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Prologue

Arella

The laughter and voices in the roo the house

Well, al With eachsqueezed in half

He was okay, I tried to assurelate He wanted to surprise , and then when he showed up, I would have the biggest smile on my face Just for him He would sweep me off my feet, and ould have our happily ever after

It wasn’t wishful thinking I’d seen it happen right in front of my eyes with my sister Nevaeh and her husband, Braxton He’d shown up at her own eighteenth birthday party, and their entire relationship had been like a fairy tale ever since Sure, there had been one or two buthened their love for each other

I’d only been sixteen at the time, but I kneould happen for er The last ti out, just the day before, the air around us had felt charged The hunger I’d seen in his eyes hadby the tiht

His face had been tense as I’d stood beside his car with hi him to kiss me There had been only a few short hours left until I turned theBut he’d only stroked the backs of his fingers down ht

I hadn’t reminded hiht, before watching aroom, so I kneould re Girls like that always et why they did those things They were just so infatuated—so in love—they couldn’t help thems

elves

But just because I felt like I couldn’t breathe without him with each day that passed and I wasn’t officially his, didn’tto turn into someone I wasn’t That was insane

Right?

My eyes were trained on the front door, so when it opened, I held my breath Only for it to be pushed out forcefully when I saasn’t Jordan Moreitti, but his parents instead

I blinked at the beautiful couple, ere both welcomed by my mother and then Aunt Emmie Alexis Moreitti held one small present in her hand, while the other clutched her cane Her husband stood at her side, his eyes adoring her as she spoke to the to a sift

The knot in htened ain that I hadn’t missed a text or call from him But the screen was empty I sed the lu in

Maybe he was sick

Why else would he not show up on this day, of all days? My eighteenth birthday was a big deal Not only was I officially an adult, but it h we’d been hanging out so much over the past two years as just friends, I’d made no secret of the fact that I wanted more Everyone in my family kne I felt about him, especially Jordan’s best friend, Mia

As I stood there, I watched Mia walk over to the Moreittis, with her beautiful baby daughter on her hip She ele when Jared Moreitti bent his knees to speak directly to the toddler

I shouldn’t have been so jealous that Mia was close with Jordan’s faht of her as a daughter and had even included her in fas all her life Of course they adored her and would treat Ehter

But that didn’t kill the jealousy that ate ht about Mia and Jordan I hated that they were best friends, that the two of them were still so close Maybe I wouldn’t have felt like that if I didn’t know they had slept together in the past Then again, maybe I would

Was it so crazy that I wanted to be Jordan’s best friend? That I wanted to be included in his family like Mia so easily was?

Instead, his parents shotme on their own I couldn’t really blame them Jordan had never taken me to their house or even invited me to share a meal with his parents I knew them only because they sometimes came to parties, usually those hosted by Aunt Emmie, like her famous Christ’s nieces If I was lucky, they ht even think of me as one of their son’s friends, but I doubted they would ever consider me more to either Jordan or themselves