A few minutes later, Jake is finally done with his speech and Brody is standing beside me, staring at his GED. I lean in close to get a look.
“Pretty cool, huh?” he says.
I take the certificate from him and set it on the table beside us before reaching up to bring his face closer to mine so I can kiss him. “It would be even cooler with my last name,” I say.
Brody laughs, but when his eyes meet mine, I can tell this idea isn’t so much of a joke to him—well, the name part is, because what would people do with all those Jason Brody Rookie of the Year cards?—but us being together forever…he’s pretty serious about that.
And so am I.
I glance over at Dad and catch him reaching for Savannah’s hand. I shake my head, hardly able to believe they’ve gone there. Life is funny sometimes…the worst possible things can get you to the best possible places.
If you just enjoy the game.
Acknowledgments
I’d like to thank my super star agent, Nicole Resciniti for being the first to listen to this book idea and keeping me sane while I worked through the editorial phase. My Entangled editorial team: Heather Howland, Kari Olson, and Liz Pelletier for all the time and passion put into this story. Mark Perini and Gaby Navarro for helping with the Spanish translations.
My family, for their continued support, and all the readers who have stuck by me.
About the Author
Julie Cross lives in Central Illinois with her husband and three children. She’s a former gymnast and longtime gymnastics fan, coach, and former gymnastics program director with the YMCA. She’s a lover of books, devouring several novels a week, especially in the young adult and new adult genres. Outside of her reading and writing credentials, Julie is a committed—but not talented—long-distance runner, creator of imaginary beach vacations, Midwest bipolar-weather survivor, and expired CPR certification card holder, as well as a ponytail and gym-shoe addict. Visit her website.
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