Thirteen Going On Thirty Novels & Stories

I waited until it was close to midnight—I had three minutes to go. I started thinking back on my life, but it was too simple and plain. There didn't seem to be much to remember. My life had been a tragedy from the moment I was born. The minutes turned to seconds, and I slumped onto the table. I had my urn and photo beside me. Five, four, three, two, one… The countdown ended, and a dead silence descended upon me. The room went silent—even the sound of my breathing disappeared. At the same time, I heard the sound of the doorknob turning. Someone was back!

He acted like the thirty days were a minor inconvenience. That's what got me. He sat across from me at the breakfast table the next morning with his coffee and his phone and his perfectly pressed shirt and he listened to my terms with the patient expression of a man reviewing a contract he'd already decided to sign. Polite and detached, like I was a colleague presenting quarterly projections rather than his wife telling him what she needed from the last thirty days of their marriage. I'd stayed up until two writing the list. It covered a full page and a half. My handwriting got smaller toward the bottom, the way it always does when I'm feeling something I can't quite hold.

Everything in our home revolved around her, as if she owned the house. Recalling my bitter past, I wanted to slap myself. Why didn't I just walk away when I still had the chance? Andrew slammed on the accelerator. As if something had just occurred to him, he frowned and muttered, "Well played, Jovana. No wonder I haven't heard from you in three years—you've been out there messing around with some other man." Watching him clench his jaw in anger, I wanted to slap him across the face. A blind, heartless scum like him had no right to accuse me!

Then she covered her face with her pillow. “This is going to be a disaster.” Across the hallway, Nate stared at his phone. In another apartment, Ilyas did the same. Three people. Three hearts. And three different secrets. But secrets rarely stay secret forever.

Then, Storm shouted loudly, “Quickly come back here, Thirteen!” Thirteen slowly turned around. When she saw them, she was slightly stunned. She smiled at them, waved, and headed farther in again. Her movements were very agile and lively, clearly different from Grayson and the others. Grayson and the others were so frozen that they could barely move. They could only make their way out. When they were near the entrance, they started jumping around and doing some warm-up exercises. Grayson started racking his brain on planning how to rescue Thirteen.

She never came looking for Ethan anymore. That night, Ethan was so busy that he didn't get home until nearly midnight. As soon as he stepped inside, Bill brought the nanny to him. "I'm sorry, Alpha Ethan. I don't think I'm fit for this job," Maria Hobbs quavered, handing in her resignation letter. "The pups are too much to handle. They have endless demands, and even the shape of their food has to be exactly the way they want it. The worst part is—they're allergic to so much food, yet they refuse to listen and insist on trying things they shouldn't eat."

"Earlier." "I can smell it on you from here." She sits. Wraps both hands around her own cup. "I'm not going to tell you to stop. You're thirty four years old and you'll do what you want. I'll simply look at you the way I'm looking at you now every time I smell it." She looks at me. Well, It is a very specific look. I became immune to most human expressions of disappointment approximately fifteen years ago. My mother's is the exception.

he says sharply. “I was trying to help you,” I reply smoothly. “This will never work,” he snaps. “First an engagement, now we are getting married in thirty days?” “We just need act like it’s going to happen,” I counter. “For the meantime, I will be staying here because I might or might not have mentioned that we are very in love, so we do have to appear very in love.” His shoulders tense. He looks like he wants to either strangle me or maybe kiss me again.

' I tensed at that, realising what it meant, and remembering what Thane had done. I reached up, feeling my neck. It felt oddly tender, 'The other two have added theirs,' Lisbet said more seriously, 'also before your birthday. They were quite impatient.' She sounded disapproving, in an oddly regal kind of way, but I didn't have time to find out anything more from her, as the doors opened and Thane walked in, the most incredible scent filling the room with him.

I can’t explain it, and maybe it’s just the mate bond, but something is telling me to get all the information first. Landon storms out with Neal in tow, and I get a mindlink from the driver that he is taking the car the girls arrived in. That leaves me to drive everyone back. Doc and Lynn don’t really know exactly what’s going on, and I don’t make a move to fill them in. Tia is extremely quiet, and I can see they did make some purchases. They have three garment bags and another two big bags with them. Everyone piles into the car; Doc and Lynn get in the back, and Tia reluctantly gets in the front seat. I guess she didn’t want to make things awkward by sitting in the back.