Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 101348 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 507(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101348 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 507(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
“How could I ever forget?” I spear her with my eyes. “Enjoy my sloppy seconds. I hope you think of me every time you kiss him.”
“You’re disgusting.” She flips her hair over her shoulder and shakes her head. “Everyone knows you followed him around like a pathetic little stalker, begging for any scraps he might throw you.”
“That’s open for interpretation.” I shrug and lock eyes with the guy in jersey number nine. “And trust me when I say you and Landon deserve each other. I think I’ll keep what I’ve got.”
Her head snaps back in shock as Jared Price swaggers up to me in his football uniform. He’s hot, ripped, and he has that bad boy personality that women eat up with a spoon. Audrey can hardly hide her disbelief as he greets me with a five-alarm kiss in front of everyone, sweeping me up into his arms and spinning me around like one of those scenes from a movie. When he plants me back on my feet, he slaps me on the ass for good measure, and I have to give him credit where it’s due. He’s good.
As one of the most popular guys at Black Mountain Academy, Jared has a reputation for being unattainable. He’s undeniably gorgeous, but sadly for the entire female population, he’s in love with the quarterback from our biggest rival, Maple Grove. A fact I only discovered because I stumbled upon them last week in the next town over when I was trying to lay low.
It’s an unwritten rule that nobody on the football team at BMA associates with Maple Grove. Cheerleaders, dance squad, other players. It makes no difference. They are our sworn enemy. I really don’t care who Jared dates, but I saw an opportunity when I saw the panic written on his face. Maybe it was cheap, but I needed an ally, and at this point, I wasn’t above negotiating. I assured him over coffee that his secret was safe with me once he promised to do me a solid and help me out here. Really, I like to think it’s a mutually beneficial relationship. He can keep his mystery boyfriend under wraps until graduation when the rivalry ends, and in the meantime, I get automatic street cred for landing one of the popular guys.
“How’s my girl?” Jared winks as he squeezes and releases me.
I smile up at him, and then my eyes drift to Landon, who’s rooted to the grass, frozen mid-step. His expression tugs at a familiar memory. The betrayal etched onto his face when he woke up and saw Carson lying on the other side of me that night. Apparently, it was all fun and games until after the fact. And the sweet cherry on that terrible sundae was that he had the nerve to look at me like I was the one who screwed up. More than anything else, that’s the thing I can’t seem to understand.
He had no regret. No shame. Just anger. The same angry eyes reflected at me now.
“Price?” he clips out.
“Yo.” Jared tucks me into his side and pivots to meet his gaze. “What’s up, Blackwood?”
Landon stares at us, red creeping up his neck. His jaw is flexed so hard I think he might be having a stroke. Whatever he was about to say died in his throat, and I think that’s probably for the best. But before I can escape unscathed, Audrey joins his side, vomiting out her thoughts for the world to hear.
“Does anyone smell that?”
“What?” Misty, one of her loyal sheep, takes the bait.
Audrey makes a show of sniffing in our general direction and turning up her nose. “Oh, never mind. It’s just the trash. Hope you’ve got protection, Jared. You’re going to need it with that one.”
“Stay classy, Audrey.” Jared leans into me and cups my face like I’m the most precious thing in the world. “Ready to go, babe?”
I can feel Landon burning a shotgun-sized hole into the side of my head as I answer. “Absolutely.”
3
Kailani
Before my mom married Theo, we lived in a tiny apartment in Oahu and took public transportation. Now, she lives in a fifteen-thousand-square-foot Italian Renaissance-style mansion and drives a BMW. Everything is arched and vaulted and wrought inside, and I can’t fault her for loving this place because it really is stunning. The architecture is an ode to Florence's cathedrals, and it feels like you’re sitting in one when you pause to study the columns, stained glass, and ornate stone features.
After I get home, I pop into the main house to say a quick hello to my mom. If I don’t, she’ll just come to the pool house to check up on me. She doesn’t much care for me choosing to live on the other side of the property, but she’s so relieved to have me back here that she didn’t put up much of a fight about it either.