Chapter 2
Chapter Two
EMILY
I see him walk into the diner with his brothers. They are fine with a capital F. Every single one of them, but the one who holds my attention, and who has held my attention for the past year, is Baylor Cooper.
He’s also the man who hasn’t even glanced at me a second time. He was serious when he said one and done, that it was just for that night. I’ve been back to their monthly bonfires a few times, but he didn’t even look my way.
It was as if I didn’t even exist. As if I don’t exist. I stopped going a few months ago and haven’t been missed.
At least, not from what I’ve heard. Nobody cares if I’m there or not.
I’ve always been the one who was purposely loud, purposely flashy, drawing attention to myself so I would be seen by a Cooper boy.
Beckett was always my go-to just because he was one year above me in school, but Baylor is only a year younger. Beggars can’t be choosers, I guess, and Beckett is very taken.
All I ever wanted was to be a Cooper. A lot of people think that makes me a gold digger, and maybe that’s a little true, but it’s more than that.
The Coopers were always perfect.
They had the perfect life.
They’re Granite Falls royalty. Everyone wants to be them or date them.
All I’ve ever wanted was to be one of them. The safety and security that surround the name would be amazing. It would be everything. I’ve fantasized about the life I could live by being Emily Cooper my entire life.
Emily Brown has always been and will always be trash. I’ve always wanted to be more than trash, more than my mother. It’s all I’ve ever wanted and all I’ll never be. My mission is fruitless. I thought maybe Beckett might settle down, and maybe he’d choose me if I were available enough to him.
I have to admit I thought about tricking him. I know the kind of men they are. If I had gotten pregnant, Beckett would have been forced to marry me. I couldn’t do it, though. Then I started talking with Baylor, and I realized I wouldn’t do it.
Trash would do that.
I refuse to be that kind of trash.
That’s what my mother did with my father, and it didn’t work out too well for her. I know it wouldn’t for me, either. So I didn’t try. It was a stupid idea to begin with. It should never have entered my mind.
A fleeting thought that could have ruined everything. Although it’s not like I’m any better for it. I watch as Baylor slips out of the diner, holding his phone to his ear. I don’t know what he’s saying, but I don’t care either.
Just watching him pace back and forth on the sidewalk makes my mind wander to just a year ago, when we were alone together.
Naked.
It was perfect. The best I’ve ever known and ever had. The whole town thinks I’m fast and loose. That I’m easy. But I’m not. It’s all a front because that’s what Beckett Cooper liked, and I wanted him to like me. But then it just became who I am, or rather, who the town thought I was.
The truth of it is, I’ve only ever been with three people. The boy I lost my virginity to in high school moved away not long after. Then there were Beckett Cooper and Baylor Cooper.
That’s it.
For all the rumors and stories, most of which I created and cultivated, there have only been three. Not that anyone would ever believe that. And I would never correct them either.