All
of the Rogers
by
Erin Lockwood
Genre:
YA Psychological Romance
"How
can you love someone so much and need space from them at the same
time?"
My
alarm goes off at four am. It takes an hour to get to the studio, and
then my ballet training begins. I go to school for a few hours, and
then it’s back to the studio for more training. Go to bed. Repeat
the whole process the next day.
I
hate it.
My
time at school is a blur, except for biology. I don’t rush through
that class, because I get to see Roger Byrnes. He probably doesn’t
even know I exist, but my heart beats a little faster when I see him
walk through the classroom door with his messy hair and carefree
attitude. He has so much energy. But then he stares off into the
distance, and I wonder what he’s thinking. It’s the highlight of
my day.
I
wish I could quit ballet so I could be a normal teenager. Someone who
Roger would want to be with. I could use some excitement in my life…I
bet Roger could give that to me.
Roger keeps running with me screaming over his shoulder, and I’m getting
seriously worried he’s not going to slow down when he reaches the ice-cold
Pacific Ocean. I can feel the freezing wet splashes on my legs, and as he runs
into deeper water, some of the splashes reach up to my face.
I’ve been playfully kicking and screaming for him to put me down, but now,
I’m gripping his upper back, not wanting him to lower me at all. Don’t let the
turquoise water of Carmel fool you; it’s damn cold, even in the summer. Girls
wear bikinis on the beach, and surfers wear wetsuits all year-round. Even I
know that.
“You broke a promise,” he says while his arm grabs me from over his shoulder
and moves me down.
The muscles in my legs bulge, and I clench them around his upper body,
holding myself high up on his shoulder.
“What are you? A cat?” he says, confused, as he tries to figure out what I’m
doing with my body.
I grab on to his head and use it as leverage to clench my thighs together over
his other shoulder. “I never broke a promise,” I say, unashamed. The only
emotion going through me right now is fear of going into the ice cold water. “I
never promised to call you.”
“Oh, that hurts my feelings,” he says dramatically.
He reaches up and tries one more time to pull me off of him, but I’m too
strong.
“How the hell are you stronger than me?” he exclaims, clearly frustrated that
he’s tried twice to throw me in the water with no success.
All he’s been able to do is make me slip down his body a little. My one leg is
still draped over his shoulder, and the other is wrapped around his back,
holding on for dear life. My face has moved from over his head to right in front
of his nose.
“Ballerinas are a lot stronger than you think,” I say with a calm, even breath.
I’ve never kissed a boy before, and right now, I’m staring at one’s lips. They’re
so full and colorful; they look as if they’re full of fruit punch. I wonder what it
would taste like and feel like. If I just move my head a few inches closer…
“Maybe so,” he says, matching my even breath. “You might be stronger than
me, but I’m more clever.” He spreads his arms out, as if he’s going to give
someone a huge hug, and slowly, his body weight shifts back.
“No, no, no, no, no!” I scream once I realize there’s no stopping him from
falling back into the water.
Erin
Lockwood grew up in Castro Valley, California and attended the
University of Oregon, where she graduated in 2003 with a degree in
journalism. From there she moved to Denver and spent the next seven
years searching for the love of her life and building the family of
her dreams.
It
wasn’t long until, with children starting preschool and more time
on her hands, Erin refocused on her career, beginning with a
successful entry into the world of residential real estate as a
Realtor. Free time was spent reading book after book (and
binge-watching the subsequent films) in the New Adult genre. Feeling
hopelessly in love with her husband, she wrote him a short story
leading up to their fifth wedding anniversary. That’s when she
discovered her tireless passion to share her experience of falling in
love through fictional characters. That story evolved into the first
novel in the Angles trilogy.
Erin
still lives in Denver, Colorado with her husband, Phil, and their
three children.
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