Finding Evan re-releases on March 29th – SIX days!
Ness and Evan’s story continues from Because of Lucy in this emotional new adult romance. Ness and Evan return to Leeds from Europe, and begin their new life together. But the past Evan has buried for years resurfaces and threatens their future.
Today I’m sharing a scene from the book.
Finding Evan is available for PRE-ORDER here exclusive to Amazon:
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Excerpt
NESS
When Evan appears, he’s jacketless despite the cool day. I shiver; just looking at him in his thin T-shirt makes me cold but also warm inside. I can’t help but feel a little smug when I take in the sight of my hot-as-hell boyfriend. With his damp-chested, mussed hair, post-workout look, he fuels the less than clean thoughts I have about him as I watch.
Evan doesn’t notice me at first; he’s on the phone and his eyebrows are pulled together in consternation. I recognise his hunched stance as frustration, and suspect he’s talking to his sister. Evan rests against the pillar outside as he continues his conversation, oblivious to those around.
A slender girl with long blonde hair passes me with her equally blonde friend. I watch them. Do they share the same box of hair dye to go with their identical straightened hair and designer gym gear?
“Book me in with him,” one of them says and giggles.
I jump to alert. There’s only one ‘him’ in the vicinity.
“Nope, all mine. Twice a week.” The giggling intensifies, and an unfamiliar feeling creeps across my scalp when it’s apparent they’re talking about Evan. Jealousy.
“He can get me hot and sweaty anytime!”
I tense at their immature sizing up of my boyfriend. Then I find myself doing something I didn’t intend. I stalk across the path towards Evan and dump my bag on the floor.
Evan’s eyes widen in surprise and he finishes the call. “Ness!”
Without a word, I slowly moisten my lips, and his eyes darken as I move in to kiss him. Evan grabs my rear and pulls me against his soaked chest, crushing his mouth against mine. He smells of workout sweat and deodorant, a mingled scent I associate with Evan – and sex. Tongue darting into my mouth, Evan holds me tighter. I’m lost in time for a moment, until Evan peels me off him.
“Well, that was an unexpected surprise.” He regards me with shining eyes. “Not like you.”
I smile up at him, loving his reaction. “I brought you lunch.”
“Suddenly, I’m not very hungry.” The intent almost has my agreement, but I control myself.
“I am. I brought a picnic.” I rummage in my bag, and from the corner of my eye, I spot the girls staring at us. An immature sense of triumph fills me. God, I might as well just stamp my name and phone number on his head.
“Damn. Okay then.” He kisses the top of my head and laces his fingers in mine. I disentangle them and push Evan’s arm over my shoulder, wrapping mine around his waist. If I’m going to behave like I’m fifteen, I may as well continue. I shoot the girls a look on the way past.
We find a picnic spot on campus nearby, a wooden bench amongst the trees, autumn leaves at our feet. I snap open the container lids and hand Evan a fork.
“Picnic? That’s my thing.” He peers into the container. “Looks good. Makes me think of Santorini.”
My face heats at the memory of that particular town – and what we did on the beach. In the dark. The curve to his mouth when he meets my red face draws me back from the sandy memories.
“I’m glad this is distracting you,” I say.
“Distracting me?”
“The last week or so you’ve seemed like you’re carrying stuff again. Is Lucy okay?”
Evan scratches the edge of his eye. He doesn’t realise, but he does this when he’s about to hide something from me. “She’s okay. Well, not really. But nothing major.”
After a few moments, I realise this is the limit of his conversation on Lucy. So I dig into my salad and close my eyes, wishing we were back in Greece. Carefree. I open an eye – life isn’t like that. Evan stabs at his salad; he has some sauce by his mouth, so I rub it off with my thumb.
Catching my hand, he sucks off the sauce, firing heat inside me. “Thanks for this,” he says. “It’s always nice to have extra time for us.”
“Come over tonight?” I suggest.
“Of course.”
“But I have early classes tomorrow.”
“I’ll get you to bed early,” he says, and leans over, running his tongue along my bottom lip. I inhale sharply, and he laughs against my mouth.
I lick the salty sauce he left on my mouth and his eyes zone in. We’re sharing a picnic and somehow it’s become an exercise in eye sex. We really need to spend more time together.
“You still okay for Saturday?” I ask, pushing a forkful of food into my mouth.
“Saturday?”
“The MedSoc thing?”
“Shit.”
“What?”
“I have to go to Lancaster. I promised Lucy…” He trails off and focuses on his food.
Heart plummeting back into the realm of insecurity, I breathe deeply. “So no then?”
“I forgot. I’m sorry.”
“I told you weeks ago about this night! This is important. You always complain I don’t involve you in this stuff.” The attempt at hiding my irritation fails.
“I said I’m sorry,” he says, tone hard.
“Fine. There’ll be other times.” I stab a piece of feta and look the other way as I eat.
We continue our meal in silence. “What did you promise her?”
He looks up sharply. “Lucy? Just Lucy stuff. I should’ve thought. Sorry.”
I sink back against the bench with enough force to show Evan I’m pissed off with him. Evan doesn’t react and we finish our picnic in silence. He promised we’d go to the MedSoc night together. Does Lucy really need him that much he’d let me down? Evan said it’s nothing major, and he’s lying. So much for revisiting the summer today. What we’re doing now is rewinding to last year. To Lucy and whatever the hell Evan isn’t telling me.
***
Read the first book Because of Lucy exclusively on Amazon. FREE on Kindle Unlimited.
Ness watches girls fall over themselves for Evan’s attention, but she has no interest in the hot English student who includes poetry in his seduction techniques.
Evan is amused by the uptight girl who refuses to fall for his charms, and engages in a battle of wits to win her over. But Evan is struggling with a side of his life he keeps hidden and the secretive behaviour threatens his new relationship with Ness.
When everything falls apart, Ness and Evan are both faced with difficult choices. All because of Lucy.
