PROLOGUE

15 Years Earlier

Emma

W e’re all giggling and laughing as we cut through the overgrown yard. I’ve got my high heels dangling from my fingertips and the wet grass is cold under my feet. I don’t know how we wound up here. Well, I do. It was a drunken brag from Lindsay Baker that she wouldn’t be scared to go into the Garber house. She wasn’t afraid of anything.

And now here we are. All of us. Sneaking into the Garber house. Old, abandoned for decades, and rumored to be haunted. I don’t believe that. I’m not there to see ghosts. I’m there to get a look at intricate woodwork, hardwood floors, and stained glass windows. This house appeals to my inner history nerd and I’ve had just enough Boone’s Farm not to be thinking about how much trouble we’ll be in if we get caught.

“Zach got the door open!”

That whispered update filtered back to me from Cody Willett. I was stunned when he showed up to prom dateless like me. I’d thought he was coming with Katrina Davis but she showed up with Jackson Mays who graduated last year. So here we all are, both of us the odd one out and lumped together because of it. Not that I mind. I’ve had a thing for Cody for as long as I can remember. But there was never any hope of him noticing me. I’m popular enough, I guess. I have lots of friends. But I know my place in the grand scheme of things. I’m the nerd. The smart one. The brain. That’s what everyone says. And Cody, even though he’s super smart, he’s the jock–the star athlete. And, oh my word, he’s gorgeous. Out of my league. Way out. Like stratospherically.

Cody is climbing the steps and he reaches back for me, holding out his hand. “There’s a loose board,” he explains.

I put my hand in his and I try not to make a big deal of it, but my breath catches and I look up at him. He’s looking back at me and there’s something in his expression, something that tells me what I’m feeling isn’t completely one sided, after all. Lindsay told me he liked me but I had just assumed that was more of Lindsay’s bullshit. Maybe it wasn’t?

“Thanks,” I manage to whisper.

“You’re welcome,” he answers. “I’ll look out for you here, Emma. I don’t believe there’s a ghost in here for a single damn minute, but I know for a fact there are loose floorboards.”

Even as we slip into the darkened house through the broken door, he keeps my hand in his. And I don’t try to pull away. It probably doesn’t mean anything to him, but it means everything to me. I’ve been half in love with Cody since we were freshmen, but I have never admitted that to another living soul.

Lindsay and Zach are climbing the stairs, heading for the bedroom upstairs where everyone insists they see Mrs. Garber’s ghost in the window. Of course, the screen in that window is busted, the glass is cracked, there’s still some tattered remnants of a curtain hanging there. But no one wants to hear reasonable explanations.

Overhead, the floor creaks. But Zach and Lindsay are still on the stairs. And then the floor creaks again. It’s definitely footsteps. “Oh, my god! Someone’s in here,” I whisper. But my whispering was completely unnecessary. Lindsay is screaming like a banshee now and Zach is panicking just as badly. The two of them are taking off, running for the front door of the house like there’s fire licking at their heels.

Cody grips my hand tighter and pulls me back into the shadows. Seconds later, we hear laughter and then see two guys from school–guys who didn’t bother coming to prom at all–slipping down the stairs. They’re carrying a pack of beer and both reek of pot.

They catch sight of Cody. And offer a wave. “Willett. Y’all here to party?”

“No. We were just getting ready to leave,” Cody says. “Didn’t know the place was already occupied.”

The guys nod and then move along.

“Cody, everyone is going to know we were here!”

He looks back at me. “Em, they’re not gonna say anything. If they do then they have to admit they were here, too… and that means other people will know they’ve stashed their pot here.”

“Oh! That makes sense,” I say, breathing a sigh of relief. “My Mom would kill me if she finds out I snuck in here.”

“Is that it? Just that you snuck in and not that you snuck in with me?” he asks.

I can feel a blush creeping up my neck until my face feels like it’s on fire with embarrassment. “She wouldn’t care. Nobody would ever think you’re into me that way.”

“Then they’d be wrong, Em. They’d be very, very wrong.”

He’s looking at me in a way that makes my heart race way more than just the thrill of sneaking into this house did. But before I can even respond, the spill of blue light through the window breaks the spell.

“Shit,” he says. “It’s the sheriff. We’ve gotta get out of here.”

He grabs my hand, leading me back through the house and out the same side door we’d used to sneak in. We can hear the sheriff giving the potheads a hard time. What if they tell him? H’s friends with my Dad and that would be the end of it. I’d be grounded for the rest of my natural life.

“Come on, Em,” he whispers. “My car is parked back at the school. I’ll get you home.”

“I don’t want to go home,” I tell him. “What did you mean when you said they would be wrong?”

“I’ve liked you for a long time, Em. Longer than I ought to have. I never said anything because–well, what the hell would you want with me? You’re the smartest person I know. I’m not exactly a dumbass, but we all know that if I make it out of this town, it’s not going to be because of my brains.”

“I like you, too. I more than like you. And I have since we were little.” I can’t believe I just said that to him. Oh, my god. And he’s just staring at me like I’ve grown two heads. I want the earth to open up and swallow me whole.

I start to turn away and he grabs my wrist, pulling me back. It’s not awkward. It’s not weird. When he pulls to him, he dips his head and his lips brush against mine. It’s everything I ever thought it could be even though he’s hardly touched me at all. Then the kiss deepens, his lips settling more firmly over mine. His tongue teasing mine in a way that makes my pulse skip a beat. And I don’t want it to stop. I don’t want to ever not feel the way I feel with him kissing me.

He pulls back then. “Em, we either have to stop or take this somewhere else. It’s only a matter of time before we get caught out here… I can get us a room at the Oak Lodge. My cousin is working there and he told me he’d hook me up. But we don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”

The Oak Lodge isn’t exactly four star, but it’s the only motel in Bellehaven. And while I don’t have the courage to say the words out loud, I’ve already made my decision. I want Cody Willett to be the first, even if he won’t be the last. “Let’s go.”

Cody

" T hat was amazing, Em." I'm running my fingertips along her bare shoulder, holding her tightly to me. I never expected this when we showed up at the Garber house to be getting naked with my high school crush.

"Are you sure?" She asks. "I haven't had much experience. I know you've probably had a ton.

"I wouldn't say I'm much more experienced than you. There's no reason for us to compare at all. I had a great time, and I hope you did too."

"Let's just say ending my prom night in bed with you wasn't even on my bingo card, but I'm really excited for where this might go."

I shift in the bed, not wanting to break up this happiness I'm feeling, although I know this can't go anywhere. Not when I'm going away soon. "Me too," I grin over at her, moving my lips to hers.

-------

I haven’t seen Emma since prom night, which ended in a way neither one of us expected. While it was something I always wanted, I never thought would happen. We left each other awkwardly, and have been avoiding one another since the morning after.

Didn't expect her to walk into this restaurant tonight, especially when we're celebrating. Me and Emma lock eyes. She smiles shyly at me, waving her fingers. I wave back at her, wanting nothing more than to get up from my seat and go see how she's doing.

"Cody, pay attention," Mom is tapping on the menu. "Coach Halcomb, is talking about you."

I look away from Emma, giving Coach my eyes.

"And let's not forget how proud we are of Cody. He's received a full ride scholarship to the University of North Carolina. I know it wasn't easy, and he went through a lot to make it happen."

The group who has gathered claps. I don't want to know what everyone is thinking, I'd rather know what Emma is doing, what she's thinking. I'm still moving my eyes over to where she's sitting. She's listening to what Coach is saying, and her face is getting paler by the minute. I didn't tell her about my scholarship offer, and I'm beginning to think maybe I should have.

Coach is still speaking...

"I have never coached a player like Cody, and I knew the minute I saw him on the court he was going to be special. I've pushed him more than I probably should have, and I've put a lot of my own dreams in his hands. He's not disappointed, he's not made a misstep, and I'm extremely proud of how he's put Bellehaven on the map. Him getting to leave? It's like all of us getting to leave. Let's all congratulate Cody."

There's another round of applause and I could do without it, but I can't be rude. "Thank you all so much," I get up from my chair and go up to the front. "I have to say thank you again, I received the gift card all of you went in together to get me. That's going to be a big help, and I promise that I won't let you all down. I recognize I'm playing for Bellehaven as a whole. Hopefully we'll be going pro at the end of this."

I notice that Emma is getting up from her booth. I somehow get through the crowd that's gathered to wish me well, and run up to her. "Em..."

She turns, her eyes looking slightly wet. "Congratulations Cody. I'm so proud of you."

"I don't know what to say. I probably should've been honest with you. I knew I had the scholarship, but it was so nice to be with you, I didn't want to ruin it. I didn’t mean to keep it a secret."

She smiles, although it doesn't go to her eyes. She puts her hands on my shoulders, before leaning forward and kissing me on the cheek. "Good luck, Cody Willett. I'll never forget you or prom night, and to be honest? We’ve all got secrets."

"I'll never forget you either..."

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