YA Buddy Readers' Corner ♥ discussion

Stone Reeves was my neighbor, and I've hated him since sixth grade.

Gorgeous and charismatic, he became the town's football god, while I became the town's invisible girl.
He went to a Division 1 school for football, while my father was fired by his father.
His team won the National Championship, while my mother died the same day.

He was a first round pick for the NFL ...
... while I made the worst decision of my life.

Now I'm in Texas trying to pick up the pieces of my life.
But, Stone is here.
Stone is everywhere.

It doesn't matter that disaster has struck my life again.
It doesn't matter that he's the one trying to console me.
It doesn't matter that he's the nation's newest football obsession.

Because for me, he always has been and always will be my enemy.

I’m really sorry, but I can no longer participate in this BR. I no longer have the book, due to some complications that I will
not go into. I’m sorry :(

Amelia wrote: "I’m really sorry, but I can no longer participate in this BR. I no longer have the book, due to some complications that I will
not go into. I’m sorry :("

No worries. Thanks for letting me know.

I'll still be reading this and commenting in case anyone else wants to join along. =)

24% (view spoiler)[I am really curious about what happened to Dusty before she moved to Texas. It mentioned that something happened because someone knew that she knew Stone. It couldn't have been good if she is running from it or that person.

Most of her roommates are being awful to her. It's not her fault that their previous roommate screwed everyone over. I can't imagine how hard everything must be for her because of her living situation. Nothing is ever easy when you don't feel comfortable at home.

I am also wondering what else happened between Stone and Dusty. He stopped being friends with her in sixth grade but they must have interacted since then.

It was a little shocking that her dad and stepmom were in an accident and died. I just don't know why Stone was the one to come and tell her about it. Why would he bother if they were not on good terms. He definitely seemed like he didn't want anything to do with her when they talked on the phone before. When he showed up at her house to tell her he seemed like he actually cares. (hide spoiler)]

56% (view spoiler)[I really think that Stone feels remorse for ghosting on their friendship when they were younger. I am not sure that it is totally believable that he didn't know about his dad firing Dusty's dad when he knew about the incident between his mom and Dusty's dad. Would he not have put two and two together?

You can definitely feel the deeply rooted bond that they still share from being childhood friends. And there is definitely an attraction there. I mean, they wouldn't have had that heated night together otherwise. I think that their bond makes that much more intense. Now they have agreed to a physical relationship and I can't see that going over well since it's obvious that they care about each other. (hide spoiler)]

73% (view spoiler)[I honestly don't know what is holding them back from being in a relationship. Dusty says that she is not in a good place at the moment but having Stone around seems to help her. Though I have no idea what Stone's issue is. Other than his fame I can't imagine what would hold him back. But that doesn't really make sense because he didn't seem to care about it when he was with Dusty before. He never acted ashamed to be with her or anything like that. (hide spoiler)]

Finished (view spoiler)[I really liked that even though Dusty was devastated about Stone, she put on a brave face and went on with her life. She didn't wallow in her sadness or self-destruct. She tried to be better. She went back to school and went back to work and trudged on.

The stalker thing wasn't as climactic as I was hoping but I did like that Stone came running to Dusty as soon as he found out about it. It shows how he really feels about her. Not that he was obligated to care about her because of her mother's request.

I did like the epilogues. Though I honestly don't know how Dusty could get along with Stone's parents after what they did to her family. It seems like that would be too hard to deal with. But she is a strong person and I think that it shows. Everything works out in the end and I smiled at little Grayson. I also liked seeing Jared and Apollo in the end as part of their family as well. She even calls Apollo her brother which warmed my heart. I would love to see stories with Jared and Apollo in the future.(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

I'm starting now!

Ch 11 (view spoiler)[ Wow, some people just keep going through shit. Her mom died, now her dad and stepmom died, and she lost Stone as a best friend when she was young. If I walked into that house and was treated like shit, had a tiny room, and was told I had to double pay rent, I would have walked right back out. Fuck those girls (hide spoiler)]

Vanessa wrote: "24% (view spoiler)[I am really curious about what happened to Dusty before she moved to Texas. It mentioned that something happened because someone knew that she knew Stone. It couldn't have been good if she is r..." (hide spoiler)]
Yeah her roommates suck for real. (view spoiler)[ He must still care about her, we need a peek into his head to see what he's thinking (hide spoiler)]

ch 22(view spoiler)[ Okay, I've never been through grief like this and everyone handles things differently, but I basically want to strangle Dusty. Stone is trying to help her and she's shoving him away, thinking she's fine when she's clearly not, and basically being a bitch. I'm frustrated with her.
It was also shitty of her brother to lie about wanting to be with her because he wants tickets to Stone's games. (hide spoiler)]

Vanessa wrote: "56% (view spoiler)[I really think that Stone feels remorse for ghosting on their friendship when they were younger. I am not sure that it is totally believable that he didn't know about his dad firing Dusty's dad..." (hide spoiler)]

True (view spoiler)[ He may have known about what his dad did and felt so bad that he ghosted her? Them having sex probably wasn't the best idea, but maybe it will help them be able to talk about things? (hide spoiler)]

Aly wrote: "Ch 11 [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[For real. I hated the way that the roommates treated her when she arrived. It wasn't her fault that their old roommate bailed on them. With everything else going on in Dusty's life I can't imagine having to deal with that too. She is so resilient. (hide spoiler)]

Aly wrote: "Vanessa wrote: "24% [spoilers removed]
Yeah her roommates suck for real. [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[I agree. I really wish that the narrative included his point of view for more than just a few chapters at the end. I love getting in the guy's head too. (hide spoiler)]

Aly wrote: "ch 22"

(view spoiler)[I think that on top of her grief from losing her parents there was also the fact that Stone had betrayed her and abandoned her. Their friendship was important to her and he just ghosted her. Now he is trying to be nice like it never happened. I can imagine that it would be hard to deal with. I would personally still be angry with him and would probably act much the same.

I do think that Jared went about things in a bad way when it came to Dusty. It is obvious that he cares about her and wants to be around her but he still also wants to stay with his friend's family. I think that Stone's fame got to him a bit. I don't think that he did anything to be malicious though. (hide spoiler)]

Aly wrote: "Vanessa wrote: "56% [spoilers removed]

True [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[I think that he ghosted Dusty when they were in middle school so it was before her dad was fired. He gives a lame excuse for it towards the end though.

Dusty and Stone having sex when they did was probably not the best move. They clearly had some pent up attraction that they needed to deal with. But neither of them was ready to deal with the aftermath and all the feelings. They weren't just having sex with strangers where they could move on and forget about it. They were connected from their past and that made things hard to let go of. (hide spoiler)]

Vanessa wrote: "Aly wrote: "Vanessa wrote: "56% [spoilers removed]

True [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[I think that he ghosted Dusty when they were in middle school so it was before her dad was fired. He gives a lame excus..." (hide spoiler)]
Ah okay. That was a dick move ugh.

ch 33 (view spoiler)[ Okay, Stone is an ass. Dusty told him she was falling for him and he obviously was acting like he felt the same way but he's denying it so he dumped her. He better have to work to get back with her, she deserves better. (hide spoiler)]

Vanessa wrote: "73% [spoilers removed]"

Exactly! WTF dude?

ch 36 (view spoiler)[ That was fucked up that Dusty said those things about Stone's parents. They may be shitty parents, but to say things just to hurt him is mean. They have such a complicated relationship (hide spoiler)]

Finished (view spoiler)[ She had a stalker? Thank goodness he died and didn't come after her again. I'm glad Stone pulled his head out of his ass and they had a family and had her brother and his adoptive brother staying with them (hide spoiler)]

Aly wrote: "Vanessa wrote: "Aly wrote: "Vanessa wrote: "56% [spoilers removed]

True [spoilers removed]"

[spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[Yeah, it really was a dick move. He said that he knew that she would be important to him in the future and he couldn't lose his focus on football. That's lame. I am sure that there is a way to stay focused on football and still have a best friend. Even if you had a feeling that you would become more to each other later on. (hide spoiler)]

Aly wrote: "ch 33 [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[I thought that the dumping was kind of mutual. She confessed that she felt more for him and was shutting him down and then he shut her right back down. Yet, him just telling her to get a ride from his house was kind of a dick thing to do. (hide spoiler)]

Aly wrote: "ch 36 [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[I agree, it was mean. But at that point, I think that she would have said anything to keep him at a distance. I didn't really think that the truthful things that she said about his parents were that bad because she was still grieving her own parents and his parents had a big reason why hers weren't there anymore. But the lie that she made up about his dad was just too far. (hide spoiler)]

Aly wrote: "Finished [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[I thought that the stalker thing was a little lackluster. I think that there could have been more to it. I did like the whole family thing at the end. It was a good ending. (hide spoiler)]

Started early...
Ch 10 (view spoiler)[Omg her dad and stepmom now too? This girl can’t take any more 😰 (hide spoiler)]

Ch 25 (view spoiler)[I’m loving this tension between them, it’s so hard to not want them to turn their anger into passion especially since sadly he’s all she has. I’m kind of pissed her brother guilt tripped her like that and really only did it because he wanted to see Stone play football, low blow. (hide spoiler)]

Ch 36 (view spoiler)[Omg why did she take it there? And why did he let her..... ahhh these two I swear. But I get where she’s coming from, why is he letting her get away with it and push him away. It’s clear he cares about her, this angst is killing me. (hide spoiler)]

Finished (view spoiler)[That epilogue gave me life. I’m so happy she was able to follow her dreams, and awww they had a kid possibly two 🥲 I just wish he took more of a stand in their last fight, he knew she was trying to push him away and she let him, kinda makes me wonder if or how long it would have taken him if he didn’t find out about her stalker? Either way glad it worked out for them and then he was the first to say I love you, he owed her that after she was honest with him. In the end I really loved it. (hide spoiler)]

Starting this one!

Chapter 3 (8%)
(view spoiler)[This meal plan thing is the dumbest thing I've ever seen. You can't be a student if you don't follow the rules? Who cares where/what she eats? (hide spoiler)]

❀ Crystal ✿ - wrote: "Started early...
Ch 10 [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[ Man that chapter escalated quickly. Poor girl (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 11 (26%)
(view spoiler)[ I wonder what reason Stone has to dislike Dusty so much. But I'm glad he at least feels bad about the things his father did (hide spoiler)]

Katrina wrote: "❀ Crystal ✿ - wrote: "Started early...
Ch 10 [spoilers removed]"

[spoilers removed]"

Right?!?! (view spoiler)[I did not see that coming at all. Really sets the stage for the book though (sadly) (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 16 (35%)
(view spoiler)[ I'm glad Stone is making his family take some sort of responsibility (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 20 (48%)
(view spoiler)[ As much as I liked them hooking up, I don't like that Dusty was doing it as a coping mechanism to avoid her grief (hide spoiler)]

❀ Crystal ✿ - wrote: "Ch 25 [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[ Yeah I'm not a fan of the stepbrother at all. That was a shitty thing to do (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 32 (71%)
(view spoiler)[ This is actually refreshing! Most friend with benefit couples don’t actually talk about their feelings. Dusty is being sensible by telling Stone things are changing for her. She’s actually following the agreement, even if the result is making her sad (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 35(77%)
(view spoiler)[ I’m sorry, but as someone who has had literal rainbow hair in my lifetime, I can tell you that no amount of random vibrant color is going to make a person unrecognizable. I’ve run into people I haven’t seen in years with my blue hair when they only ever saw me as a blonde and they recognized me just fine. After years of not seeing each other. This plot point annoys the hell out of me 😅 (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 40 (89%)
(view spoiler)[ I liked that we got a chapter from Stone’s pov (hide spoiler)]

❀ Crystal ✿ - wrote: "Finished [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[ I agree with everything you said there. The epilogue after the epilogue was so freaking cute. I'm glad these two were able to wrok everything out in the end. I'm also glad Dusty was even able to move forward with Stone's parents. That couldn't have been an easy thing to do (hide spoiler)]

I'm going to start this tonight.

Sweet!

I'm up to Chapter 11.


(view spoiler)[Everyone important to Dusty keeps dying. It's good that she met some new people. Too bad her roommates are terrible people. (hide spoiler)]

Katrina wrote: "Chapter 11 (26%)
[spoilers removed]"


It will be interesting to see what actually went down with them.

I'm up to Chapter 22.


(view spoiler)[Dusty ends up in a coma. Stone is taking care of her. They end up sleeping together. (hide spoiler)]

Katrina wrote: "Chapter 16 (35%)
[spoilers removed]"


It was nice he got his dad to pay for everything.

I'm up to Chapter 33.


(view spoiler)[Dusty got to spend time with her brother. Things are complicated again with her and Stone. I wish her roommates were more likable. (hide spoiler)]

Katrina wrote: "Chapter 32 (71%)
[spoilers removed]"



Their whole relationship is complicated.