Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 52440 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 262(@200wpm)___ 210(@250wpm)___ 175(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52440 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 262(@200wpm)___ 210(@250wpm)___ 175(@300wpm)
Growing up, my biggest dream was to marry my best friend, Teo Kirby. Life had other plans—or he did, anyway. His perfect future involved football, not his curvy best friend.
He broke my heart…and a horrific accident destroyed my life.
I've never been able to get past it. I don't think he has, either.
When we come face to face at my concert after six years, Teo swears I don't know the full story. And he isn't the same boy I loved back then. This version of him is harder. Angrier. A tornado in a jersey.
And God help me, he still has the power to break me.
I shouldn't still care about him or the fact that his professional football career is on the line. The last thing I need is his tarnished reputation destroying mine. But when he tells the world that we're dating... I'm just crazy enough to play along.
I'm desperate enough to revel in his touch and drown in his kisses, too.
But I wasn't supposed to forgive him. I wasn't supposed to fall. And we weren't supposed to find ourselves facing the same impossible choices we faced back then, either.
With the entire world watching, can we truly break free of the past, or are we destined to break all over again?
Hold Me Closer is an angsty second-chance romance featuring a possessive football superstar and the popstar he's loved since they were kids
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Prologue
Nadia
Six Years Ago
"Oh, sweetheart. You look so beautiful," my mom whispers, blinking rapidly to keep from tearing up as I twirl in my prom dress so the short A-line bottom flares around my thighs.
I look like a princess in it. Rhinestones scattered throughout the scalloped lace top sparkle beneath the lights, and the deep red fabric makes my hazel eyes pop. With my hair and makeup mostly done, I feel grown up for once.
"Mateo isn't going to know what to think when he sees you."
"Mom," I groan, pink creeping into my cheeks as I stop spinning to fidget restlessly at the mention of Mateo "Teo" Kirby.
Teo has been my best friend my entire life. We've always done everything together. But now that we're in high school, things are different. Or maybe they've always been different. I don't know. All I know for sure is that I don't look at him the way I look at my other friends. And he doesn't look at me the same way, either.
We hold hands all the time. We talk on the phone nonstop. He takes me to dinner and the movies, shopping, or wherever I want to go. And when the night ends, he hugs me like he never wants to let me go.
I've never even considered dating anyone else because it's always been Teo for me. And he's never dated anyone else, either. I'm pretty sure he's in love with me. I know I'm in love with him. I have been for a long time. But I'm not ready to admit that to my mom. I think he should be the first person who hears it from me, right? Right.
"We're just friends," I insist.
A knowing smile curves my mom's lips upward. She doesn't believe me for a minute. Not that I'm really surprised. She knows everything.
"Yes," my dad growls before she can call me out, his Russian accent thick. He leans against the wall just inside my bedroom, his arms crossed over his chest as if he's standing guard over my mom and me, as overprotective as ever. "They are just friends. And they will remain just friends. My Nadia does not need boyfriend. She needs longer dress." He motions toward me. "You look beautiful, zaika, but this is not good for you. It's too short."
"Daddy," I groan. "It's a perfectly reasonable length."
His brows furrow, his lips pursing in a look that's far too familiar. I swear, the older me and my sisters get, the more overprotective he gets. I love him so much for loving us the way he does. He's the best dad. But he is not handling the fact that we're growing up very well. I think he hates it.
He'll always be our hero, though. Unfortunately, not even heroes can stop time. If he could, he'd do it in a heartbeat.
Our mom is more rational about us growing up. She used to be a teenage girl, so she understands what it's like. Thank God because she's the only one who can talk sense into him most days.
I thought he was going to lose his mind when he found out that I could graduate a year early. Most parents would be thrilled. He moped for days. I know he's proud of me. He just doesn't want to let me go.
Lucky for him, I'm not ready to go yet. There are so many things I still want to experience before I go to college. I've spent all my time trying to get into college, so now I can relax a bit and have fun.
Besides, Teo wants to play football in college, and he won't get to do that next year. We've always planned on going together. Leaving early would mean leaving him and a big part of my dreams behind. I'm not ready to do that. I don't think I'll ever be ready to do that.
I don't need a music degree right this minute. But I do need him.
"The dance is in two hours, He-Man," Mom says, crossing the room to my dad. She loops her arm through his and presses up against his side, trying to distract him. "This is the dress she's wearing. You're just going to have to come to terms with it."
He turns that fierce scowl on her. Somehow, even in my pink and purple bedroom, he looks like a cranky warrior. But even scowling, the way he looks at my mom is exactly the way I want Teo to look at me in twenty years. My dad idolizes her and makes no secret of it. We pretend it annoys us, but honestly…I love it.
"She's wearing the dress, Knox," Mom says. "It's not too short. She looks beautiful. Behave."
"Little girls are easier than teenage girls, kisa," he rumbles, his brows furrowed. "I do not like when they are not so little anymore. Make them stop growing."