Driven Hard

DRIVEN HARD TASHA FAWKES SAFIRA PRESS CONTENTS Free Book 1. What? 2. Restless Soul 3. The Day Couldn't Get Any Worse, Could It? 4. A Niggling of Interest 5. I Wanted More 6. And Besides... 7. Ruined For Life 8. No Excuses 9. Oh God, What Had I Just Done? 10. Never Again 11. I Would Never See Her Again 12. And Now He's Not 13. Ray 14. I Didn't Sign Up For This 15. This is Going to be Fun 16. What Was I Doing? 17. Six Months 18. She Took It 19. I've Gotta Go 20. Not Now 21. Alone 22. He Wants to Talk 23. For Now 24. Nope 25. Wasn’t it? 26. The More Frustrated I Got 27. What Will I do Know? 28. Does He Have a Brother? 29. Just a Couple 30. And I Mean Exploded! 31. Layne? 32. I Had No Idea 33. If You Say So 34. Not Sure 35. Mine 36. There Wasn’t Any Us 37. She Gave Me a Look and a Grin 38. I Wasn’t So Sure 39. Doomed From the Start 40. Only One Way to Find Out 41. I’m Done Playing Your Games! 42. But Was I Ready? 43. This Was Only the Beginning! 44. I’ll Take it 45. Like Mom Did 46. The Same One? 47. Body, Heart, and Soul 48. It’s Time to Play Santa Claus 49. Spent 50. Warned Away 51. I’m Forty Years Old 52. But, What is Next? 53. Could I Do It? 54. This is on You 55. One Thing Was For Certain 56. It’s a Brilliant Idea 57. Her Words Surprised Me 58. You Know What? 59. My Gain, His loss 60. And I Mean Nothing 61. I Didn’t Have a Care in the World 62. That’s It 63. The Great Unknown 64. Now I did 65. Snowball’s Chance in Hell 66. It’s Good to Know Who I’m Dealing With 67. Millstone 68. I Had No Regrets 69. You Take Care of Yourself 70. We’re Nothing Alike 71. Goodbye, Ray 72. Clear My Head 73. I had been a fool 74. Panic Attack 75. Dean, I Need Your Help 76. It’s You 77. What Are the Instructions? 78. That’s a Promise You’d Better Keep, Ray 79. I Had to Believe It 80. The Only Sound in the Room 6 months later Other books from Safira Publishing About Tasha Fawkes Copyright © 2023 by Tasha Fawkes 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. The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred. FREE BOOK Get VIP: Taken By the Billionaire for free! https://tashafawkes.com/get-your-free-book/ ONE WHAT? Layne My body throbbed to the music pounding from the loudspeakers in the backyard of my parents’ estate in Calabasas. I can’t believe how much fun I was having! I never wanted it to end. My twenty-first birthday party bash has been a raging success. My parents spared no expense. The event is live streamed on TikTok and other social media channels not only by me, but by Stacy, my co-influencer, director, and of course, my best friend. This was what it was all about! While I didn’t recognize everyone crowding around the pool, nor a lot of those coming and going from the house through the sliding glass doors from the living and dining rooms to the pool deck, I wasn’t too concerned. Friends of those invited often crashed parties like this, as well as those who saw the announcement on social media and had joined in on the fun. The dozens of splashes of colorful bikinis and swimming trunks were certainly a sight to see. I don’t think I’d ever had a party this big. There must be a couple hundred people flowing over the front and back yards and the house. Suddenly, the music blasting from the speakers decreased slightly, and I glanced into the backyard where the DJ, headphones covering one ear, his long, lean body bobbing to the music was now gazing off to his right. I followed the direction of his eyes and saw my parents emerge from the side yard. I laughed as my dad appeared in a pair of red cargo shorts and a red and white Hawaiian shirt, sunglasses atop his balding head, his broad smile as he waved to some people he knew, most of them friends I had spent my high school and college years with—well, two years of college anyway. I had just received my Associates degree in digital media. Lots of people knew my dad as the ex-deputy mayor of Calabasas, but now he’s a property developer worth billions. I don’t deny that my parents spoil me - this party a prime example - but I am an only child after all, and they seem to enjoy it, so I enjoy it as well. Besides, it’s not like I throw temper tantrums when I don’t get what I want. I try to be a bit more mature than that. This party is just one example of how they show their love for me, and I love them for it. I realize some people think I’m a pampered only child, but I try to be a good person, hence the invitation to practically my entire former senior high school class. As I watch my former classmates party and cavort and laugh and raise glasses of beer or soda, I can’t deny that some of my former friends and co-conspirators seem a little different since the last time I saw many of them. We were all two to three years older than we were on graduation day. In high school, I had been one of the