For Meryl: A whirlwind romance with Austin – a hot, nice guy who she’s got a crush on that will rock her world before she has to go back home and resume being Miss Responsible and Perfect Daughter.
And for Carly… to get started on living out The Dream with Aiden, who I knew bone deep was her happily-ever-after, even if she was in denial.
As I was stirring the pot with everyone else, I was blinded and dumbstruck by Jude Novak.
Aiden and Austin (both super-hot buff guys) walk in with him, and the guy makes my jaw drop and my eyes bug-out. He is totally my type.
Or more like – Ally’s type.
Let’s just say I’ve 100% embraced becoming Ally Kingston. She’s the polar opposite of Alyssa in many ways and she’s not only who I need to be, but I’ve decided she’s also who I want to be.
Alyssa stood out for different reasons and that’s why I had to change.
Ally’s way of standing out keeps Alyssa safe. And Ally is fun and fearless. She’s so ‘out there’ with how she acts and dresses that she disarms people.
I’m not the blonde girl-next-door type anymore. I’m the quirky weird girl who talks to everyone, who declares someone a new friend within minutes of meeting them. I like strange art and colorful crystals and aromatherapy, talking about being slightly psychic while changing my hair once a month and presenting as a modern, sex-positive girl with zero filter.
Anyway, I saw the muscled, sexy, tattooed, and bearded guy and decided to break my dry spell and have fun with the hottest man who wasn’t Alyssa’s type that I’d ever laid eyes on.
Liquor-infused and confident Ally was overtly flirtatious, and interest was reciprocated.
In fact, the way he looked at me, the way his eyes actually burnt into me, sensations I’d never ever felt before shunted through me. I chalked it up to the booze and the long stint of celibacy and went with it.
We flirted and the sexual tension crackled so hot it could fry an egg. Then we slow-danced, and my Lord did I fit perfectly into that man’s embrace on the dancefloor. Tall, muscled, warm. Not remotely timid with the way he touched and looked at me. Good God… I’ve never felt instant chemistry that potent in my life.
But he had to leave suddenly, devastatingly, telling me that there was a security problem with one of his clients. I didn’t have the good sense to ask what that meant. Instead, I give him my number, then go home excited about the future plans we’re going to make for sex. I think I even said, Text me and we’ll make plans to get nakedly acquainted further.
As soon as I heard “security” I should’ve stopped the games and backed off. Given a wrong number. But a couple things were happening at once.
I was having fun and getting caught up with the butterflies he was giving me. There was also the not small amount of alcohol in my system.
My judgement was clouded beyond the booze though. I’ve never had the soulmate instinct about myself before, having epitomized the term ‘bad choice in men’ in my past, Jonah Steele being the most recent poor choice. But something about Jude Novak that night – I couldn’t stop myself from doing something I didn’t want to do. Something dangerous.
Hope.
Hope for a happy ending with a big, strong, good-looking and intelligent guy who made my stomach flutter, who made me wet on sight, whose voice made me want to do dirty things, any dirty things he commanded me to do.
And I got distracted from being careful too because I got an angry text from Carly, who was pissed at me for telling Aiden where to find us that night. I had to instigate damage control there, which completely panicked me and made me take my eye off the ball.
Not only was Carly mad at me for interfering by telling Aiden where we’d be that night and threatening to pull the plug on the life support (for me) that had become our friendship, because I had nobody but her and Meryl at that point and I knew Mer was leaving soon, but I was also caught up with the idea of Jude because of those eyes. Those eyes told tales of insight, wisdom, experience, and depth. A depth and connection I’d never experienced on-sight before. He had a presence that made me feel safe, that made me forget to be vigilant.
I forgot to remind myself not to do it.
Don’t want something you can’t keep, Alyssa. Because if anyone knows who you really are, not only are you at risk, but so are they.
I baked a batch of cupcakes, ate some, and brought some to Carly hoping to get her to forgive me for my meddling. Lesson learned with her. I did not want to lose that friendship, decided it was non-negotiable otherwise San Diego wasn’t home. As soon as we met, I knew she was going to be my person. In fact, I didn’t even hold back on declaring her to be my new best friend within minutes of us meeting.