Chapter 1
Four years later...
Piper
“Ihate you, Quill Nelson.”
I turn toward the boy who was once my whole life.
“I really fucking hate you, Quill Nelson.”
He blinks up at me lazily from the bed he’s half-lying, half-sitting on. His hoodie is back on, and it hangs open to reveal the lean, muscular chest I once spent so much time nestled against. His black curls part just enough that I can make out the darkness in his eyes as his gaze burns into me.
“I’m getting the hell out of this town,” I choke out. “I don’t ever want to come back to Astley.”
I stand on the other side of the room, my hand squeezed hard around the doorknob, waiting for him to say something. Anything.
No, not anything. The promise he once made me. The promise I fell for, so fucking hard.
Believe me, Piper. I’ll never let you go.
Believe me. You’ll always be mine.
Liar!
Anger strangles my throat. What’s wrong with him for hurting me like this?
What’s wrong with me?
One kiss was all it took for me to forget the way he made high school hell. One kiss, and I spiraled right back into my childhood obsession, the memory of his cruelty wiped clean from my mind.
Well, that memory is back again, that’s for sure. And I’m never letting it fade again.
Yet, despite the way he hurt me, despite the way he’s still hurting me, I stand against the door, unwilling to leave. Desperate for him to say the words that will make it alright.
Even though I know he won’t.
“I’m leaving for college,” I continue, my voice shaky. “I’m going to California. I took out a loan, and I’m leaving.”
He doesn’t speak, just keeps his eyes fixed on mine.
Goddammit. I need him to answer. I need to hear his voice. Say something, Quill! Stop me! Grab me! Force me!
But he’s letting me go. I knew he was even before I came here. Still, the confirmation of it sends a sickening blow to my stomach.
Make me stay, Quill. Show me I belong to you. Remind me who owns me.
He doesn’t seem to be experiencing any of my turmoil. Of course not. Did he ever?
There was never anything there. I was never his. It was all just a sick joke to him. A new way to hurt me.
Quill Nelson is a monster.
It takes everything I have to open the door. Everything I have to walk away.
Yet I can’t prevent myself from speaking one last time.
“I’m leaving, Quill. You’ll never see me again.”
Then I swallow hard as I see him stand up. He walks over to me slowly, and in his eyes I read a flicker of something dangerous that has my stomach twisting in knots.
He stops just inches from me, and his hand reaches up to wrap itself around my neck.
He doesn’t squeeze it, only keeps it there menacingly, as he speaks in a low voice that sends goosebumps pebbling over my skin.
“Good. Good, Piper. Because let me tell you something. If I ever see you again… you’re dead.”