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  Our mouths were attached as we stumbled down the hallway all the way to my bed, giggling and laughing but never for even a second letting go of each other.

  When we arrived at the foot of my bed, Scott’s mouth finally broke from mine. He leaned his forehead against mine, eyes closed, and he took a shaky breath as he held me in his arms.

  “I’ve loved you for a long time, but I don’t want to rush you. Are you sure you want to do this?”

  I pulled back from him to look at him. His eyes were filled with trepidation, and it hurt to see how scared he was. “I’m sure,” I said, easing his fears with my words. “I love you, Scott. I’m pretty sure I’ve always loved you.”

  The trepidation left as his eyes flicked down to my breasts again. A really sexy and wicked smile spread across his face, and then he reached for my bra strap, unhooked it, and helped me out of it. I grinned back when his eyes fell upon my naked breasts.

  He helped me out of my jeans and panties, and I helped him out of his jeans and boxers.

  And then we stood before each other naked, both of us taking a second to drink in what stood before us. Every part of his body was perfect, and by the look in his eyes, he thought I was, too.

  And then he pounced. He grabbed me in his arms and tossed me onto the bed, and I landed with a giggle. He crawled up so his naked body hovered over mine. He grinned down at me, and I smiled back up at him.

  His head lowered to kiss me, and then his lips dragged down my neck to my breasts while his hands worked my body over. His fingers were strong and insistent but somehow filled with unconditional reverence at the same time. His lips dropped below my chest to my stomach while his hands continued to feel every inch of my skin. He kissed his way back up to my mouth, swallowing my moans when his finger dipped inside of me.

  I arched into him, bucking my hips involuntarily toward his body, wanting more of him, wanting him everywhere, wanting him covering me with every part of him.

  My body tightened in preparation for release, and he pulled his hand away from me as he continued to kiss me.

  And then, finally, he slipped inside of me.

  My body immediately pulled him in like he was meant to be there. He pulled back and thrust forward. My body was already starting to buckle, and he’d just gotten inside. I wanted it to last forever, and as I opened my eyes to see his face, I knew that was what he wanted, too.

  Our connection was filled with love and passion from the way his eyes met mine to the way his lips moved over mine to the way his hips ground against mine.

  I’d never been so emotionally connected to another person before, and that connection made sex with Scott by far the most intense, fiery, and romantic experience of my life.

  The emotional connection translated perfectly to the sexual connection as we flew simultaneously into the most powerful explosion I’d ever experienced in my life.

  Scott rolled off of me, laying back on his pillow. His hand found my leg, and we lay together panting and recovering in my bed seconds after we’d pushed each other into the most pleasurable moments of our lives.

  Scott propped himself up on one elbow and peered at me. He leaned down and pressed a tender kiss to my lips, and then he held up his hand as he grinned down at me. “High-five for the best sex of my life.”

  I giggled as I lifted my hand to slap his.

  29

  “The job fair in January is a great place to start.” Dr. Prestbury answered Scott’s question at our last Round Robin meeting of the semester.

  All we had left were final exams, and then we were free for three weeks of winter break. Scott and I had arranged a little over a week together at his parents’ place in Chicago over Christmas, and then we’d be spending a little over a week together at my parents’ place in Vegas before heading back to San Diego for our final semester.

  Our hardest semester.

  The semester where we’d defend our master’s thesis.

  And Scott the planner, my boyfriend and the love of my life, asked Dr. Prestbury how the heck we were supposed to find jobs post-graduation…which sparked a rather scary thought.

  Where were we going to end up?

  I had no doubt Scott and I were going to be together forever. If nothing else, the past couple of weeks had shown me how the strong base of friendship was a great place to begin a relationship. I’d never had so much fun with the person I was sleeping with before.

  I’d never high-fived after sex, either…but I did with Scott.

  Every time. Mostly because every time was somehow better than the last.

  We hadn’t really talked about what would happen come May. With any luck, the supervisory committee would approve my thesis as well as Scott’s, but what came next? As time rolled forward with its unstoppable force, I knew the end would be upon us much sooner than I was ready.

  Chicago? Vegas? San Diego?

  I had my own opinions on where I wanted to land post-graduation. But it was a conversation I needed to have with Scott—and one I was nervous to have. Between studying for exams and working through the data for research analysis, the two of us had been pretty busy with school. And when we weren’t working in the land of academia, we were cuddling on my couch or participating in naked workouts in my bed.

  I liked our little cocoon. I wasn’t ready to leave it. I wasn’t ready to think about the reality of what came next.

  I wasn’t ready to make some big decision about where we’d end up together when I really just wanted to stay in San Diego.

  “Will the job fair have only local employers?” Scott asked. His eyes were focused on Dr. Prestbury. He maintained complete professionalism during our meetings, and his formality always made me chuckle a little. Especially when I thought about his post-sex high-fives.

  But this was one question where I wished his eyes would flick in my direction. I wished I could see what he was thinking.

  “Mostly local, but the fair typically draws from Los Angeles as well. We may have a few out of state employers as well. The final list won’t come out until the week before the fair.”

  Scott nodded once.

  Dr. Prestbury looked around at all of us. “I also received a listing of internships for the spring semester just today. I’ll forward those to your emails and you can take a look to see if anything piques your interest. I glanced through the list, and there were a few schools and a couple of private practices. If you have questions about any of them, send me an email. I’m very familiar with several of the private practices.”

  Dr. Prestbury wrapped up our meeting with our assignments for our next meeting, which would be about a month later in mid-January.

  Scott and I walked to Starbucks for hot chocolate after our meeting. We sipped the sweet treat and held hands on the way back to my apartment, and I felt a sudden longing for the very moment we were experiencing. It was odd to pine for something right in front of me, but I felt the “real world” knocking on my door. It was coming, and I already missed walking from Starbucks back to my apartment with my hand warmed by Scott’s and my heart happy with laughter.

  “I know we’ve been pretty busy the past few weeks, but have you started looking for jobs yet?”

  His voice was husky, but it was also a little nervous. This conversation had the potential to change things between us. It had the potential to set up our future just as much as it had the potential to break us apart.

  “Not yet.” My voice came out a low whisper. “Have you?”

  He nodded. Of course he had. He probably already had something lined up, knowing him.

  His preparation for any possible outcome was one of the things I loved about him.

  He stopped, and I realized we were right under the palm tree where we always met after class. He took my empty cup and tossed it with his in the trash. And then he turned toward me and leaned in for a tender kiss. My chest burned with need for more when he pulled away. I always wanted more with Scott.

  It was this new combination for me, this phy
sical need for someone mixed with these deeply rooted emotions.

  “It’s hard to find a job when I’m not sure where to look, though.”

  I raised my eyebrows, surprised he didn’t have a plan. I wasn’t sure how to respond. We were treading lightly here, neither one of us wanting to be the one who made this huge decision about our future.

  “Where have you been looking?”

  “Before we got together, my search was pretty exclusive to Chicago. But now…” He trailed off, and hope bloomed inside me.

  “Now?”

  He took a step toward me and pulled me into his arms. “I want to be wherever you are.”

  I smiled up at him, warmth spreading everywhere through me. “Well that’s good, because I want to be wherever you are.”

  He leaned in for one of those kisses that knocked the wind out of me.

  When he pulled away much too soon, he asked, “Vegas?”

  I shrugged. “What makes you think Vegas?”

  “It’s your home.”

  “My home is wherever you are.”

  “I love you.”

  “I love you. And I love San Diego. It’s where we met. It’s our home together. We come from two different places, but this is us. It’s where I want to be, as long as you’ll be here too.”

  He held his hand up, and I giggled as I high-fived him.

  He grinned down at me, and my heart melted as I gazed at the man who made me happier than I ever imagined I could be. “I think we just made our first major decision as a couple.”

  I grinned back. “I think we did.”

  He grabbed my hand and the two of us continued our walk toward my apartment.

  We made our first major decision together, and I had a feeling there would be many, many more in our future together.

  30

  Master’s Thesis

  Piper Andrews

  Dr. H. Prestbury

  PSY799: Thesis

  Abstract

  Love triangles, book boyfriends, HEAs, and cliffies are all terms used in the romance genre millions of people read every single day. Do men in real life act the way the books portray? Are the stereotypes true?

  The constant in this social experiment was the test subject: one woman named Piper Andrews. The variables were each of the men she dated and analyzed against a set of criteria: the athlete, the bad boy, the biker, the DILF, the dominant, the businessman, the friend, the rock star, and the stepbrother. She developed feelings for some of the men while others she wrote off right away. She experienced every level of emotion through this experiment, from fear to excitement to desire and ultimately to love. This social experiment running from September through December proved that the stereotypical modern day romance novel leading man does create unrealistic expectations for a prolonged adult relationship. The variables were unable to live up to expectations; however, an unforeseen happy ending was sitting right in front of the test subject the entire time.

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  Acknowledgments

  One day my husband went for a run, and I told him to come home with a new story idea for me to write. When he came home, he said I should write a book where the main character dates all the stereotype book boyfriends, and together we polished the idea that became one of my favorite novels I’ve written to date. So I have to thank Matt for being not just the best husband in the world, but also my “business manager” and the person I can bounce ideas off of all day long. Along with Matt, I have to thank Sadie, our perfect yellow Lab, for lying beside me while I write. And to our baby due January 7, thank you for forcing me to take a much needed break!

  Thank you to my alpha and beta readers who helped me make this book the best it can be! Jen, April, Kim, Johnnie-Marie, Diane, Sheri, Crystal, Stephanie, Jennifer C., Kelly, and Anna – I appreciate the time you took to read my book and give me honest and critical feedback. And of course, thank you to Lisa Suzanne’s Darlings for being an awesome group of women.

  In addition to all of the amazing blogs who tirelessly review and promote my books, I also have to give a huge thanks to Give Me Books for running the Release Day Blitz and to Just One More Page for handling the cover reveal. A huge shout out to Louisa from LM Creations for another perfect cover!

  Finally, thank you to you—the reader! I appreciate that you took the time to read my book, and I’d love if you left a review on Amazon.

  XOXO,

  About the Author

  Lisa Suzanne started handwriting her books on yellow legal pads after she took a creative writing class in high school. She still has those legal pads full of stories, but now one of them is published under the title How He Really Feels. She currently works as a full time high school English teacher, and her favorite part of the year is summer. She has been blessed with the world’s best dog, a supportive family, and a husband who encouraged her to publish after reading one of her novels. She likes the advice of Ernest Hemingway’s famous quote, “Write drunk. Edit sober.”

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  Books by Lisa Suzanne

  VINTAGE VOLUME ONE

  VINTAGE VOLUME TWO

  THE HE FEELS TRILOGY BOX SET

  HOW HE REALLY FEELS (HE FEELS, BOOK 1)

  WHAT HE REALLY FEELS (HE FEELS, BOOK 2)

  SINCE HE REALLY FEELS (HE FEELS, BOOK 3)

  SEPARATION ANXIETY

  SIDE EFFECTS

  SECOND OPINION

  Flip the page to read the beginning of Vintage Volume One!

  VINTAGE VOLUME ONE

  © 2015 Lisa Suzanne

  prologue

  I’m in trouble, Roxy. You’re better off without me. I won’t be back, but I will think of you every single second of every single day. Stay in this house if you want. If I stay, I put you at risk. If I tell you more, I put you at risk. This is a forever kind of goodbye. Please don’t hate me. I couldn’t take it.

  one

  Four hundred of my dad’s closest friends held their glasses in the air after the best man gave his speech.

  I glanced at my new stepmother, Jadyn Snow, adult film star.

  Who the fuck marries a porn star?

  A rock star, that’s who.

  Dear old Dad.

  I had only attended the wedding because I loved and respected my father. I’d contemplated not attending, but my dad had texted me the night before. CC, I would love if you could accept my new wife into your life. I’m glad you decided to come.

  At the rehearsal dinner, I considered keeping a tally of how many times I heard my dad’s bride-to-be talk about money, fame, or my dad’s band, Black Shadow. What she really cared about became pretty evident as I listened to her talk to their guests.

  That’s why I was having a hard time raising my glass in the air to toast this couple’s wedded bliss.

  It was his third wedding in the last ten years, and this one was even bigger and more extravagant than the last.

  This marriage wouldn’t last any longer than the others, but at least this time he’d been smart enough to make his blushing bride sign a prenup.

  My dad took the microphone after his best man finished his speech.

  “First I must toast to my beautiful bride.” He looked over at her, and it was clear he had genuine feelings for her. Maybe I just didn’t know her well enough to appreciate that she really loved him, but somehow I doubted that. He held his glass up. “I love you, Jade. I
can’t wait to spend every day showing you how much. And to everyone else, especially my baby girl CC, thank you for being part of our day. We love you all. Now let’s get fucked up!”

  The crowd roared with laughter while I fingered a lock of my hair self-consciously. It got stuck in a knotty layer of hairspray. I tended to be low-maintenance. My almost-black hair naturally dried straight, but the stylist insisted on curly waves for the day, and then she’d lacquered those waves until they were shinier than the sun.

  I felt like all eyes in the room were on me when my dad said my name, and I wanted a hole in the ground to swallow me up.

  Although money and fame certainly had its perks, I hadn’t asked for the attention that was forced on me because my dad was a famous rock star.

  “Why does your dad call you CC?” A male voice from a nearby table spoke to me. I turned my attention to the voice.

  He looked familiar, but I didn’t know his name. He was in a band, maybe, or on some television show. I didn’t keep up with celebrities.

  “My middle name. Cecilia. He wanted it to be my first name.”

  “Your mother insisted on Roxanna?”

  I nodded. Roxanna Cecilia Price was my full name. I looked nothing like a Roxanna, but my parents assured me that my name was musical. I was named after the muses of two famous songs—“Roxanne” and “Cecilia.” I wanted a normal name. I wanted to be called Anne or Jen or Megan or Katie. But instead, I was Roxanna Cecilia. The name was too big for my skinny frame.

  “Roxy, we need you for more pictures.” Delilah, my dad’s wedding planner, pulled my attention from my short conversation.

  I’d had my picture taken more times just driving up to the hotel than I’d had in the entire last year. This circus of an event had brought out Hollywood’s elite. Paparazzi clicked away, each hoping for a glimpse of any one of the celebrities attending, not to mention the groom himself.

  Those pictures would be worth a fortune.

  Growing up the daughter of Gideon Price wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Most kids grow up wishing that their parents were cool, rich, and famous. I had all of that, and I grew up wishing my parents were just normal.