Choosing You (Jade #1)
By Allie Everhart
Excerpt 1
As soon as I start running,
I feel the calmness I was craving. I get lost in the repetition of my movement
around the oval track and I lose all sense of time. After a while the sun is
really hot and I realize that it’s probably way past noon. I take a break and
sit at the side of the track, completely soaked in sweat.
“Have a good run?”
I turn to see Garret walking
toward me in navy athletic shorts and a gray t-shirt. It looks like he’s been
running, too, although he’s not nearly as sweaty as me.
“It was all right,” I say.
“I don’t usually run on a track.”
“You should’ve come with me.
I ran a couple miles around campus.”
I shake my head, sweat
dripping off me like a wet dog. “That’s not far enough. I usually run 8 or 9
miles.”
He sits down next to me. As
in right next to me. Can he not see
how sweaty I am? I’m sure he can smell me from 10 feet away. I can’t even stand the smell of myself.
“Eight or 9 miles? You must
be a serious runner. I’m a swimmer. I only run to improve my cardio for the
pool. I do a couple miles at a normal pace and then I do sprints on the track.”
So that’s why he has that
body. He’s a swimmer. That explains the broad shoulders and narrow waist V
shape he’s got going on.
“Go ahead.” I point to the
empty track. “It’s all yours.”
“Why don’t you do them with
me?” he asks in a challenging tone. “Let’s race.”
I never turn down a
challenge. Well, sometimes I do, but it’s rare. “I’m a distance runner, not a
sprinter. But a distance runner can beat a swimmer any day. This should be
easy.” I stand up, stretching my legs which are stiffening up after my short
break.
“You think you can beat me,
huh?” He stretches as well. “So what’s with the insults? You don’t like
swimmers?”
I shrug. “Swimmers are okay.
I just don’t think they have to work that hard. I mean, the water makes you
basically weightless. It’s easy to go fast when you don’t have to drag your
body weight around. You don’t get that benefit with running.”
His jaw basically drops to
the ground. I’ve just insulted both him and something that’s near and dear to
his heart. Apparently this has never happened to him before. Pretty boy must be
used to only getting compliments.
“Are you shitting me? Did
you just say swimmers don’t work hard?”
“Yeah, why?” For some
reason, I’m really loving insulting this guy.
“Game on, Iowa girl. Get
your ass in position.”
He sets himself up in lane
one of the track. I take my sweet time walking over to lane two, yawning just
for added effect.
“Do you need a head start?”
I ask him, stretching my arms behind my back.
“Damn, you’re annoying.” He
smiles when he says it. “We do one lap around. Ready? Three, two, one. Go!”
I take off down the lane, my
eyes straight ahead pretending he’s not there. I quickly round the first end of
the track and hit the straightaway. I imagine myself running far away from that
place. Running back home and seeing Frank and Ryan again. I round the next end
and keep running.
“Stop! We’re done!” I hear
Garret’s voice and slow down, noticing that I’m already halfway through a
second time around the track. I finish the loop and meet up with him again.
He’s bent over, hands on his knees trying to catch his breath.
“Okay, I admit it. You’re
fast,” he says, panting as sweat drips off his face.
“Fast? That was my normal
pace.”
He glances up at me, trying
to figure out if I’m kidding. Then he stands up straight and wipes the sweat
off his forehead. “Remind me never to do that again.” He walks over to the edge
of the track and gets his water bottle. “You should sign up for cross country
or track. You’re really fast.”
“Nah. I ran cross country in
high school. Now I just run when I’m stressed.” It’s true, but I wish I hadn’t
said it. It makes me sound weak and I hate sounding weak, especially around a
guy.
Excerpt 2
He puts his phone away. “Can
I come in? I’m kind of a target out here in the hall.”
“A target for what?” I ask,
moving aside to let him in.
“Girls fondling me.” A smirk
crosses his face as he waits for my reaction.
“Please tell me you’re
kidding. Because if you’re not, then I need to start upping the insults again
to bring you back down to earth.”
He’s trying hard to keep a
straight face. “You saw Ava just now. Girls just can’t help themselves. What
can I say?”
I shake my head and start
rummaging through my drawer for a shirt. “I
can help myself. I’m completely immune to whatever you think you’ve got going
on over there.”
“Yeah, I know,” he mumbles.
“You need some help?”
“Why? You think I can’t
dress myself?”
He stands next to me,
staring down at the open drawer. “Everything in here is black.”
“Yeah.” I close the drawer
and open the one beneath it. “And everything in here is white.”
“Where are your other
shirts?”
“That’s it. Well, I have a
few in the closet.”
He walks over to look. “You
only wear black or white?”
“Uh, yeah. Are you just
getting that? You’ve seen me how many times and you’ve never noticed that?”
“Huh. I guess not.”
“It’s just easier that way.
Black and white go with everything.” I take a black t-shirt from the drawer.
“You should wear purple
sometime.”
I almost choke laughing.
“Purple? Are you joking?”
“What’s wrong with purple?”
“I’ve never worn anything
purple in my life. I’ve never even considered it. It’s one of those weird
colors that old ladies wear.”
“Lots of people wear purple.
And with your green eyes, you would look great in purple.”
“I hate my green eyes. The
last thing I want to do is draw attention to them.”
He comes closer and lifts my
chin up with his hand. “How could you hate your eyes? They’re the most
beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen. Why do you think I’m always staring at them?”
“Yeah, that’s hilarious.” I
push him back. “Now get out of here so I can change. Wait in the hall. I’ll be
like two seconds.”
“Jade, you know I’m not safe
out there.” He says it as if he’s really in danger. “Did you see all those
girls running around in towels and robes?”
I roll my eyes. “I swear.
The insults are coming, my friend. So tell your ego to get ready.”
He stands there.
“You’re really not leaving?
Fine. Then turn around.”
I change into my jeans and
black shirt. “Okay, I’m done.”
He inspects me. “Yeah. You
definitely need some color. The black and white thing is getting old.”
“Well, I’m not planning on
buying new clothes so you’ll have to get over it.” I search through my desk
drawer for money. “How much are movie tickets? I haven’t been to a movie in
years, so I have no clue. Six bucks? Seven?”
“Don’t worry about it. Let’s
go.”
“Garret, you’re not paying.”
“You just saved me from
being man-handled by Ava. That’s at least worth the price of a movie ticket.
Maybe even some popcorn, too.”
Author Interview:
Why did you write Choosing You?
About a year ago I started
reading some New Adult books and I liked them so much I couldn’t stop! At the
time I wasn’t even considering writing my own New Adult book because I was
still writing my Young Adult series, The Samantha Project, (written under a
different name). That series has some romance in it and I found that I really
liked writing those scenes. I liked all the emotion that came through when the
main character was dealing with her conflicted feelings over the two guys in
the book. So when I finished that series, just for fun, I wrote an
emotion-packed scene in which a girl in college is struggling to deal with
issues in her relationship with a guy as well as issues from her past. After
writing that scene, I instantly connected with Jade, the main character. The
story took off from there and that scene ended up being the opening scene in
Choosing You.
What else can you tell us about Choosing You that’s not
in the description/blurb?
Jade and Garret take time to
get to know each other in this book. There’s no insta-love. In a lot of the
books I read, the guy and girl meet and are in love the next day. I didn't
want that for these characters. I wanted the relationship to build over
time. Jade and Garret are definitely attracted to each other from the very
beginning but they’re not in love right away. They’re friends first and Jade
has to learn to trust Garret before she’ll move the relationship forward. This
is more like real life, but it also creates tension and anticipation for the
reader which is good because it keeps the story moving forward.
Another thing to mention is
that I really wanted this book/series to have a strong female as the main
character. Jade is tough and resilient. She lived through a difficult childhood
and came out ahead. But sometimes her tough exterior is used to hide the
emotions that she needs to deal with, and that’s where Garret comes in. He’s
the only person who’s able to get her to deal with things and express the
emotions she tries so hard to hide.
Why did you decide to include a mystery in the book? Why
not just straight romance?
I wanted to make the story
run deeper than just the romance. My YA series has lots of twists and turns,
suspense, conspiracies, secrets, etc. I like all that stuff. I find it fun to
read about. The Jade Series doesn’t have all of that, but it has some of it.
There’s a mystery that runs through the whole series that involves both Jade
and Garret. And as with my other series, there are some unexpected twists and
suspenseful moments.
Choosing You by Allie Everhart
(The Jade Series #1)
Publication date: September 23rd, 2013
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance
Synopsis:
When Jade is given a scholarship to an elite private college in Connecticut, she sees it as a chance to finally escape her painful past and get a fresh start. She’s determined to succeed and that means keeping her focus on school and not guys. But her plan falls apart her first day on campus when Garret, a rich prep school boy with swimmer abs and a perfect smile, offers to help her move in.
Jade tries to push him away, but she can’t deny her attraction to him and Garret won’t let her. Things quickly heat up between them, but then come to a sudden halt when reality hits and Jade realizes that a relationship with Garret may never be possible. He comes from a world of wealth where there are rules, including rules about who he can date. And not following those rules has consequences.
As the two of them try to overcome the obstacles working to keep them apart, Jade is confronted with another challenge. On her 19th birthday, she receives a letter that her now deceased mother wrote years ago. In it are revelations that explain her traumatic childhood but also make her question the past she’s been running from.
Purchase:
Allie Everhart writes about dating, love, and romance. She’s also a freelance writer for magazines and websites. Before freelancing, she was a book editor for a publishing company where she worked on several NYT bestselling nonfiction books. She loves to read as much as she loves to write. And when she’s not reading or writing, she’s outside running, which is when she gets her best book ideas.
Author links:
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