Title: Wait!
Series: Oxley College Saga #2
Author: Stacey Nash
Release Date: April 20,
2015
Synopsis
Jordan Hays knows just how precious life
is; that’s why he has his own mapped out. He’ll work to pay his way through
university while he studies hard, regardless of the constant distractions.
Because when it comes to becoming a nurse, he’s deadly serious. He won’t fail
to save someone again.
But Hex Penton is way too
similar to the sister he lost, and even though the only thing more fun than
stupid dares is the crazy girl who sets them, Jordan needs to make a choice.
Hex believes every moment is important; every opportunity must be taken,
because you never know when the world will be yanked out from underneath you.
With the foundations he’s based his life on shaken, Jordan must discover what’s
more important: making sure Hex’s life isn’t wasted, or remembering how to live
his.
It’s time to play truth or
dare.
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Excerpt
Admiring my nails, which
were longer than they’d ever
been, I poured myself a
liberal splash of vodka and mixed it with lemonade.
Liquid courage, that’s what
this was, and I’d only need one more then I’d be
right to head downstairs to
the party that was happening tonight. I didn’t
bother with the stupid
meet-and-greet the senior guy said I must to attend. Mum
had only just left by the time
five rolled around and I’d wanted to catch a
quick nap since we’d had an
early start.
From my window, I could see
people filling the
courtyard. The music blared
loudly, dead opposite to the voices, I assumed.
Everyone looked a little
awkward, standing around, cradling plastic cups as if
they were scared of each
other. It wasn’t hard to pick out the seniors. They
all rocked massive smiles and
worked the crowd.
I tipped my head back and
downed the drink in a single
gulp. Well, only one way to
make this crap downstairs bearable. Eeesh. The drink
practically stole my
breath. I must have made it a
bit strong.
A quick look in the mirror
and everything was in
place—my hair looked pretty
decent, shorts weren’t riding up my butt, and all
the essentials were tucked
away beneath my tank top. Everyone had said it was
going to be freaking freezing
here in Armidale, but so far it was like living
in a sauna. The air felt thick
and hot, and that sun had one heck of a bite.
Good thing it was sinking now,
so my shoulders wouldn’t burn. Again. They
already stung from the rays
they’d seen while we lugged my stuff in from the
car this
afternoon.
Right. I drew in a deep
breath, and squared my
shoulders. This would be a
piece of cake. I tucked my room key into my bra and
snuck one last look out the
window at the courtyard below. People.
Easy-peasy.
Before I could over-think
the whole thing, I yanked
open the thick wooden door and
stumbled as it caught my heel on the way out.
Good thing my Docs were solid.
Those fashionable strappy sandals everyone wore
this summer wouldn’t have
saved my bony ankle from certain
destruction.
All the doors in the hall
stood closed, marking my
dorm floor as dead empty. I’d
heard voices earlier this afternoon, but whoever
it was must be down there
already. The resident senior had said there were
three first years on this
floor. It was a pity there was no way of telling
which rooms were occupied. The
other rooms would fill up later in the week when
the senior students
returned—right now only the resident seniors were here—so
I’d find out who lived where
soon enough.
Good God, I was still
stalling—standing here, staring
at closed doors like a
freaking lunatic. Before I could conjure any more
time-wasting thoughts, I
stepped out of the hall and into the
stairwell.
Music from the courtyard
echoed all the way up the structure,
bouncing off the concrete
walls and tiled stairs as if they were made for this
very purpose. The music wasn’t
too bad. Not top forty, but not golden oldies
either. Good party
tunes.
As I emerged into the
throng of it, I plastered on the
friendliest smile I could
muster. It turned out I didn’t need to seek out
someone to make me look less
alone, because my block senior, Jason Donagan,
marched up to me with a mock
scowl. “Where were you?”
I shrugged.
“Sorry.”
“Well, you missed out on
meeting the other freshers in
our block.” He waggled a
finger in a fake scold.
“Oops.”
“Looks like you need a
drink.”
“Ahh, yeah. That’d be
great, thanks.”
He disappeared into the
crowd, which wasn’t as thin as
it had looked from my window.
People were scattered around in small groups,
looking awkward. Some girl
caught my attention from over by a wooden picnic
table. Dark hair that almost
reached her waist swished as she swayed to the
music, seemingly without
notice, since her focus and smile were both set on me.
Maybe she’d be a good one to
start with. Before I could make a move, another
girl bounced in front of me,
grabbing my arm as if we were best buds.
“I’m-Amber-and-you-have-awesome-hair.”
It took me a second to make
out what she was saying,
she spoke so fast. I fingered
the blue tips of my shoulder-length brown hair.
The colour had been freshly
applied this morning. “Thanks.”
With her arm hooked through
mine, she piloted me
toward the largest group of
people, which held the dark haired girl. She gave
me a massive smile; her and
Amber must already be friends.
“Hey everyone,” Amber
cooed, “meet my new friend …”
“Hex,” I
answered.
“Hex,” she mimicked. “Where are you
from?”
“Umm …” It wasn’t a trick
question, so why was I
stumbling?
“North.”
“Ahh, a
coastie.”
“Not quite, it’s more
inland—”
The other girl extended a
slender hand. “McKenzie.
Second year applied science.
I’m on the social committee, so I could crash
o-week.”
Jason reappeared and passed
me one of the plastic cups
everyone else seemed to have.
I shot him a grateful smile and swallowed its
contents in two
gulps.
Jason whooped. “Looks like you’ve
been here before,
Hex.”
The evening wore on much
the same, meeting new face
after new face. With so many
names I’d be lucky to remember two or three come
morning. Amber remained glued
to my side, and after only an hour in her company
I was certain we’d wind up
good friends. The girl sure was fun and seemed to
draw in a crowd with her
bubbly voice.
The drinks flowed steadily,
but there wasn’t so much
that people got plastered. The
music lulled and a song I knew well blared to
life. I grabbed Amber’s hand
and pulled her up onto one of the long wooden
picnic tables in a corner of
the courtyard. She squealed the second she
realised what I was up to, and
in three seconds flat had her hands above her
head, her eyes closed, as she
shimmied her body like a pro. I’d definitely
found a new friend. Someone
wolf whistled below us, but I drowned them all out
with my
singing.
When the music ended a
chant filled the air.
He-ex. He-ex.
He-ex.
I grinned as I took a
plastic cup some guy held up to
me. Amber joined in the chant
and it was obvious they wanted me to drink. I
yelled, “Bottom’s up,” and
tipped the entire contents of the cup into my mouth.
Amber’s name came next and she
followed my lead, giving the people what they
wanted.
My legs felt the effects of
my earlier drinks, but it
was all good. Until Amber
decided it was time to climb down. She stumbled to
the side, and we both grabbed
hold of each other at the same moment, me saving
her from falling. She laughed
as if it were the funniest thing ever. A laugh
that was the most contagious
I’d ever come across. I burst into a fit of
giggles as we both stood
there, clutching each other by the arms.
Another cup of beer
appeared in front of me. The hand
holding it, attached to a
random guy I hadn’t met. I accepted the drink with
thanks, a giggling Amber still
clinging to my side.
It took a good few minutes
before we finally pulled
ourselves together. Sucking
back a lungful of hysterical laughter-stopping air,
I stepped down off the table
and right into the personal space of a
six-foot-odd hunk of solid
muscle. My drink splashed out of the cup, its cool
liquid trickling down my arm.
Blue eyes regarded me with a deadly seriousness
that shouldn’t be seen in a
face that handsome.
I held his stare for a long
minute.
There was no way I would
back down to a guy. His jaw
clenched and my god, it was as
chiselled as any A-grade movie star’s. A
peppering of jet-black stubble
gave him a rugged edge, or maybe that came from
his shaggy hair. But boy, he
needed to give it up already. He continued to
stare as if he were waiting
for me to apologise. God only knew how I’d offended
him. A quick check proved my
feet weren’t stomping his toes, nor had my drink
landed on his shirt. He wore
low-slung jeans and a plain grey T-shirt, both of
which fitted his toned body
perfectly.
I raised my right
eyebrow.
That made both of his
dip.
I held out my free hand and
he took it. “I’m Hex.”
“Hex?” His nose screwed
up.
“Yes,
Hex.”
“Weird
name.”
“No weirder than your
attitude.”
“You should slow
down.”
“Excuse
me?”
He dipped his head toward
my almost-empty plastic cup.
“With the drink. You should
slow down.”
“And you should piss
off.”
Who did this guy think he
was? Probably some member of
the anti-fun brigade, and that
was too bad, because damn, his whole look was
amazing.
A laugh burst from him so
suddenly, I flinched, and
realised our hands were still
clasped. “Jordan,” he said, as if he’d remembered
he hadn’t given me his
name.
“Well, the pleasure
was all yours, Jordan.” I
retracted my hand. “Don’t party too hard, now.”
Author
Bio
Stacey Nash writes adventure filled
stories for Young Adults in the Science Fiction and Fantasy genres. She loves
to read and write books that have a lot of adventure, a good dose of danger, a
smattering of romance, and KISSING! Hailing from the Hunter Valley in New South
Wales, she loves nothing more than immersing herself in the beauty and culture
of the local area.
Author of the Collective Series and the
Oxley College Saga.
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