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Chapter 1

Sydney

I was in love with my best friend

And it could be worse, I guessed I could have been in love with aaddict Kyler Quinn was neither of those things Although he could easily be passed off as a ood looks andout there

I saw him before he even kneas here There was no way anyone could miss Kyler, not even in the packed Dry Docks, where everyone fro the start of winter break People flocked to hiirls

Always the girls

I didn’t want to say that Kyler looked like a god, because sculptures of Greek and Ros And they were all really s in that department, since there was an endless train of women who came back for seconds and thirds But he was beautiful in a purely ht hook in it offset broad cheekbones, defined jaw, and wide expressive lips He’d broken his nose in a fight freshman year

I still felt bad for that nose

And when he smiled? Aw man, the boy had the deepest dimples ever

His eyes were a warm brown, the color of a rich coffee bean that darkened whenever he was feeling froggy, and I bet he was feeling all kinds of froggy right now

Right in theloudly, I really wanted to punch myself in the face Not only was Kyler completely off-limits due to the fact that we’d been inseparable since the day he pushedto hold his hand I’d retaliated by holding hi day People had a hard tiure it out We went together like a lion and a gazelle Actually, ent together like a lion and a gi the predator

I was the giazelle

As I made it closer to the table he and our friend Tanner occupied, a blonde with legs longer than I was tall plopped down in Kyler’s lap His arirl’s impossibly narroaist, and a stupid, totally inexcusable sharp pain sliced through my stomach

Yeah, Kyler ht not be a stripper, an addict, or a terrorist, but he was a player

Veering back toward the bar at the last ht into so myself a concussion would be perfect Multicolored Christht that was kind of hazardous with all the drunks spilling their drinks I found an empty stool at the bar and waited for the bartender to notice me And it was easy to notice me I looked like I was sixteen, so they usually checked ht away The bartender appeared, asked for the standard, and I ordered the standard—a Diet Coke with rum

Over the hule teased ood would coht already I crossed ers to the song I was barely paying attention to Stared at the rack of liquor bottles my other best friend was intimately familiar with

But I looked, because I was a girl and diving head-first into girl-stupid

Blondie was straddling Kyler Her short denihs One would think it wasn’t winter outside based on how she was dressed, but then again, I’d wear a skirt like that all the tis

His back was toin her ear, because she laughed again Her hot pink nails dug into his shoulders, bunching theher hands through the hair at his forehead, tugging it back

I couldn’t look away now Like a fat glutton for punishment, I was fixated on them

He tilted his head to the side and tipped it back I could see half his face now, and he was grinning Not the big smiles that revealed those totally lickable dirin of his—the infuriating and incredibly sexy half-grin His hands settled on her hips

“Here you go” The bartender placed my drink down

Turning away frolanced up at the bartender as I knocked a strand of long black hair out of my face “Thank you”

He winked “No problem”

The bartender ambled off to help someone else, while I was left to wonder why he’d winked Thinking I probably shouldn’t have let Kyler talk lass and took a larger than norulp I forced myself to s the bit of alcohol, even as it burned my throat

Just as I placed ed froave away the culprit

“You’re here! I saw you froet your attention,” Andrea said, spinning me around the bar stool Her red curls were twisted in every which direction My roorown up…if Little Orphan Annie had a potential drinking proble

“How much have you had to drink?” I asked

She rolled her eyes “This beer’s for Tanner, you bitch”

“Since when do you get beers for Tanner?”

Andrea shrugged “He’s being nice tonight So I’ht”

Tanner and Andrea eird They’d ht Souessed they tripped and fell on each other’s lips or soht a lot ure them out

“How long have you guys been here?” I asked

“About an hour” She wiggled her way between irl on the other stool “Kyler’s Official Girl Parade has been in full force”