One for the Road - Kate Hawthorne

Max
I left St. Jack's Bay ten years ago and haven't looked back once. Unless you count all the times I close my eyes and think about Rome Anderson kissing me on the water tower or all of the firsts we shared in my cramped teenage bedroom. Being in love with Rome as a teenager was serious and scary, so I did the only thing I knew how to do—I ran.
I should have known it would only be a matter of time before life called me back to the small town we grew up in, and also back to Rome who's never left. I'm only home for a week and the two of us are fresh out of firsts, but neither of us seems to be against the idea of sharing some last times together instead.
Rome
I've never stopped loving Max, but over the years, I've definitely started to hate him. At seventeen, I got left behind, but it worked out okay in the end. I own the only bar in town, I date when I want to, and Max's twin sister Lydia is my best friend. Life isn't what it was supposed to be, but it's not horrible.
Max is back now and taking him to bed was a terrible idea because it's not long before I don't hate him at all. I love Max and I want him to be mine, but we've both been here before. I know it's only a matter of time before he breaks my heart and heads back on the road, leaving me—and our future—behind once again.
One for the Road is a small town, second chance romance that proves sometimes absence does make the heart grow fonder.
cw: parental death