Prologue

PROLOGUE

HAYDEN

Past

Smiling at the camera, I posed with my best friend Colt. He stood behind me, holding my waist with his strong hands, and I shivered. We decided to go to prom together and I couldn’t be happier about it. Over the past year, my feelings for him had started to change. We went from talking about video games and superheroes to talking about real life. College, relationships, and a future.

One with me, hopefully.

Tonight was going to be the night I confessed my feelings for him. He went from being my best friend who was handsome and kind, to being a smoke-show that every girl in our class wanted. I got jealous every time another girl showed interest in him. Luckily, he never paid them much mind.

Colt had spent the past few years working out and it showed. The muscles beneath his tuxedo flexed as he kept his hand around my waist. I smiled whenever his hand clenched tighter, signaling another guy was getting too close. That was what I told myself, anyway.

“You look fucking beautiful, Hay. This is going to be a night you won’t forget,” Colt muttered in my ear after we stepped away from the photographer.

“You don’t look so bad yourself, cowboy.” He looked good in a flannel shirt and blue jeans with a backward baseball cap, but dressed in a tuxedo with a tie that matched my dress? He looked damn near edible.

Part of me felt like we’ve been teetering around these feelings for a while. A glance here, a brush of hands there, and I was ready to combust. Maybe it wasn’t just one-sided.

Out of nowhere, Daryl Gates popped up beside us, and pulled something out of his pocket. “Hey there, baby. You left these in my bed the other night. Thought I’d save you the trip and bring them back to you personally.”

My jaw dropped. Daryl had my blue polka-dotted underwear balled up in his hand. I recognized them because they were the same ones I had lost last week. How did he get them?

“What the fuck?” Colt shouted angrily. I reached over and snatched the panties out of his hands although I’ll most likely burn them now. Who knew what he’d done with them since.

Colt stepped back and looked over at me, his eyes losing the bright spark they once had until I swore another person was staring at me. “Did you hook up with him?”

My mouth dropped open. “What? No, I never slept with him, Colt.”

His eyes blazed with anger as they roamed my face. Daryl chuckled and tried to wrap an arm around my shoulder, but I shrugged him off. “She sure did, man. She was such a good lay too. You’re lucky I was able to break her in for you.”

“Colt, he’s lying. I never slept with him!”

He scoffed, and balled his fists up angrily. Reaching up, I tried to grab his hand but he jerked back, then gave me a look so cold, I felt it all the way down to my toes. “Sure looks pretty damn convincing from where I’m standing. Don’t know why you would even waste your time with him since he’s slept with half the girls in our senior class.”

Daisy Hensly popped out of the crowd, strutted up to Colt, and placed a hand on his arm.

“Don’t worry, Colt. I’m still here for you, in any way you need me to be.” She looked at me smugly and smirked, thinking she won. Instead of pushing her away, he wrapped an arm around her middle and tugged her against him.

My heart shattered into a million pieces at that single action.

“You have to believe me, Colt. I never slept with him. I never even touched him. Please, believe me.”

It was no use. Colt pulled Daisy closer to his body and she smirked as her hand rested on his broad chest. A chest I had fallen asleep on so many nights while we lay beneath the stars.

“I thought we were heading toward something, Hay. I really cared about you. All those nights we would spend talking on the phone, making promises for the future, were all wasted. And after knowing you gave it up to him? I see now you’re nothing but a whore and a slut. Find your own way home and stay the fuck out of my life.”

At Colt’s retreating form, I felt my whole world completely crumble. Without hesitation, I bolted from the gym, tears streaming down my face, begging the world to swallow me whole.