Author's Note:
Hey, everyone! Welcome to
Detachment
,
a
very
steamy
, friends-to-lovers, new adult romance novel! This is my second published book, and it's a standalone sequel to
Hopeium
, a less steamy but super romantic novel that I co-wrote with my author friend D.J. Thompson. As a standalone novel, this story occurs in the same universe as
Hopeium
and has some overlap in the form of light character crossovers [Marcus from this story first appears briefly in
Hopeium
], but you don't have to read
Hopeium
to know what's going on with Marcus or Kylie in this story!
Detachment
is a full-length romance novel (~80k words), so it'll follow all the usual beats that comes with the genre. That being said, if you're looking for a nice long read where two close friends slowly fall in love before things get spicy, you're in the right place! But
if all you're looking for is chapter-after-chapter of sex
, I'm afraid this is one of those books where
you'll have to wait until around chapter 14 before you get to enjoy reading the explicit scenes
. I'll be uploading this story in blocks of ~five chapters, so if you get involved with this story and can hold out until part 3, that's when things get spicy!
Lastly, this story deals with a wife who finds
strays
when things with her emotionally abusive husband take a turn, so if you're not a fan of cheating spouses or stories that involve emotional abuse, this might be a story you want to skip. Also, the male main character is battling depression after losing his mother to cancer, so fair warning if any of that is triggering to anyone.
Alright, that's my intro. If you end up liking this story, please follow me for updates!
Enjoy the read!
PROLOGUE
Kylie
The Big Day
As I walk down the aisle arm-in-arm with my grandfather, I stare at my soon-to-be husband, who's grinning at me from the altar, thinking not of him but instead back to a moment of weakness that has left me questioning everything...
A memory of something that should have never happened...
A secret no one can ever know about...
A night I struggle to forget daily...
But here I am, smiling back at Travis, forcing myself to match his excitement as I take my place at the altar before all of our friends and family, following through with my promise to go through with the '
I do.
' Because I wouldn't be here if this isn't what I wanted.
Right?
Be better. Try harder. Show him every day that I care.
Whatever it takes to make love work.
And then
we
lock eyes.
From that brief glance, it's clear that our secret is eating away at
him
, too...
Chapter 1
Marcus
A Year Later
Thursday, August 29
If there's one lesson that the cruel, unrelenting professor we call life has taught me in recent years, it's that our time on Earth is far too precious to waste on things that do not matter or on anything that you aren't wildly passionate about, completely enamored by, or crazy over.
Still, here I am on yet another date with this beautiful, intelligent, sweet woman that I feel nothing for, aside from lust... Here I am at a fancy restaurant overlooking the Boston Main Channel, wasting time and money on Nicolette, yet again, instead of devoting time to my flourishing business all in hopes that she eventually sparks the magical combination of emotions and endorphins that translates to the wild attraction and yearning that may one day bud into love—something I regretfully experienced once, or maybe twice, but cannot seem to find again.
Because I'm emotionally crippled and incapable of feeling after everything that's happened ...
"Did you hear me, Marcus?" Nicolette asks, leaning forward, her thin brow arched.
I clear my throat. "Sorry, Nicolette ... My mind is going in twenty different directions, per usual. What'd you say?"
"No worries! It's not like you didn't warn me how scatterbrained you've been lately. And it's not like this is the first time you zoned out on me ..." She smirks.
I place my hand on hers, noting how much darker than normal my caramel skin looks in contrast with her extremely fair complexion. "I'm so sorry! I promise I'll be better."
"Seriously, it's okay. You're still healing and you've got so many exciting things happening right now. It's a lot to process. Honestly, I'm grateful you're even taking the time to go out with me again!" She giggles. "It's actually quite flattering!"
"Well, you're worth it."
But is she though?
I signal the waiter. "Let me get you another glass of wine to make up for me being a shitty date."
She smiles. "Well, I won't say no to that ..."
"Another glass of that Pinot Noir for the lady," I say to the waiter. Looking back at her, I ask, "Okay, so what were you saying?"
"I asked what's next for you now that your influencer client's book is out and making you richer by the second? Will you be getting back into fiction writing?"
My head bobbles. "I have a sequel in progress that I want to finish, but I might try my hand at non-fiction next. My blog has helped quite a few people. With all the questions I get on there and on Twitter, I figure providing my growing audience with a roadmap to help them also achieve the success that they're seeking might be a good way to help the most people. And while I'm working on that, I'm going to build my online marketing agency. Then on to real estate."
Nicolette smiles, brushing her red locks out of her face and back behind her ear. "You're, like, the most amazing person ever, you know that?"
Does she think I'm amazing because I'm twenty-five and I'm on track to building the empire I've always dreamed of building or is she just saying that because she's trying to land a sugar daddy to pay off all her student loans?
I don't think she's a gold-digger, but a guy as financially independent as me can't help but consider it.
"If you say so." I laugh. "Thanks, but really, I'm not all that amazing. I took too long to act once, so, after losing my mother, I've just became extremely determined. I took a risk and I invested everything I had into my dreams so I could achieve some semblance of happiness while I am still young and healthy. It just happened to work out for me because my first book came out at the right time."
"It worked out because you made it work. Either way, it's still amazing, Marcus! Especially because you did it all on your own."
"Yeah, and that's why I'm so damn burnt out."
"Why not hire someone?"
"I'm thinking about it actually. My loans are paid off. I just closed on a house. Probably a good time to allocate some funds towards hiring someone to help with the day-to-day tasks."
"Oh, goodie! Maybe then you'll finally have more time for me!" She winks, rubbing her foot against my leg under the table.
"I suppose I can add another hour or two of Nicolette time to my calendar..." I smirk.
Nicolette Barringer and I have been seeing each other for a few weeks now. She's college educated. She has a well-paying job in finance. She loves Marvel movies as much as I do. She's very attractive and fit as all hell. She's apolitical and isn't too extreme in the vein of religious beliefs. She's not a manipulative psychopath like my ex, Erin... She's super supportive and caring. And she's a goof. On paper she checks almost all of the boxes.
So why don't I feel anything for her?
Because I'm comparing her to a girl I'll never have.
Because I'm emotionally unavailable after a year of suffering mental torture at the hands of Erin.
Because, after losing my mother less than a year ago, it still takes everything I have just to hold it together most days...
Me and Nicolette? It's not going to work out. Not now. Had I met her a few years ago, or maybe even a few months or a year from now, I could see us going the distance. But after weeks of dating, after spending several nights with each other and talking late into the night, after all the great sex, I'm still not feeling that connection. I'm still not thinking about her before I go to bed at night or first thing when I wake up in the morning. I don't miss her when we're not together. And it sucks, because she's great. She's just not amazing...
I've tried for as long as I have because I do enjoy spending time with her and I do like her. But that something
more
is missing. And I can't help worry that once I finally find that spark, she'll end up cheating on me or things will go south after investing so much effort and time into making it work when I should've been focusing on building my empire instead.
I owe her the benefit of the doubt, though. Not all women are out to ruin your life or mentally manipulate you. And my gut tells me that she's one of the good ones.
I hoped frequent exposure, proximity, and hooking up would eventually spark all those things in me. But, if it hasn't happened yet, it's probably not going to. And I feel like complete shit because now I feel like I've been stringing her along all this time. And she doesn't deserve that. She's too great of a woman to be wasting time with someone who's not reciprocating her feelings—with someone who probably won't anytime soon.
Who am I to rob her of a chance of meeting the right person while I'm here struggling to make myself feel something that's not there?
I should've ended things weeks ago...
Her hand brushes mine on the walk to the parking garage. Then her fingers slide into my hand. "Since your place is all packed up for the move, how about we go to mine? We can cuddle up and binge-watch more
How I Met Your Mother
