Prologue
HAYDEN
Past
Smiling at the camera, I posed with my best friend Colt at my side.
He stood behind me and held my waist between 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 super heroes to talking about real life situations. College, relationships, and a future.
Together, hopefully. I hoped tonight would 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 woman 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’s 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 so 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.
I noticed he started looking around the room and then his whole body tensed up. "What's wrong?" I asked him, noticing the change in his behavior.
“Nothing. Just something I heard,” he mumbled, turning back to me. The way his eyes seemed to have lost their spark didn’t sit well with me.
“It’s not nothing, Colt. What’s going on? What did you hear?”
“I…” he started to say, then a whoop from behind us got his attention. Colt closed his eyes, and his jaw clenched shut.
“Tell me.”
His eyes opened, and I could have sworn I saw another person staring back at me. “Did you hook up with Daryl Gates?”
My mouth dropped open. “What? No, I never slept with him, Colt.”
His eyes blazed with anger as they roamed all around my face. “You’re lying. I can tell you’re lying.”
“I’m not lying! Where did you hear that information from?”
“From the dumbfuck himself. He was flashing your panties around saying he took Hayden Johnson’s virginity. Don’t know why you would even waste your time with him since he’s slept with half the girls in our senior class.”
My face grew hot as coal at the thought of Daryl or anyone other than Colt, seeing something so personal.
I had misplaced my underwear a couple of weeks ago after gym class, and couldn't figure out where they went.
Luckily, I kept a spare in my locker but I wanted to know where they were. Guess I had my answer.
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.
“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.