“Not really,” I said, lying. “We aren’t to that point yet.” This summer, one day when we wake up, we’re getting on a plane or getting in our car and going wherever we feel like it to say, ‘I do’. We have a license and are just waiting for the perfect day.
“Congratulations, you two!”
“Thanks!” I called to the pack of ladies leaving us to ourselves.
I looked up, finding Liam walking up behind me still in his coach uniform. He carried a small backpack across his shoulder, and a shy grin on his face.
“I could hear them on the field,” he said, nodding toward them, and I giggled.
“Can you blame them?”
“Just so we’re clear, I’d punch a guy for saying that stuff,” he said, grinning.
“Sure, you would.” I placed a small kiss on his cheek. “Good news!”
“You got the job!”
“I got it!” I squealed, jumping into his arms. I wrapped my legs around his waist, kissing him with such passion it made him back me into the bleachers. He patted my backside, setting me down.
“We need to get home. Like now.” I couldn’t have agreed more.
My stomach always did a little flip each time he said ‘home’. Three years into living together, and I still couldn’t get over the fact that I got to come home to him every day. I laced our fingers together as we walked toward our car. Tonight, he was living out his dream. In two months, I would get to start working with a non-profit to help kids of abuse. We had each other. We had our dream jobs. And this summer, we would make it official.
“I love you, Liam Shafer,” I said, grinning at him. He placed a soft kiss on top of my head.
“I love you, too, Autumn. Now let’s get that last name changed.”
THE END.
My biggest thank you goes to Callie at Literary Designs. I can’t stress enough how wonderful you guys are. From logos to promoting, you made this book release process fun and easy. I can’t wait to work with you more in the future.
My editor, Kim Huther at Wordsmith Editing, you were wonderful to work with! You’ll never know how much you helped me. Without you, The Autumn Leaf would’ve never been the story it is today.
For my family, especially my son Avery. Thank you for your patience and understanding as I spent many days and nights away from you to finish this. To my mom, my brother, and husband, thank you for all you do to help me achieve my goals.
And last, but certainly not least, everyone who continues to believe in me. My social media friends, my readers, my small book club, thank you all. I wouldn’t have a reason to write if it wasn’t for you guys!
I have always had a crazy imagination and I loved writing. So, I started writing Forever Careless to see if I had it in me. It was too much fluff for me, however my friends loved it. So, I wrote another, this time I pushed to boundaries of fluff.
One day, while in an awfully bad mood, I thought of a story without a happy ending. One with real problems and real people. A story that was awfully close to my heart. It nagged me constantly. Months later, I sat down and started Hazed. At first, he was going to be a part of the Forever Series. Just come in and wreck their lives. Instead, I went another route.
Only weeks later, hazed was finished. I was obsessed with it. It took me over a year to finish my first novel and weeks to finish this one. I knew what that meant. I liked to write about bad people who do bad things. I like to get inside their minds and feel their crazy. So, if you are looking for hearts and flowers, you will not find them here. My stories are real, and they are not pretty.
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Brittanytarkington.com
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