too close for comfort. As they grow closer, he discovers that convincing K. C. to get out from under her mother's shadow is hard, but revealing the darkest parts of his soul is nearly impossible.

Everyone wants to be me. Maybe it's the sway of my skirt or the way I flip my hair, but I don't care. Even though their attention is the last thing I crave, I just can't stop. I dominate the track, the speed rattles my bones, and the wind and the crowd screams my name. I'm her. The girl driver. The queen of the race. And I'm surviving-something he thought I'd never do. They all talk about him. Did you see Jared Trent on TV? What did you think of his last race, Tate? When is he coming back to town, Tate? But I refuse to care too much. Because when Jared does come home, I won't be here. Tatum Brandt is gone. I'm someone new.

Quinn Caruthers has several problems: her father, Jason, and her three older brothers, Jared, Madoc, and Jaxon. Under the close watch of the men in her family, Quinn has found it nearly impossible to spread her wings-or even date-without them jumping in to hover. And when a family friend-several years older-from her childhood captures her heart, she knows they're going to be a problem. Lucas Morrow is a man-experienced, sophisticated, and important. And knowing her brothers, he may as well be forbidden. But Lucas left town years ago and shows no signs of returning. Quinn knows she shouldn't wait for him anymore. But then a package turns up on her doorstep with no return address and its contents reveal family secrets that threaten to turn Quinn's world upside down. She's never asked about the tumultuous path of her parents' romantic history, but she soon learns their happy marriage had a very rocky and passionate start. As she begins to see things around her with new eyes, Quinn will have to make tough choices about whether she'll keep waiting . . . or finally go after what she really wants. Contains mature themes.