Unbreakable
(ACCIDENTAL CRUSH BOOK 3)
Adrienne Torrisi
All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2015 by Adrienne Torrisi.
This is a work of fiction. Any similarity of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author. The Author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the author.
Book 1: Accidental Crush
Book 2: Accidental Love
Book 3: Unbreakable
Cover Design: M. ten Napel
Editing: C&D Editing
Table of Contents
Title page
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter 1: New Beginnings
Chapter 2: First Day
Chapter 3: After School
Chapter 4: Practice
Chapter 5: The Rescue
Chapter 6: Homecoming
Chapter 7: The Aftershock
Chapter 8: The Day After
Chapter 9: The Dance
Chapter 10: Meet the Parents
Chapter 11: The Aftermath
Chapter 12: Playing Along
Chapter 13: Monday
Chapter 14: The Date
Chapter 15: Something New
Chapter 16: The Trip
Chapter 17: The Results
Chapter 18: Feeling Better?
Chapter 19: Moment of Truth
Chapter 20: New Routines
Chapter 21: Threesome
Chapter 22: Prom
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About the Author
This book is dedicated to my family and friends for their incredible support.
Also, to all of the readers, who continue to ask for more. Thank you for your inspiration.
Chapter 1: New Beginnings
ASHLEY
Todd rolls me over and presses his body into mine as we lay in the middle of our field. This has become our place, and I love every second we spend in it as my toes push into the cool grass and his body presses into mine. I feel the wool from the blanket scratch against my skin. I’m on sensory overload whenever I am with him, but especially when we are here.
I breathe it all in, take him in. I feel everything, see everything, smell everything. The scents, the feel of the grass, and the wool all add up to us and to everything that makes this place ours. This is where we come to just be, and I wouldn’t change a thing.
Tomorrow school starts, and everything will change. Deep down, I know I’m being dramatic and school won’t change anything, not really. We will still be together, and I’ll see him every day, but the hours of us lying here together will be gone. No longer will we be able to just come soak in the sun and each other. With school comes homework, football practice, life. The bliss of the last two weeks with no work, no school, no homework, and the hours of free time between Todd’s summer football two-a-day practices will disappear.
School means an even bigger stress of the impending doom of college. I know it’s coming. I wish I could freeze time.
Todd’s long, lean fingers trace the scar that runs right across my hairline. If you didn’t know it was there, you would never notice it. Fortunately, the hospital had a plastic surgeon stitch me up. I guess it’s protocol when the wound is on your face. It’s pretty incredible that the scar is already almost undetectable, even though I got my stitches out only a few days ago.
I really don’t remember much about what happened, but I’ll be eternally grateful to the kid who freaked out in the pool because he brought us back together.
I feel Todd’s fingers gently run over it, and I revel in the sensation of the rough calluses on his hands from pitching and playing the guitar, but even through the rough parts, his skin is incredibly soft, his touch incredibly gentle.
I love studying his features as he studies mine, yet I hate the tense look on his face. I hate that he feels like he needs to protect me and that he is treating me like I might break. I know he is doing it because he cares, but it’s frustrating. It’s been two weeks since my accident, and Todd has been overly protective the entire time.
“What are you thinking?” I ask.
He stops stroking his fingers over my forehead, his look turning pensive. “You have no idea how scary that was for me, Ash—seeing you at the bottom of that pool, not moving.” He shakes his head, his hair falling into his eyes as he hangs his head, avoiding eye contact.
The silence stretches between us. I can almost feel his pain, but I can’t allow myself to absorb it. Instead, I ignore it and study him, which is much more fun. His hair is still a little wet from the shower he took after this morning’s football practice, and I know they have another one later this afternoon—I’m dreading four o’clock. I need to lighten his stress, change the mood for the little time we have left together today.
“Um, I think I know exactly how it feels. I remember seeing Brian and Gretch. It wasn’t that long ago, you know,” I finally say as I gently grab his chin and pull it up so his eyes meet mine, the shock of their beauty stunning me as it always does. “Hey, I know,” I soothe gently, making sure I have his full attention. “I’m here. I’m fine. I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself, as long as there aren’t any giant eight-year-olds around.”
A small smile breaks through his stoic look, and he presses his lips together to try to stop a full smile from forming.
I slide my hand through his damp hair, brushing it away from his eyes, and I relish in the feeling of his soft cheek as my thumb grazes it.
“Come on, you have to stop worrying. It’s not a good look on you.” I continue to run my fingers through his hair, making it stick up in messy points. “Now this is a good look on you.” A full smile finally breaks through. His hair is going in a million different directions as it sticks up in the air, but he somehow still looks perfect.
He rolls me over so I’m now on top of him. “Okay, I get it,” he says before his soft lips brush against mine. Then he twirls his tongue with mine, and I fall into him.
The feeling of his lips on mine will never get old. Ever.
Between kisses, I continue to make my point. “You’ll have to let go eventually. You can’t follow me to classes tomorrow.”
“Oh, really? Watch me.”
“Oh, yeah?” I press my smile into his.
“Yeah. I’m going to be a senior, and we can do whatever we want.”
“Oh, is that how it works?”
“It is.” His smile widens over mine, and his kisses get deeper, which stops our small talk and takes us right into pure make-out mode.
Kissing him is my heaven. This is exactly where I should be, where I need to be.
His lips connect perfectly with mine as I run my fingers down his strong arms and feel the contours of each of his defined muscles. I can’t get enough of him. I’m so happy to have him back; it still feels like a dream. Being away from him, not talking to him, not having him in my life to laugh with was painful beyond words, way worse than a concussion and twenty stitches. As a result, I’ve vowed to never let that happen again. If nothing else, it’s made me appreciate just how amazing he is, how amazing we are together.