“This is your road trip,” I say. “Where’s the nearest nightclub?”
“I’m thinking we head to Atlanta tonight, then on to Panama City tomorrow.”
“And Miami!” Jenna says.
“Fine,” Ezra says. “But I get to choose where we stop for snacks.”
“And I want to hit the beach in Miami,” I add.
Oliver carefully pulls the car out of the driveway as we all give one final wave. Once he’s a good minute away from the house where my parents can’t see him, he picks up speed.
“I bet Oll gets at least five speeding tickets on this trip,” I say.
“No bet,” Ezra and Jenna say simultaneously.
Oliver turns onto the four-lane, heading for the interstate. The road seems to stretch out forever. I look out at the rolling fields that blur by. The sun blazes down on us. Eminem blasts from the radio. I throw my head back, staring up at the wide blue sky.
Thanks to my grades and test scores (and the letter explaining why St. Andrew’s expelled me), I got into the University of Chicago. I love the idea of being in a city with all those museums. I also applied to the University of Pennsylvania and got in. Being in the same place as the Liberty Bell and Constitution Hall and tons of other history is pretty enticing. Once I looked beyond Yale, I found so many options, and it’s difficult to choose.
All I know for sure is that I want to dual major in history and museum studies.
Even after admitting why I got in trouble, the schools I applied to in Boston and New York didn’t take me. And I can understand that. I know how lucky I am to have been given a second chance to make something of myself, but it’s not just good karma. I have options because I worked hard at school. I gave classes and soccer my all. I still have no idea whether I should choose Chicago or Pennsylvania. I’ve still got a little time to decide. The future’s wide open, filled with opportunity. But I’ve got a life to live in the meantime.
Today, I’m just along for the ride.
Acknowledgments
When I was growing up, kids at school made fun of me. As a result, I’ve spent most of my life working really, really hard in order to prove myself. Relaxing and fun always came second to hard work. Work, work, work! At twenty years old, I got my first real job working full-time for the U.S. Department of State. Simultaneously I was taking a full load of college courses at night. I spent what little free time I had with friends or trying to write poetry.
After I graduated college, I continued working at the State Department, only I began working overtime. I thought that in order to get ahead, I needed to “pay my dues” and to me that meant working twelve-hour days. I did that for years. In my free time, I kept writing. For some work projects, twelve-hour days became fifteen-hour days and long months living in hotels away from home. It was not a life. But I felt I had to push myself to the limit in order to get ahead professionally.
When I got married, I finally took a regular eight-to-five job. In my spare time, I went back to my writing and poetry. For years, I’ve continued to write for hours a night. One day a couple years ago, I realized I didn’t have much of a life. I had few friends outside of work and the publishing world. No social life. My health wasn’t the best because I didn’t have time to go running. I was too busy working! Now I’ve made a point to schedule time to go to the gym. I make plans with friends and neighbors for drinks and dinner. I accept invitations, when in the past I would’ve declined. And most important, I make time to read the books I want to read, i.e. romance novels.
With Defending Taylor, I want to show readers that working hard is important—I wouldn’t be where I am now if I hadn’t worked hard, but living life is important too. I hope you live, live, live.
As always, I am so appreciative of my first readers who helped me shape this book: Julie Romeis Sanders, Sarah Cloots, Trish Doller, Andrea Soule, Christy Maier, Tiffany Smith, Michelle Kampmeier, Andrea Lepley, and Jen Fisher.
A very special thanks to Arturo Carrillo of George Washington University in Washington, DC, for telling me all about GW and letting me get an inside peek at the college admissions process! (And to Jim Core for introducing me to Arturo.) Arlington County Soccer in Arlington, Virginia, allowed me to visit practices and ask questions of their great players.
Thank you to Annette Pollert-Morgan, my amazing editor who challenges me and helps me enhance my stories. I’m grateful to everybody at Sourcebooks for their encouragement and for giving me this great writing career. Thanks to Sara Megibow and everyone at KT Literary and Nelson Literary Agency.
To my Washington, DC, writer friends: I love that you always believe in me: Jessica Spotswood, Robin Talley, Lindsay Smith, and Caroline Richmond. I want to give One More Page Books of Arlington, Virginia, a shout-out—thanks for all your support over the years!
I couldn’t do anything without the support and love of my husband, Don.
Finally, I would be nowhere without my amazing readers! I love receiving your emails, Tweets, and messages on Facebook, Instagram, Wattpad, and Goodreads. You rock!
A Note from Miranda Kenneally
For years, readers have been asking me to write a sequel to Catching Jordan. My answer is always the same: to write a sequel, I’d have to create some drama, and I don’t want to create any trouble for Jordan and Sam Henry because they are happy now!
Over the years, I’ve tried to sprinkle bits and pieces of their lives into my other books rather than write a full-length book. While I’ve given hints about what they’re up to, I wanted to leave how Jordan and Henry’s lives unfolded mostly open to the reader’s imagination. Besides, Jordan and Henry always find a way to shoehorn themselves into my books—because that’s what they do.
Then I wrote Defending Taylor, and they never appeared! I felt bad about that, so I decided to write you guys a special bonus story about Jordan and Henry.
Hope you enjoy. Thank you again for all your support.
Best,
Miranda
TOUCHDOWN
MIRANDA KENNEALLY
Jordan Now
Henry wakes me up by kissing my neck.
My eyes blink open to the sun pouring in between the curtains.
It’s been raining, sleeting, and snowing for a month straight. But not today. It’s the first sunny day in forever, which means Henry and I can finally go outside and toss around a football.
But not until he finishes waking me up. He crawls on top of me, pressing his warm body to mine. This is a total surprise, and I’m loving it.
Of the two of us, I’m always awake first, usually to go for a run before work. Henry has never been a morning person, and I’m surprised he hasn’t gotten a job where he can work nights and sleep all day like a vampire.
As he nibbles on my neck, a thought comes to mind.
“Are you part vampire?” I ask.