Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

Jace

“I can’t tonight,” I say, fumbling with my key while trying to hold the grocery bags.

“Why not?” Dax says. “Everyone’s going to be there. It’s the party that kicks off the school year. It’s gonna be epic.”

“You say that about every party.” I unlock the door and shove it open, then kick it closed, nearly losing the sack that holds the wine. “Shit.”

“What?”

“Almost dropped the wine. It’s Nikki’s favorite. It cost a fortune and I almost dropped it.”

“You spoil that girl too much. She doesn’t even appreciate it.”

“Sure she does.” I smile. “She shows her appreciation in the bedroom.”

“You shouldn’t need wine for that. You’ve dated Nikki forever. You shouldn’t have to bribe her to do stuff.”

“I don’t. It was a joke.” I set the grocery sacks down. “I got her the wine because tonight is our anniversary.”

“Anniversary of what?”

“We met two years ago today. I’m going to surprise her by making her dinner. I even splurged and got her that cheesecake she likes so much.”

“I don’t get you, man,” he says with a sigh.

“Just let it go, okay?” I set the wine down on the counter. “I know you don’t like her, but a friend would keep his mouth shut and just be happy for his friend who’s in love.”

“If that’s love, I don’t want any part of it. The bitch didn’t even remember your birthday.”

“Because she was sick. She spent the day in bed.”

“Yeah, watching TV while you waited on her. She had a cough. That’s it. And the next day she was fine. She faked an illness so she wouldn’t have to do anything for your birthday. She didn’t even get you a gift.”

“I don’t need gifts.” I take the steaks from the bag and put them in the fridge. Nikki loves steak so I bought the best they had. “I like taking care of her. That’s what you do when you love someone.”

“And yet she didn’t help you when you had the flu last year. You were sick for a week and she didn’t even stop by to check on you.”

“Because she didn’t want to catch the flu.”

“You’re never going to see her for what she’s really like, are you?”

“She’s my girlfriend and I love her. And I’m not going to spend another year having you tell me what a bitch she is, so if you can’t keep your mouth shut then I guess we won’t be talking anymore.”

“Fine. Be with her. Let her break your heart. What do I care? So what about tomorrow night? The guys next door are having a huge party. They even got a live band. You can’t miss it, Jace. We only have a few nights before classes start.”

“Yeah, I’ll go, but Nikki’s coming too.”

“Of course she is,” he mutters.

“What did I just say about being nice to Nikki?”

“Yeah. Great. Can’t wait to see her,” he says sarcastically.

“I gotta go and get ready for tonight.”

“What about Carter?” Dax asks. “Is he coming?”

“I don’t know. I’ll ask him. I think he’s in his room.”

“Tell him to call me and let me know.”

“I will. Bye.”

Setting my phone down, I get back to work on the groceries. As I put the chocolate syrup in the fridge, all I can think about is what I’ll be doing with it later. Drizzling it over Nikki’s gorgeous body then licking every sweet sticky drop of it off her until she’s so hot she’s begging for me.

I need to save those thoughts for later so I can get shit done. I have so much to do. I close the fridge and pick up the fresh strawberries and put them in a bowl.

There’s a noise coming from Carter’s room, like he dropped something. Probably his phone. He’s always dropping it.

“Carter?” I call out as I go down the hall. His room is across from mine and there’s a bathroom connecting the two. It’s not the greatest setup. I’d rather have my own bathroom but after a year of living together, we’ve made it work.

“Carter.” I knock on his door then open it.

“Jace! What are you doing here?”

I’m frozen in place, my heart pounding, my eyes not believing what they’re seeing.

Nikki, my girlfriend—the love of my life—is naked, and straddling Carson, my roommate and friend of two years. He’s on the bed, his phone aimed at Nikki, like he was taking pictures of her before I walked in.

He was taking pictures of my girlfriend. While she was fucking him!

This can’t be happening. Nikki wouldn’t do this. I trusted her. Loved her. Still do.

“Jace, say something.” Nikki quickly climbs off Carter. She grabs his t-shirt from the floor and covers herself with it.

“Why?” I ask, breathing hard as my heart races in my chest. My adrenaline’s pumping. I feel it coursing through me. I need to hit something before I explode.

“It wasn’t working with us,” Nikki says, racing up in front of me. “I tried. I really did. But last summer when we were apart, I didn’t miss you like I should have. I know I should’ve told you but—”

“You didn’t miss me?” I yell. “Are you serious? You made me drive four hours to see you all damn summer because you said you couldn’t be without me. Why the hell would you do that if you didn’t miss me?”

“Jace, it’s not how it looks,” Carter says. He’s standing now, covered up by the sheet. “We were just messing around. It’s nothing serious.”

“You’re fuckin’ joking, right?” I say with a laugh. “I caught you with my girlfriend attached to your dick. You don’t think that’s serious?” I go around Nikki to Carter, my arm aimed and ready to punch him.

“Jace, no!” Nikki jumps on my back, trying to stop me. Her tiny body does nothing to hold me back.

I take a swing at Carter, but he ducks before my hand reaches his jaw.

“Jace, just calm down.” He puts his hands up in surrender and the sheet falls to the ground. He glances down at his naked body as he slowly backs up against the wall. “I promise it’ll never happen again.”

Nikki jumps off me and puts herself in front of Carter. “He’s lying. It will happen again. Because Carter and I are in love.”

“In love?” I huff. “You’re in love with him ?” I point to Carter. “Last year, you hated him! You told me he was stupid and didn’t dress well.”

She straightens up. “Yeah, well, I’m helping him buy new clothes. And I never hated him. I just didn’t know him.”

“And now you do? After being back on campus for three days?”

“I saw her last summer,” Carter says.

“Last summer?” I ask, confused. Carter went home to Detroit for the summer and Nikki went home to Indianapolis. They weren’t anywhere near each other. “Since when do you go to Indianapolis?”

“My brother got a job there,” he explains. “I went and stayed with him for a few weeks and got bored so I called up Nikki. We started hanging out and… one thing led to another.”

I look at Nikki. “That’s why you told me not to come see you a few weeks ago? Because you were with him?”

She glances away. “Yeah.”

“Get out,” I say to her.

She looks at me with her sad eyes and pouty lips. I used to think it was cute when she made that face. Now it makes me sick.

“Jace, I’m really sorry,” she says.

“No, you’re not. You didn’t even try to hide it. You did it in my own damn house!”

“We thought you had to work,” she says in a hurried voice. “I swear, we never would’ve done it here if we knew you’d be home early.”

“Like that makes me feel better? Do you even know why I’m home early? Why I missed work?”

“No.” Her sculpted brows draw together. “Am I forgetting something?”

I shake my head and sigh. “Just get out.”

“No, tell me why you left work.” She steps closer to me. “What’s today?”

I look her in the eye. “It’s our anniversary. Our two year anniversary. We met two years ago today.”

“Oh.” She looks down, her long blond hair falling over her face.

I used to think she was so beautiful. Long silky blond hair. Bright blue eyes. The hottest damn body I’d ever seen. But now? I don’t see beauty at all. All I see are lies and deceit and betrayal.

Dax was right. She never loved me.

Still covering herself with Carter’s shirt, she sneaks around me and gathers her clothes from the floor.

“I really am sorry, Jace.” She hurries to the bathroom and shuts the door.

I’m left facing Carter, who looks awkward and uncomfortable as he holds the sheet over himself.

He glances at me. “Sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen. I never even thought of Nikki that way until—”

“I don’t want to hear it. There’s no excuse for what you did. We were friends. Roommates. Teammates. And you go behind my back and steal my girlfriend?”

“It’s not like that. I told you, I didn’t plan this. I—”

“Get out!” I yell, seething with anger, my hands forming fists as I glare at him.

“What do you mean?”

“Pack your stuff and get the hell out. You have fifteen minutes. Whatever’s not out by then is going in the trash.”

“You’re kicking me out? But I live here. I already paid rent.”

“This is my place, not yours, and I decide who rents here. As for the rent you paid me, it doesn’t even begin to make up for what you did.”

“Jace, you can’t be serious. You’re just pissed right now. Take some time to calm down and we’ll talk this out later.”

I step closer to him. “Get the fuck out of my house.”

“It’s not your house. It’s your uncle’s house. And if I ask him—”

“He’ll back me up. Trust me. He’s been cheated on before. He’ll take my side on this.”

“Where the hell am I gonna live?”

“That’s your problem, not mine. Now hurry up and pack your shit. The timer starts now.”

As I go to leave, I feel Carter behind me, heading to the closet.

“One more thing.” I turn back.

“What?”

I punch him, right in the jaw. He stumbles back, almost falling down.

“What the hell?” he says, rubbing his jaw.

I storm out of the room, slamming the door behind me. Pain shoots through my shoulder and I hurry to the kitchen to get some ice. I’m not supposed to swing like that. My shoulder hasn’t healed enough and I risk tearing it again if I do certain movements, like punching a guy. But damn, it was worth it. It felt good to hit that bastard in the face. Damn good.

I can’t believe he did this. I thought we were friends. He seemed like a good guy. I never would’ve thought he’d do this to me.

Taking the bag of ice from the freezer, I sling it over my shoulder then stand over the sink, staring down at the flowers I left there. I was going to cut them and put them in a vase after I talked to Carter. But instead I found him with Nikki, the girl the flowers were meant for. I spent fifty bucks on roses that now I can’t even look at. I pick them up and toss them in the trash.

The wine bottles I bought are taunting me on the counter, another reminder of Nikki. I want to smash them against the wall but that would make a huge mess and I have enough messes to deal with right now. Besides, I spent a good chunk of my paycheck on that wine. I might as well use it to get drunk later.

“Jace?” Nikki appears wearing the red dress I used to love on her. Now I think it looks trashy and too short.

“I told you to go.”

“I didn’t want you to find out this way.”

“Yeah, I’m sure you didn’t,” I say, rolling my eyes.

She sees the wine behind me. “Was that for us?”

“It doesn’t matter now.”

“Jace, I wish I felt differently. I just—”

“Nikki, please. Just go. I don’t want to talk about this.”

She nods, then turns and walks away.

I wonder if she really does feel bad or if she’s just faking it? After finding this out, I’m doubting everything she ever told me. She said she loved me, but did she really? You don’t cheat on the guy you love.

My shoulder continues to throb and I feel it stiffening up. I toss the ice bag back in the freezer, then gently move my shoulder back and forth, hoping I didn’t do any damage.

I hurt my shoulder last spring. Basketball season had ended, but I was practicing with the team and went to throw the ball when I heard my shoulder snap. I ended up needing surgery followed by months of physical therapy.

It was the end of my college basketball career. I still hang out with the team, but I can’t play anymore. Maybe that’s why Nikki lost interest in me. She liked being the girlfriend of a star basketball player. She liked the attention it got her and being able to tell other girls I was her boyfriend. Now she’s with Carter who’s still on the team and a rising star.

“Hey.” Carter appears, a duffle bag slung over his shoulder. His jaw is swollen and red where I hit him. “You got any garbage bags I could use? I don’t have enough bags for my stuff.”

I reach under the sink, grab the roll of garbage bags, and toss it to him.

“Eight minutes,” I tell him.

“This is bullshit,” he says as he walks away. “It’s not like you guys were married.”

Does he really think that makes it okay? Like Nikki’s not off limits unless we’re married?

I actually was going to ask her to marry me. Not tonight, but maybe in a few months. I’d been shopping for rings. Working extra hours at the gym to save up money. Good thing I didn’t buy one.

How could I want to marry a girl who didn’t love me? How could I not know that she didn’t? Was I that blind? I only saw what I wanted to see?