Better Than Perfect Blog Tour

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog, where the blog Tour for Better Than Perfect stops today.  Not does the blog tour stops on Escapism from Reality, but today is also the release day for this awesome title. So let's see what Better Than Perfect is about.

Better Than Perfect 

Ashtyn's life just got complicated. Her boyfriend is being distant and her sister's back at home after ten years - with a stepson in tow!

Derek has a perfect body, THE sexiest smile and a car - Ashtyn's only way to escape from her crazy life. But Derek likes to play by his own rules and is keen to take Ashtyn on a ride she'll never forget. As they spend more and more time alone together, will Derek's flirty games drive Ashtyn wild?

A sweet and steamy romance from New York Times bestselling author Simone Elkeles






Excited yet?  For this blog stop, I am posting  a snapshot of Ashtyn's phone screen followed by an extract. Read on to find out.

Ashtyn's Mobile Phone

Tonight there is a beach party with all of Ashtyn’s best friends but she can’t quite get into the feel of it - not that she can let Landon know that. With a little fashion advice from her closest friend the night can only get better…right? Find out what happens in the extract.

Chapter 6

Ashtyn

I wanted to kick myself for attempting to look into his eyes

more than a few times tonight. It’s not because I’m attracted to

him. It’s because they’re a unique color, that’s all.

When my dad told me Brandi was moving back home, I hoped

maybe we could become a family again. I imagined Julian and I

would immediately bond. Instead, thanks to Derek, my nephew

thinks I’m his crazy aunt. It’s time I change that perception.

I find Julian in my sister’s room, playing with a handheld video

game.

“Hey, Julian!” I say.

He doesn’t stop playing. “Hi.”

“I know Derek said I was crazy, but I’m not.”

Julian looks up from his game. “I know. He told me he was

joking.”

“Good.” I sit next to him. Besides his blond hair, he’s the spitting

image of Nick. Supposedly Nick left my sister after he found

out she was pregnant. I don’t think she’s seen him since, which

means Julian has never met his biological father.

“Can I have a hug?” I ask him.

He shrugs.

“All right. Well, when you feel like giving me one, I’ll be waiting

for it. Okay?”

He nods, his attention still on the game.

I sit with him for fifteen minutes, until my sister comes in and

tells him to get ready for bed. My sister acts like our argument in

the kitchen didn’t happen, but it’s still fresh in my mind.

Landon hasn’t called me, even though we’re supposed to hang

at the beach tonight. I walk to my room, close the door, and call

my boyfriend.

“Hey,” Landon answers.

“Hey.”

“Sorry I rushed out of Dieter’s meeting and didn’t call. I had to

get home to help my mom with some stuff,” he says.

“So you’re not upset?”

“About what?”

“The captain thing. I totally expected you to get voted captain,

not me.” I know he did, too. I can’t help but feel twinges of

guilt, like I took his spot even though I had nothing to do with it.

“Whatever. It’s not a big deal.”

But it is. I guess I’m waiting for him to say I’ve worked hard

and deserve to be captain just as much as anyone else, but he

doesn’t.

On top of the captain thing, my sister’s homecoming and

the argument I had with her are totally stressing me out. “Can we

hang out alone tonight? My sister came home this morning, and I

guess I’m just having a hard time with it.”

“Everyone’s meeting up at the beach,” Landon says.

“I know, but I’m feeling kinda . . . I don’t know.”

“Listen, you were always pissed your sister left. Now she’s

back. You should be happy, Ash. You got what you wanted.”

It doesn’t feel how it should, though. “You’re right.” I don’t

want to be the whiny girlfriend. Landon told me that his ex-girlfriend Lily,

who goes to our rival school in Fairfield, complained

all the time. He’d said nothing was ever good enough for her and

she smothered him to death. I told myself I’d never be like his ex.

I’m the happy-go-lucky girlfriend, even when I don’t want to be.

“When will you be here?”

“I’ll pick you up in fifteen,” Landon says, then hangs up.

I rush to get dressed, knowing I can’t very well go out with

Landon wearing a T-shirt and hoodie. I try on seven different outfits

before calling Monika. I’m not good when it comes to fashion,

but my best friend is an expert. I text her pictures of each outfit

and she picks one: jean shorts and a short, low-cut pink shirt that

reveals cleavage and a hint of skin above the shorts’ waistband.

In the bathroom, as I lean over the sink to put on my lip gloss,

Derek strolls in.

“Don’t you knock?” I ask him.

“No need to knock if the door’s open.” He leans against the

shower door and focuses on me with his bright blue eyes. “Hot

date?”

“Yes.”

“With your boyfriend?”

“Yes.”

“He play football, too?”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but yes.” I turn to face him

and wish he had some blemish or imperfection, but I can’t find

one. Ugh, the girls at school are gonna have a field day when they

take one look at him. I imagine a lot of drama and fighting over

him. “Did you barge in here for a reason, or did you just want to

rub it in that I have to share a bathroom with you?”

“I need to relieve myself. Do you mind?”

“Eww.”

“You act like you’ve never done it before.”

“I’ve done it. I just don’t have the need to announce it.” I grab

my stuff and start to walk out, but turn back and say, “Don’t you

dare leave the toilet seat up.”

“And if I do?” he asks with a smirk.

“Trust me, you don’t want to find out.”

In my room, I wonder if Derek has a girlfriend and imagine

what she might look like. Not that I care. I’d actually feel sorry for

the girl who has to deal with a guy who’s too sarcastic, too witty,

and too good looking.

The doorbell rings a few minutes later. I can’t wait to see

Landon’s expression when he sees me all dressed up.

“Be right down!” I call out, then grab my purse and rush downstairs.

Landon is waiting for me in the foyer wearing jeans and a

preppy button-down shirt that covers his dark-skinned body. I

give him a peck on the lips just as Derek appears wearing long

shorts with REGENTS PREPARATORY ACADEMY embroidered on the

leg. I’m not surprised he comes from a fancy prep school with that

ego of his. He’s shirtless once again, showing off solid muscles

and an air of confidence that rival Landon’s. I’m not immune to

him even though I said I was. There’s just something about

Derek that draws my gaze to him, even though I hate myself for

acknowledging it.

“Who’re you?” Landon asks, as if Derek’s an intruder who

needs to be kicked out of my house immediately.

“Just a thug from Cali,” Derek says with a wink for me, then

pushes open the screen door and saunters outside with a pair of

running shoes in his hand.

Landon points to the door. “Who the hell was that?”

“He’s Brandi’s stepson.” I wave my hand in the air, dismissing

the importance of the guy living in our den. “Don’t pay any attention

to him.”

“Stepson?” He glances at Derek through the screen. “I don’t

like it.”

“Me neither.” I grab Landon’s hand and urge him out of the

house. My boyfriend is competitive and definitely has a high testosterone

level. He doesn’t mind me hanging out with our teammates,

but he’s jealous of outsiders. Derek is definitely an outsider.

“Come on, let’s go celebrate the beginning of summer break. I

need a distraction.”

Outside, Derek is sitting on the stoop tying his shoes. “Y’all

have fun,” he calls out as we head for Landon’s car.

“We will,” Landon growls back.

From the car, I look over at Derek. Our eyes meet and I feel a

jolt of adrenaline. I want to ignore him, to pretend he doesn’t

exist. So why do I have such a hard time keeping my eyes averted?

I get a sense that there’s sadness behind his eyes, something that I

can relate to.

Landon’s phone is in his cupholde rwhen it rings on our way to

the beach. Lily’s name comes up on the screen.

“Why is your old girlfriend calling you, Landon?”

He glances at the phone but doesn’t answer it. “Beats me.”

“You never told me you still talked to her.”

“We catch up every now and then. It’s no big deal.”

I wonder why he’d want to catch up with his ex-girlfriend

when he always complains about her. I want to ask more questions

about how often he talks to Lily and what they talk about,

but he drives up to the entrance to the beach and hops out of the

car before I can ask him to elaborate.

I thought Landon and I would find a nice quiet place to sit and

talk in front of the bonfire, but he leaves me to hang with some

of the guys. I could join him, but I’m getting a weird vibe from him

tonight and decide to give him some space. I don’t want to smother

him like Lily did.

Jet has a six-pack in his hand as he stands by Victor’s car with

a bunch of other guys. The second Jet sees me, he waves me over.

“Hey, Captain,” he says as he wraps me in a bear hug.

“Cut it out, Jet.”

“You know you love me, Ash.”

“No, I don’t. Most of the time I don’t even like you,” I joke.

“Get your paws off me and leave them for the poor, unsuspecting

girls who buy your bullshit.” I dig an elbow into his ribs. “Landon’s

right over there. Don’t piss him off.”

Jet laughs. “Why would I want to piss off our star QB, our pride

and joy, the prince, the single most important person on our team,

the only quarterback who can take us to State with one hand tied

behind his back?”

“Lay off, Thacker,” Vic chimes in, shutting Jet up for the

moment.

After we lost in the playoffs, the local paper printed a quote

From Landon bashing Jet about not catching his last two passes.

Landon said they misquoted him, but Jet still took it personally.

Ever since then, the two have been trading barbs and I’ve had to

defuse a lot of it to keep the peace.

Jet points to a girl by the water’s edge wearing a skimpy thong

bikini. “What are the chances I get lucky with her tonight?”

“Better than most,” I tell him. “Should I warn her that you just

want a one-night stand so she shouldn’t expect a call from you in

the future?”

That gets an amused grin out of Vic.

“Hell, no.” Jet doesn’t have girlfriends. He likes to “spread

the love” and hook up with as many hot girls as he can. Which

also means he’s pissed off more than a good share of the high

school female population in Fremont and the surrounding communities.

A few times Jet has needed my help being rescued from clingy

girls desperate to have a real relationship. I’ve reluctantly acted

as his fake girlfriend too many times to count. I told him that one

day he’ll fall hard for a girl who’ll break his heart, but he laughs it

off. He thinks love is complete bullshit.

I walk to the bonfire where Monika is sitting and think about

the conversation Derek and I had in the kitchen. And the fight my

dad and Brandi had. And Derek’s stupid abs he flaunted today.

And the guilt I have for Landon not being voted captain. I want

my brain to stop thinking. It’s on overload.

“I can’t believe my best friend didn’t tell me she was voted

captain,” Monika says as she snuggles against her boyfriend, Trey,

our star running back. “Congrats, girl!”

“Thanks.”

Trey and Monika have been dating since junior high. They’re

completely in love and aren’t afraid of PDA or talking about their

future as if it’s a given that they’ll be together forever.

After my parents split, I gave up on finding true love—something

manufactured in movies and books to make people believe in the

impossible. Trey and Monika renewed my faith. He looks at

Monika as if she’s the only girl in the world. It’s as if she’s his lifeline

and he’d be lost without her. Monika told me that Trey’s her

soul mate. They’re both planning on going to the University of

Illinois, although Trey needs a scholarship to the Big Ten school

to be able to afford it.

When Landon sits next to me, I lean into him. “What are

you thinking about?” I ask, getting my boyfriend’s attention. “You

look so serious.”

“It’s nothing,” he says irritably before opening a can of beer

and chugging the entire thing.

I put my hand on his chest. “Is it the captain thing? Because I

didn’t know—”

He swats my hand away. “Fuck, Ash, will you stop bringing

it up? I’m just pissed off at the world right now, okay? So you

were voted captain. Big fucking deal. I’m sure Jet orchestrated

it as retaliation for that stupid article in the paper. The joke’s on

me, huh?”

“Jet didn’t orchestrate anything.”

He gives a short, mocking laugh. “Yeah, right.”

His words sting. “Please say you don’t mean that.”

“Fine. I don’t mean it,” he says unconvincingly.

I glance at  Monika and Trey, who are trying their best to pretend

they’re not listening to our argument.

I try to swallow, but there’s a lump in my throat as I say what’s

been on my mind ever since Dieter wrote my name on the board

this morning. “You . . . you don’t think I deserve to be captain,

do you?”

He doesn’t answer.

*****

The extract alone makes me want to ditch my current book and re-read Better Than Perfect again. I already am half in love with Derek.

Pick up your copy today as Better Than Perfect hits the bookshops this morning