Sweet Surrender: Perfectly Imperfect

SWEET SURRENDER PERFECTLY IMPERFECT KELSIE CALLOWAY Copyright © 2023 Kelsie Calloway All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permissions contact Kelsie Calloway at [email protected]. Exceptions: Reviewers may quote brief passages for reviews. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. CONTENTS Newsletter Sign Up 1. Kaitlyn 2. Kaitlyn 3. Mitchell 4. Kaitlyn 5. Mitchell 6. Kaitlyn 7. Mitchell 8. Kaitlyn 9. Mitchell 10. Kaitlyn 11. Mitchell 12. Kaitlyn Also By Kelsie Calloway Have you left a review? Follow Kelsie Calloway NEWSLETTER SIGN UP Sign up for my newsletter and stay up-to-date on my new releases. Newsletters include links to new books, sales, freebies, bonus content, and more. I also include promo materials for free book giveaways and links to books by other authors. Newsletters are sent once a week and you are welcome to unsubscribe at any time. :) 1 KAITLYN Frankie whines by the front door and when I shoot her a glance, she’s flashing me a pair of blue eyes that say, ‘If you don’t take me outside right now, I will pee on everything you love.’ “Alright, girl,” I place a hand over my mouth to stifle a yawn as I roll off the couch. I’ve had a long, busy day of doing nothing. The least I could do is walk Frankie before the sun goes down. It might be cooler when the sidewalks aren’t 125 degrees and you don’t break a sweat opening a door, but when my girl’s gotta go, she’s gotta go. I pull on a pair of flip-flops and grab Frankie’s leash. She’s bouncing back and forth with eager excitement to go outside. I hope she doesn’t want to stay long because I don’t know if I can bear the heat. The dog days of summer are here and unless we’re going to hang out at the apartment complex pool, I’d rather be somewhere with AC. The hallway is empty as I pull the door shut behind me. My keys are inside, but we aren’t going far anyway. Just a quick trip to the grass outside and then we’ll be back. Two men loiter around the entrance to my building. They look like they’re in their teens and they’re laughing about some joke a friend told them. I hear the words prank and fill his car with chicken feathers and I figure that they’re pretty harmless. But I still clutch Frankie’s leash a little tighter as I pass them. “Hey, girl,” one of them says as he opens the door for me to exit, “that’s a beautiful dog.” I was braced for an awkward pick-up line, but instead, he gives Frankie a few head pats and smiles at me. “Thanks,” I return his smile, “she’s a border collie.” He nods his head like that explains it. “She’s mad cute.” I nod my head at him and pass through the exit. As the door shuts behind me, I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. Those two boys posed no threat to me, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared to be around the two of them alone. Like many women, I’ve been the type to clutch my keys while walking back to my car. I’ve avoided walking down ill-lit streets alone at night and I’ve crossed to the other side of the street when I came across a group of men. Nothing has happened to me, it’s just something I do out of safety. I’ve heard horror stories from my friends and women online and even when a man looks nice and polite, I always make sure I can protect myself in a situation if one should arise. The blast of warm air from walking outside doesn’t hit me until I’m halfway down the stairs. It’s like running into a stagnant, disgusting fog of humidity and heat. The thick air makes me wish I’d brought a water bottle. Frankie bounds down the stairs two at a time and when we reach a patch of grass, she is quick to relieve herself. She’s such a good girl. I wish it wasn’t a million degrees out here so I could take her on the walk she deserves. She loves to sniff the flowers and meet the neighbors. It’s a large complex with five buildings; there’s plenty to see and Frankie unearths something new every time. But even she isn’t a fan of the heat. After doing her business, she starts panting as if she just finished a lap of zoomies around the living room. “You ready to go inside, babe?” I crouch down to pet her and she meets me with a lick on the cheek. I wobble and almost fall backward, but Frankie steadies me by pulling me toward the stairs. “I’ll take that as a yes.” After doing nothing all day, getting in and out of a crouched position feels like a workout. “I should have gone to the gym today,” I tell Frankie. She’s several feet ahead of me, pulling me up the stairs one by one. “Now I just feel like I wasted the day.” Granted, it’s my day off, but I still shouldn’t have been so lazy. Did I really need to spend the last five hours rewatching Grey’s Anatomy? Could I have spent it better? Maybe meal prepping for next week or finding a new hobby. That’s what goes through my head as we climb the two flights of stairs to get to the third floor. I make a promise to myself that next weekend I’ll go to Hobby Lobby and look into their craft kits. Maybe I’ll start making soap or painting or something. But by the time I’m back inside the building