Welcome to Evernight Teen’s Valentine’s Day Blog Hop! Would you like to celebrate Valentine’s Day with free books? You would? GREAT! How about a super secret snippet from my upcoming debut novel, Blood Hex? *sees everyone nodding their heads* AWESOME! You are definitely in the right place. It just so happens that I am celebrating Valentine’s Day with my fellow author peeps from Evernight Teen! Each of my talented publishing buddies is releasing a teaser from their book, as well as giving away a prize on their blogs! Join the fun!
My super secret snippet is below. All you have to do to win a $10 gift card from either Amazon or B&N is read my teaser and then answer the following question: What is more “Sarah’s scene back home”? Answer in the comments below and I will draw one randon winner to win the gift card! Happy reading!
Drake’s idea of total normal teenager fun involved a bonfire in the woods. And a party. I could go for a party.
I let Drake drive the Escalade. He maneuvered it down the same dirt road we had taken before for the Wiccan meeting. This time, instead of candles and prayers, the Crazies tried to vibrate two-hundred year old trees with loud, thumping music and light up the sky with a blazing fire. The burning wood sent thick smoke up into the dusk night, clearly visible from back on the main road. “You guys don’t get in trouble?”
“Nah. The cops leave us alone during the festival. They have too much other stuff to worry about.” He peeked at me briefly, hands still holding onto the steering wheel firmly at ten and two. I threatened him with his life. “Of course if they hear you’re here, they’ll probably make a special trip.”
I laughed. “Do you think your friend thinks I’m a nut job?”
“Probably, but I’m sure he sees a lot of ‘em.”
I smirked at Drake. He wore a pair of nice jeans over Tims with a loose fitting polo, hair gelled and spiked. “So, did you dress up for your old girlfriends?”
I peered down at myself, noticing we somehow exchanged fashions. I wore a plain white v-neck over blue jeans and sneakers, liking the fact I didn’t have to wear heels every time I went out. “You look nice,” I told him.
“Nice, huh?” He nodded and shrugged. “I’ll take nice.”
Groups stood near coolers and passed around drinks. Some swayed back and forth to music, and more than a few made out along the fringes where the firelight barely reached.
Now this reminded me of home. Except for the forest part. Sneaking out to beach parties was more my scene back home. Who knew, forest parties could be fun too.
“What do you want to drink?” Drake asked, hopping out of the SUV.
Drake led me over to a cooler. He said hey to a few friends as they parted, leaving us a straight shot to raid the drinks.
“I didn’t know you rolled like this,” I joked.
Drake smiled. “Which kind?”
“The bottle.” He opened it for me and I took a sip, face puckering. I’d much rather have a fruity daiquiri or wine.
The heat of the fire drew me closer. I used to go camping with Jamie and her family until we grew out of it at about the age of thirteen or so. Ah, thirteen, the age where you start to question everything. The age when I realized my mother was a joke.
“What are you smirking at?” Drake asked.
I looked over at him. His face reflected the orange flames. “My mother.”
I shook my head and laughed. “I was just thinking how when I was thirteen, it started to really bother me that Mom would bring home her ‘guy friends’.” I picked up a branch and stuck the end in the fire. “She wanted me to become friends with all these guys, yet she wouldn’t tell me anything about my own father. She wanted me to know that John Smith had a condo in the Hamptons, but didn’t even want to tell me what team my father liked in baseball. She wanted me to care about these other, stupid guys.”
I brought the flaming stick to my mouth and blew it out, leaving the tip burning like hot coal. “One fight in particular, she told me she ‘threw all his shit away’ because all it did was piss her off to look at it.” I wrote my name in cursive in the sky, tiny embers flying off the edge of the stick, leaving a trail of orange glow as I swooped the letters. “Well, now that pissed me off. She took away my ability to find out about my own father because of what it did to her.” I turned the S into a D and started writing Dad’s name in the cursive that resembled his, over and over until the sparks died. “That’s my selfish mother for ya.”
I threw the stick in the fire and downed the rest of the beer. It went down easier than taking little sips. Drake put his arm around me and squeezed. I lifted my chin and stared at him. His eyes mirrored the flames before he closed them and moved closer. I let him, meeting him in the middle.
My kiss was eager, more romantic than friendship like the last time we kissed. I kissed him like I wanted to earlier when we laid on my bed. When our hearts beat together. When his lips looked so soft. They were soft.
“You know I really like you,” Drake said. “And it sounds to me like you shouldn’t even go back to Florida.”
He talked out his ass. “And what? Am I just supposed to stay here?”
He shrugged. “Even if you did go back. It’s not like you and I don’t have cell phones, or computers. And I don’t know if you’ve heard, they have this new invention called an airplane. It could really be useful–”
I reached up on my toes to kiss him again, but he stopped me. “I’m serious.”
“I know.” I put my fingers around his neck and pulled him to me, kissing him again before turning back to the blaze.
Erin the Librarian 