Fortunate Son (The Forever Marked #1) - Jay Crownover Page 0,1
who does or does not have children in this new series. I released the family tree and already have readers who are upset by this and that. Listen, not every couple wants kids or is able to have kids. Some couples make the conscious decision just to live their best lives together, and some are emotionally destroyed by not being able to grow their families. I’ve always written to reflect real life and will not give any time to criticism for the creative choices I make. I know you love these characters and are invested in them wholeheartedly, but I created them. They came from my imagination. They were given life through my hands and heart. They exist because I gave my creativity and my time to share them with you. So, I respectfully ask you to recognize that, while you may have your wishes for what should happen with your favorites, at the end of the day it is my call, and I know best how everyone would really end up and what their paths in life look like. After all, I pulled bits and pieces of all of them from my own life and the people who have been in and out of it.
If you’re new, welcome to the circus and this ever-growing family filled with big hearts, bad-asses, brilliant minds, and lots of body modification.
If you’ve been here from the beginning, thank you from the bottom of my heart, and I hope you know I was only willing and brave enough to jump back into a book like this because of you.
Welcome back.
Love & Ink,
Jay
“I DON’T THINK we’re a good match.”
The softly spoken words echoed in my head for hours.
It wasn’t like the breakup came out of nowhere. The girl I was pretty sure I loved had been acting strange and had become more and more distant for weeks. I’d known her my entire life. We grew up together and had been the best of friends before falling in love. I knew her almost as well as I knew myself and could tell something between us was off, but I refused to believe the end of what we had was near.
I told myself she was just stressed out and worried about the fact we were soon going to different colleges and spending a lot of time apart from one another. Young love was already unreliable and tricky to navigate. When you added the hurdle of long distance to the mix, it seemed almost destined to fail. I tried to reassure her everything would be fine; after all, I was older than her and had already been in college for a year. Nothing changed between us while I waited not so patiently for her to finish high school. I foolishly thought she would apply and get accepted to my school so we could stay together. It never occurred to me that she was only going to apply to schools out of state. I was unaware that she had her heart set on leaving not only me, but also our hometown, for years. When she finally came clean and let me know she was moving to California in the fall, I was stunned but still optimistic that our relationship would survive. After all, she was my first love. I was willing to sacrifice and suffer whatever it took to keep her in my life.
Aston, unfortunately, didn’t feel the same.
I felt blindsided by both the breakup and the revelation that she was always planning to move halfway across the country. Suddenly, the adorable little girl who grew up following my every step and who had effortlessly stolen my heart with her sweet, cheerful, innocent demeanor seemed like a total stranger who never cared about me the way I cared about her.
It was easy enough to argue with her when she said we weren’t a good match.
It was impossible to fight against her when she told me she wasn’t happy being with me and needed a change.
I wanted to tell her we just needed some time apart. I had faith in my ability to change her mind and prove to her that we belonged together. But the look in her eyes when she ended things was definite. This wasn’t a rash decision on her part. It was something she gave a lot of thought to and she had clearly made up her mind.
She didn’t want to be with me anymore, and I was left adrift and discombobulated.