Another Little Piece of My Heart Read online

  We’re down the hill already, and my aunt and uncle’s house comes into view. The gang’s all returning. They’re climbing the porch steps, chatting away, oblivious to how close we are. I hear my name and wince. In unison, Jared and I turn the corner so we don’t run into them.

  “You want me to play on your album?”

  “Yeah, why not? It’d be fitting, and you’re not half bad.”

  I punch him in the arm. “Ooh, the Jared Steele thinks I’m not half bad. Be calm, my ego.”

  He laughs so I take another swipe at him. Jared grabs my fist, smirking. “Your song tonight was awesome, even though you never have been just that girl to me. I guess the jerk who taught you to play must not have been too bad, after all, huh?”

  “If you overlook the fact that he’s a slob who eats too many Peanut M&M’S, and has this stupid eyebrow hair that needs plucking.”

  “That’s the worst you can say about him?”

  “Love can be kind of blinding.”

  “Yeah, I know. The girl I love has a serious potty mouth and looks like she poured orange soda all over her head, but I deal.”

  “You don’t like the orange?”

  “It’s not bad.” Jared tugs on one of my braids. “I could get used to it, although I think you’d look good no matter what your hair color is. But you need a new dye job. Your roots are showing.”

  “I’m returning to my roots so that’s fitting.” I lean over and kiss him.

  “I like your roots.”

  “Good. So, you know what you need to do now?” I motion toward the Miata. “You think you can forgive it, too?”

  Jared laughs. We sneak back into the house, and I grab my keys off the table in the entryway. I have no idea where we’re going and no reason to care.

  But that’s okay because some nights are like a perfect song. The energy in the air lifts your spirits, and the chill drives you forward. The sound of a thousand buzzing insects fills in the gaps, and the touch of a hand makes you dance with joy.

  And sometimes, just when you think it’s over for good, the alien gods give you the chance to hit Repeat and the music goes on forever.

  * * * * *

  Claire’s Summer Survival Playlist

  Janis Joplin—“Piece of My Heart”

  We Are The Fallen—“Bury Me Alive”

  Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers—“Runnin’ Down a Dream”

  Indigo Girls—“Least Complicated”

  The Doors—“Light My Fire”

  Mumford & Sons—“Little Lion Man”

  Girlyman—“Joyful Sign”

  Matt Nathanson—“Love Comes Tumbling Down”

  Natasha’s Ghost—“Falling Up”

  The Beatles—“While My Guitar Gently Weeps”

  Nemesea—“Afterlife”

  Dar Williams—“The Ocean”

  Dedication

  To my family:

  You’re all crazy and I love you for it.

  Acknowledgments

  Writing a novel is hard. Remembering everyone who helped you along the way might be harder, so my apologies to anyone I accidentally left out. Those of you who know me know it’s been a long road, and I’d have thrown my hands up in despair eons ago without the fabulous people I’ve met along the way.

  First, a big thank you to my awesome agent, Michelle Humphrey, whose enthusiasm for this story and upbeat attitude never wavered. No writer could hope for a better advocate for their book. Also to Annie Stone at Harlequin Teen for giving Claire and Jared a chance, and again to Annie and Jayne Pillemer whose insightful comments pushed me to make this story so much more than I could do on my own. Thank you, too, to everyone at Harlequin Teen who helped turn my manuscript into an honest to goodness book.

  Another thank you to Kell Andrews and Jennifer Walkup for all their great notes on earlier versions of this story. Where would I be without fab beta readers? Also, thank you to my brother, Ken Martin, and to Alice Loweecey for helping me with all the bits about playing guitar since I never had the patience to learn more than a few chords. Any mistakes are my fault, not theirs.

  A bootay shake must go out to all the Purgies who have been there since the beginning, riding the emo-coaster with me. To my Pitizens, I raise a maggotini in your honor. And to my A-Divorcees, a special thanks for your support, encouragement, and ability to tolerate my occasional meltdown. You all rock.

  I also owe a debt of gratitude to Mr. Baker, my eleventh grade English teacher. He was the first teacher who ever made me believe I should give this writing thing a chance. Without his influence, I’d probably be spending my evenings watching reality TV instead of fussing over imaginary people.

  Finally, a big old thank you to the husband, Al. I appreciate your willingness to tolerate this crazy-making time-suck I call writing, and for making the tasty drinks I require when the stress gets to be too much.

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  ISBN-13: 9781459254749

  ANOTHER LITTLE PIECE OF MY HEART

  Copyright © 2013 by Tracey Martin

  All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

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