Read an excerpt from Maybe Never by Sadie Allen
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One golden boy...
Judd Jackson had it all—star football player with a college scholarship, perfect family, tons of friends, and a beautiful girlfriend. He was the most popular guy in town … until a family secret burned it all to the ground. Now, he’s the object of scorn and ridicule, and the only thing he has left is his scholarship and counting down the days until he can leave town.
One goal-oriented girl...
Sunny Blackfox was alone in the world, but she had big plans and big dreams to keep her occupied. She didn’t have time for anyone in her life. That was, until she came to the rescue of the boy she always had a thing for.
They have everything going against them, but maybe, if they are lucky, they will make it out of town after graduation together ... or maybe never.
Excerpt
I also knew that I couldn’t sit in my Jeep all night thinking about Sunny, so I took a deep breath and prepared myself to walk into the house.
Each step I took felt like I had ankle weights attached to my legs. Then I felt my stomach flip and my heart drop as I heard the music playing from the doorway. My mother’s garbled, tearful voice was singing, but it sounded more like shouting Michael Bolton’s “How Am I Supposed to Live Without You?” I knew which kind of drunk she was tonight.
I walked through the unlocked door and found my mother sprawled on her belly on the couch, one hand waving a large bottle of wine while she continued to sing terribly. She didn’t even notice I was there. What if it hadn’t been me? What if it had been a murdering rapist?
I felt my blood turn cold. I might not like my mother right now, but she was the only parent still around, and I loved her.
I crouched down by the couch and touched her shoulder. “Mom.”
She bent her head back and looked up into my face with eyes that were glassy and unfocused, and a face that was puffy and wet from crying. For a moment, she looked at me like she didn’t know who I was, until she whispered, “Oh, Judd.”
The bottle dropped to the floor with a loud thunk as she wailed, “He left us!”
I looked down at the bottle, prepared to go get some towels to clean up the mess, but nothing spilled out. She had already drunk the whole bottle.
“That bastard,” she mumbled before her head plopped back down. She buried her face into the couch cushion, her whole body heaving in great big sobs.
I left the bottle on the floor and tried to get my mom up so I could get her to the bedroom and into bed. I managed to flip her over, but her body was limp as she continued sobbing.
“Just leave me here to die.”
I sighed and rolled my eyes at her dramatic words. “You’re not dying. Come on; let’s get you up and into bed.”
She sat up, her face the perfect imitation of a toddler’s pout. “Why did he want to be … one of those things, Judd? Tell me why!” she yelled the last part.
“I don’t know, Mom.”
This was not the discussion I wanted to have about my father with her. She never talked about what had happened that night, unless it was to whine, scream, and cry while she was drunk. My mother always acted like he had left her for another woman. I guessed he did in his own way. Except that other woman was himself.
Yeesh. Someone call either Jerry Springer or Dr. Phil.
I managed to get her up on her feet then looped her arm around my shoulders and mine around her waist as I basically dragged her down the hall. That was when the familiar coughing/gagging sound started coming from her, and I tried to double time it to the hall bathroom, but we didn’t make it.
She projectile vomited all over the hall. The sour stench turned my stomach, and I had to fight my own gag reflex.
I took deep breaths through my mouth and closed my eyes. Eff my life.
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