Outbound Lane An Unspoken Truth Novella

By Renea Porter

"They say if you keep living in the past, you'll never move forward."

Moving forward is what Alexis has been doing for the past two years. She has kept her head down and her heart guarded. That is until Cole Vega walks into her life, with his wicked smile making her heart skip a beat.

But Alexis has her own demons to face, and with her BFF gone for the summer. Cole is the only person she can rely on.

When something traumatic happens, Cole is there to help her through it. And it kills him that not only is Alexis a recovering bulimic, she can’t stand to be touched. Cole is patient and willing to wait for Alexis to work out her issues. But when Cole’s past comes back to haunt him, it threatens everything he and Alexis have worked so hard to build.

As they get to know each other, Alexis starts to trust Cole, and her feelings start to grow. But one thing Alexis refuses to do is return to her childhood home. In order to move forward in her final stages of recovery, she must face the one thing that could cause everything to come crashing back down.

One summer will change everything. It will be a summer of first dates, first loves, first kisses and many more firsts. Will Cole break down the walls Alexis has kept up or will the unspoken truth keep her heart intact?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Renea Porter
• Release date: Jul 20, 2014
• ISBN: 9781501496691

Renea Porter

Renea Porter is best known for writing realistic stories with realistic characters. Her stories may even cause you to shed a tear or two. She mainly writes New Adult and Contemporary Romances. However, she's not afraid to venture into other genre's like Paranormal Romance. She enjoys spending time with her husband of fourteen years, and step son. She calls Pennsylvania home, but loves to travel and try new things. In her free time you can catch her reading books, watching reality tv, and baking.

Book preview

Dedications

I would not even be here typing this is it wasn’t for you readers, and your love for it. So here’s to you!

Acknowledgements

First of all I want to acknowledge my husband, who listens to me talk about my characters on a constant basis. His support means the world to me and he is my biggest fan!

Also would like to thank my cover designer Kari at Cover to Cover Designs. And my editor who is awesome.

I’d also like to thank my beta readers who have been with me since the beginning as they continue to support me.

I’d also like to shout out to several bloggers who have supported me and who have begged for more as I continued to write this series. The Pink Bookshelf, Amazeballs Book Addicts, Book Cracker Caroline, Ramblings of a Book Lunatic and finally The Book Fairy. I apologize if I left anyone out.

And finally to Alisa B. for listening to my crazy ideas on a daily basis and always has my back on my decisions. And I’m so thankful for our friendship.

Table of Contents

Prologue

TEN YEARS EARLIER

Come here, you little bitch! He yanks on me. If you even as much as scream, I will kill your family, every last one of them, and make you suffer, he said with gritted teeth. This has been going on for a month now. The neighbor that my parents envy, and even consider a family friend, has been repeatedly raping me. And I have been keeping it a secret. I just try to block it out as much as possible. My brain takes me far away while he has his filthy disgusting hands groping all over me. I’ve shed enough tears, that I’m just numb to it now.

He’s ruined me from the inside out. I shouldn’t have to endure this. No one should. He forces my head down there, and I gag on it every time he makes me do it. He makes me feel ugly and dirty, like I brought this on myself. I know he is just a sick bastard. When he finishes, he pushes me aside, which is my queue to get out of his sight, like I’m a disgusting animal.

It all started when my parents were in a pinch and needed a sitter; they didn’t like to leave me by myself, even at ten years old, but they trusted a monster. So he started doing things to me almost right away. At first, he would complement on how pretty I was. Then he would touch my legs, every time his hands would move a little higher until he reached the point where he just did what he wanted. I want to scream and beg him to stop but he won’t. He has threatened to kill my family if I say anything. Something in his eyes makes me believe him.

Not long after that I started making myself throw up afterward. Maybe because I thought I could get rid of him and the feel of him on me. Then it just progressed to more frequent trips to throw up. I’d do it after eating, after he had his hands on me, and whenever I felt the need to. I needed control, control over something since it felt like my world was turned upside down. He took my virginity away from me, ruined me for the man I would wait for. Ruined me from having a first crush, and ruined my personality. I used to be outgoing and happy; I had a good childhood up to that point.

As I got older, he wouldn’t do it as frequently, but it would still happen. It was like he would know when my parents were away or out of town. I started wearing baggy clothes to hide my frail frame. My health was deteriorating and no one noticed. I couldn’t even stay home from school sick for fear he would come over, or drag me over to his place. He would give me weird looks whenever my parents would invite him over, like he was taunting me.

So eventually I learned to keep my head down, my heart guarded and prayed a college would accept me, one that was far away from here. I would never return, given the chance. Once I was accepted in OSU, I had noticed him doing it to another girl, I felt sick, like I needed to throw up. Finally, I spoke up and let it all out in the open and he was arrested. My parents weren’t too happy with me about not telling them right away. He sneered at me when I watched the policemen putting him the back of their car. What he did to me and that other neighborhood girl can never be undone, but it won’t be happening again. He couldn’t hurt me anymore. But the damage was done, after so many years of enduring it. Even with him being away, I still kept to myself. It worked; no one noticed me and people left me alone for the most part. I can’t even stand to be touched; I will have a total meltdown, like I will totally freak the hell out. This is the damage and it’s so much worse than I can even explain. I’ve never even kissed a boy, or made out with one. I shudder at the thought. Yeah, I check guys out; I’m not completely dead. But I never got to experience those things, because he took those away from me. I was a victim of my own body. The nightmares lingered long after he was arrested, but my shattered soul would never recover from it. I only just existed for the sake of my parents. They did everything they could to comfort me as I cried myself to sleep. The world beat me down, and it was colorless. The world was a cruel place.

Chapter One

BEING IN COLLEGE HAS