Page 2 (1/2)

"What the hell, Brit?" Garrett steps out of the back rooe behinda bottle of whiskey from the bar as I steam down the back hall

"Brit, wait a second!"

Garrett’s voice and the noise of the bar recede behind me as I hurry up the back stairs I bypass his apart, even when the staircase narrows into a winding spiral Finally, I heave open the rusted fire escape and push outside into the crisp night air

The rooftop is erill I walk slowly to the edge and lean out over the railing

Why do you always do this?

The scene replays inback at irl instead Sweet, and pretty, and so da there with her perfect family, it never crossed her mind for a second that Trey could betray her

I can’t tell if she’s lucky or just another fool

He didn’t take irl, you see: the one who gets dates and flowers and shispered goodnights I’ainst the back wall of a club in a neon-lit alley; who they text at 2:00 a to pass the time

I always toldin a drea this used and eain… What’s better about that?

I take a gulp of the whiskey, feeling it sting in the back of er, the adrenalin, it slowly seeps away, leaving ut I look out across the harbor and the few lights bobbing on the water, down past the row of tourist stores and the new beachfront townhouses In the pale dusk light, Beachwood lies quiet and still, lights gli to drown out the echoes in my mind

"You knohat everyone says about her She’s just a crazy slut She’s nothing"

It’s true That’s what they do say aboutup in a small town like this, with a junkie ossip I figured I’d just embrace it instead Let people say what the hell they want aboutto live down the family name They want to write me off, spread rumors, and ‘tsk’ under their breath as I walk by? Let the around toearing the sluttiest outfits, flirting with all thethe look of disapproval in everyone’s eyes, like their good opinion a

Then everything changed

One night: that’s all it took for limpse of what life could be like, and after that, it all just felt wrong The victories didn’t taste so sweet; the gossip and ruet to e of pride, andrown up normal Unknown Able to walk down the street without the whispers behind uy who hadn’t heard the ruends of all my wild antics Someone who didn’t think they had an easy shot just because of my last name

Soht and take another swig of whiskey This is the rejection talking, and the booze I know, even if they got to knowat happiness,I’ve learned in my life, it’s that people always leave

I sink down into one of the chairs The whiskey is finally working its h it feels like I’o back down and help out Garrett, I know, but I can’t drag , and way up here, I can pretend the uglyexists but hts of the shoreline, so pretty that I can alet what this town is like up close

I come here all the time This is my secret spot, up above it all It’s where I co the bustle of the town below, letting the distant sound of the ocean wash away my pain as I daydream of some other life, some other future, far away froood those daydrea away up on ossip and scorn , but all I do is live up to their low expectations

"That was quite souy’s voice comes from behindI’ht--especially not froures I’m an easy score "This is private property"

There’s a low huhter "The Brit I knew never cared about that"

My heart stops

It can’t be, I tell ain, after all this time

But it is I know the truth even before I brace nize that voice anywhere: the low, sexy drawl that echoes in ht we shared together, three long years ago

Hunter Covington

"Waste of a good plate of nachos, if you askdark gold in the setting sun "And you always said, nothing exciting ever happens in this town"

My heart pounds as I stare at hi in the doorway, casual as can be A ghost, a relic, a hts and desperate days

I never thought I’d see hiive way beneath me, and I clutch at the back of the lawn chair for support

"You’re here," I breathe

"I’ s falls away

The bar, the rejection letter, Trey--it all dissolves under Hunter’s piercing gaze My eyes devour hirily He’s older noe both are, but so the picture of who he used to be The boy he was, not the man he’s so clearly become There’s power to his athletic body now, clear in the broad frame of his shoulders, the muscles beneath his preppy Oxford shirt His blonde hair falls over his golden skin, blue eyes still blazing like the brightest suh ht, that’s all I had with hi else in ht in tis with souy, that I would dilute Hunter’s poith a hundred other kisses, dozens of other bodies and lips and hands