I couldn’t be anything other than a romantic at heart — it’s my nature, it’s who I am. But this isn’t a typical story of traditional love. It isn’t a fairy tale. No happily ever after neatly tied up with a shiny bow. It’s a memoir of the reality left behind in the wake of grief — the desolation, the resurrection, and final culmination life offers to the fallen.
This is a journey through love…the love of self, love of a friend, and sometimes love is ugly, messy —destructive.
My name is Bastian Thames…and this is my story.
My mental state is fragile at best, although most of the time, I refuse to acknowledge it.
Today it’s at the forefront of my mind. I’m irrational and acting like a hormonal teenager desperate to talk to a girl he doesn’t really even know. Sadly, at this stage of my life, I should be able to handle basic human interaction and the fact relationships take time to grow—be it friendship or soul mates, although that last one is grasping desperately for something that doesn’t exist for me anymore. But I can’t handle those basic concepts. I’m at a point where I need her. I need Sera to provide me a salvation and deliver me from the valley of death. I’m walking on the edge, and this is the first time I’ve even looked up to notice I might possibly crawl back out of the pit. Illogically, I’ve convinced myself she’s the rope secured to a solid foundation that will rescue me.
As I wash my hands, I look in the mirror and I barely recognize the man staring back at me. He’s old and haggard looking, not the thirty-year-old who should be there. The sadness in his dark-brown eyes is overwhelming, haunting. The skin on his face is loose from weight loss, and if I didn’t know it was the lighting in the bathroom, I would think he has jaundice. I knew the man inside died years ago, but I haven’t accepted the fact that I’m slowly killing the body on the outside.
Stephie is a thirty-seven year old mother of one to the most adorable eight-year-old girl to ever walk. They live on the outskirts of Greenville, South Carolina where they house two cats (Annie and Gus) and a dog, Piper.
She has a serious addiction to anything Coach and would live on Starbucks if she could get away with it. She’s slightly enamored with Charlie Hunnam and Sons of Anarchy and is a self-proclaimed foodie. An avid reader who averages around three hundred novels a year and wishes she had time to read more.
She currently works full-time in the Greenville area and fill her "extra" time (haha) with reading anything she can get her hands on and writing contemporary romance novels with a hint of erotica.
