The Reunion

The Reunion Copy A Steamy Single Mom/ Rockstar Romance A. K. Steel Copyright ©2023 by A. K. Steel All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in either electronic, paper hard copy, photocopying, recorded, or any other form of reproduction without the written permission of the author. No part of this book either in part or whole may be reproduced into or stored in a retrieval system or distributed without the written permission of the author. This book is a work of fiction. Characters, names, places and incidents are products of the author's imagination. Any resemblances to actual events, locations, or persons living or dead is purely coincidental. The author acknowledges the trademark status and owners of products referred to in this fiction which have been used without permission. The publication and use of these trademarks is not authorised, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners. Published by A.K. Steel Edited by Contagious Edits Cover Design by Opium House Creatives Contents ABOUT THE BOOK 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 CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE CHAPTER THIRTY CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE EPILOGUE ALSO BY A. K. STEEL ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ABOUT THE AUTHOR ABOUT THE BOOK I have one job at my ten-year reunion. To tell my high school boyfriend, Heath Riley , he has a son. I didn’t keep that secret from him by choice, but the truth is going to kill him just the same. In so many ways, I’m living my best life, running a fashion house I created and being a single mom to two beautiful children. I have everything I need, but that doesn’t mean I’m not lonely as hell. And sometimes, late at night, I still think of him. The one who got away. Heath has always been sexy as hell, even before he was frontman for LA’s biggest rock band. When we broke up, it was so he could follow his dreams. At least that's what I thought. And when we reconnect at our high school reunion, he wants to make up for lost time and be a family. It sounds too good to be true. But I have major trust issues I’m not sure I can get past, and he has more going on than he is willing to share. Can we work out how to fall in love all over again and really be a family? Or will secrets surface, putting an end to our dreams before they have a chance to come true? CHAPTER ONE AMELIA I have one job to do at my high school's ten-year reunion tonight: tell my high school boyfriend, Heath Riley, he has a son. That thought is on repeat in my head as I watch my kids playing happily in the pool. How did my life get so complicated? It doesn't feel like all that long ago I was just a kid myself, not a care in the world. But that's not my reality these days. "Ruby, Connor, come dry off for dinner." My sister Jasmine calls the kids, holding their towels up. And I know my time to procrastinate is over. “Go get dressed,” she tells me in that bossy tone she reserves for her sisters. I roll my eyes dramatically in Cassandra’s direction, and she stifles a giggle, knowing how persistent Jasmine can be. I don’t want to move from my comfy spot of the reclining pool chair. The afternoon sun has warmed my skin and made me sleepy. Jasmine and Cassandra have been listing all the reasons I can't miss tonight's reunion, like a chance to show my classmates how successful I am, running my own fashion label. And if that was all tonight was about, I'd probably be okay about going. But it's not. “Geez, you're bossy today,” I mutter, making a move for the house. “Someone has to get you there. It’s for your own good, Millie,” she tells me like I don’t already know I have to go to this thing. I know I do. I just don’t want to. I take a quick shower, piping-hot, hoping the temperature will wake me up. When I hop out, the room is filled with steam. I wrap a towel around myself so I can wipe off the fogged-up bathroom mirror. My long blonde bob is a tangled mess, but a quick work through with my blowout brush and I'm looking myself again. It’s been ten years since I graduated high school, and tonight, along with the rest of my class, I’m torturing myself and taking a trip down memory lane. I know the night is going to be a massive punishment, but I’m going anyway. It’s that awkward feeling of knowing you have to see people you haven’t in so long and explain how your life maybe didn’t quite turn out the way you planned back when you were young and so full of hopes and dreams. Divorced at twenty-eight with two kids in tow wasn’t how I saw this life going. At least my business is doing well. I’ll just direct conversation back onto that. I give my reflection a little nod in the mirror, trying to imbue myself with more confidence than I feel. That’s right. I’m a successful businesswoman with a fashion label and a chain of shops across America selling my designs, including my signature boutique here in Palm Springs. I have achieved a hell of a lot in ten years! As I apply my concealer, I can’t help but notice the fine lines creeping in from all the sleepless nights trying to juggle raising my two kids and running a business. I don’t quite look like the fresh-faced