The world never granted me much. No warm and cozy home to rest my head, no loving parents to cheer at my games or remember my birthday, and certainly no finer things in life. Just a damn good arm to throw a football and a hunger inside of me that I hoped would lead me straight to the NFL.

I was 12-years-old when the universe finally delivered its first gift. A beautiful angel, though my angel certainly wore no halo. She dressed in the same tattered clothes that I did, and her eyes were as lost and broken as mine were.

All it took was one look at her face, and I knew she had been made for me and me alone. From that day forward, my soul was hooked, taken, a slave to hers. Nothing could come between us. I was headed to college and then pro ball, and she would be by my side, where she belonged.

Until one day, she disappeared without a word.

The love of my life, my best friend, was suddenly gone, vanished, evaporated into thin air. Almost as if she were never even here.

Now, over a year later, at Brooks College in Georgia, she’s back. I want vengeance for her leaving me so callously. But one look into her stormy-blue eyes, and I’m enamored yet again.

But she’s keeping secrets. Pushing me away so that they remain buried in the past. She’s forgetting one thing though—when it comes to her, I’ll stop at nothing.

She can’t keep me at arm’s length forever. After all, she is mine.

This is a complete stand-alone in the Brooks University series.