Before The Exhale – Alyssa Wilde

Having been insulated in our own little bubble for the past few days, I almost forgot how popular Wes is. How he attracts attention from every angle, people drawn first to his stature, then captivated by his personality, looks, and uncanny ability to make everyone feel comfortable and seen. When a group of guys surround him, spewing their usual buckets of praise and admiration, I want nothing more than to shrink into the background. But Wes’s hand settles on my lower back in a reassuring gesture, and I have no choice but to share the spotlight.

I’m not used to this many curious eyes on me, sizing me up. Some of them linger in a way that makes me uncomfortable, while others brush me off as though I’m nothing. I find myself leaning into the safety of Wes’s side as he chats with some people I vaguely recognize from his party, but when Rich pushes through to the front, Wes’s hand flexes against my back. His smile fades, and he looks like he’d rather be talking to anyone else.

“Hey man, how’ve you been?” Rich asks, sticking out his hand. Wes ignores it, and eventually, Rich lets it fall to his side. “I thought you got suspended.” Rich doesn’t appear bothered by Wes’s cold greeting, shrugging with nonchalance and offering an easy smirk. “Nah, just a minor slap on the wrist. My dad’s on the board.” Wes doesn’t respond to that, so Rich turns to me. “Dang, still hanging with the freshman? Glad I didn’t put money on that.” Beside me, Wes stiffens, but before he can come to my defense, Kaden appears out of nowhere and snaps, “Get the fuck out of here, Rich.”

“You smell like a liquor cabinet,” adds Ben. Rich only laughs. “What, is the whole team passing her around?

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. Editing by Victoria Hadley, The Romantic Editorial Service Cover design by Books and Moods alyssawilde.com 1kitap1.com/en For Betty Boop. I love you and miss you. 1kitap1.com/en CONTENT WARNING Dear Reader, Before you begin, please be aware that this book addresses heavy topics, including sexual assault (referenced throughout the story and depicted briefly in a flashback), depression, alcohol abuse, and suicidal ideation.

I’ve done my best to handle these topics with thoughtfulness and respect, but please take care of yourself while reading. Thank you again for picking up Before the Exhale. I hope you enjoy Ivy’s story. Love, Alyssa 1kitap1.com/en CONTENTS BEFORE ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE SIX SEVEN EIGHT NINE TEN ELEVEN TWELVE THIRTEEN FOURTEEN FIFTEEN SIXTEEN SEVENTEEN EIGHTEEN NINETEEN TWENTY TWENTY-ONE TWENTY-TWO TWENTY-THREE TWENTY-FOUR TWENTY-FIVE TWENTY-SIX TWENTY-SEVEN TWENTY-EIGHT TWENTY-NINE THEN NOW THIRTY THIRTY-ONE THIRTY-TWO THIRTY-THREE THIRTY-FOUR THIRTY-FIVE THIRTY-SIX THIRTY-SEVEN THIRTY-EIGHT THIRTY-NINE FORTY FORTY-ONE EPILOGUE THE END Connect with Alyssa Wilde Also by Alyssa Wilde About the Author 1kitap1.com/en BEFORE JUNIOR YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL AFTER THE PARTY, I don’t speak for days.

Not a word. Not a sigh. Not a sound. But if my mouth could form words, I would whisper six of them. Why did this happen to me? Time starts blurring together, the minutes, hours, days distinguishable only by before and after. When I look down at my hands, I don’t recognize them. Nails bitten to the quick. Freckle on the left thumb. Fingers so pale they belong on a corpse. Fitting. It feels like a part of me died. I let my body rot in the bed I rarely leave anymore, and I stop going to school until they notify my parents, who have no idea I’ve skipped six consecutive days.

Mom throws a hissy fit in the doorway to my bedroom, and Dad gives me the I’m so disappointed in you speech, and once they’re finally done ranting and raging, they forge me a doctor’s note to give to the main office.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 0703ec273b809fe4
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 6,456,693 bytes (6.158 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• Pages: 411
• Language: English (en)

Reading & Word Statistics

• Estimated Reading Time: 703.27 minutes
• Total Words: 140,654
• Total Characters: 754,803
• Average Words per Page: 342.22
• Average Characters per Page: 1836.5

Most Frequent Words

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