~ 2021 WATTY'S SHORTLIST ~ "I-well, I..." I hesitated with my response. I wanted to let go. To not worry about what would happen in the future. I'd always loved staring into fires. It hypnotized me with its beauty and danger. It was so tantalizing to look at, but one little touch could destroy. I knew the heat between Tyler and I was similar. It started off small but it had only grown in the weeks he'd been here. We'd fed it unintentionally, and it had gone from an ember to a crackling flame. Every nerve in my body wanted to reach out and touch it, even though I knew I'd get burned. *************************************************** Pia Callahan always lived a carefree life with no worries. Her only responsibilities were to attend her college classes (sometimes) and keep herself fed (on ramen). When tragedy strikes, Pia is all of the sudden thrown into a whirlwind of change. She has to grow up and take on more responsibility than she could ever imagine: the custody of her best friend's son. Pia may not believe she is the best person for the job, but she is determined to do it. She'll trade in frat parties for PTA meetings and beer-bongs for apple juice. But what happens when the ruggedly hot motocross athlete Tyler Westwood shows up in her small town? Tyler lives on the fast track, never caring too much about consequences. You can't when your job is to do backflips through the air. Sometimes, you just have to send it and hope for the best. From the second Tyler meets Pia, he knows he wants her. But she is determined to ignore their bubbling chemistry. She has priorities now and a summer fling isn't one of them. Will Pia be able to stay away from Tyler? Or will she decide to hit the throttle? ***************************************************

As kids, Leah and Tanner hated each other. To this day, they still do. Tanner Cole is tall, dark, tattooed, and insanely attractive, though his ugly heart drowns all of this out to Leah. At eighteen years old, all Leah wants is to go off to college and have a great college experience, but when she realizes that Tanner already goes to Berkeley her hopes of this are dashed. She prays she can somehow steer clear of him, but everywhere she looks, he is there. Seeing no way out of avoiding him, she agrees to a truce though as they spend more time around each other sparks sizzle between Leah and Tanner and soon Leah can't help but strangely crave her frenemy's company and his body which is only a recipe for disaster. Current Status: Complete ✔️ [[110,000 - 112,000 words]] _____ (WARNING: 18+) This book contains minor violence, and explicit sex scenes. (Copyright warning: This is my original work and is not allowed to be copied in any form.) Highest tag ranks: #3 NewAdult #3 College #1 Hotguys #1 Reallifeproblems #1 Scaredtolove #1 Truce #1 Hockey