Because there are two sides to every story…

I’ve never been the guy who shied away from taking the
ball. I’m an athlete; I thrive on the court, and I thrive in life because I
don’t shy away from taking chances.

Except that one time.

Except with Rachel.

I fell in love with my best friend when we were ten, and
she almost put her fist in my face when I tried to defend her against a fifth
grade bully. I didn’t tell her that day that I loved her, or any of the ones
following, because she had proved she didn’t need me, and even at a young age,
I knew the opposite was true for me.

I needed Rachel with every breath I took, and it scared
the ever-loving crap out of me.

Being the mature young man I am (cough), I tried to
ignore it. I dated someone else; I stayed Rachel’s friend and watched her from
afar because when you love someone who has the potential to break you into a
million unrecoverable pieces, that’s what you do.  You watch from afar and
you never reveal your true feelings because it’s safer to hide them than to
admit them.

Until it’s not. Until the day you take a step forward and
alter both of your worlds completely, only to discover that you’ll never, ever
be over her.

This is my story – my story of Rachel and everything I
did and didn’t do, everything I said and forgot to say, and everything I felt
before and after we made our biggest mistake and walked away from each other.

She told her side – now it’s my turn. I’m including our
past, holding nothing back from her ever again, so she better be ready for me.

 ***This is the companion novel to LIFE INTERRUPTED
(The Life series Book 1) released January 2014. It can be read as a standalone,
as it is different from Rachel’s story.

For more information about this book please visit Goodreads and Amazon. 

“Tripp,” Stacy says. I snap to the present. “Are you
ready?”

I wipe my palms on my jeans and nod. “What do you need?”

Following Stacy’s instructions, I walk down the hall into
Rachel’s room. The light is on; I can see the small form under the blankets
before I peel them away and scoop my arms under her even though she protests. I
want her to fight, even prepare myself for it, but right away I see what
Stacy’s talking about. There’s nothing inside of Rachel—even as she attempts to
thrash in my arms, I barely have to tighten my hold on her while I carry her to
the bathroom. The girl who has so often put me on my ass from one punch has no
muscle, and worse, she has no spirit.

Nothing about the girl in my arms right now is the Rachel
I’ve always known. The lack of fight worries me more than the lack of weight.

Stacy’s already pushed the shower curtain back. I put
Rachel inside, ignoring her half-hearted protests as I turn the water on cold
and high. When she screams—the real-deal scream full of terror and anger—the
vise on my chest loosens a little and I’m so grateful I could break down and
weep. My hands are full because she’s putting much more effort into fighting me
than she was a second ago. I forget about how cold the water is on my skin, or
the fact that she looks like a ghost with dark circles under her eyes and a
pasty pallor to her normally warm skin, and I talk to her while I hold her
there.

“That’s right, Rachel, fight me. You fight me and you
come back. Do you hear me? We need you, Rachel. We need you to fight.” She
screams more, shoving at me with her hands, but I don’t budge. I encourage her
as I see the color start to slowly seep into her cheeks. “Come on, baby, come
back to us. Come back to me.”

I whisper the last part. I don’t know if it was the words
or the fact that she’s finally opened up enough to feel the weight of it all,
but she breaks—the dam cracking and flooding. Instead of being angry, she’s
devastated.

My heart cracks and my lungs seize; she falls into a
sobbing heap. I turn the water off and start to lift her into my lap. Whatever
I promised her sister, I can’t do it; I can’t watch her break like this.

For more information about ‘ Life Interrupted’ please visit Goodreads and Amazon.

I am a writer of YA/NA contemporary novels. I write about
those crazy ages of 18-23 because there is nothing scarier than being told to
grow up and decide what to do with your life and who to be so suddenly. I write
about love because it’s my belief that love, in one form or another, saves us
all at some point in our lives. I am married to a man who understands and
believes in me, and mother to a beautiful baby girl and a neurotic Great Dane
Puppy.

For more information about Kristen Kehoe and her books
please visit her website, Facebook and Twitter. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway This event was organized by CBB Book Promotions.