Where You Saw Me

Bella Baker has always been good at pretending.

Pretending she's okay. Pretending she isn't carrying everyone else's weight. Pretending that Jake Callahan, the boy who has been by her side for years, doesn't matter to her in ways she refuses to name.

Because naming it would make it real.

Jake has always been there. Steady, unshakable, knowing her in ways no one else does. He stays through every mess, every silence, every time she pulls away. And he never asks for more than she can give. Though it costs him more than she ever realizes.

But when a devastating secret about Bella's family comes to light, her carefully built world begins to fracture. Guilt, grief, and long-buried wounds leave her nowhere to run except straight into him.

And suddenly, it becomes impossible to ignore what's always been there. Bella is afraid that if she lets herself fall, she won't survive it. Jake is afraid she never will.

As everything unravels, Bella is forced to confront not just the truth about her family, but the quiet, undeniable pull toward the one person who has always been there, waiting.

*This is Book Two in the Things We Carry Series, following Where You Left Me. They do not have to be read consecutively, but it helps provide backstory!*