Silver Heart

Copyright © 2013 by Victoria Green.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without written permission of the author, except for the inclusion of quotations in a review. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Please note that this novel contains mature subject matter, including strong language and sexual situations that may not be suitable for all readers. Reader/buyer discretion is advised.

What Readers Are Saying:

“Sweet, steamy, sexy, and addictive—I couldn’t put it down! Victoria Green has set herself apart from the crowd with one fantastic, fresh, hot romance. I fell in love with
Silver Heart
from page one.” – J. Meyers, Author of
Anywhere

“Absolutely adored this steam-tastic debut to its wintery core! Filled with everything a perfect romance needs,
Silver Heart
will literally make you melt.” – Jena,
Shortie Says

“
Silver Heart
is phenomenally written with the perfect balance of beauty, inspiration, wit, and romantic love. The words just melt off the page and go straight to your heart.” – Jessirae,
Words, Pages, and Books

“
Silver Heart
is an original take on the NA craze and I am positive that you will fall in love with Sawyer just as much as I have. Sawyer is definitely on my top five book boyfriends list.” – Kristina,
Ladybug Storytime

“Sawyer's and Dylan's story will capture people's hearts and leave them breathless by the time they reach the end of the book. Incredible debut from Victoria Green.” – Justin,
Justin’s Book Blog

“
Silver Heart
is one of those heart-wrenching books that is also heart-warming at the same time. It made me feel such a roller coaster of emotions that it’s hard to pin-point one single essence of what makes this book so awesome.” – Keren,
Gothic Angel Book Reviews

“
Silver Heart
was, without a doubt, a sexy read! Well-developed and entertaining, Sawyer had me melting into a puddle. Victoria Green’s debut NA is a powerful show of what is to come.” – Tiffany,
Escaping…One Book at a Time

Dedicated to those suffering from unspoken love and believing in second chances.

CHAPTER ONE

“This is going to be the best vacation ever!” My best friend Maddie had a habit of overusing the words
best
and
ever
.

Everything she did was the “best ever,” but her optimism was an endearing trait. Nothing short of a natural disaster could get Madison Evans down. Scratch that. She handled natural disasters with as much cheerfulness and grace as everything else that came her way.

“How can a trip to Whistler excite you so much, Mads?” Her enthusiasm brought a smile to my face. “It’s just a ski resort. You’ve been on
real
adventures.”

The day after our high school graduation, Maddie had announced that she was going to see the world. In a spur-of-the-moment decision, she deferred college for a year and set out on a backpacking trip around Europe, turning one of our long talked-about travel dreams into reality. After Europe, she had to see Asia, then Africa, then Antarctica. Along the way, her wandering feet opened her eyes, mind, and heart.

Although she never made it to college, she did manage to launch a successful travel agency that doubled as a charity. Roads Traveled-Hearts Touched enabled people to not only see remote parts of the world on a budget, but to also belong to a volunteer force for those in need. Maddie and her adventurous clients had built schools and orphanages in various parts of Africa and South America, and even helped with much-needed relief in countless disaster areas.

My best friend fixed her dark brown eyes on my light blue ones and grinned. “First of all, this is going to be
the
best
trip
ever
because you’ll be by my side,” she said. “Dylan Silver and Madison Evans—back together again!”

The two of us had been inseparable since the day she shared her Nutella sandwich with me in kindergarten, but for the past four years we’d only seen each other through our computer screens. Her long absence had left a void in both my heart and my life, but I knew that travel was her calling. Unlike me, Maddie lived in the moment and craved constant motion.

Even now, as we sat in the back seat of a taxi on the way to Denver International Airport, her knees bounced up and down and her fingers strummed against the denim of her jeans.

“Second of all,” Maddie said, flashing me another toothy smile, “we’ll be living like royalty, Dee.”

One of her wealthy clients had given her a key to his private cabin near the beautiful Whistler-Blackcomb ski resort. The large mansion was nestled deep in the mountains and all of its lavish amenities were ours for an entire week.

“I forgot all about Humble Globetrotter Maddie’s love for fancy coffee and warm bubble baths,” I teased.

Maddie’s shrug was followed by a hearty laugh. “It’s not that I don’t enjoy living out of a backpack, but sometimes a girl needs a little luxury.”

“What about the third of all?” I asked, though I already knew the answer to my question.

She evaded my probing gaze. “The third of all? What makes you think there’s a third of all?”

“I don’t
think
there’s a third of all, Mads. I
know
there is,” I told her. “It’s the real reason you wanted to travel all the way from Denver to Whistler during your only week back in the States.”

My big brother, Adam.

“Okay, fine. I’m a tiny bit curious to see if Adam still has those sexy skills on the slopes,” Maddie said, confirming my suspicion.

“Adam hasn’t snowboarded for years,” I reminded her. “Medical school kind of took over his life.”

“It’s a shame,” she said, pouting. The gesture made her already full lips appear even bigger. “He was really good.”

Growing up in Colorado meant that we’d grown up on the slopes. I could ski, but Adam was an incredible snowboarder. So incredible, in fact, that he got scouted by sponsors when he was still in high school. Not that my parents would even entertain the idea of allowing him to compete.

What if he broke his wrist and couldn’t hold a scalpel?

“Key word—
was
,” I said to Maddie. “With Adam, it’s stethoscope over snowboard right now.”

“He has two more years of med school left, right? Maybe he’ll have more free time to hit the slopes when he graduates,” she mused hopefully.

I shook my head and chuckled. “After med school come years of residency.” Seeing Maddie’s fallen face, I added, “Who knows, maybe this weekend will make him realize how much he missed it.”

When my brother and I were younger, my parents had allowed us to explore interests through carefully planned hobbies. Somewhere along the way, Adam developed a passion for snowboarding. It was on those same slopes that my love for photography was born. I strived to capture the entire world in photos, but I enjoyed sports photography the most. The thrill that my brother felt when he landed a tricky jump resonated through me when I snapped the perfect shot of him in mid-air.

Looking through the lens of my Canon and preparing for
The Shot
was the only time I truly felt alive. It was during those rare moments that I could be myself. Camera in hand, I was awake with potential and power, ready to take on the world. Or, at least, indefinitely capture a tiny piece of it.

Everything in photography came down to a split second in time. A tiny instant could be life defining, and all I ever wanted was an opportunity to make people pause and enjoy that moment through my art. A long time ago, I’d even considered pursuing my dream of becoming a professional photographer. But just like Adam’s snowboarding, the hobby had to take a backseat to school.

The fact that I’d graduated from the pre-med program at Stanford an entire semester ahead of my peers in combination with my early acceptance to med school had my parents bragging to anyone who’d listen, but my heart ached whenever I thought of my empty, undeveloped portfolio.

“Regardless of whether or not your brother still snowboards, I’m happy that you managed to convince him to meet us,” Maddie said as our taxi came to a stop in front of the airport entrance. She had full knowledge of how difficult he could be. “Did you have to make a deal with the devil for that to work out?”

“Kind of. I had to pull the whole
your-little-sister-just-graduated-and-you-owe-her-a-celebration
act,” I replied as I reached into my purse for cab fare.

Adam had seemed proud that I was following in his footsteps, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that the only reason he’d agreed to join us was because of convenience. He was in Vancouver for some medical convention my father had invited him to and had two days to spare between conferences.