Lost In Me (Here and Now 1)

I’m giving myself the gift of time and no attachments. Maybe my memories will return or maybe they won’t. But whatever secrets are lost in my damaged brain, I’ve let the person I am—the person I want to become—get lost there too. Or maybe she was lost before my memories were. Maybe I lost myself three months ago when my world spiraled out of control.

I need to call Liz and make arrangements for a flight home. I need to call Max and my mom. Suddenly, calls that terrified me twenty-four hours ago are simply steps on a new path.

I climb the stairs back to Janelle’s room. My phone flashes wildly at me from the nightstand, and I pick it up and open the latest text message.

Nix: Call me. Now.

I straighten. What if something happened to Liz? I hit the button to call her, and as it rings, I imagine half a dozen different scenarios in which Liz or Cally or my mom could have gotten hurt.

Suddenly, my stomach clenches and the peace I was feeling moments ago flees. What if something happened to Max? What if he’s in the hospital and thinks I don’t care? I flinch as guilt punches me in the gut.

“Come on, Nix,” I whisper against the ring.

I’m expecting her voicemail when she finally picks up. “Hanna!”

“Is everything okay?”

“Your blood work is back.”

My shoulders sag in relief. No one is hurt. Nothing horrible has happened. Nix is just being doctor-ish. “Okay? Are my electrolytes still screwed up?”

“Your electrolytes are fine, but your hCG levels are elevated.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means you’re pregnant.”

Thank you for reading the first book in the Here and Now series. Hanna’s journey continues in book two, Fall to You, coming in June 2014. If you’d like to receive an email when it and my other new titles are available, please sign up for my newsletter.

Read Other Books by Lexi Ryan

Anna Nalick—Breathe (2am)

Barenaked Ladies—Odds Are

Dave Matthews Band—The Space Between

Matchbox Twenty—If You’re Gone

Shakira, Rihanna—Can’t Remember to Forget You

Sarah Bareilles—I Choose You

Jason Mraz—I Won’t Give Up

Nine Inch Nails—Something I Can Never Have

A Great Big World—Say Something

P.M. Dawn—I’d Die Without You

Jason Walker—Down

Macy Gray—I Try

James Blunt—You’re Beautiful

Excerpts from Lauren Blakely and Rhonda Helms