Showing results by author "Carmel Rhodes" in All Categories

The summer after senior year was supposed to be the best summer of my life. It was supposed to be full of adventure and self-discovery and making love under the stars. It was supposed to be about losing myself and finding my way. Only, it wasn’t supposed to start like this. I wasn’t supposed to go to that party. He wasn’t supposed to notice me. The hot jock with the trust fund and chip on his shoulder. My ex-boyfriend’s half brother. Noah Tedesco is so far out of my league he might as well be playing a different game.

My heart doesn’t beat, it ticks. It’s been that way since I was 16 years old and I caught my sister in bed with my boyfriend. I gave my heart to a boy who didn’t deserve it, then spent the next few years indulging in hard drugs and even harder sex. Life is easier when you don’t get attached. Casual. No commitments. That’s the rule. At least it was before he came along.

I’m having an out-of-body experience. At least...I think. Isn’t that what it’s called when your spirit abandons you to watch - from a safe distance, with the appropriate amount of judgement - while you make questionable decisions? Yup, one of those. I want to shout, “Stop, Ellie, don’t do it!” But spirit me doesn’t have a voice. So I watch as she...I...we? - makes a sex contract with her...our...new boss. This is a good time to mention the 45-minute HR meeting we sat through last month expressly forbidding this sort of thing.