WATTPAD ORIGINAL EDITION Ellie and Leroy are from two different worlds but their love is one of a kind. Can it survive life-changing news that will challenge them as a couple with much to gain and even more to lose? ***** (Prequel to Tay Marley's smash hit, The QB Bad Boy and Me) Sometimes home isn't a place, it's a person. From the moment their eyes met, Ellie knew he would be her destiny. Handsome and ripped, there's just something about Leroy Lahey, soon-to-be college star quarterback, that makes him impossible to resist. Consumed by a passion neither one of them can quite understand, Leroy and Ellie spend the summer together. Left senseless and overwhelmed by his touch, Ellie experiences a world of desire she could never have imagined. Safe in Leroy's arms, Ellie begins to see a life beyond high school: going to college, starting her own business, having a family. But when life-altering news shakes them to their cores, Leroy and Ellie must discover if their passion is enough to help them get through what might possibly be the greatest challenge of their lives. Content and/or trigger warning: This story contains scenes of sexual activity, which may be triggering for some readers. [[word count: 80,000-90,000 words]]

Love was a risk not worth taking. At least, 'yun ang paniniwala niya---na hindi lahat ng tao, at lalo na hindi lahat ng pagmamahal, nananatili. Simula nang iniwan siya ng sariling ama when she was just ten years old, she learned to guard her heart. She built her walls high, convincing herself that strength was better than vulnerability. Until she met Ethan Benedict Rhoades---an architecture student who, without even trying, managed to draw cracks into her carefully built defenses. He reminded her of what it felt like to be noticed, to be chosen, to be loved in the smallest ways she thought she had already forgotten. And in a world where love fades and people leave, they tried anyway. They took the risk, kahit hindi tiyak ang ending. Because maybe, just maybe, their story could be written in something more lasting... Maybe this time, love could be written in heartbeats.