**Here are <New York Times< bestseller Penelope Douglas&rsquo;s two bestselling novellas in the Fall Away Series, together in one volume for the first time.

<**<AFLAME<**
<**
All through high school, Jared Trent called the shots. He decided if Tatum Brandt would be happy or sad, fearful or free. He owned her heart, and he played with it like one of his cars.&#160;Never again.
&#160;
Two years ago, Jared left town, and Tate&rsquo;s life is exactly where she wants it to be. Or that&rsquo;s what she tells herself...

Because two years ago, her heart also stopped beating, and no matter the success in school or the support of her friends, there&rsquo;s only one time every week she can feel that same rush in her blood: Friday nights on the track.&#160;&#160;
&#160;
That&rsquo;s hers, not his, and to hell with anyone that gets in her way again.&#160;Especially him.**<

NEXT TO NEVER
<**
Under the close watch of the men in her family, Quinn Caruthers has found it nearly impossible to spread her wings&mdash;or even date&mdash;without her three older brothers, Jared, Madoc, and Jaxon, jumping in to hover. And when a family friend&mdash;several years older&mdash;from her childhood still holds her heart, she knows they&rsquo;re going to be a problem. Lucas Morrow is a man, and knowing her brothers, he may as well be forbidden.
&#160;
But Lucas left town and shows no signs of returning. Quinn knows she shouldn&rsquo;t wait for him anymore....
&#160;
Until a package turns up on her doorstep with no return address and its contents reveal family secrets that threaten to turn her world upside down. She&rsquo;s never asked about the path of her parents&rsquo; romantic history, but she soon learns their happy marriage had a very rocky and passionate start.
&#160;
As she starts to see things around her with new eyes, Quinn will have to make tough choices about whether she&rsquo;ll keep waiting...or finally go after what she really wants....

Autorentext

Penelope Douglas is a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. Their books have been translated into twenty languages and include The Fall Away Series, The Hellbent Series, The Devil’s Night Series, and the stand-alones, Misconduct, Punk 57, Birthday Girl, Credence, and Tryst Six Venom. They live in New England with their husband and daughter.

Klappentext

**Here are New York Times bestseller Penelope Douglas’s two bestselling novellas in the Fall Away Series, together in one volume for the first time.

*AFLAME

All through high school, Jared Trent called the shots. He decided if Tatum Brandt would be happy or sad, fearful or free. He owned her heart, and he played with it like one of his cars. Never again.

Two years ago, Jared left town, and Tate’s life is exactly where she wants it to be. Or that’s what she tells herself...

Because two years ago, her heart also stopped beating, and no matter the success in school or the support of her friends, there’s only one time every week she can feel that same rush in her blood: Friday nights on the track.

That’s hers, not his, and to hell with anyone that gets in her way again. Especially him.***

NEXT TO NEVER

Under the close watch of the men in her family, Quinn Caruthers has found it nearly impossible to spread her wings—or even date—without her three older brothers, Jared, Madoc, and Jaxon, jumping in to hover. And when a family friend—several years older—from her childhood still holds her heart, she knows they’re going to be a problem. Lucas Morrow is a man, and knowing her brothers, he may as well be forbidden.

But Lucas left town and shows no signs of returning. Quinn knows she shouldn’t wait for him anymore....

Until a package turns up on her doorstep with no return address and its contents reveal family secrets that threaten to turn her world upside down. She’s never asked about the path of her parents’ romantic history, but she soon learns their happy marriage had a very rocky and passionate start.

As she starts to see things around her with new eyes, Quinn will have to make tough choices about whether she’ll keep waiting...or finally go after what she really wants.

Leseprobe
Chapter 1

Jared

Present Day

Kids are crazy.

Batshit, certifiably, without-a-brain-in-their-head crazy. If you're not explaining something to them, then you're reexplaining it, because they didn't listen the first time, and as soon as you explain it, they ask the same damn question you just spent twenty minutes explaining the answer to!

And the questions. Holy fuck, the questions.

Some of these kids talked more in one day than I have in my entire life, and you can't get away from it, because they follow you.

Like, take a hint, you know?

"Jared! I want the blue helmet, and Connor had it last time, and it's my turn!" the half-pint blond kid whined from the track as all the other children climbed into their go-kart cars, two rows of six each.

I tipped my chin down and inhaled an aggravated breath as I gripped the fence surrounding the track. "It doesn't matter what color helmet you have on," I growled, tensing every muscle in my back.

Blondie-what the hell was his name again?-scrunched up his face, getting redder by the moment. "But . . . but it's not fair! He had it two times, and I-"

"Get the black helmet," I ordered, cutting him off. "It's your lucky one, remember?"

He pinched his eyebrows together, his freckled nose scrunching up. "It is?"

"Yes," I lied, the hot California sun beating down on my black-T-shirt-clad shoulders. "You wore it when we flipped in the buggy three weeks ago. It kept you safe."

"I thought I was wearing the blue one."

"Nope. The black," I lied again. I really had no idea what color he'd been wearing.

I should feel bad about lying, but I didn't. When children got more reasonable, I could stop resorting to rocket science to get them to do what I wanted them to do. "Hurry up," I shouted, hearing little go-kart motors fill the air. "They're going to leave without you."

He ran for the other side of the gate to the shelves of helmets, snatching up the black one. I watched as all the kids, ranging in age from five to eight, strapped themselves in and shot each other excited little thumbs-ups. They gripped their steering wheels, their thin arms tense, and I felt a grin pull at the corners of my mouth.

This was the part that wasn't so bad.

Crossing my arms over my chest, I watched with pride as they took off, each kid handling his or her car with increasing precision every week they came here. Their shiny helmets glistened in the early summer sunshine as the tiny engines zoomed around the bend and echoed in the distance as they sped off. Some kids were still pushing the pedal to the metal for the entire race, but others were learning to measure their time and assess the road ahead. Patience was hard to muster when you just wanted to be in front the entire race, but some quickly caught on that a good defense was the best offense. It wasn't just about getting ahead of that car; it was also about staying ahead of the cars already behind you.

And more than just learning, they were also having fun. If only a place like this had existed when I was that age.

But even at twenty-two, I was still grateful for it.

When these kids first walked through my door they knew next to nothing, and now they handled the track like it was a walk in the park. Thanks to me and the other volunteers. They were always happy to be here, full of smiles, and looking to me with anticipation.

They actually wanted to be arou…