Fallen Fourth Down is coming out on 10/4/2014 and all of us at Stephanie’s Book Reports are really excited about it so we decided to do a giveaway to celebrate. We have a signed paperback of Fallen Crest Alternative and some swag up for grabs. We also have teasers for Fallen Fourth Down and Chapter One of Fallen Crest Alternative for you.
LATEST FROM FALLEN FOURTH DOWN:
A bubble of laughter was coming up. I could feel it making its way from my stomach, gliding past my chest, slipping around the lump in my throat, and then my mouth opened and it peeled out. As they heard me, they stopped. I bent over. More laughter kept coming. I couldn’t stop it and I didn’t want to. Kris had the right idea. Get drunk. Not deal with things. That seemed to be working for her. She was popular. She had friends. She was liked. Then I sighed, the laughter subsided, but it was on an anguished note. Even I cringed as I heard with my own ears. I lifted a hand to them, letting it fall back to my side right away. “Look at you two. One thinks he knows me and the other…oh my god. This is a comedy skit. Why was I panicking at the thought of this? This is the best entertainment I could get. You both think you know me when only one was around, but you both left. Now you’re both back. Fuck,” I grunted. My tears started to water and I flicked them away. “You’re both a riot.” Then, just as soon as the tears left me, disgust filled the void.
My stomach rolled over and I shook my head. “Go away. I don’t want to deal with either of you.”
“Sam?”
Turning, hearing music to my ears, Logan was standing there. He was holding his helmet with his dark hair sweaty and sticking up in clumps. His cheeks were smudged with black paint, dirt, and sweat. He had mud and grass stains all over his uniform.
“What are you doing? You have half-time too.”
“I was told to come out here.” He walked forward, then saw David and Garrett. “Fuck.”
Exactly.
In one motion, his arm reached out for me and I went to him. I didn’t huddle there. I stood tall, but I moved into the shelter of him for a moment. One damn second and as I did, he rested his hand lightly on my back. His body was rock solid and I heard a growl in his voice. It started deep in my throat. “What the hell’s going on?”
“Logan.” David sounded exhausted.
Then I started laughing again. “I have to go.”
His hand came down on my back. I started to step back. He kept me anchored to him and his head craned to see me. “Sam? Stay. No.”
I shook my head and pushed off from his chest. “No. I’m going to see Mason.” Mason made me feel better. He always had. He always would. “I’m going to see him. Now.”
“Sam—”
I started down the field, towards the opening in the gate. Then I saw Natalie. She was standing there with the money box in her hands. Of course. They took tickets until half-time. A voice in my head said that, like I was adding what two plus two was. I frowned. That was ridiculous. What was wrong with me?
She rolled her eyes. “My god, could you be more dramatic? I don’t even know what the situation is, but I know the signs. Samantha Strattan, there she goes. Always fucking running.” She gestured to Logan. “He left his locker room to be your protector, but that’s not good enough. You’re running away to Mason. My god. Grow up. Like I said, find your balls and start flashing them around—”
I lunged for her. My hands were in the air and I heard myself scream in the distance, “You want me to find my balls?”
This book was originally written to be the sequel to Fallen Crest High. It was scrapped and not used. Fallen Crest Family was written instead as the number two book in the Fallen Crest Series. However; this version was posted on the author’s page for free reading as a thank you to her readers. After reading what she posted, enough fans requested this story to be published so here it is. This book is not meant to be promoted or a part of the Fallen Crest Series. It has been published at the readers’ requests and it is for them to enjoy. With all this said, please enjoy. The original chapters are still posted for free reading.
Chapter One
When I let myself into Garrett’s new house, I dropped my two bags in the
foyer and walked to the kitchen. It was a large room with granite countertops
and a steel-encased grill in the middle of it all. As I glanced around and
skimmed where his office was, I knew I didn’t need to look further. He wasn’t
there. And then I saw a note left on the counter and grabbed it.
‘Heya,
Sammy. Had to fly to Boston. Be back in deuces. Mi casa es su casa and I mean
that. There’s a tub of condoms in your bathroom. Tell your mom. I live to piss
her off. C ya in dos dias, peaches!
G’
The note fluttered down as I let go of it and turned to survey the house. When
my bio dad had decided to move closer and get to know me, no one had known how
literally he meant it. He moved two houses down from James Kade’s house. And
when he gave me a key, extended his wish that I’d stay with him every now and
then, Analise had flipped a lid. Plates had been shattered. Mugs were thrown
across the room. She kicked a few vases over. When she had picked up a wine
glass, she hesitated and set it back down. As she had done that, Mason and Logan
both bent over in laughter.
James stood in the back and waited. It seemed like he was always waiting, but
when my mom started to quiet down, he scooped her up in his arms and whisked her
from the room. I didn’t hear a word from my mother for three days after that and
whatever James had been telling her, it must’ve worked. A week later my mom
returned to her tea drinking, dress wearing, and fake ways that she’d taken up
when we moved into the Kade mansion.
Analise Summers Strattan was back. Or—well—she was going to be Analise Summers
Kade by the end of the summer. There’d been a hurry order placed on the divorce
hearings and she was excited when she exclaimed the divorce would be final
around Valentine’s Day. My mother had been gleeful when she declared that was
ironic timing.
My hate returned for her at that moment. But she didn’t care. She turned back to
the television with her wine and then her phone started lighting up. I heard
enough to know that she was planning some benefit or banquet event.
I didn’t care.
It wasn’t long before Garrett had extended his first home welcoming. Everyone
had gone, David including, but Analise stayed home. James went in her place. And
I promised Garrett that Friday night to stay with him for an entire week the
next Monday. It was that day today and when I returned home from school to pack,
Analise spoke her first genuine words to me in nearly a month.
“Are you sure you have to go? I don’t think it’s safe. He flies back to Boston
all the time. His firm is still there. What if he’s not there? I don’t want you
to be alone. Sam, it’s not safe. Don’t go. Stay here. You can stay with him
another time when we know he’ll be there for sure. I’m not comfortable with
this.”
It went on and on like that. It was on the tip of my tongue to remind her that I
wouldn’t be alone, but that wasn’t a conversation I wanted to remind her about.
She disapproved of my relationship with Mason and I knew she would always
disapprove. James hadn’t liked it either. There’d been a few tense conversations
between father and son, but Mason never shared what was said. He always shrugged
and commented that James needed to say what he needed to say and then he would
forget for awhile. And that’d been the pattern for the last three months.
When I had finally left the mansion and got into my car, I let out a deep breath
of relief. I loved my mother. I loved my father, David. And I even loved living
with Mason and Logan, but I was excited to live in a house all by myself.
Garrett would be there, I had no doubt, but like Analise had said—a part of me
was okay if he wasn’t. Peace. That’s what I wanted. My life had been too
dramatic for too long now.
But then I got inside, read the note, and a sense of disappointment filled
me.
I really was alone and when I glanced at the clock, I knew it’d be hours until
Mason would show up.
It was five now. I had four hours to kill.
And then I was doing something before I really knew what I was doing. I had my
cellphone out and I had already pushed her number before I realized what was
going on. Then I blinked and I held my breath.
When Becky answered, my heart skipped a beat and my fingers got clumsy. The
phone fell from my hand and I yelled as I bent to scoop it up, “Don’t hang up!
Please. I dropped the phone. I’m coming back. I got it—” I panted as I plastered
my phone against my ear. “Hey! Hi! How are you?”
There was silence on the other end.
I frowned, but rushed out, “You picked up. I’m hoping that’s a good thing. Can
you talk to me? I was really hoping you’d talk to me?”
Then I stopped and the silence grew painful. My heart beat in my ear and I
gritted my teeth, but then she replied in a quiet voice, “Why are you calling
me?”
“Uh, because I miss you. You haven’t talked to me for three months, since…” I
clasped my eyes shut. “I’m just happy that you answered! Thank you. Thank you
for that.”
There was some more silence again.
Then she murmured, “You don’t ever call me, Sam. You were calling. Is something
wrong?”
“No.” I glanced around at the empty house. “Well, I mean, not really. I
mean…”
“What’s going on?”
“You see, my bio dad moved here. Did you know that?”
She seemed in pain as she admitted, “I might’ve heard that, yes.”
“Okay, well, and I told him I’d stay with him for a week and today is the first
day, but he’s not here. He had to fly back to Boston so I’m all alone and this
is a really big place and he has a theatre in the basement. It’s pretty great,
actually. I was thinking we could order a pizza, maybe have some wine even? I
know he’s got a bunch in one of these rooms, but I don’t feel like exploring on
my own and…” My heart was pounding now. “I don’t know who else to call. Do you
want to come over?”
“Why don’t you call Mason or Logan?” She sounded so small.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. It wouldn’t be fun with them.” And they had things to
do after school, like their first basketball practice.
“Oh.”
“So will you come?” I kept my eyes closed and waited.
“It’s the new house close to the Kades, right?”
Why wasn’t I surprised she had known that? I gripped the phone tighter and
grinned into it. “Yes, that one. My car’s in the driveway. It has the red
gate.”
“I know! I’ll be there quick.” And she hung up, sounding in a breathless
excitement like I’d known her to be so many other times.
I shook my head as I let loose a deep breath. The girl was going to kill me.
She’d become a friend when no one else wanted anything to do with me, but she
found out three months ago that her fairytale hero had been using her to get to
me and Becky ceased to exist from my life. The rumors hit not long after that
about Mason and me and nothing seemed like normal anymore. I had people trying
to be friends when they’d been the ones gossiping behind my back and others who
decided they wanted to kill me when they had gotten along with me prior.
It didn’t take that long until my doorbell rung. I had taken my bags to my room,
ordered a pizza, and worried if I’d given the right address before I opened the
door to Becky. She looked up and gave me a small smile. Her red hair was pulled
back in two pigtails that were low on her head and she had her hands clasped
together.
“Hi.”
I grinned. I was just glad she’d shown up. “Hey.” And I opened the door wider.
“Come in. Please. I need company.”
She grinned, but shook her head as she went in and her head started to swivel
around. “This place is gorgeous, Sam. I can’t believe it.”
“Well,” I felt so awkward. “My bio dad is a senior partner in his law firm so I
guess…” I spread my arms wide. “That means he can own something like this.”
She went from one room to the next. She started in the main living room with
leather couches and a chandelier from the ceiling, to the next living room that
had red couches. A piano had been placed in an open area by a small fountain and
then she bypassed it the dining room and patio room. Both were extensions from
the kitchen.
She arched an eyebrow. “Is this place bigger than the Kade mansion?”
“No.” I cringed. I’d spoken too soon.
“Really?” Her awestruck tone had come back.
“I mean, that place is so formal and all.”
“Is it bigger or not?” She pinned me down with her eyes.
I squirmed under her gaze and then relinquished, “No, it’s not, but it’s more
modern. James’ place is just huge.”
She glanced under her eyelids at me before she looked away. “I wouldn’t know.
You never invited me over.”
And this was where I held my tongue. I only knew one other person that’d been
invited inside and I wasn’t going to start any drama, had enough of that, so I
had never invited Becky over. It was something that I knew had hurt her, but I
gave her a small smile instead of the response that she hadn’t made the short
list allowed inside. That conversation wouldn’t end well.
“So you said you had a theatre here?”
“I did!” I perked up as I led her downstairs to the room with a screen that took
up an entire wall. A few rows of lounging chairs made up the rest of it. Each
chair could be reclined and they had a resting place for drinks and anything
else someone might’ve brought.
“Oh my god!” Becky gasped as she walked inside. “This is amazing, Sam. Your bio
dad thought about this, all on his own?”
I shrugged again. “He’s one of a kind, trust me.” When she lifted up a barrier
between two of the seats, I started laughing. “Yeah, I liked the ideas of
couches more, but then Mason showed me that. I like this room a lot more
now.”
Her smile faded quickly and I paused in confusion, but then I realized. We’d
never talked about him before, but this was the time and I took a deep breath.
“You can ask anything you want, you know.”
She let the barrier fall and turned back. The gravity in her eyes set me back,
but I clenched my jaw and waited. She had a right to know, didn’t she? She’d
been my friend when I hadn’t any so I owed her. Right? Pain seared me when I
remembered two other friends that I would’ve thought the same, until both of
them stabbed me in the back.
“How?”
She threw me with that one. “What do you mean?”
“How did it happen? Do you love him?”
I smiled weakly. “Maybe we could have some wine before we have this talk?”
She blocked me when I started for the door. “I mean it, Sam. I want to know. Are
you really with him?” Then she blushed and looked down. “Of course, you are. I
was there. I saw how he touched you. But…” She looked back up. “Why didn’t you
tell me?”
“I…” had no idea what to say to her. How could I explain things I didn’t know
myself? When I started to feel for him, when his touch excited me, when I knew I
shouldn’t have experienced the rush of adrenalin that I did? So I settled with,
“It just happened, I guess. I don’t really know—there wasn’t an exact time when
it happened.”
“When we were at the cabin party, you were gone that first whole day. Was it
then?”
Oxygen left me in a rush. “Okay, maybe that’s when it started.” A flash of lust
spread through me as I remembered that day. His arms had held me in place as he
nuzzled under my neck, to my cheeks, to my ear. Adam had been there and he’d
been a witness to the power Mason held over me. Heat flared through me as I
recalled that time. It wasn’t one that I was proud of, but it pushed Adam back.
I knew now that Mason had purposely paraded our relationship in front of the
other for a reason.
“You were with him that day?”
I nodded.
Her cheeks flushed up and she squeezed her hands together, but she asked in a
dreadful tone, “You had sex with him that day?”
Okay, enough with the sharing. I narrowed my eyes and asked in a flat voice,
“Why do you care about that?”
She squeaked again and looked away. There was a frantic feeling to her when she
hurried out, “I don’t. I just—did you? I mean, Adam said you did and I didn’t
believe him.”
It took one step before I latched onto her arm.
Her eyes were round as she gaped up at me.
I gritted my teeth and tried to contain my anger. It was like whiplash. “Are you
kidding me? You would never care before. You would’ve been excited. Now you
care? Now you’re telling me Adam had something to say about it?”
She gulped and moved away from me. My hold tightened on her and her eyes got
bigger when she tried to pull her arm from me. “Let go of me.”
My eyes bore into her. I needed to know. “When it came out that Mason and I are
dating and that Adam had been using you to get to me, you stopped talking to me.
I thought it was because you felt hurt or betrayed, but now I’m starting to
wonder. Why’d you stop talking to me, Becky?”
Her mouth had fallen open and she closed it now. Her eyes slid to the side.
“Tell me the truth too.”
“I…” She took a deep breath. “IstoppedbecauseAdamwasmakingmeconfused.” Another
deep breath. “Hesaidyouliedtomeonpurposeanddidn’tconsiderme,” another breath.
“afriendotherwise youwould’vetoldmeyouweredatingMasonKade,butnothatIblameyouwithJessicaandLydiaandallthatcrap.”
My fingers let loose and I was ashamed to see there were white finger prints on
her arm. “You’re an idiot, right? You know that, don’t you?”
She gulped and hung her head. “I’m starting to think that.”
“I didn’t tell you about Mason because I don’t trust anyone. You can’t blame me
for that. I caught Jeff cheating on me; then found out that Jessica had been
screwing him for two years. To make it worse, Lydia knew about it. My other best
friend covered for them. And then you show up and we’re friends for two months
before this shit’s hit the fan again. Can you blame me for not telling you?”
She gave me a sad look.
I narrowed my eyes and clipped out, “And Adam’s talking to you? You’re listening
to the guy that used you because you were the only one I was talking to? Really?
Come on, Becky. I know you think Adam Quinn is this great guy, but he can be
really low and dirty if he doesn’t get what he wants.”
“I know.” It came out like a whimper.
“Do you?”
Then the doorbell rang again and I let loose with a string of curses. “It’s the
pizza. Hold on.”
But it wasn’t the pizza.
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