Title: For A

Reason

Author: T.N.

Cole

Release Date: Sept 3,

2015

She loved

me.

I failed her.

She loves

me.

I'll break her.

Tristan Westdyke seems to have it

all: he's handsome, athletic, smart, and admired. What people don't see

beyond the façade, though, is the pain and guilt eating away at his soul.

Blaming himself for the loss of another person, Tristan trudges through life not

allowing himself to feel.

But when the beautiful and

energetic Katelyn Sharp barrels into his life, Tristan is helpless to resist emotions

long buried. A connection slowly grows between the two, yet secrets and deceit

threaten to shatter the fragile trust and love they’ve

found.

Can two people who have been hurt

and betrayed open their hearts up once more? Can both accept that all may have

happened For a Reason?

I reached up and pushed

Kate’s hair out of her face. It was pulled to one side, but it had long fallen out

of the updo it was in when the sight of her first took my breath

away tonight. I lightly traced my fingers over the bandage covering the right

side of her forehead and I hovered over the outline of some of the bruises and

scratches. I watched my fingers, and I felt her watching me—waiting for me

to tell her something. I wanted so badly to trace her lips on my exploration of her

face—to feel her breath on my fingertips. But, I forced myself to pull back.

“Don’t look at me like that,” I finally

whispered. 

“Like what?” she

frowned. 

“Don’t look at me like

I saved you. I’m the reason this happened to you. You’re looking at

me like you’re so happy that I’m here. Those guys shouldn’t

have slipped something in your drink, or whatever they did. If I were paying

attention, they wouldn’t have almost made off with you. I did this to

you, and don’t you fucking forget it.” I stopped to take a deep,

shuddering breath and buried my face in my hands.

“Funny,” Kate said

coldly as she leaned forward. “I didn’t peg you as the

victim type.”

I reared

back. “What?”

“You heard me,” she

snapped. “I was the one who had something slipped in my drink. And

apparently, I was the one who was almost kidnapped. But I wasn’t. Because

you stopped them from taking me. You brought me here. I’m safe. So,

quit the pity party on

yourself.”

My hands had fallen from my face

during her tirade to meet her now angry glare. I didn’t know if I was

supposed to be madat what she was saying or not, but I didn’t

have the time to figure it out because she wasn’t done

yet. “Do you know how Aimee knew to go get you from the waiting

room? I begged her to go get you because, somehow, I

knew you would be there. I knew you were the one who saved me from

whatever caused me to end up in the freaking hospital. So, none of this is your

fault. Yes, we shouldn’t have separated, but that’s on

both of us. But, it’s not my fault or your fault that some

asshole roofied me, capisce?” 

She was breathing heavily

by the end of her rant. She slowly fell back against the pillows, closing her

eyes. I watched her as she got her breathing under control, knowing I

had to choose my next words carefully. I didn’t want to upset her more, and I

knew that everything she said was true. “Hey. Kate.” I threaded my

fingers through hers and waited until she slowly opened her eyes to peek at me.

“You’re right. You’re absolutely right. I’m sorry. I

didn’t mean to upset you more; it’s just... You

were so gorgeous tonight. I wanted you to stay by me, but I couldn’t

ask you for that. And all of a sudden, I couldn’t find

you, and then you were almost kidnapped, and I couldn’t get

you to open your eyes. I couldn’t see your beautiful brown

eyes,” I was so quiet; I knew she had to be straining to

hear me. I didn’t want her to know how helpless I had felt. How I felt like I

had failed and lost all over again. And how my feelings for her were getting too

intense and they were scaring me. 

​

She tightened her grip on

my hand. “I heard you, you know. Through the haze, you said

‘Katelyn, please’. And that’s how I knew something was

wrong. So, I fought to wake up. You brought me

back.”

I closed my eyes, fighting off the

onslaught of emotion threatening to take over me. If only I had been able to save Mel

like I was able to save Kate. I didn’t know what else to say. I

was exhausted and I knew she had to be in even worse shape than I was.

“You should get some rest, Kate. We can talk in the morning. I’ll

be here. I’m not going to leave you.”

T.N. Cole spends her time seeking

new adventures, determined to make her life a memorable story. A recent graduate

with a bachelor in biology, T.N. is headed to graduate school at Texas Tech to pursue

her long time dream of becoming a pharmacist. When she's not reading,

writing, or studying, you'll find her trying to stay out of trouble or planning

her ultimate dream of traveling the world.

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