Fuel the Fire (65 page)

“The slam of bathroom doors and the turn of faucets. Music from bedrooms and laughter—always laughter.”

I rest my chin on his shoulder. “I must be laughing at your smile.”

He immediately breaks into a full-blown grin.

“I wasn’t joking, Richard.” I glower.

“You don’t
laugh
when I smile, you do this.” He pinches my chin so that my head rises off his shoulder. I’m carving my name in his forehead with daggered eyes. “You do know what a ‘laugh’ is?”

I give him a look of
zero
amusement. “I’m going to cut off your tongue.”

His grin spreads. “Then the house will be literally and figuratively quiet.”

I face-palm him, and he kisses my hand…and then he kisses me, my breath caught in my throat and my wine glass almost slipping from my fingers.

His lips against mine, I kiss back.

And I hear alarm clocks beeping, laughter in the kitchen, yelling by the pool. I listen to the vigorous pulse of our future, roaring with life.

COMING SOON

LONG WAY DOWN

Even though Rose & Connor’s love story has concluded, their lives continue in the final Calloway Sisters novel. Look out for an extended epilogue of the Addicted /Calloway Sisters series in Long Way Down.

DAMAGED LIKE US

The first book in the new adult Like Us series.

What happens when the Addicted kids are all grown up?

The Like Us series will revolve around the next generation in the Addicted world as they navigate college, love, family and fame.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This isn’t goodbye, so no crying at this point. This is a thank you. This book was spawned from your passion. It exists because of
you
. After we published
Kiss the Sky
, we had no plans to write more with Connor & Rose, but your fervor, your desire and spirit encouraged us to pursue more of their story.

After
Hothouse Flower
, we made the leap and decided this book would come to fruition. So we began shaping this novel and the rest of the series with a vision in mind. A vision that Connor & Rose would banter together in French again one day, with glasses of wine in hand, with game boards spread over their four-poster bed, with those fiery yellow-green eyes pinned on that burgeoning, conceited grin.

And so came
Fuel the Fire
. A book spawned from passionate hearts.

Thanks to our family for teaching us the importance of never holding grudges and always moving forward. Our dad, for your constant support of our dreams—we love you.

Thanks to our mom, our very own Rose Calloway. You’ve taught us what it means to be strong, independent women and to be ourselves, no matter if we gravitate towards sneakers or your high heels. We love you tremendously, and this book wouldn’t be nearly the same if we didn’t grow up with a fierce role model like you.

Thanks to our translators Nieku & Ashley for not only helping us with the French & German but for being great friends. We’re so happy fate aligned in college and we all met.

Thanks to Siiri—we know you’re usually too sweet to take credit for this, but we have to give it to you here. You’ve championed Rose & Connor since their introduction, and somewhere in their journey, you coined the name Coballoway. Thank you for breathing fire into this pair and into us. We’ll always carry your friendship in our hearts.

And lastly is the loudest and mightiest
thank you
that will spread all around the world. Thank you to the Fizzle Force. We can’t justly express our appreciation towards the Addicted series fandom—there really is no perfect word that describes what each and every one of you mean to us. You’ve changed our lives and given us the courage to write fiction that comes from the deepest parts of our hearts.
Fuel the Fire
was crafted with your love in mind, and we can’t imagine the series without this final Connor & Rose novel. We truly love you, adore you, and will always be here to support you, in whatever dreams you chase. So thank you, you impassioned spirits. Thank you for painting our world with color. It’s immensely more beautiful now.

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND UPDATES

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