Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Epilogue

Other Books

About the Author

Captured Love

by

Juliana Haygert

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2014 by Juliana Haygert.

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Manufactured in the United States of America.

First Edition November 2014

www.JulianaHaygert.com

Edited by H. Danielle Crabtree

Cover design by Najla Qamber/Najla Qamber Designs

The author acknowledges the copyrighted or trademarked status and trademark owners of the following brands mentioned in this work of fiction: Coke, ibuprofen, Harley Davidson, Mustang, Camaro, Mazda, Corolla, Sprite, Twitter, Netflix, Gilmore Girls, Ferrari, Habitat for Humanity, AutoCAD, Rhinoceros.

To my adolescence.

Thanks for giving me lots of story ideas.

Prologue

Jessica

My brother, Jason, and Ryan had been best friend since I could remember, and I developed a crush on Ryan not long after that. But being three years younger than both of them meant I was a brat, a nuisance.

We grew up. The boys became interested in girls, and the girls fell over their feet at every corner. The way they used girls was sickening. The way the girls kept coming was even more sickening.

Meanwhile, I continued being a brat, a nuisance, and Ryan never noticed me.

When I was sixteen years old, I spent the summer with my grandma, over six hundred miles from home.

The moment I set foot back home, Ryan noticed me. It was as if he had never seen me before, and I loved the attention.

Naively, I thought I could change him, that he could be a one-girl kind of man.

I was wrong.

Ryan broke my heart.

Then my papa broke my soul.

And I moved away.

Chapter One

Jessica

I sank in the corner booth, doodling on my sketchpad and wondering what I was doing here.

My phone dinged and I reached for it.

Kristin: So, what did he want?

Me: Still don’t know.

Kristin: Maybe he’s going to propose LOL

Me: Don’t joke about that.

Kristin: Come on, J. He isn’t THAT bad.

Gavin wasn’t that bad. He wasn’t bad at all. But he wasn’t right either.

Me: I should just pretend I have a headache and leave.

Kristin: Don’t be mean. Stay and hear him out.

Me: Are you on his side?

Kristin: You know I’m on your side.

Me: It doesn’t look like it.

Kristin: Just hang on for now. We can do something fun later. How about we go to the park by the water so you can sketch boats?

Me: And what’s in it for you?

Kristin: I’ll gawk at the preppy men handling the boats. Or the sweaty guys running or playing volleyball.

Maybe I should go with the headache after all and meet Kristin at the park in a few minutes. However, before I could sum up the courage to stand up and leave, Gavin was back, carrying two cups of coffee and a plate with two brownies on a tray.

“Here you go, babe,” he said, sliding into the booth and pushing the tray in front of me.

I let go of my pencil and wrapped my hands around my coffee. “Thanks.”

Gavin took a bite of his brownie and offered me a closed-mouth smile. I let my eyes wandered over his face. He was handsome, with black curls that framed his cute face, fair skin, and big brown eyes that shone every time they were targeted at me. He was hot too, with a tall, worked-out frame. Besides all that, he was also a good student, with straight As and a bright future. He wanted to be a well-known lawyer like his father. He was intelligent, kind, somewhat funny, and he seemed genuinely concerned about me. Like he actually liked me.

So why didn’t I like him back?

“You had your last midterm test this morning, didn’t you?” he asked, breaking the silence. “How was it?”

Of course he knew my schedule by heart. “It was fine.”

“And how is your project going? Think it’ll be ready by the end of the semester?”

As an architecture student, I had a Design Studio class every semester, where I had to design an entire project from houses to malls or hospitals. Being in the fourth semester, I had to design an apartment building.

“Fine too,” I said simply.

“How about—?”

“Gavin, why did you invite me here?” I hadn’t meant to cut him off, but I hated when he behaved like a boyfriend when he knew he wasn’t one. “I thought we were supposed to meet only on the weekend.”

“Because I want to ask you something.” He shifted his weight, pulling one leg over the booth and turning his body to me. “In two weeks, my parents are hosting a big surprise party for my brother. He is going to ask his girlfriend to marry him.”

“Oh-kay.” I sipped my coffee.

“I want you to come with me.”

I chocked on my coffee. “Excuse me?”

“We’ve been going out for the past eight months, babe, but I still don’t know your family, and you still don’t know mine.”

“And what’s wrong with that?”

“I want to meet your family.”

There wasn’t a family to meet. It was just me and my grandma, but he didn’t know that. Every time he asked me about my family, I changed the subject. And when he picked me up at home or dropped me off, I made sure he didn’t get close to the front door.

“Don’t—”

“Come on, babe. I like you. I want us to be serious. I want us to go out on real dates, to hold hands on campus, to have lunch together every day. I want you to meet my family.”

It wasn’t the first time he had told me this, and it wouldn’t be the last. Maybe our expiration date was closer than I thought.

I shook my head. “Please, Gavin.”

“You must like me at least a little, otherwise you wouldn’t have stuck with me for so long. But what are you so afraid of?”

“Nothing,” I snapped. “I’m fine, and I like the way things are.”

He took my hand in his. “That’s not true. What girl doesn’t want more?”

I pulled my hand away. “This girl.”

“Gavin?”

Gavin and I snapped our heads to the new voice. A guy holding a tray with cups and muffins stood beside our table, a girl beside him.

“Hey, Johnny.” Gavin smiled. He shook his friend’s hand in that bumping way guys did it. “Hi, Carla.” Gavin waved at the girl, and then gestured to me. “You two remember Jessica, right?”

Johnny shifted his blue eyes to me. “We met at the party at the frat house last month, right?”

“Yes,” I said, forcing a smile.

Without being invited, Johnny and Carla sat in the booth across the table from us. Immediately, Gavin and the couple launched into a conversation about the latest games, parties, rumors, gossips, and all that. Johnny had been in all of Gavin’s classes since freshman year. For two semesters, they had even been roommates, until Johnny moved to his frat house last semester. Carla was Johnny’s girlfriend of about two years. They were serious; the way Gavin wanted us to be.