Georgia Montgomery is desperate for an escape from the life she’s been leading. The perfect job, the perfect apartment, the perfect boyfriend—all are on the cusp of driving her over the edge. On a whim, she buys a beach house on the North Carolina coast, eager to spend a summer with her college friends. She thinks she’s found the perfect balance, until one pleasure-seeking playboy turns her world on its axis. Georgia tries to ignore the tornado of emotion that sweeps through her system whenever Tristan Howell is near, but just like an addiction, one look, one taste, one touch is never enough.
The chemistry is scorching and it isn't long before the slow burn ignites into a full-blown wildfire that threatens to consume anything in its path. But Georgia and Tristan can't shelter their love from the outside world, and the moments of exquisite passion they share aren't enough to sustain the relationship. When scars from the past resurface—will their hearts meld together as one? Or will outside forces tear them apart, leaving an empty shell where love and passion once thrived?
A bestselling and emotional love story about painful pasts and hopeful futures.
“Are you okay, G? Really?” A few silent beats of my heart echoed in my ears.
“Yeah.” A frown whispered around my lips.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I'm sure.” My cheeks lifted in a slow smile. I pushed end call on my phone and stared at it for a few moments as I stood in the coffee shop’s parking lot. I knew I should call Kyle too, but he was not on my list of favorites right now.
A part of me felt guilty for making this monumental decision without him, but I’d been suffocating in D.C., so I couldn’t allow myself to have regrets. By the time I’d loaded the last box in the car, Kyle's anger about my spontaneous beach house purchase had cooled to a slow simmer. He’d kissed me and said he would visit when he could. I’d nodded with a smile.
A piece of me held onto the hope that we'd get through this summer and be stronger than ever. We could buy a house in the 'burbs and live the dream we’d conjured when we were fifteen. Hopes were high. But just like a balloon pushed past its breaking point, hope is fragile. One lungful of air too many and the balloon bursts leaving ugly, shriveled fragments behind, impossible to piece back together.
I hovered over Kyle's name on my contacts list and paused. The man I loved. The man who had always been there through thick and thin. The man I was leaving for the summer. It would be the first time we would be apart for such a long time but the thrill of following my dreams eclipsed any sadness I had.
I exited the list and tossed my phone on the passenger seat before sliding behind the wheel.
These last few years I’d been the effect to Kyle’s cause, but this, this would be for me.
