Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 78016 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78016 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Dad backs up as if he’s been punched in the face, and I feel bad about what I said. “I’m sorry,” I say. I didn’t mean to hurt him, but I know that’s what he’s thinking. He followed my mom to LA, giving up a huge opportunity, and in the end, she left him—left us. So I get why he’s cynical, but Kaylee and I aren’t them.
“I don’t want to see you make the same mistakes I made,” he says. “You’re young. You don’t get it, but there’ll be a million girls like her.”
“I disagree.” I grab my phone from the nightstand and check to see if Kaylee has messaged me back. We were supposed to go to the party together, but she hasn’t responded. “I’ll be back later,” I tell my dad as I walk out the door.
When I get to Kaylee’s place, her mom—Ginny—opens the door, with Kaylee’s three-year-old brother peeking out from behind her leg. “Hey, Braxton,” she says. “Kaylee isn’t here.”
Damn, where the hell is she? “All right, thanks,” I tell her. “If you see her, can you tell her I’m looking for her, please?”
“Of course, and have a safe trip to LA.”
I freeze in my place at her words. “I’m not going to LA,” I correct her. “I’m staying here, in New York.” My phone goes off in my pocket, but I ignore it to focus on our conversation.
Ginny frowns. “Oh, I must’ve misunderstood. Well, New York isn’t too far from Boston.”
“What’s in Boston?” My phone continues to vibrate, but I ignore it.
Her frown deepens. “Where Kaylee is going to school. She didn’t tell you? She got into the same college as Layla and received a scholarship for her grades. They’re going to be sharing a dorm.”
Dread clogs my throat. “It must’ve slipped her mind,” I say, my blood running cold.
My phone vibrates for what feels like the millionth time, and I pull it out as I quickly say bye to her mom. I have several missed calls and texts and some notifications from Instagram.
I open my messages and find some from Declan saying we need to talk, it’s important, and to call him, a couple from Camden saying the same thing, and a few from some random people.
Confused as hell, I pull up the texts from the random people.
Kaylee is such a bitch. If you need a rebound fuck, call me.
Fuck that ho.
I can’t believe she fucked Jack.
What the hell is going on? One of the messages includes a link, so I click on it. It takes me to a post on Jack’s page and what I see damn near brings me to my knees.
No. No. No... Fuck, no. She wouldn’t do this. She wouldn’t cheat on me. I glance down at the tattoo of the infinity symbols on the outside of my hand. No, this can’t be right. We’re forever.
CHAPTER SEVEN
BRAXTON
THE PRESENT: HIGH SCHOOL PRE-GRADUATION PARTY
“Brax...” Kaylee chokes out, and that one word, the way she says it, tells me everything I need to know. It’s not a mistake or a sick joke. She cheated on me with the goddamn quarterback. She gave him what she swore was mine, what she promised would be mine forever.
She reaches out for me but then quickly stops herself, pulling her hand back as a fresh round of tears fills her lids. I hate to see her cry, and any other time, I’d be pulling her into my arms and promising her anything in my power to make the tears stop. Only right now, there’s nothing that can fix her tears. Because they’re self-inflicted. She did this to us. I don’t know why, but she did.
My phone buzzes like crazy in my pocket, so I pull it out to tell whoever is calling that now isn’t a good time. But when I answer Declan’s call, his words silence me. “Tori’s dead. Gage is at the hospital. You need to meet us at Camden’s place as soon as possible.”
We hang up, and I look at Kaylee. “Something happened to Tori.” Her brow furrows in confusion, telling me she has no clue. Of course she doesn’t because she was too busy fucking that jock in his bed while destroying my damn heart. “She’s dead.”
The next few days that follow are a blur...
Layla gets engaged to David—Camden never did tell her how he felt.
We bury Tori—Gage checks the fuck out.
Camden’s dad suggests we leave for LA immediately—we all agree.
And just like that, we step onto the private plane and never look back... At least not for several years, that is.
CHAPTER EIGHT
KAYLEE
SIX YEARS LATER
“C’mon, baby... You’ve been teasing the hell out of me with those sexy outfits all damn tour. Just give me one taste.”
I glare at Sam York, my first client since I graduated from NYU with my public relations and marketing/advertising degree and got hired by Evolution PR, and scoff. “Sexy outfits?” I glance down at my professional dress pants and button-down blouse that shows zero cleavage. I couldn’t be dressed any less sexy if I tried. “You’re drunk and delusional.” The guy has been hitting on me since the tour began, but I’ve carefully managed to steer clear of him, counting down the days until the tour ends.