Dare to Love

Copyright © 2023 by Brianna Brandon All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Created with Vellum For the girl who lost her entire world. For the girl whose best friends abandoned her. For the girl who had to walk the halls alone. For the girl whose dad picked her up off the bathroom floor. For the girl whose mom held her while she sobbed. For the girl who had to leave high school early to avoid the physics teacher. For the girl who loved with all her heart and was betrayed. For the girl who was kind and darkness turned her into a monster. * * * Don’t worry, darling. We won. Contents Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Epilogue About the Author Chapter One EVA My hands wouldn’t stop shaking. If I didn’t get them under control I was going to end up with mascara all over my face. Wide eyes stared back at me in the mirror. The eyes of someone who was equal parts terrified and excited. Not the best combination for doing one’s makeup. But I was almost done. One last coat of inky black for my lashes before I slid the wand back into the tube, sealing it shut with a quick twist of my wrist. I grasped for the diamond pendant Garth bought me for graduation, letting my thumb and forefinger roll over the stone to soothe the anxiety running rampant through my mind and body. Everything I worked so hard for had led up to this moment—the first day of my internship with Deborah Montel. The most coveted wedding photographer on the east coast was going to let me be her assistant for the year. Just the thought of that had my stomach coiling tight in knots. This was my chance to learn from the absolute best in my field and I just hoped I wouldn’t make a total fool of myself. It was hard to imagine that this dream almost didn’t happen. It wasn’t that long ago when I was on a completely different path, forged by someone else. A path that I was willing to go down because it was what I thought I was supposed to do. Based on what everyone around me was telling me, becoming a doctor was the surefire way to solidify a future for myself. Especially if I wanted that future to involve being with Connor. The days leading up to this very moment were brutal. Filled with haunting what-ifs and doubt. Not that I hadn’t made the right decision in leaving him and deciding to pursue what I wanted. But doubt that I was good enough to turn my dream into reality. The journey felt surreal. How easily it all flowed once I decided to make the shift. From changing my major in my senior year to landing this internship and Garth deciding to move to New York so we could be together. The universe has a way of conspiring for us when we do what we are meant to do. The words Drema spoke to me when we were packing up our apartment to embark on our new adventures have stayed with me. A constant anchor keeping me grounded through all the storms I weathered these past months. But there were still moments when I let the doubt creep in and I couldn’t help but wonder what could go wrong. And it was that doubt that stole the moments of joy these past few days should have been filled with. I was working on it. Letting all the good things that have happened to me be fuel for positive thinking. I deserved to have all the things I wanted out of life. Even if that ugly insecurity reared its head every once in a while. I had the drive and fight to punch back. A loud ring sounded through the quiet of our bathroom. Stealing my gaze from the mirror, I headed to our bedroom in search of my phone. Finding it laying on the dresser, I smiled at the name sliding across the screen. As though my thoughts had summoned her, I tapped the green button and put Drema on speakerphone. “Ahhh!” I yelled into the phone as the nerves really started to bundle up in my stomach. Drema returned my sentiments with an equally exaggerated squeal, “Gahhh! Are you excited?” “If excited means I feel like puking every two seconds, then yes. I’m excited.” “Sounds about right,” Drema laughed. “Is Garth there to send you off?” A frustrated sigh blew past my lips. “Unfortunately not. He has orientation today and had to be at the university super early to get his office set up. But he’s taking me out to dinner tonight to make up for it.” “I still can’t believe he got a teaching gig at Parsons. Talk about meant to be.” I grabbed a pair of socks from the dresser and headed for the bed to put them on. “Honestly, I was really worried that he was going to have a hard time finding work here. The arts is such a competitive field and he isn’t quite ready to open his studio yet. But Samson reached out to him when he transferred here and said there was another opening that would be perfect for him.” I loosed an anxious breath. “It really does feel like everything is working out, doesn’t it?” “Yes it does, my friend,” she replied. “Speaking of everything working out, are you