Oliver:

Making a move on my best friend's little sister wasn't supposed to end in tragedy but it did: A car crash I should've prevented, a shattered dream of becoming a pro-BMX rider and a broken heart after losing the only girl I've ever loved.

I thought leaving was the only option after the mess I made.

Ten years later, as the owner of one of the biggest BMX brands in the country, I had no plans to ever see her again. She's moved on and so have I. But a devastating phone call sends me back to my hometown in a heartbeat.

Back to her.

She's the same selfless, kind-hearted, joyful girl I fell in love with all those years ago. The glue that holds our tight-knit friend group together. The strong, determined woman who became the Sports Photographer I always knew she was destined to be.

My heart breaks when I learn about the pain she's been through. How I failed her by leaving her when she most needed me.

Still, she welcomes me with open arms, offering me the friendship I've missed so much but I don't deserve.

I should listen to our friends and settle for that. But I'm not a dumb kid anymore. I refuse to accept friends is all Carmen Morales and I are destined to be.

No matter the doubts or the weight of our past.

Last time I left like a coward.

Next time, I'm not going anywhere unless she goes with me.

Next Time You Leave is a full length romance novel with open door intimate scenes, explicit language, no cliffhanger and a guaranteed happy ending.

Trigger Warnings: This book includes mentions of physical and emotional abuse from a past relationship, death of a relative and survivor's guilt. Unhealthy and abusive family relationship. Parent with undiagnosed mental illness. Alzheimer's disease and heart attack in a parent. On page abduction, violence and attempted rape.