Pre-Release Day Blitz::: Under the Influence by LB Simmons
Dalton,
I loved you once. A love I thought irrevocable. A love I
mistakenly believed could transcend both time and circumstance. Under the
influence of my dimwitted, naïve, traitorous heart, I became intoxicated with
what I now know was simply a figment of my self-indulgent imagination. So drunk
on the feeling, I couldn’t see what was right in front of my face. So foolishly
enamored, I blindly followed my heart into the depths of an emotion that would
ravage me.
Years later, I know now what I wish I knew then. I am
stronger. Smarter. Tougher. I will not allow myself to be broken again.
I loved you.
I raged for you.
I wept for you.
And now, I’m letting you go.
Author’s Note: Under
the Influence is the journey of two childhood friends that spans the course of
five pivotal years in their lives. It is a story about their discovery of true
friendship as it blossoms into first love, their experience of crucial sacrifice
and ultimate betrayal, and their endurance of agonizing heartbreak on the way
to finding lasting redemption.
Spencer POV:
Cassie maintains
her wide smile. “You go on a date and I guarantee what you find regarding Dalton and
his feelings will surprise you.”
“Cassie. No one
wants to go out on a date with me. Trust me.”
She shakes her head
before she busts out laughing. The ridiculous sound of it reverberates around
my room. “You really have no idea, do you? Every guy at school has a hard-on for
you, you fool. They’re fucking scared to come within even ten feet of you because of
Dalton. He let it be known that if they did, he would deal with them.”
“Oh my God! You have
no idea what you’re talking about!” I’m laughing outright now. She really has
lost her mind.
She shakes her
head, the severity of her statement tightening her features. “I’m totally serious,
Spence. I swear on my Kindle.”
At this, I take a
sharp breath and sober immediately. To Cassie, her Kindle is sacred as the
Bible.
She nods slowly,
dramatically, as she watches me grasp the meaning of her statement. Right hand
raised, she states, “On the over-abundance of trashy romance novels within my possession, I
solemnly swear that before Dalton graduated, he straight-up took out a vendetta
against any male in our school who dares approach you.”
“He did what?!”
I screech, pressing
myself off the bed and catapulting into upright position.
Anger ignites and
my face heats wildly as realization dawns.
This whole year, in
fact, the entire four years of high school, no one has looked at me. No one has asked me to come to parties, to go on dates, to
go to prom. Not that I would go, but it would be nice to be asked, you know?
Okay, I probably would go. I mean, it’s a rite of passage, right?
Two black painted
fingernails make their appearance as they snap directly in front of my face,
jolting me out of my inner thoughts.
“Hooker! Pay
attention!”
I shake my head and
refocus. Still seething, I whisper, “This whole time, I thought it was me.
That I wasn’t dating material or pretty enough. Four years, Cass. Four years of
feeling like I wasn’t good enough.” My molars grind together. “It all makes sense now.”
She waves her hand
dismissively. “We’re getting off track here.”
My eyes bulge as she continues, “I have found someone
who, luckily for you, seems to have recently acquired a death wish.”
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