In Pieces
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Epilogue
Books by Gia Riley
About the Author
Acknowledgements
In Pieces
Copyright © 2015 by Gia Riley
All Rights Reserved
Cover Design by
Sommer Stein, Perfect Pear Creative Covers
Interior Design and Formatting by
Christine Borgford, Perfectly Publishable
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded, or distributed via the Internet without the publisher’s permission and is in violation of the International copyright law.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.
To first loves.
Even when it feels like the world is against you, keep going.
Your pieces are constantly forming a beautiful story.
THE APARTMENT’S QUIET when I get up for my first day of school. I’ve spent four years of high school waiting to be a senior. Now that the day has come, I don’t feel much different than when I was a junior, but at least I’m one step closer to graduation.
Still, being a senior doesn’t make waking up at six in the morning any easier. In fact, I groaned as soon as my feet hit the floor half an hour ago. My entire body feels the after effects of working a double shift at the diner last night. Being the last night of summer vacation, I wanted to get in as many hours as possible before I had to start worrying about homework and school.
After a hot shower, followed by a cold dousing of water to wake up, I’m dressed and ready for my day. At least I think I am. I even curled my hair, and put on more make-up than I normally do. I don’t know who I’m trying to impress, nobody cares. When they’re not spreading new rumors about me, they’re usually oblivious to my mere existence.
“Mornin’ Kinsley,” Carson says, as he walks out of his room the same time I do, half naked.
I’ve known Carson for as long as I can remember—he’s pretty much a second brother to me even though we aren’t actually related. Which is a good thing considering I had a wicked crush on him for a long time.
He started out as my brother Wyatt’s friend, and slowly morphed into a part of our family. Now that Wyatt’s away at college, he’s moved into the protector roll without even having to be asked. He ended up here when my older sister, Kate, needed help paying the bills. He willingly took Wyatt’s old room, with the stipulation that Wyatt could crash in it whenever he wanted to come home.
“All set for school?”
“Yeah, leaving in a couple minutes,” I mumble, as a yawn escapes my tired body.
Carson’s in school too, only he commutes instead of living on campus. He’s focused on finishing his criminal justice degree as quickly as possible, so he can enroll in the police academy. It scares me when I imagine him on the streets late at night, protecting the world from hate, but there’s nothing he’s ever wanted to do more. Even when we were kids, and would play cops and robbers, he’d always be the cop.
He follows me to the kitchen where he watches me pour coffee into my travel mug. I’m useless without it after working so late. His eyes bore into the back of my head as I stir way too much sugar into my coffee.
It’s weird having him here. I thought it would be fun, interesting even, but I’ve caught him checking me out more times than I can count. Problem is, I’ve always noticed him—especially when he’s walking around without a shirt, like he is right now. All the hours he spends in the gym are showing, and it makes it even harder to see him as my friend, and not the attractive nineteen-year-old, college freshman that he is.