Purely Wicked — Abby Brooks

Ashley When I was fifteen, Jackson Moore came swaggering into my life and swept me up in a whirlwind summer of marathon make out sessions and whispered promises. We had three short months of happiness and then he was gone. Off to New York to make something of himself while I stayed behind and became something I don't recognize. Now, eight years later, not only is he back, but he's also my boss. I never thought I'd see him again but now I spend every day beside him. My body remembers him as if time never separated us. As if life never changed us. As if he's still my bad boy, protecting me, pulling me close while he raged at the world. Except time did separate us and life did change us. No matter how much my body yearns for him, Jackson Moore isn't mine anymore. Jackson When I was nineteen, I told Ashley Thompson I would save her from the world. I drew her to me, feeling big and powerful, drunk on youth and the certainty I had it all figured out. But life has a way of making a liar out of you. Eight years later I come back and find my sweet and gentle girl watching me with a wary eyes, her mouth set in a grim line. She used to be something warm and sweet in an otherwise cold world, but now she's just another small town tragedy. I came back to make a better life for my daughter, my four-year-old surprise, but my world shifts on its axis the moment I see Ashley. I don't have room in my life for anyone else, but there's no stopping me from trying to make room. I don't care how much life there is between us, Ashley Thompson is mine.