Fall: A Seaside Novel (The Seaside Series) Read Online Free

my best — my favorite. Until the idiot, see I don’t have to say ass all the time, decided to panic and act like a commitment-phobe freak.
    What? It wasn’t like I expected him to propose to me! I’m eighteen! Eight-freaking-teen! I was just so shocked that he’d been shaking while giving me the kiss, that he’d been so tender in the process, that for a split second, I believed he could be a different person.
    I saw a Jaymeson that I’m sure the world had never seen. He was awkward, afraid, scared, hilarious.
    And mine.
    He’d kissed me like I was his, and I hated that every second of the day a part of me wished it were true.
    With a sigh, I walked over to the driver’s side of my car and heard a loud honking. I jerked back against my door and swore out loud as a truck sped by and flipped me off.
    Great, so thinking of Jaymeson wasn’t just driving me slowly insane, it was going to get me killed.
    I needed to find a boyfriend.
    And get a life.
    I’d promised my parents I would take a semester off and start school at Oregon State in the spring.
    Yeah, I should have never made that promise. I was already in hell. And FYI , hell isn’t a bad word because it’s an actual place; I tell my dad this on a daily basis.
    I turned the key in my red Camry and slowly pulled out of the parking lot. I drove like a snail toward Goodwill, and it had nothing to do with the fact that I was a terrible driver. It did, however, have everything to do with the fact that my parents were going to be gone for an entire week, only to come home for the weekend and leave again for my sister’s next cheerleading competition in Seattle. They were going to stay an extra week and vacation, then drive her back in time for school to start.
    Leaving me alone.
    All alone.
    I started singing, “All by myself…” at the top of my lungs then stopped. You know you’ve hit a low point when your own singing grates on your nerves.
    My friends had all abandoned me for college — it was September, where else would they be?
    And I had a week to look forward to movies and silence.
    But I couldn’t watch movies because they made me think of him, and I couldn’t go to the beach because that’s where the kiss had taken place — meaning, I was stuck with staring at the wall or reading books.
    Books became my boyfriend.
    My addiction.
    My obsession.
    Me and Mr. Darcy were basically married now — I mean, I spoke to him out loud on a daily basis, minus the English accent, because, you’ve guessed it! Jaymeson had an English accent. And no, for your information, it doesn’t sound ridiculous on him, it sounds sexy, deep, grating.
    “Damn it!” I slammed the steering wheel with my hand, accidently hitting the horn as a sweet old lady made her way slowly across the street with a cane.
    I mouthed ‘sorry.’
    And received another finger.
    How nice, the sweet old lady knows how to flip people off.
    I fought the urge to return the gesture — but figured it was probably a bad idea considering a bumper sticker from my dad’s church had found it’s way onto my car.
    Every time I took it off.
    He replaced it.
    Resistance was futile.
    Hah! Star Trek! I pumped my fist into the air and then swallowed. “Holy crap, I need a life.”
    Starting now. I pulled into the parking lot and vowed… the next few months would be different. I’d take chances, take risks, live on the wild side, and for the love of God, I would NOT think of Jamie Jaymeson, or his eyes, or his smile, or his…
    He was dead to me.
    “Dead, you hear me!” I slammed my fist into the horn again, this time on purpose, forgetting that my window was open.
    A guy from Goodwill walked over and grimaced. “Remind me to never piss you off.”
    “Sorry.” I felt my cheeks blush. “I… um, I’m here to deliver donations from Seaside Christian Fellowship?” Yeah… way’ta go, Pris.
    He licked his lips and let out a chuckle. “Of course you are.”
    And my blush deepened.
    “I’ll get the