The One That Got Away
Read The One That Got Away Online
Authors: M. B. Feeney
The One That Got Away
~a novel~
by M.B. Feeney
Kindle Edition
Copyright © 2015 M.B. Feeney
All rights reserved.
COVER DESIGN BY: © J.C. CLARKE
COVER ART: © Grafix Momma
The One That Got Away
“I had trouble putting this book down and my family were neglected for two days but they coped. I will definitely be recommending this book to everyone as I thoroughly enjoyed every single page.”
― Justine, Goodreads Reviewer
“The One that Got Away is a story about first love, second chances, and finding out that when you do open your heart to the right person, the sky is the limit.”
― Lisa, Goodreads Reviewer
“A light, heart warming, leg clenching story. A fantastic read that I couldn't put down. I can't wait for this to be released to I can recommend it this everyone.”
― Book-Lover Blog
“I read this book in one afternoon, it was a fun and easy read with very likeable characters that are very easy to connect to. This is the kinda book that you can curl up with on the sofa, with your blanket and a hot chocolate and get totally lost in the pages. “
― K.E, Goodreads Reviewer
“Highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a great romance, this one will keep you warm, bring a tear or two to your eye and make you remember the one that got away.”
― Melody, Goodreads Reviewer
“This is one of my favourite reads of 2014 and is the kind of book that if I feel low, I am bound to read again. It's something to re-read when you need a "pick me up" or, just because you can't get enough of Shane “
― Keren, Goodreads Reviewer
Copyright © M.B. Feeney 2015
Published by M.B. Feeney
The right of
M.B. Feeney
to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her under the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000. License Notes: This novel is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This print may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously. This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher
First off, I need to say a
HUGE
thanks to Rachel and Sydney for making my words make sense by ensuring they were in the right place and context. More than anything, I can’t tank either of you enough for pushing me to work my socks off to get this story to be so much more than it originally was.
Mary, Jeanne, Tammy and Tori – You guys were the most amazing pre-readers a gal could ask for. Not once did you let me slack off, and if something didn’t make sense, you told me and helped me fix it. I couldn’t have done it without any of you.
The ladies in my street team – I won’t attempt to list you, I
WILL
forget one of you and feel bad, worrying that you now hate me – all of you are fantastic. I want you to know that I appreciate each and every single one of you every damn day.
Lisa H. and Keren. You two deserve a special mention. So many times you both talked me off the ledge, I can’t repay either of you. I think I would have given up before now without either of you.
Lastly, a massive thank you to YOU. Yeah, you in the red, and you next to her. Thank you for taking the time to buy this book. It means so much, I can’t even begin to verbalise it.
My family have been through the ringer in the past twelve months. Just know I love each and every one of you. Your support has been invaluable.
For everyone who thinks about their
One That Got Away
every now and then.
Table of Contents
Heidi:
Whispering a prayer of thanks that my parents were both at work, I flopped onto my bed with a pile of sugary snacks and the cordless phone. I dialled Ang’s number and hoped her mum didn’t answer while I was shoving a chunk of chocolate into my mouth.
“You totally got together with Shane last night didn’t you?”
She didn’t even bother with a greeting. Her question made me picture Shane in my mind. God, he was gorgeous, just over six feet tall with the most amazing green eyes that stood out over long distances.
“What gives you that idea?” I made myself comfortable against my huge pile of pillows, readying myself for her interrogation, knowing that although she would be pumping me for information, she already knew most of it.
“Well, one minute you’re dancing next to me, then you disappear and I don’t see you for the rest of the night. Not until the very end of the night in fact. You were standing to one side, chatting with Shane before he jumped on the night bus with his mates. By the way, it looked like Shane gives a great hug.”
Yes, she definitely knew.
I grinned at the memory of Shane’s goodnight hug. It had been nice. “So? We were talking. That doesn’t equate to us having a shag down a back alley does it?”
“Well, no, but Sam said the two of you were hiding away somewhere in the club.”
I remembered Sam finding Shane and I in our nook, kissing.
“Just tell me if anything happened, please. I mean, you’ve been in love with him for ages now.”
Frustration had crept into her voice, making me want to laugh, but I managed to refrain.
“I’m not in love with him.”
“Beside the point, Heidi. Did anything happen or not?”
I started talking.
:: ::
I’d needed a break from the frenetic dancing, plus my feet were aching from the heels I’d worn like an idiot, so I excused myself and found a seat, enabling me to rest. Not long after, Shane joined me and we started chatting. In raiding through my bag to steal a cigarette, he came across my passport which I’d stuck in for proof of age. He teased me about the photo as only boys of seventeen could, before proceeding to break my schoolgirl heart. It didn't take long for him to tell me about a girl who’d caught his eye with her beauty. According to him, she had a glint in her eye which made him think there was more behind her innocent act. To be polite, I asked if I knew her, but didn’t really want to know. He handed me back my passport.
“I think you might.”
I wanted to cry. Thank God we were almost at the end of the school year. There was no way in hell I could cope with seeing Shane and another girl acting coupley in front of me every day.
“I’m sitting next to her right now.”
I stared at him, unable to speak, when he bent his head to kiss me. We stayed in that little nook in the club for the rest of the night, getting a bit hot and heavy. Eventually, I pulled myself away from him, chest heaving as I fought to catch my breath. Shane gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before going to buy fresh drinks.
“Sam’s going to be insufferable now, you know,” Shane said while he handed me a bottle of water. “She’s been bugging me for months to make a move on you, knowing I was crazy about you.” He took hold of my hand and threaded his fingers through mine.
“You and me both.” Smiling, Shane bent his head to kiss me again.
As if saying her name out loud had summoned her, Sam appeared in our nook with the widest smile I had ever seen on her elfin face. “Whoops, sorry. I’ll leave you to it.” She backed away from us pretending to zip and lock her lips closed while her big brown eyes flashed with excitement.
I hid my face in Shane’s chest, laughing at the thought of facing her at school after the weekend was over. There was going to be no hiding from her, especially in the sixth form common room. It wouldn’t take long for everyone to find out, whether or not they knew Shane and me.
At the end of the night, I stood to one side with Shane whilst our friends filled the pavement by the nearest bus stop. Drunken goodbyes for those old enough to drink and general chit-chat filled the air around us.
“I had a great night tonight,” Shane whispered in my ear.
“Me too.” I smiled up at him, feeling a little shy now that we were more exposed. It wasn’t a fear of people seeing us that had me on edge, it was the thought of going into school on Monday and facing other people’s expectations of Shane and me being the next big school romance. Or worse, facing people if nothing came of our hook up in the dark.
“Hey, Shane. We gotta bolt, bus is coming.”
We looked over at the gang of Shane’s teammates who were flagging down the oncoming bus.
“I better go. See you on Monday?”
I nodded while he wrapped his arms around me and squeezed gently. I wasn’t sure if I’d imagined it, but there seemed to be real emotion in his hug.
“Yeah, see you then.” My eyes were drawn to his tall form jogging away from me to catch up with his friends.
:: ::
“Well?”
Up ‘til now, Angela had listened in silence, which surprised me. Usually, she would butt in and offer up comments, whether asked for or not.
“Well, what?”
“What’s going to happen now?”
“I have no idea. I haven’t seen or spoken to him since last night, and won’t again until Monday.” Ang’s sigh of irritation was almost inaudible over the sound of the front door opening. “I gotta go, someone’s home. Call me later.” I hung up without waiting for a response.
My mum stuck her head round my door, saw the last of the blush that had warmed my face throughout the conversation with Ang, shook her head, and then walked out without saying a word. Lying back on my bed, my mind kicked into overdrive.
Later that evening I was sitting alone in the kitchen, pushing the curry Dad had treated us to around my plate. I wasn’t feeling up to such strong flavours thanks to the lingering remnants of my hangover, thanks to knowing the barman who looked the other way when it came to asking for my ID, though. Finally giving the food up as a lost cause, I dumped it in the bin and went to sit in my room.
“Heidi, there’s a Shane on the phone for you,” Mum called along the hallway.
I hadn’t even heard the phone ring. I shuffled my way to her, knowing she wouldn’t spare me any embarrassment by bringing the phone to me. Both she and Dad stood in the doorway of the front room, watching and grinning at my discomfort. Snatching the phone without a word, I ran back to my room for privacy.
“Hey.” I closed my door behind me, ignoring the questioning looks in my parents’ eyes.
“Hi. I hope you don’t mind me calling. Sam gave me your number.”
Of course she did.
“Why would I mind?” My face was warm from the blush I knew was colouring my cheeks.
“I don’t know . . . I thought you might . . . never mind.”
I wasn’t sure what he had been trying to say, but I laughed it off. “So, to what do I owe the pleasure of this phone call?” Intrigue plagued me. I didn’t get calls from boys often, and I wasn’t quite sure how to deal with the fact that Shane Hughes of all people had done just that.
“Well, I’ve been thinking a little.”
The silence that followed lasted for so long, I was starting to think we’d been disconnected. Then I heard him take a deep breath before speaking again.
“Would you be up for going on a proper date with me? One that doesn’t come with loud music and half of the school watching as a prerequisite?”
I was floored. Despite what had happened the previous evening, I, unlike Ang, hadn’t expected him to ask me on a real, bona fide date. That sort of stuff never happened to me; I often felt invisible to the boys at school. Knowing Shane liked me back, made me feel about ten feet tall.
“Uh, Heidi? Are you still there?”
“Shit, sorry. Yeah, I’m here.” My embarrassment ramped up a notch.
“No worries, I was concerned I’d scared you off. So, how about it?”
At that moment my bedroom door nudged open, and Mum stuck her head round it to grin at me. I stuck my tongue out at her, making her laugh before retreating back into the front room. I was in for a ton of teasing from both my parents when the call was over.
“I’d love to go out with you, Shane.”
“Is this Saturday okay?”
I mumbled my agreement, too nervous to trust my own voice to speak.
“Brill. How about I treat you to the best three B’s in London?”
“Three what?”
“Dear God. Don’t tell me you have never experienced Bowling, Burgers, and Beer. Heidi, what have you doing with your misspent youth?”
There was no malice behind his teasing.
“Of course I’ve done those things. My youth is not at risk of being bland and uneventful.”
“Well, this Saturday, my treat.”
I started to tell him I didn’t expect him to pay, but he cut me off.
“No, I asked you out, I pay.”
We ended the call with arranging to meet up at the nearest bowling alley. I made a mental note to take my purse with me anyway, feeling a little uncomfortable at the thought of Shane paying for everything.
The evening went well, once we got over our nerves. Shane was pretty much the perfect date. He made me laugh, a lot, and surprised me by being very affectionate.
I hadn’t pegged him for the public display of affection type, but throughout our game of bowling, he wrapped his arms round me, consoling my lack of skills, and kissing me in a flamboyant and exuberant way on the few occasions I got lucky and hit a strike.
Walking out of the alley after our games had finished to find a nearby pub for drinks, Shane made sure I was warm enough before taking my hand. Our fingers linked together.
The entire evening was far more enjoyable than I’d expected, mostly because of Shane’s wicked sense of humour and the playful side to him that was rarely on show at school. He wasn’t a ‘bad boy’ by any means of the word, but there was a naughtiness to him, a cheekiness that lit his entire face up, and I fell hard and fast.
That was our only ‘official’ date where we went out alone, but we spent a lot of time together on weekends, in parks and at his house. Our short lived relationship lasted only a few months, but it was the best I’d experienced.
Then it was gone, he was gone.
Shane Hughes was my ‘one that got away’.
:: ::
Shane:
Usually, when I got out of bed after a night out, I avoided all human contact due to a raging hangover. This morning had been different: I’d been all smiles and chattiness. My sister, Joanne, threw me strange looks and muttered under her breath at me, and my mum got caught up in my good mood, seeing right to the core of it.
“What’s her name?” she asked while gathering the empty breakfast bowls.
“Who?”
“The girl who’s made my boy interact with his family before midday on a Sunday.”
Joanne sat next to me, laughing at my discomfort. I gave her a quick elbow to the ribs to wipe the smile off her face.
“There has to be a girl involved? I should be offended by your insinuation that I wouldn’t normally mix with you unless a girl was involved.”
“Shane Hughes. You’re eighteen years old, you went out last night, and didn’t get home till the arse-crack of dawn. Yet here you are in the kitchen at ten in the morning without griping and moaning about it. Of course there’s a girl involved.” Mum ignored my faked indignation.
“Yeah, you don’t even stink of beer like you normally do after going out with ‘the boys’.” Of course my dear, darling sister had to stick her oar in.
“Well, what’s her name? Do we get to meet her?” Mum pushed.
I shook my head and made my way back out of the kitchen. “No way. If there was a girl, there is no way in hell I’d subject her to you two.” I made my way into my bedroom, my mum and sister’s laughter following me. I was sure I heard one of them mutter, “There’s definitely a girl,” but I didn’t bite back. Instead, I sat in my desk chair and picked up one of my chemistry books. My A-Levels were fast approaching and I was behind on my revision. If I wanted to get good results and get into my top choice uni, then I needed to pull my finger out of my arse and study hard. There was also the fact that I wanted the chance to spend time with Heidi.