Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Chasing Olivia


 
 
 
Chasing Olivia by Micalea Smeltzer

 

Playlist.

1. Lost at Sea-Zedd feat. Ryan Tedder

2. Gotta Be Tonight-Lifehouse 

3. Highway Don't Care-Tim McGraw

4. Long Hot Summer-Keith Urban

5. Never Gonna Let You Go-Tony Lucca

6. Home-Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeroes

7. Light Me Up-Hunter Hayes

8. Best I Ever Had-Gavin Degraw

9. Mirrors-Boyce Avenue feat. Fifth Harmony

10. Wake Me Up-Avicii 

11. Just a Dream-Nelly

12. Live for the Night-Krewella

13. Neon Lights-Demi Lovato

14. Burn-Ellie Goulding

15. Skin-Zola Jesus 

16. Here with Me-Robot Koch feat. Susie Suh

17. Hear Ya Say-Tony Lucca 

18. In the Air-Morgan Page

19. Made in the USA-Demi Lovato 

20. Hurricane-Parachute

21. Battle Scars-Lupe Fiasco & Guy Sebastian

22. Burning Bridges (Acoustic)-One Republic

23. Something I Need-One Republic

24. We Own the Night-The Wanted

25. First Time-Jonas Brothers

26. Levels-Avicii

27. Pieces-Andrew Belle

28. Mirrors (Radio Edit)-Justin Timberlake 

29. Fall Down-will.i.am feat. Miley Cyrus

30. Safe and Sound-Capital Cities

31. Let Her Go-Passenger

32. Who's Gonna Save Us-Gavin DeGraw

33. Adorn-Miguel

34. Marry Me-Jason Derulo 

35. God Gave Me You-Blake Shelton

36. Carry Me-Morgan Page

37. Turning Page-Sleeping at Last 

38. Blown Away-Carrie Underwood

39. Over the Rainbow-Jason Castro 

40. I Believe-Timeflies

41. Aw Naw-Chris Young

42. Compass-Lady Antebellum

43. Love Don't Die-The Fray

44. Story of My Life-One Direction

45. All I Need-AWOLNATION

46. American Girl-Bonnie McKee

47. Cruise-Florida Georgia Line

48. Starry Eyed-Ellie Goulding

49. The Last Time-Taylor Swift feat. Gary Lightbody

50. Who Would've Known-Lee DeWyze

 

 


 

Excerpt 1 

Knock.

Knock.

Knock.

Bang.

Knock.

With a groan, I sat up. What the heck was going on? It had to be the middle of the night.

I climbed from the bed to investigate the strange sound. I couldn’t decide if it was someone knocking on the apartment door or something else. The noise was strange…

Once I was out of the bedroom, it was easy to deduce that the noise was, indeed, someone at the door. But they definitely weren’t knocking on it with their fist. It sounded more like they were using their whole body…or head…

Scared to go to the door—because let’s face it, I wasn’t exactly the strongest person on the planet—I went to wake up Trace.

“Trace,” I pushed his shoulder, trying to rouse him from sleep. “Trace,” I shook him a bit harder.

“Huh?” His eyes cracked open a bit, just a thin slit of green showing through.

“There’s someone at the door,” I hissed.

“What time is it?” He rubbed his eyes, yawning.

“Two,” I muttered, looking at the clock beside the bed. “I don’t know who it is and I’m scared to open the door,” I admitted reluctantly, playing with the ends of my hair.

He sat up and rolled out of bed, pulling on a pair of jeans, which he left unbuttoned. “I’ll check it out,” he assured me, kissing the end of my nose.

I tiptoed behind him and out of the bedroom. He undid the deadbolt and slowly opened the door.

Whoever was standing there fell into his arms.

“Avery?” I gasped, taking in the vibrant red hair.

“Mhmmmmitsme,” she slurred drunkenly.

Since she seemed to have lost the ability to move her legs, Trace picked her up, and gently laid her down on the couch.

I grabbed a bottle of water before kneeling beside her. She was completely wasted and the dress she’d worn to Nick and Nora’s wedding was ruined. It was covered in grass and mud stains, as was her body.

My eyes widened, zeroing in on something wrapped around her neck. I gasped when I realized what it was.

“Avery! Why is your underwear around your neck?” I bit my lip to hold back laughter. I mean, it wasn’t every day your best friend showed up at your place drunk with underwear around her neck.

“Huh?” She looked at me with bleary eyes and fingered the silky string of fabric around her neck. “Must have taken em’ off.”

“Obviously,” I snorted. “What were you doing?”

“I’m pretty sure it involved beer and sex in a field…by the way, don’t ever try that,” she warned Trace and me, pointing at us with a shaky finger, “it really itches.”

 

 

EXCERPT 2

With a shake of my head I padded out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, determined to make Trace a delicious breakfast. While I could cook well, Trace usually made all our meals because he loved it. The man was perfect…except for his dancing.

I pulled out the carton of eggs and set about making scrambled eggs.

By the time Trace came out of the bedroom, the eggs were ready and I’d fried bacon.

“I’ve been thinking,” he started, leaning against the doorway to the bedroom, his hair sticking up adorably in every direction.

“About what?” I asked, placing our plates on the bar-top that overlooked the kitchen.

“I—we—need to get away.”

“We do?” I raised a brow.

“Yeah,” he rubbed a hand over his stubbled jaw before stifling a yawn. Rumpled and straight out of bed, he was still the sexiest man I’d ever seen…it probably helped that he was shirtless and my mouth was watering at the sight of his bare chest. Seriously, how did guys get that V? It was a woman’s undoing. It made smart girls do stupid things…I would know. “It’s been a long time since we’ve been anywhere. You’ve graduated and I know Marcy wouldn’t care if you took off for a bit,” he shrugged. “Pete understands and Gramps…well…he’ll have to get over it.”

“Where would we even go?” I questioned.

He smiled. “Nowhere. Everywhere. It doesn’t matter.” He strode across the room until he was in front of me. He grabbed me by both arms and bent his tall frame so he could look me in the eye. “We’ve both been going through the motions for so long, Olivia. We need to get our spark back.”

“Our spark back?” I looked at him like he was crazy.

“Our spark for life. I miss all those crazy adventures we had when we were crossing things off your list. The spontaneity, the craziness, I miss that.”

“I miss it too,” I admitted.

While the past two years had been great, I understood what he meant. We’d become like an old married couple, content to stay in and do nothing. But when we’d been crossing things off my Live List, we’d had so much fun, and had so many crazy adventures.

Yeah…I wanted more adventures.

“But what would we do?” I asked him.

He surprised me by grabbing my cheeks and smacking his lips against mine. I’m pretty sure he slobbered on me too. Ugh, that was Trace for you.

His green eyes were full of excitement. “Let’s go on a road trip.”

“A road trip?” I repeated, mulling over the idea.

He nodded giddily, dancing on the balls of his feet. “Yeah, we could head north. Maybe visit the lake house in Maine.”

“This is crazy,” I shook my head. “We both have jobs, Trace, and what about Ace?” I pointed to the dog currently sprawled on the floor licking his paw.

“I already told you, they won’t mind if we take off. As for Ace, Trent will take care of him. The freak has a ferret, I’m pretty sure he can handle a dog. Please, Olivia,” he begged, even jutting out his lower lip. He wasn’t fighting fair.

I decided not to think about it. Sometimes, thinking got you in trouble, and you needed to jump in feet first and think about the consequences later.

“Let’s do it.”

 

 

EXCERPT 3

“Well,” he stood, grabbing his guitar case, “I better get ready.”

“You already signed up to sing, didn’t you?” I questioned. “Before we even got here?”

He nodded. “I always have an agenda, babe,” he kissed my cheek before heading for the stage area. He bent to speak with someone, whom I assumed was a manager at the bar, and then he was escorted behind the stage.

I really hoped he didn’t do something to humiliate me. But knowing Trace, the lengths to which he’d go to embarrass me were endless.

I turned in my barstool, so I could see the stage better.

Somebody’s arm brushed mine and I jerked in response.

“Sorry,” they said, and their voice was way too close for comfort. I turned my head sharply and found a guy about my age sitting in Trace’s vacant chair. He had curly blonde hair and pale blue eyes clouded over from alcohol.

“Can I help you?” I questioned, giving the guy the benefit of the doubt.

“I just saw you sittin’ here and thought you looked lonely,” he slurred with a grin, leaning much too close to me. Somebody needed to teach this guy the rules of personal space because he was all up in my bubble, and if it popped, I could not be held accountable for my actions.

“I’m not lonely,” I said sternly, glaring at him, “so run along now.” I waved my hand in dismissal, hoping he got the message.

He grabbed my arm, squeezing much to tight. I bit down on my lip, breathing in and out sharply, hoping to avoid a panic attack. I hadn’t done well with strangers touching me after what Aaron did to me.

“There’s no need to play hard to get,” he flipped a stray blonde curl out of his eyes.

“I’m not playing anything,” I tried to yank my arm from his grasp but he was too strong. “Let me go!” I screamed as panic crawled up my throat. Tears burned my eyes. I pulled my arm again and this time I managed to get him to let go, but I went falling from my seat in the process and landed on the ground, smacking the side of my face sharply against the concrete floor.

“Olivia!” I heard Trace yell, his voice echoing around the whole bar as he yelled into the microphone. I’d been so preoccupied with Mr. Touchy Feely that I hadn’t seen him come out on stage.

Before I had a chance to move, Trace’s familiar scent surrounded me, and his large hands were on my body picking me up.

“Olivia,” he whispered, looking me over. “You’re bleeding.”

I reached up and felt around my eye. My fingers came away with a small smearing of blood. “It’s not that bad,” I shrugged.

His jaw was clenched tight and his eyes screamed murder. “You’re hurt.” He shoved me behind him and glared at Mr. Touchy Feely who was still sitting in his former seat.

“I didn’t do anything,” he held his hands up in surrender. “She just fell.”

“She didn’t just fall,” Trace seethed. “You grabbed her arm and you wouldn’t let go. When a girls says no, it means no!” Suddenly, he was reaching out and grabbing the guy by the shirt collar and lifting him out of the chair.

Holy shit, I knew Trace was strong, but this guy was double his size and built like a linebacker.

“Dude, let me go,” Mr. Touchy Feely tried to pry Trace’s hands off of him, but it was pointless. Trace was in a rage and there was no stopping him. “I wasn’t gonna hurt her.”

“I don’t care what your intentions were,” Trace growled, right up in the guy’s face as he shoved him into a wall. “When a girl tells you to let her go, guess what? You let her go!” He shook the guy forcefully.

I hadn’t seen Trace get this angry in a long time…not since Aaron attacked me. Trace was an easygoing guy and it took a lot to get him riled.

“Trace,” I whispered, placing my hand on his taut arm. “I’m okay.”

Slowly, he turned his head towards me, and some of the anger drained out of him. He released the guy, but not before giving him a hard enough shove that he went sprawling to the ground. The guy looked up in disbelief. For a second I thought he might attack Trace but instead he chose to pick himself up and walk away. I guess he wasn’t as dumb as he looked.

“Stay here,” Trace growled, bowing his head as he walked away. The brim of the fedora hid his gaze from me and I chewed my lip nervously.

Within seconds he was back, his guitar case slung over his shoulder. “We’re leaving,” he took my hand and practically dragged me out of the building.

People stared as we passed, the blue lights in the bar making them look strange—almost alien.

We drove back to the motel in silence, his grip so tight on the steering wheel that his knuckles turned white, and his jaw was clenched. I wanted to say something, but I figured silence was better.

He opened the motel door, letting me in first. I sat on the edge of the bed, nervously fiddling with the edge of my tank top. “Trace—”

“I’ll be back,” he said in a steely tone, slamming the door closed behind him as he left. I jumped at the noise.

My bottom lip trembled with the threat of tears, but I wouldn’t cry. I couldn’t.

Frustrated, I tore off my clothes and changed into pajamas.

I climbed under the itchy covers; eyes wide open.

Let him leave.

I didn’t care.

Honestly, I didn’t.

Okay, I did.

And that’s why it hurt.

 


About the Author:

Micalea Smeltzer is an author from Virginia. Her name is pronounced Muh-call-e-uh. She is permanently glued to her computer, where she constantly writes. She has to listen to music when she writes and has a playlist for every book she’s ever started. When she’s not writing, she can be found reading a book or playing with her three dogs.

 You can email Micalea at:


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Buy Links:

Finding Olivia Amazon US:  http://amzn.to/1hOGsGV

Chasing Olivia Amazon US:  http://amzn.to/KeokLo

GoodReads:



 

Accepted Fate

 


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Synopsis


What do you do when everything you had planned out for yourself gets changed in one summer? Do you embrace the new or fight to keep things the same? 


For seventeen year old Kinzleigh everything was going just as she always planned. She had great friends, went to a school she loved, and always knew she was destined for greatness. One step already completed towards acquiring the job she has forever dreamed of, a pro football cheerleader. Nothing and no one was going to stand in her way, especially not love. What she doesn't expect is for her parents to suddenly change everything and send her spiraling into a life she didn't want for herself, especially after meeting one blue eyed boy she can't stop dreaming about. Her life is changing at every turn. She is learning that sometimes life has different plans than our own. When she finally accepts the hand fate has dealt, everything is ripped from her once again. 

 

Can she accept the ugly fate that was chosen for her or will she fight to once again accept it.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••


Excerpt


I finally reach the end and sit, placing my legs over the side, but because


of my height they do not reach the water. The night begins to replay through my

thoughts. I can't believe everything I've worked so hard for is crashing down

around me. Being squad captain of one of the top 5 squads in the country

guaranteed me a spot on almost any college in the country. Even if this Hicksville

town, Mississippi has a cheer leading squad, will they even have room for

another cheerleader? Do they even compete? Now, I'm going to have to work

harder just to get a tryout at the colleges I'm interested in.

Why would my parents just pick up and move us when I have one year of


high school left? How do they expect me to just leave everything I know behind

and start over? I have friends here, family, that has to mean something to them.

This isn't fair. Maybe I can think of a way to stay behind. I just have to. My

parents have got to understand what this will do to me. I just want to wake up

and realize this is all a dream. All I can do is stare out at the ocean, lost in

thought.

All of my emotions finally catch up to me and the tears start to fall, heavier


this time. I can't stop them anymore. I don't know what to do. Everything was

going great in my life and now the misery is about to begin. I don't even try to

wipe the tears away anymore, I just let them flow. I don't understand out of all the

states in the continental U.S., why my parents have to choose some po-dunk

town in Mississippi. I can't imagine the kind of people that reside there. After that

big hurricane, Katrina I think, they had people walking around barefooted and

missing teeth. Do they even have shopping malls and designer clothes, I wonder,

or is it full of trailer parks and cow fields. My stomach turns at the thought.

I'm not sure how long I've been sitting there, staring at the water, but my

back is beginning to hurt and I'm growing tired from crying, but the tears continue

to fall. I should just go home and go to bed, but I'm not ready to face my parents

yet. I lay back against the pier, looking into the sky. Its dark, but the sky is clear.

There is not a cloud for miles. It's beautiful glancing out at all the stars, shining

brightly. It's also a full moon tonight. A strange peacefulness begins to wash over

me, causing me to close my eyes. Clearly my mind is not in normal territory,

because I would never close my eyes late at night on a public beach. There are

too many creeps out there.

I couldn't have been laying there but what seemed like a few minutes. I


must have dozed off when, "Mind if I join you," flows through my ears in a deep,

raspy voice. My eyes pop open and a tall familiar face is standing over me,

looking down, with a smile on his face.

I begin to panic and sit up in a hurry, embarrassed. Embarrassment is a


rare trait for me and this guy has brought it out twice in one day. "I'm sorry, I don't

usually do this, it's been a bad night." I look back out at the water, gripping the

side of the pier, as if the most beautiful boy isn't standing behind me. Right then, I

can feel his breathing on the back of my neck, quickening my heart rate. In the

short time, he has managed to squat behind me, the inside of each knee resting

against my side.

He begins to whisper in my ear, "May I keep you company for a while? I'll


be quiet if that's what you need." His breath is so light, it tickles my ear. I can

barely breath, let alone speak, so I just nod. My head is fuzzy and I can't think

when he's this close.

He sits beside me and removes his shoes, placing his feet in the water. I'm


finally able to exhale the breath I've been holding. "How long have you been

here?" I turn and glance at him, to find that he's staring at me. I don't know where

this guy is from, I don't really care, but he's gorgeous. I never take an interest in a

guy, it's one of my few rules, but following rules have gotten me nowhere,

obviously. I'm not thinking clearly anyway, I guess I can break my rule and enjoy

his company for a while. He is leaving soon anyway and right now I need a

distraction from all this bad news.

He reaches out slowly, as if he's afraid I'll run away, placing his hand over


my cheek, rubbing his thumb underneath my eye, freeing it from the wetness of

the tears. Great, I have no idea what I look like right now. "I needed to clear my

head and came to the beach, I saw you standing by the water earlier, are you

okay?"

My eyes close at the warmth from his hand. I should be mad he followed


me, but I can't. I just want him near me, but no personal questions. I don't need

him to know me or what makes me tick. I don't need any complications. I open

my eyes to him staring at my lips. "Can we just exist together without trying to

obtain personal quota? Let's just enjoy casual company, two people needing

nothing from each other. Clearly you're not from here, meaning you'll be gone

soon. I'm not one of those girls that needs or wants to know everything about you

nor do I want to spill my entire life to you. We don't have to pretend with each

other, lets call this what it is. Can you do that?"

He just stares at me as if he's trying to figure me out, like I'm a book full of


secrets. He seems lost in my eyes, amused, confused, I don't know. We sit there

staring at each other as if we can't pull away. He doesn't say anything, just bites

his lip as if he's trying to answer his own question, or to make a decision. I'm

about to get up and walk away, when his other hand reaches behind my neck,

pulling me closer. His lips stop in front of mine, close enough to touch, when he

whispers, "Beautiful," and crashes his lips to mine.

His lips are so soft and full, but needy. His warm tongue slips through the


opening of my lips, requesting entry. Our tongues taste, touch, and dance

together. A moan, barely more than a whisper, escapes my lips. I run my hands

across his arms and up his neck, into the back of his hair. My heart is beating

wildly. Foreign emotions are running through my body. I have never felt this need

before, but it's as if my body needs more. Suddenly, I feel like I need to cross my

legs from the spasms down below. What is he doing to me? What does this

mean? He turns, laying me against the pier. He has one hand on my waist, the

other beside my head, holding his weight above me, like when we were at the

beach. He continues to kiss me, taking my bottom lip into his mouth, lightly

sucking. He makes a low growling sound from his throat. I'm not sure why until I

feel his need pressed against the bottom of my belly, making my eyes go wide

from surprise. Oh no, I can't go there. As if he can sense my panic, he stops. He

kisses me one last time softly and releases my lips.

He looks me in the eyes, a smile growing across his face. He brushes his


fingers through my hair, down my arm and grabs me by the hand, interlacing his

fingers with mine. "Nothing personal huh, I think I can do that." His lips brush

mine quickly before he moves back to his spot of the pier, pulling me by my hand

to sit between his legs. "I promise I'll be good for the rest of the night. I've just

wanted to do that all day."

I'm completely and utterly speechless. I have no idea what I'm doing. I


never do reckless or unplanned things like this. I have no idea who this guy is,

really, and now I'm sitting on the pier making out with him. I really need to get my

head back in the game. I always think everything through before I make a

decision. Being around him takes away my ability to process. Right now there are

so many unknowns, but what I do know is that I'm not ready for it to end just yet.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••


Meet the Author


Charisse
Author Pic



Charisse Reid lives in the small town of Purvis, Mississippi. She is married with a


four year old daughter. She developed a love for reading through iBooks and

Kindle app, on her iPad, a year ago she never would have imagined. She loves

to escape for a while through the characters of a good romance. Any romance

will do, but she has developed a passion for indie authors. They seem to usually

develop the best stories in her opinion. Her personal favorite is Young Adult and

rocker romance. Got to love those tattooed bad boys right? She never would

have dreamed of writing until a fellow author friend mentioned she should try it

through editing a work in progress for her.

At first, she thought it was funny because editing was as close as she thought

she would get to the creative side of book writing, but then came up with a

storyline and decided to give it a shot. Now she absolutely loves to write and has

several books lined up that she cannot wait to share with the world.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••


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