Ris_Anderson_9280

Claire Lyons has always been the quiet, good girl, harboring a secret crush on her best friend Vanessa’s father, Rawls Bennett, since she was sixteen. Now a grown woman, Claire can no longer ignore her feelings. But confessing to Rawls risks more than just heartbreak—it could shatter friendships, unearth buried secrets, and set off a chain of events no one saw coming. As tensions rise, loyalties are tested, and lives are changed, Claire must decide whether love is worth the chaos it will unleash.

Loving My Friend's Father

In the library, the air smelled like printers working overtime and energy drinks. I was hunched over my textbook, my notes scattered like a battlefield.

I tried absorbing as much information as possible with a whole brain. Exam week was here in full swing, and it wasn't just the test that made me feel like I was drowning.

I tried talking to Vanessa again, but she kept avoiding me. I tried catching her in the hallway earlier between classes. I was desperate for a word, contact, or clue, but I missed a ghost.

She had spotted me from across the room and turned to make that sharp left into the bathroom, swinging her blue backpack over one shoulder.

I sprinted after her. Heck, I should have seen it all coming long ago, but it seemed I wasn't the quickest.

It was that feeling of being pushed against a wall to work out your way from the shadow and, worse, being disregarded.

Letting the Cat out of the Bag