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Prologue

Rain dripped froed my knuckles across Thatch’s fancy apartment door

Over and over again

Like a crazy person, I sainst it Tears mixed ater from the outside streamed down my cheeks

I was “that girl”

The one ent to her boyfriend’s apartht, a complete hot mess of emotional chaos

“Thatch!” I hit the door a third ti from the contact

Finally, it opened

Thatch was shirtless and shoeless

His jeans hugged his body in a way that should have been illegal Then again, he was a plastic surgeon—perfection was kind of his thing

Anger surged through me and theninsecurity quickly replaced it Brooke, the girl I had found hi, was taller than me, more athletic She had stripper hair, the kind that just screa the lines of what Thatch was into And her body? Let’s say it was made for sin

And looky here

A sinner

In my entire life, I had never been more aware of my wet black band shirt or my holey boyfriend jeans

My navy-blue Converse sneakers squeaked when I shifted froain

“What?” He cocked his head to the side “It’s late”

I frowned Seriously? Why is he treating ? “I” My voice was hoarse fro away I justI was upset” His face was like stone No ser, just a chilly indifference that hadbody “I want to try, Thatch I” My voice was barely a whisper “I love you”

I held my breath

He didn’t say it back

In fact, he didn’t sayfor a few moments

Moments that felt like hours

Finally, he pressed his fingers to his teed “We’re done, Austin”

“But—”

The door clicked shut in unshot

Chapter One

AUSTIN

“Fire!” Soh for ainst my chest, I quickly assessed my bedroom for flames or smoke

Pink walls I hated pink Pink walls su you needed to know about me Namely, that my life wasn’t mine to control I had pink walls because my mom liked soft colors and wanted my room to look feminine

And the old One Direction poster with asshole Zayn on the front of it? Well, that’s what norht? At least, that’s what my father said, since ays had to please the voters And when the local news did a story on our house, it was a huge hit Look at the all-Ah school roo up at One Direction

Damn you, Zayn, damn you to hell!

I shook my fist in the air Partially because I was still pissed at hi, butothers to control me

I blinked up at the white ceiling, hed

No fire

No heat

Just Nothing

I blinked again Had I i “Fire!” at me? Was I really that exhausted?

“Oh look, you’re awake” My best friend, Avery, breezed into my childhood bedroolass of wine in the other “I was afraid you were dead”

“What?” I yawned, stretching my stiff arms over my head Pieces of chocolate fell onto ine that, I still had some “Why would I be dead?”

“You smell like it” She scrunched up her nose “And word on the street is you’ve given up showers and decided to stop shaving your legs” She held up her hand

“What? What are you doing?” I squinted and tried to focus “Why are you holding up your hand?”

“Girl power High five” She closed it into a fist “Or do we bump?”

“Why are you here? In my room? Isn’t it Monday? Don’t you have work?” After Avery screwed her boss—literally—and found her happily-ever-after with her childhood friend-slash-nemesis, she’d been anization, I al to put in so many hours Between both of our schedules, we’d barely seen each other in the last week

“Saturday” Avery rolled her green eyes “It’s Saturday, Austin, as in, the weekend” She picked up a half-eaten granola bar and made a face “Is this all you’ve had today?”

I snatched the bar away frorowled “Mine”

“Wow, your transformation is complete You’ve turned into a hairy beast with smelly hair and” She narrowed her eyes “Dear God, you have Cheetos in your hair”

“Really?” I perked up

“No!” She smacked my shoulder “See! This is what I was afraid of! This is what you do when you get sad! You revert back to your junior high self” Her eyes leveledthe tuh school years when my then boyfriend, Braden, had literally slapped a piece of bread out ofto ave me hives

Avery sighed “Are you stashing junk food in your bed?” She pulled back the covers to reveal htstand!” Her movements were too quick

“No, don’t!”

Too late She could barely get the drawer open as chocolate MoonPies spilled over onto the floor

“Austin” Avery shook her head slowly and held out her hand “Give me the Mountain Dew”