Wrong For You

Wrong For You Copyright © 2023 by Harloe Rae, LLC All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner and the publisher listed above, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. This is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or purely coincidental. Editor: Infinite Well Cover designer: Harloe Rae Photographer: Wander Aguiar Model: Chris Chapter Image Art: Kris Duplantier Interior design: Champagne Book Design TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE NOVELS BY HARLOE RAE DEDICATION WRONG FOR YOU THE JAKE & HARPER PLAYLIST EPIGRAPH PROLOGUE 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 EPILOGUE PREVIEW OF MINE FOR YOURS PREVIEW OF ASK ME WHY PREVIEW OF LONER PREVIEW OF LEAVE HIM LOVED ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABOUT THE AUTHOR Reclusive Standalones Redefining Us Forget You Not #BitterSweetHeat Standalones Gent Miss Lass Silo Springs Standalones Breaker Keeper Loner Quad Pod Babe Squad Standalones Leave Him Loved Something Like Hate There’s Always Someday Doing It Right Complete Standalones Watch Me Follow Ask Me Why Left for Wild Lost in Him Mine For Yours Wrong For You Screwed Up (part of the Bayside Heroes standalones) This book is dedicated to the backward hat flip, and to the fierce individuals who melt into a properly swooned mush puddle in sight of it. For Niki too. You’re a warrior. Stay strong always. I used to believe Jacob Evans could be mine. That was before he delivered unforgivable news rather than sweeping me off my feet. Not that I can fault his choice. He got the sweetest little girl out of the deal. I took the heartbreak as a learning experience and moved on for the better. Jake did the opposite—allowing bitterness to fill the void. Only his daughter can pull him from the broody gloom. Those moments are my favorite. Not that it matters. Jake isn’t anything to me other than a reminder of what almost was. Besides, we couldn’t be more wrong for each other. I’ve come to accept that. But as it turns out, Jake hasn’t. “Long Trip Alone” | Dierks Bentley “Last Night” | Morgan Wallen “It Must Have Been Love” | Roxette “One Life” | Ed Sheeran “The Climb” | Miley Cyrus “The Kind Of Love We Make” | Luke Combs “Hold Me While You Wait” | Lewis Capaldi “Can’t Help Falling In Love” | Samantha Harvey “H.O.L.Y” | Florida Georgia Line “You Are The Reason” | Calum Scott “Tell Me That You Love Me” | James Smith “Say You Won’t Let Go” | Samantha Harvey “I Feel Like I’m Drowning” | Two Feet “Please Notice” | Christian Leave “Fix You” | Coldplay “Biblical” | Calum Scott Listen on Spotify here! Wait. Wait and you will see. What I have waiting for you beneath. It’s beautiful and deep. A sea without a beach. —Harloe Rae Gossip in a small town should be ignored more often than not. I learned that lesson after my fifth-grade teacher almost quit her job based solely on spiteful hearsay. That doesn’t stop the rumor I heard earlier from playing on repeat. I whirl on my heel and pace to the tall oak that marks the hiking trail’s entrance. Dust kicks up from my frantic stride as I turn to retrace my path for the ninth time. My skin is slick and balmy, which has little to do with the nerves eating at me. The July heat hasn’t relented even as dusk casts shadows across the woods. A twig snaps to my left and I pivot to see Jacob Evans—the one I’ve been waiting for in more ways than one. I rush forward to fling myself at him. Fresh pine blended with lingering traces of motor oil and fraying patience welcomes me. My arms struggle to encircle his torso as I soak in his sturdy warmth. Jake is already broad and muscular, far larger than the boys I just graduated with. His steady pulse drums beneath my ear and soothes me. I breathe him in again while trying to silence the doubt pestering me. Everything is going to be okay. “You came.” Stark relief raises my voice to an embarrassing pitch. “Said I would.” Meanwhile, his tone is flat and stiff. The brittle response sets off an alarm in my brain. Denial and desperation have me clinging tighter to him. It’s only then I realize he isn’t returning my embrace. Toned arms that rarely hesitate to haul me in stay glued to his sides. I step back from the false comfort of his presence to do a quick assessment. Only three years separate us, but Jake appears older than twenty-one right now. There’s an underlying tension thrumming from him. His rigid posture matches the stony expression avoiding my gaze. The dark features I could trace from memory are purposely guarded. Only his eyes reveal emotion. A barely contained storm swirls in those blue depths. Jake must feel my imploring scrutiny and bites off a curse from his clenched jaw. “Please tell me it’s not true.” I lift trembling fingers to my lips. He averts his stare further from mine. “Afraid I can’t do that.” Fire blasts under my skin as understanding dawns. I lunge at him, bunching his shirt in my fist. “You cheated on me?” No wonder he was willing to wait until I was ready to lose my virginity. The good guy