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  Never Say Goodbye

  Copyright © 2014* by T. Renee Fike.

  All Rights Reserved.

  Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means without prior written permission from the author. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’ imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, locales, or events is entirely coincidental.

  Cover Illustration By: Cover to Cover Designs

  Acknowledgements

  [I first want to thank my mom, without you, I would not have been able to put this book out there. Thank you for supporting me through this new journey.

  I also want to thank my friends who have encouraged me to continue to put my stories out there. Thank you for the constant support and encouragement.

  Thank you to the great betas, I appreciate all of your feedback and ideas for the story.

  Prologue

  People always leave; at least, that’s how it works in my life. The people closest to me always pick up and go and I’m left here all alone. Why? Why does everyone else get to leave, but me? Why am I the one that has to feel alone and sad? Maybe it would be best to not get another best friend, because so far, it hasn’t worked out the way it’s supposed to.

  Chapter One

  The Past (9 Years Ago)

  [Whoever said girls and boys can’t be best friends were wrong. I’m Olivia, also known as O or Liv, and my best friend is Nathan. We’re neighbors and go to school together. It helps that our parents are best friends too, and luckily, we get to hang out every day. Sometimes I make him play dolls with me and other days he makes me play in the dirt, but neither of us minds. That’s what best friends do. Nathan is only 3 days older than me and he loves to rub it in my face, but that’s alright. One day it will bite him in the butt.

  We do everything together, from going to school to hanging out to playing sports. You name it, we do it together. Things are amazing. Nathan has a younger brother, his name is Nevin. He’s only two years younger than us, but we definitely gang up on him. I’ve watched that boy run home crying more times than I can count. It’s all in good fun though; we would never seriously hurt him. One time, Nathan made Nevin eat a worm, it was disgusting to watch, but Nevin did it. That was the time I thought I was going to throw-up, but I didn’t. I was just one of the boys. Mom used to say I was a tomboy and that didn’t bother me. So what if my Barbie dolls wrestled with Nathan’s GI Joe’s. Who needs a Ken doll anyway. GI Joe’s were so much cooler.

  Since Nathan and I were inseparable, everybody thought we were going out in school, so we played along. It was fun while it lasted. One day after school, our friend Bobby said we had to kiss to prove that we were going out. We just kind of looked at each other. We had to prove a point so we did it, we kissed. It wasn’t a long kiss, but it was still a kiss. So in turn, Nathan, my best friend was also my first kiss. Unfortunately, that didn’t go over so well with our moms when they found out. We both had to listen to the birds and the bee’s story which was so gross. I mean come on, it was just a kiss. Needless to say, we didn’t do any more kissing after that.

  During the summer before fourth grade, my world was shattered. Nathan’s dad took a new job. Unfortunately for me, this meant that Nathan was no longer going to live beside me or go to school with me. Mr. Wolffe’s new job was located in Michigan, so that’s where my best friend was moving to. They ended up moving right after school let out for the summer, so we didn’t even get the summer to hang out. I gave him my favorite teddy bear that would protect me at nights during thunderstorms. Nathan gave me his favorite blankie. We were two kids who were best friends, who just happened to be ripped apart because of parents. Life is so unfair at times.

  For the next few weeks after Nathan left, I did nothing, but cry and mope around the house. Mom was worried because I’m only 9 years old, but he was “my everything” and now I don’t know if I’ll ever see him again. We talked a few times over the phone, but it’s still not the same. I want my best friend back.

  During the end of summer, a new family moved into Nathan’s house. I was angry, because if someone new moved in, then Nathan couldn’t move back into it. Mom kept telling me that the Wolffe’s weren’t moving back here, but I had to keep faith that they would.

  I did meet the new girl, that’s living in Nathan’s house. She’s my age and her name is Brynn. She’s nice and pretty, but she like’s dolls way more than I do. She also likes to dress up and play with make-up. At first we didn’t hit it off very well, but she was funny so it didn’t take us long to become fast friends.

  I made sure to tell Nathan all about her the next time we talked on the phone and he told me about a boy that lives across the street from him. I was happy that Nathan wasn’t alone, but I still wished it was me that he lived beside. Slowly, we started to drift apart. The phone calls became less and less, especially when school started.

  One day I decided to call Nathan to see how he was doing, but my mom wouldn’t let me. She told me that he wasn’t home. I don’t know how she would know that considering he lives so far away, though I listened to her because well, she’s my mom.

  Nathan’s calls stopped altogether to me. When I would call him, his parents would tell me he wasn’t home. I swear that boy never stayed at home anymore. I started to get upset, he was my best friend yet he was slipping away from me.

  I started to hang out with Brynn a lot more. She was quickly becoming my new best friend, though I could never forget my old best friend.

  Chapter Two

  The Present

  “Ugh…Brynn are you ready yet? You’ve been in there for like three hours already,” I whine.

  “Look woman, we need to look fantastic, this is our last prom and it needs to be perfect. I will not walk out that door until I’m irresistible,” she states matter of fact.

  “You look amazing, there’s nothing to fix or change, now let’s go,” I say as I practically drag her out of my bedroom. “The guys have been waiting for like thirty minutes already.”

  “Good, I can’t wait to see their faces when they see us,” she says excitedly.

  Brynn is always the center of attention. She’s the knock out that every female is jealous of. She has long dark chocolate brown hair, the complexion that always appears tan, the bluest eyes ever, and a body that all girls dream about. She has curves, but she’s still tiny, with boobs that make even me jealous. You can’t help but love my best friend.

  We’ve been best friends since I lost my old best friend, Nathan, when he moved away. We’ve been through so much growing up together. This girl is my sister. We go on family vacations together, we got our ears pierced together, we do everything together. She’s the one person who knows every single thing about me and me about her. I don’t know what I would do without her.

  Brynn is the girl who’s willing to try anything once, whereas I’m the one that tries to talk her down off the craziness that is her. It’s definitely hard to say no to her though. Just a few weeks ago, she got me to go bungee jumping. I was freaked out, but somehow I managed to do it, and it’s always because of my crazy best friend.

  Prom was a blast and I have pictures galore to prove it. We both went with guys from school. I took my boyfriend Ryan and Brynn went with a friend, named Scott. She says she’s too young for a boyfriend. Plus college is right around the corner, where the guys will be everywhere, so she can’t be tied down to some high school boy. Yep, that’s Brynn for you.

  Ryan and I have been together for a little over a year and things are great, but
I have no idea what’s going to happen when we leave for college. Ryan and I are going to completely different schools. I’m heading to UNC and he’s going to USC. I’m pretty positive we will end things before heading to college, but it’s going to suck because I really care about him. We did apply to some of the same schools, but I’ve had my heart set on going to UNC since I was like six years old. So, when I got my acceptance letter I stopped looking at any other schools. Ryan got accepted to UNC also, but he’s had his heart set on USC. I told him to follow his dreams so it won’t become a regret for him one day if he doesn’t go. At least I have my best friend, she got into UNC too.

  “Liv come on, it will be fun, I promise. Take a chance will ya, for me please???” My best friend begs.

  “How on earth do I let you talk me into this shit?” I grunt.

  “Ahhh…because you love me, that’s how? Now, I got our tattoos all picked out and our appointments are in twenty minutes so we need to go, like now,” she says rushing me out the door.

  “It better be small. I’m not sure I can take much of a needle piercing my skin.”

  “Oh Liv trust me, you’ll be just fine. We, my best friend, are getting matching tattoos. How exciting is this?” she says excitedly.

  “Umm it’s not,” I deadpan.

  “Oh Liv you’ll love it, I promise,” she coos.

  “Let’s go,” I finally relent and head outside toward her car.

  We make our way to the tattoo parlor and it is squeaky clean when we walk in. Definitely not what I was expecting. “Welcome to TattMania, how may I help you?” a girl says from the front desk. She has a whole bunch of piercings and tattoos.

  “Hi, we’re here for our appointments at 2:00 p.m.,” Brynn says before I get a chance to even open my mouth.

  “Perfect, the guys are just setting up; do you have a picture of what you want?” The girl behind the counter asks.

  “Sure do, we’re getting the same thing, here you go,” she says as she hands over the picture of our tattoos. The tattoo I have yet to see.

  “Brynn I would like to see what I am getting permanently needled into my skin first,” I say a bit harshly.

  “No, that takes the fun out of it, just trust me already geez. I wouldn’t give you something you’d hate so stop worrying already,” she snaps at me.

  I sit down in the chair in the waiting area and get really nervous, how the heck do I let her talk me into this crap? I’m about to let my best friend get me inked and I have no idea of what it is that’s going to mark my skin. She doesn’t have bad taste and she does know everything about me so I know I’ll probably like it, but that’s just not the point.

  “Ladies, you ready?” A man says which pulls me out of my crazy thoughts.

  “Sure,” I say as I head in the direction of the hottie that’s waiting for us. He leads us to a room that is also extremely clean. He goes over the process and Brynn tells him not to let me see it until it’s complete. She also tells him where we’re getting matching tattoos, which is to be on our rib cages going down the side. Once I hear that, my head snaps up. I wasn’t planning to get naked in front of a complete stranger! I mean I know it’s not naked, but still. I thought it would be on my shoulder or foot or something like that.

  Brynn must sense my rising anxiety with this plan of hers. “Liv stop, you’ll be fine. Plus, you have a tank top on. The tattoo’s not long so don’t you worry your pretty little head,” she says as she’s laughing, and going over to the other guy in the room. She sits down on his chair and goes over the specifics of the tattoo.

  It doesn’t take long to complete the tattoo, but it still freaking hurts. I’m dying to see what she got us. After he’s done, Brynn yells that I have to wait to see it until she can see my face. Great, I better like this tattoo.

  Once she’s finally done she stands up and comes over to look at mine. She has the biggest smile on her face, “It looks awesome!” she says practically squealing.

  “Okay, now my turn,” I look down and see the writing, but it’s hard to read it upside down. Clearly, Brynn can see my problem and shows me hers so I can read it.

  “A memory lasts forever

  Never does it die…

  True friends stay together

  And never say goodbye…”

  -Anonymous^

  It has purple and green stars surrounding the saying. Purple because that’s Brynn’s favorite color and green because well that’s mine. “I love it,” I say and then hug my best friend.

  This saying means a lot to me because there was a time when Brynn thought she was going to have to move because her parents kept fighting and were talking about a separation and somewhere we found this saying. Anytime anything would happen, we would say this to each other promising to never say goodbye.

  Brynn knows all about Nathan. She also saw how upset I was so she promised as my best friend to never put me through the same sadness. While I know it wasn’t Nathan’s fault, it was the situation that separated us; it still doesn’t make it any easier. I haven’t seen or spoken to Nathan in over nine years. Mom fills me in every now and again, but even she and Jenny, Nathan’s mom, have grown apart, distance just does that sometimes.

  We make our way out of the tattoo shop and head home. My side hurts but that’s normal, or so I’m told. We make a quick stop on the way home to pick up some ointment for our tattoos, then head home.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Summer’s flying by and I can’t believe how soon college is going to start. I’m not nervous, rather really excited. I’m looking forward to the next chapter in my life. Ryan and I still haven’t talked about our relationship and honestly, I’m not ready to. We hang out a lot I’m beginning to think maybe we could make it even with the distance. I can see myself spending my life with him, I think. Things stink though because he’s leaving soon for training, so I won’t even get the summer with him.

  He’s coming over to pick me up and then we’re heading to a Friday night party. My parents are pretty cool; they know where I’m going and just tell me to be careful. I won’t drink and drive. I’ve been told by them numerous times; if I need them to pick me up to just call them. My parent’s rock! Now don’t get me wrong, they don’t promote the drinking and partying, but they know how teenagers are. Regardless of what kids are told, we always find ways to do what we want. So my parents know what’s going on and where. I love the relationship I have with my parents.

  “Hey baby you ready,” Ryan asks as he’s standing outside my bedroom door.

  “Yep, let’s go,” I say as I grab my cardigan sweater. Tonight Ryan and I are heading to the party, but we’re stopping at his house first. Yes, we have sex. We have been for a few months. Ryan’s the only guy I’ve ever slept with and he’s very caring and thoughtful. It makes me feel special and also why I think we could last forever.

  As soon as we get into his truck we start making out like the crazy teenagers we are. I can’t get enough of this man. Ryan is 6’0, blonde hair, blue eyes, and a crazy defined body. Ryan is heading to USC on a football scholarship and he’s ripped. He works out crazy hours every day and his body definitely shows his hard work. I’m just lucky I get to see it live and in action. We finally pull apart and he drives us back to his parent’s house. They’re out of town, like always. As soon as he parks the truck, I smash my lips to his. He starts to laugh, “Baby, we can do this inside, come on,” he says as he breaks apart. I meet him in front of the truck ready to rip his clothes off. No sooner do we make it inside the house do I start ripping his shirt over his head. “Liv, you keep going like this, I’m not going to be able last long,” he says through kisses.

  “I want you now,” and I take him to his room and quickly finish stripping him down. He’s standing there in nothing but his naked glory and oh my, a site it is. I push him down on the bed and slowly start to do a strip tease for him. He loves it when I do that.

  I may not be as sexy as Brynn, but I can hold my own. I’m 5’5”,
dark brown hair with highlights and emerald eyes. I am on the petite side, but happy to say I have a little bit of a butt and my C cup doesn’t hurt either. I may not be as curvy as my best friend, but I’m happy with my body.

  Once I’m completely naked and hearing my boyfriend say my name, I crawl on top of him to mesh our lips and tongues together. I then pull back and slowly start to kiss down his chest. I stop at his nipples, which I suck and nibble on with my teeth. “Oh damn, Liv.” I then continue my way down to his ever ready erection. I’ve come to learn that I love giving blow jobs. There’s just something thrilling about controlling a man this way.

  I grip his erection in my hand and cup his balls with my other, then slowly lick the head of his penis. I continue to lick and suck on his tip until I get the small dew that comes out of him. “Oh shit baby, oh yeah,” he says eagerly.

  Then I guide my tongue down his shaft feeling the vein that runs the whole way down to the base of his cock. I then start to lick the underside of his shaft and work my way back up. Once he’s nice and wet, I guide his dick into my mouth and continue to take him until I feel him at the back of my throat. I continue to move my tongue and use my teeth just a little to hear his moans. “Holy fuck Liv, God that feels so fucking good.”

  Damn it’s so hot how excited he gets when I do this to him. I continue to lick and suck while going to town on his manhood. “Baby you gotta stop,” he says as he pulls me off him. “I want to be inside of you.”

  “Alright,” is all I say. I reach over to his nightstand to grab a condom and greedily slide it down his erection.

  Ryan flips me so he’s on top and slowly thrusts in me making me cry out on a moan. Sex never gets old with Ryan. He’s a sweet slow lover, making sure I’m taken care of and completely satisfied before he takes care of himself. Tonight’s no different, as he continues his amazing assault on my body, until I’m crying out in ecstasy with him following me.