One mistake.
A tragic accident.
A life-altering event.
Something I can never take back.
What do you do when you meet the girl of your dreams but you’re now a shadow of who you used to be.
Gemma Ackerman, my girlfriend, was my everything. Her quiet, nerdy aura drew me in and I never wanted to let go. Life on my Harley with her by my side was perfect.
Until it wasn’t—until I lost myself.
Because a part of me died that night and it was never coming back.
I welcomed anger instead.
I greeted loneliness like an old friend.
I allowed guilt and sorrow to nestle inside my head.
That’s when I met Claire Edwards—the epitome of joie de vivre. She showed me a new colorful way to see the world. She turned numbness into eagerness for a taste of life.
And now I’m torn between a girlfriend that never gave up on me and a woman I picture as my wife.
I had no other choice.
I let myself die, so that I may live.
And it’s all thanks to her. . .
Follow the same standalone storyline as Silent Screams and Grieving Graves through Harvey and Claire’s eyes.
Harvey
Two and A Half Years Ago ...
This is how life was meant to be—riding my Harley around the outskirts of Chicago town with my girlfriend, Gemma Ackerman, riding her bike behind me.
This inexplainable thrill courses through my veins as the wind flaps against my body, with July’s sun blazing on my face through the uncovered parts of my helmet.
At twenty-one, I feel as if I’m living my best life. I’m still reeling from last month’s bungee jumping adrenaline hit with Gemma and friends as I slow down to take a steep curve ahead of us.
This is how we escape reality.
Some people jog, some get addicted, we ride.
“Look at that view,” Gemma says through Bluetooth speakers attached to our helmets once we’re on a straight road.
“I know. I’m quite the looker,” I tease her, and a sense of love fills me when I hear her soft laugh.
She then comes up next to me, lifting her visor up, smiling at me. We don’t say anything, simply basking in the silence, my Harley to her sports bike, my casual clothes to her full leather suit.
We’re so different, yet so much alike. We moved into an apartment together last month, postgraduation, for our one-year anniversary, and I’ve never had this much fun with a girlfriend before.
I’m going to marry you, Gemma.
Just then, I watch a flock of birds overhead. One in particular is falling behind. And I can’t help wishing I were a bird.