Crashing Back Down
Kristen Hope Mazzola
Kristen Hope Mazzola
Crashing Series Book 1
Release Date: November 7th 2013
Add to Goodreads: Goodreads Link
18+ New Adult romance
Mags McManus has just become a war widow in her mid-twenties. Her late husband, Randy, left for the Army right after their wedding. Instead of celebrating his homecoming and living in marital bliss with her soulmate, Mags finds herself living in constant agony. Dealing with the guilt of still living without Randy, are Randy's best friends and parents.
Rising from the ashes of this tragedy, Mags starts to learn how to love and trust again, finally being able to find happiness. But sometimes things really are too good to be true and again Mags learns how cruel the world can be as she crashes back down.
Mags McManus has just become a war widow in her mid-twenties. Her late husband, Randy, left for the Army right after their wedding. Instead of celebrating his homecoming and living in marital bliss with her soulmate, Mags finds herself living in constant agony. Dealing with the guilt of still living without Randy, are Randy's best friends and parents.
Rising from the ashes of this tragedy, Mags starts to learn how to love and trust again, finally being able to find happiness. But sometimes things really are too good to be true and again Mags learns how cruel the world can be as she crashes back down.
Excitement
started to form butterflies in my stomach while Cali and I giggled in her
bathroom, getting our makeup just right for our first adventure into the new
world of college Greek life. We had met only a few weeks back during sorority
rush, and became instant friends. We could not have asked for more; being
pledges for the same sorority and starting to dive right into a ‘real’ college
experience. It was the first night of fraternity rush and some of our older
sisters invited us to join in the festivities at one of the fraternity houses
on campus. It was a really big deal, and we were bubbling over with giddiness.
When
we were finally walking up the dampened front lawn of the frat house, I grabbed
Cali’s arm, completely in awe of the sea of ravishing men we were wading
through. She pointed out an especially good-looking guy wearing his letters
across his noticeably chiselled chest. He was tan, tall, and had tattoos poking
out from under his sleeves. I bit my bottom lip and salivated with Cali as we
followed the hottie into the foyer.
There
were tons of guys and girls, all grouped off, trying to convince potential new
members that being Greek was amazing and that this was the fraternity for them.
It did not take too long for a handsome brother to stride up to us, and to our
surprise, the guy I was mentally undressing before stood next to him. I found
out that the hottie’s name was Walker, but my attention was quickly diverted to
his friend, Randy. There was just something about him that stunned me.
We
chatted and flirted with them throughout the night, while meeting other
potentials who were not so favorable. Apparently, during fraternity rush, they
had a few guys doing "trash duty,” meaning any guy who over stayed his
welcome was kindly escorted out by the trash handlers. It was a pretty fun role
that Randy and Walker let us participate in. We drank, chuckled, and toyed.
Cali and I played with our hair, laughed at every joke and batted our eyelashes
perfectly.
A
pimply-faced freshman puffed on his inhaler while talking to Randy, and Cali
grabbed my arm. “Come with me to the bathroom.” I nodded and asked Walker where
it was.
His
lips curled seductively as her put his hand on the small of my back, pointing
in the direction of the girls' room. “Don’t worry, we cleaned it this morning.”
His southern drawl curled around the words making him that much more attractive
as he winked and gave another sexy smile. We both fawned over his seductive
tone as we weaved through the crowd to the bathroom.
Luckily,
the oversized bathroom that smelled like piss and Lemon Pledge was empty. Cali
undid her shorts and plopped on the toilet while I checked my mascara in the
mirror.
“Those
two are freaking hot as hell, Mags!” Cali’s voice was full of excitement mixed
with lust.
I
touched up my makeup, trying to talk without messing up the liquid eyeliner.
“The girls were right. There are men for the picking.” I finished, and turned
to Cali who was zipping up her tight black shorts. “Which one you want?”
Her
eyes went wide at my words, “Randy is all over you; obviously he’s yours!
Besides, Walker has a bad boy southern edge I’d love to jump on!”
I
nodded, feeling my cheeks blush with anticipation and lust as I grabbed Cali’s
hand again to lead her back to find our evening’s prospects. I was thankful the
pimply-faced guy had already been booted by the time we returned.
Randy’s
eyes lit up a little when he noticed us walking toward him. He slid his arm
around my waist and hugged me close to him as he handed me a fresh beer.
“Having fun?” His silky, deep voice tingled in my ear while he whispered,
sending goose bumps down my neck and arms.
Trying
to be as sexy as I could, not really being the best flirt, I was so nervous to
come off as an awkward freshman, I licked the top of the bottle a little,
before taking a long swig, and then nodded. “Yeah, tonight’s been great!”
Randy
hugged me close again, a smile dangling on the corners of his mouth. Faintly a hint
of red dusted over the back of his neck.
Seeing the slight red creep over Randy’s skin made longing surge through
my body. Right then I knew I was in deep water already.
Toward
the end of the night, another one of the brothers came over to introduce a
brand new pledge to Walker, claiming that he was his perfect match for a little
brother. The five of us all got along like we had known each other for years. The conversation flowed easily
between all of us, and we stayed together, laughing and joking for the rest of
the evening. Mitch Katz was a freshman, just like Cali and me, and
pretty outgoing. When he went to shake Randy’s hand, I noticed a sleeve inked
into Mitch’s arm. Could these guys get any hotter?
Starting
to slur his words making his southern accent that much thicker, Walker leaned
over to put his arm around Randy’s shoulder. “What do you say we all get the
heck outta here?” He had a devilish grin on his face as he winked at Cali,
making both of us blush.
The
rest of us agreed and made our way to the parking lot. Randy grabbed my hand
once we made it out the door, leading me to his truck. “Race ya home, Walker!”
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