Nolan Lennox had things figured out. Named after a baseball legend, she enjoyed being the Tomboy, her closet filled with her brother’s hand-me-downs, cut-off jeans and soccer shorts. But when her first trip to high school results in a broken heart from the first boy to ever make her heart flutter and cruel words from an older girl she once thought a family friend, Nolan starts to question the very person she thought she was and wonders if her humble upbringing can compete with the afforded luxuries of her privileged peers.
Throughout the next four years, Nolan struggles to maintain herself throughout her path of discovery, learning just how cruel teenagers can be through the pressures of underage drinking, sexuality and class. And despite how life seems to continue to work against her, she still manages to listen to her heart, falling deeper and deeper for the guy the entire town adores, even if he only sees her as a friend. Can Nolan strike a compromise between her own integrity and the boy she loves? And can she make him notice her before it’s too late?
Reed Johnson came to Coolidge High School with a lot of fanfare. The son of a hometown football legend and the brother of a local football hero, Reed wore all the pressures of carrying a town without hope into the spotlight. Thankfully, he had the talent to back it up. But when he meets a girl who makes him think twice about exactly what being a hero means, he starts to wonder if following in his brother’s footsteps might be all wrong.
Nolan Lennox was everything that was opposite of expected. She didn’t flirt, she didn’t drink and she didn’t sleep around. Nothing about her was easy, but something about her made Reed want to try harder. Though she didn’t look the part, she seemed to be spending a lot of time in Reed’s thoughts, and he wondered if she could be the one who made it all worthwhile. But could Reed handle letting her down? And would breaking her heart break him beyond repair?
Waiting on the Sidelines explores young love to its fullest, exposing how real young heartbreak and passion is and how important it is to discover yourself and hold onto your own identity. The story follows two young characters as they deal with mature situations, including the prevalence of bullying and promiscuity in today’s high school setting. Ultimately, Waiting on the Sidelines is a story of hope, honesty and those powerful, first true loves—the ones worth holding onto at any cost.
They fell in love in high school and found their way back to one another despite the odds. But can first loves really be forever? For Reed Johnson, the dream was always football. But then Nolan Lennox took over his heart. Is he willing to give up his first love just to keep his true love? Or will he be too late?
Reed and Nolan’s story continues in “Going Long,” sequel to “Waiting on the Sidelines.”
Reed’s note is so cute!
Keep reading to see the full Love Note!
Dear Nolan,
I know I said I was just stepping out to grab some food and make a few calls. I did do those things—the wings place across the street is the bomb, by the way, and Brian and the rest of the guys at the sports agency are showering our front lawn with pink flamingos and diaper bundles as I write. But I also snuck away for another reason. I needed to be able to find the right words. I struggle with that sometimes. You’ve figured that out by now I’m sure with five years of marriage and more than a decade of dealing with my ass – LOL!
The next few days, few weeks, few months…I’m not gonna pretend—they’re gonna be hard. I start training camp real damn soon. Too soon, which you won’t say it but I know you feel it. I see it in your eyes. I could always see the truth in your eyes. If football weren’t my life…weren’t our life…Noles, I’d stay home forever and grant your every wish. I live and die for you and our baby girl.
Peyton. I still love that you wanted to name her that. Girls with boy names do alright in this world 😉
But my point…why I wanted to write this letter: I know that the next, well, forever is gonna be hard. Nothing about us has ever been easy, but my God has it always been worth it. I’m gonna be gone, and with the talk that’s out there, two years from now we might be making our home somewhere else, and I might be suiting up in another jersey, throwing for another receiver, taking hits from another line. But there are two things that will always be constant in our world.
One, you are already the greatest mother on earth. I knew you would be, but seeing you hold our daughter, the way you just know what to do…the love you have in your eyes when you’re with her…it fills my chest with this unbelievable warmth and pride. I want to beat it, which I know is so Neanderthal, but I do, Noles…I want to brag to the world because you picked me. I got the very best even though we both know I didn’t deserve it. I cherish you, and that gift you’ve given me that you brought to life. Our family will be it for me—always first.
Always.
Which brings me to number two. Nolan Lennox, our love will be our life raft through any storm. Whether it’s trades or shitty seasons, whether I get cut or I get a mega deal—none of that matters because at the end of the day I come home to you. To you and our girls.
That’s right. Girls…with an s. Because I want more. The world needs more beautiful humans made by you. And us boys are stupid (I know you agree with this) so let them all be girls. Though your genes might overpower the dumbass ones bred in me. (Don’t laugh that hard, geeze.)
Anyhow, I’m going to seal this up, and you don’t get to read it until that first night or morning or whenever it is that you’re alone with our baby and I’ve gone off for football. I don’t want you to be afraid. I don’t want you to doubt. I want you to just know that you are a queen, and that I am merely your humble knight.
Love,
Your QB1,
Reed
Ginger Scott is an Amazon-bestselling and Goodreads Choice Award-nominated author of several young and new adult romances, including Waiting on the Sidelines, Going Long, Blindness, How We Deal With Gravity, This Is Falling, You and Everything After, The Girl I Was Before, Wild Reckless, Wicked Restless, In Your Dreams, The Hard Count, and Hold My Breath.
A sucker for a good romance, Ginger’s other passion is sports, and she often blends the two in her stories. (She’s also a sucker for a hot quarterback, catcher, pitcher, point guard…the list goes on.) Ginger has been writing and editing for newspapers, magazines and blogs for more than 15 years. She has told the stories of Olympians, politicians, actors, scientists, cowboys, criminals and towns. For more on her and her work, visit her website.
When she’s not writing, the odds are high that she’s somewhere near a baseball diamond, either watching her son field pop flies like Bryce Harper or cheering on her favorite baseball team, the Arizona Diamondbacks. Ginger lives in Arizona and is married to her college sweetheart whom she met at ASU (fork ’em, Devils).
