Book Title: Didn’t See You Coming (The Haunting of Pinedale High)
Author: Gabbi Grey
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Narrator: Michael Ferraiuolo
Release Date: January 6, 2025
Pairing: MM, FF, Ghost/Ghost (MM)
Tense/POV: First person, past tense, alternating POV (6 POVs)
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary Paranormal Romance
Tropes: Small town romance, former Black Civil War Soldier, sweet with swearing, lesbian coupling, gay coupling, paranormal ghost story
Themes: redemption, acceptance, coming out
Heat Rating: 1 flame
Length: 5 hours and 22 minutes
It is a standalone story and does not end on a cliffhanger.
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Pinedale High—where every shade of love stands a ghost of a chance.
Blurb
Holden and Peyton don’t expect much from senior year. He probably won’t manage to date any guys. She’ll still pine over Juliette, the beautiful and unattainable cheerleader. But when they step between class bullies and Oliver, a super-hot transfer student, their year starts to go off the rails.
As a star football player, Oliver hadn’t anticipated trouble. Turns out Pinedale High not only comes with bullies, but with new friends, plus the ghost of a Civil War soldier, and a shy naked guy in the library. Between the living and the dead, senior year is about to get interesting.
Holden
“What do you mean I don’t have style?” Of course, I used air quotes as I repeated Peyton’s statement.
She grinned. “You’re out, loud, and proud.” She pointed to my button-down white shirt and chinos. “You could do better.”
I scrunched my nose. I thought my style was just fine. Peyton was the problem on this front. “Like wear a rainbow flag? Or a pink T-shirt with a unicorn vomiting glitter?”
My best friend vibrated with excitement. “Yes, that’s exactly what I mean. New school year—”
“Do you have to remind me?” I dipped my fry in ketchup. Lou’s Diner made the best fries in all of Pinedale. And the diner was open late, which was a huge bonus. Not that Mom let me out that late—but I liked that the option was there. Pinedale, North Carolina, was a safe town, for which I was grateful. If I did go out in the small hours of the night, at least I wasn’t likely to be bashed in Pinedale. I could find worse places in NC to grow up.
“You love school.” She elongated the O in love to the point of annoyance.
“I don’t love school.” I popped the fry into my mouth. Then realized I couldn’t finish my statement without saying more than I wanted her to know.
“If you didn’t look like a dork—”
I cut her off by holding up my hand. I swallowed. “Girl, there is nothing wrong with my style.”
“It’s…like, preppy. Who wears that?”
“Me.” I snagged my burger, eyed the size, and decided I didn’t want to wind up wearing anything that might fall out. I put the burger back down on the plate and cut it into quarters. “I like dressing smartly. For success.”
“Holden, darling, you stock shelves at a grocery store.”
I glared. “It’s a respectable job. I make more than minimum wage.” I’d been there three years and had earned three raises and three bonuses. Mr. O said I was an excellent employee.
“Because no one else wants the job.”
“It’s a good job.” I wasn’t going to mention that sometimes he gave me damaged products or produce about to go bad. Those things went a long way to easing the financial strain at home.
“Now, can we talk about your wardrobe?” I bit into my burger.
Peyton held up a fry and waved it at me. “No way. You are not changing the subject.” She gazed down at her T-shirt, jeans, and shitkicker combat boots.
I swallowed. “Butch lesbian much?”
“Oh, you so did not go there.”
“Oh, I so did.” I grinned. Neither of us liked labels, so insinuating she might be one thing or another was sure to tick her off. And stop her scrutinizing my wardrobe choices. Is she right? Am I—gasp—preppy? “And whose fault is it anyway that I’m out?” This burger truly was the best in town. I focused on the juicy beef patty instead of the echo of the panic I’d felt when that mess went down.
“You’re going there again?” She growled. “You always just have to bring that up.”
I swallowed and took a sip of my cola. “Look, you were the one who got caught kissing Susan Delgado under the bleachers. Everyone has a cell phone, Pey. You honestly thought no one would see?”
She pursed her lips. “The game ended hours earlier. How was I supposed to know Jason Moskowitz was lurking around with his cell phone? He’s—”
“Yeah, he is. And he got in trouble.” By then, though, the damage had been done. Kids at school had razzed Pey continuously. Susan’s parents had pulled her out of school and sent her to a boarding school near Fayetteville. Personally, I thought that was over-the-top. We felt so bad for her, but Peyton couldn’t do anything without making it worse.
Total ridiculous homophobic meltdown on the part of Susan’s parents.
“Serious trouble.” Peyton sipped her soda. “He’s lucky I didn’t sue or something.”
“Or something.” We went over this a couple of times a year.
She grabbed my hand. “But you saved me.” She used a heavy Southern accent for that line.
I grinned as usual, hiding the gut-churning anxiety that had led up to my decision. Because between abandoning Pey or facing our classmates out and proud, the decision had been easy. “I came out. Interest in you died down.”
Her hazel eyes shimmered. “They decided you were a better target.”
“Helps that you started dating Mark Walker.”
“A senior and a tight end.” She sighed.
I sighed as well. Mark’s tight end was epic.
USA Today Bestselling author Gabbi Grey lives in beautiful British Columbia where her fur baby chin-poo keeps her safe from the nasty neighborhood squirrels. Working for the government by day, she spends her early mornings writing contemporary, gay, sweet, and dark erotic BDSM romances. While she firmly believes in happy endings, she also believes in making her characters suffer before finding their true love. She also writes m/f romances as Gabbi Black and Gabbi Powell.
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