Dear Heart, I Hate You

I shrugged. “I guess you and Tami have to share.”

“I heard that!” Tami shouted from the bedroom.

“You know you want a piece of this, sweet cheeks,” Lucas yelled back, and I cracked up.

Lucas and Tami had hit it off immediately when they first met, both trolling for guys without a second thought. I overheard Tami threaten Luc once, though. Something about them not fishing in the same pond for guys or she’d stab him in his sleep. Lucas had only laughed and told her that if they both wanted the same guy, then she was in the wrong pond, not him. To my surprise, she’d agreed, and then when he complimented her on her forest-green eyes, I’d wanted to punch him in the throat.

“Why is everyone always yelling?” Cal asked as he came into the living room. Not breaking his stride, he walked straight over to me and planted a kiss on my lips.

There’s no way I’d ever grow tired of kissing those beauties. They were still just as appealing and dreamy as ever.

Lucas groaned and made a puking face. “Stop being like your brother.”

“Never.” Cal gave Lucas a smug grin.

“When’s their wedding anyway?” Lucas asked, as if he didn’t already know the answer. He’d been begging for an invitation to the event since he learned they finally chose a date in February.

“You know when,” Cal said, pretending to be annoyed at Lucas before he leaned over to whisper in my ear. “I totally get it now, why Cooper and Katherine were always so annoyingly sweet. It’s because they felt like this about each other.”

I couldn’t agree more. I’d never thought I’d ever be half of a sickeningly sweet couple, but apparently I was.

Three years ago, I would have never pictured my life this way. If you’d have told me that I’d meet someone like Cal and would have a successful relationship and a successful career, I would have said you were either dreaming or insane. So convinced I couldn’t have both, I’d tried to write one of them off completely.

And as I glanced around our apartment at the people I loved, I’d never been happier to have been so wrong.

The End

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed Cal and Jules’s story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Keep reading for a sneak peek of Cooper and Katherine’s story, In Dreams.

Excerpt from In Dreams

Chapter One

They held hands as they walked down a familiar street. It was the street of her childhood, yet somehow it was different. The houses weren’t quite the same and something didn’t . . . well, it didn’t quite feel right.

Katherine glanced up at the boy whose hand she held. Her mind was keenly aware that she didn’t “know” him, but her heart told her otherwise. His hair was short, and the light brown color reminded her of the sand after it had been washed over by a wave. Her gaze traced the shape of his body through the shirt he wore. She could see the muscles in his arms, and the broad shoulders his shirt couldn’t hide. His face appeared flawless; it took every ounce of willpower she possessed not to run her hand down his cheek, just to feel the softness of his skin.

Then there were his eyes. Rimmed with thick, dark eyelashes, they sparkled with such blue radiance that every time she looked at them, she wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to look away. It was as though he could see right through her, knowing her every thought and desire. She knew she should be uncomfortable with all of this, but for some reason, she was completely at ease with this stranger. He looked down at her and smiled. His perfect teeth and full lips drew her in, making her wonder how those lips would taste.

As they walked, he talked to her. Told her things that didn’t make sense at the time. He described where he grew up and how his house wasn’t there anymore. He talked about a fire, and horses, and mentioned something about a soldier and war. Katherine listened intently to all the information, but her brain couldn’t fully process it. She felt a little lost and confused but stayed silent, content to bask in his attention.

She tried to take in the details he shared and make sense of it, but logic was pushed out of the way. She was too caught up in how she felt. The pure love that consumed her every time she looked at this boy was unlike anything she’d ever known before. If soul mates could be real, this stranger was all the proof she needed. It was as if nothing else existed or mattered in the world around them.

She wasn’t aware of the noise at first; she was so caught up in the blue of his eyes. Then she heard it more clearly, the sound of quiet screams that began to fill her ears. Or maybe it was more like muffled wailing. She wasn’t sure. But at that moment she felt her stomach drop to the ground beneath her.

“I’ll be right back. I ha

ve to go in there.”

He pressed his lips against her hand and then slowly began to untangle his fingers from hers. “No. Please don’t go.” She pleaded with him to stay and gripped his hand as tightly as she could.

“Katherine, I have to help.” He smiled at her, his blue eyes filled with confidence, and then repeated, “I’ll be right back. I promise.”

“You promise?” she pleaded.

“I promise,” he repeated reassuringly. She let his hand fall from her grasp and watched him slowly disappear through the front door.