Part 1
Prologue
Eva
As my feet hit the concrete outside, I immediately slip and fall flat on my butt. Damn high heels and pencil skirt. Feet flying, arms flailing, my fall is nothing close to graceful. It’s inevitable that the bruise will appear on my backside instantly. I look down at my feet and rotate my right ankle, making sure it still moves.
Grimacing slightly, I look up at the sky. My mind instantly clouds with what just happened and what seems to be happening now. Rain? How did I miss that? It never rains in California. They’ve actually made songs about it.
And Noah? He can kiss my ass—which is now soaking wet and turning a lovely shade of black and blue.
Damn rain … Damn men.
This is absolutely the last thing I need. What I need is to somehow get to my car and drive. Drive away from here as fast as I can and try to forget everything, including Noah and the terrible mistake he turned out to be. I knew the minute that tempting distraction walked into my life he’d be all kinds of wrong. I should have listened to myself.
He turned out to be a terrible mistake, and the one man, I know without a doubt no matter how hard I try, I won’t ever get over. As the realization hits me, my tears begin to fall and so does more rain.
Picking my clumsy self up off the sidewalk, I laugh at how stupid I must look. Glancing from side to side, I run across the parking, cringing at the idea of anyone seeing my fall, especially Noah.
Why the hell did I park so far away when I got here?
What I need right now is a drink. A stiff drink. A very stiff drink followed by several more until my brain goes numb and prevents me from feeling anything.
I also need Gwen, my best friend and sister through everything. She is without a doubt the voice I need and want to hear. She’s known for giving me a swift kick in the ass to get my head and heart straight, and she sure as hell always delivers.
Getting in my car, I peel out of the parking lot of Gatsby’s, hydroplaning and skidding everywhere.
“Stupid rain,” I say, cursing the sky.
I run over the curb but keep on going, my reckless driving doesn’t even register with my mind.
How could he do that to me?
How could he talk to me that way?
Who does he think he is?
I know now exactly who he is, and it’s nothing like I originally thought … if that makes any sense whatsoever.
Somehow, I find myself laughing through my tears, which only causes me to cry even harder. Even when that prick breaks my heart, he still finds a way to make me smile. That is positively not fair. The realization that this relationship is sure as hell over has my body feeling poisoned, straight to my stupid heart, for ever allowing him in.
God, Eva, you really are a stupid woman.
Deciding I need music to drown out the pain, I turn on the radio. Dierks Bentley’s “It’s Different for Girls” immediately filters through the speakers. Go Figure. I don’t even try to stop the tears that turn into sobs and eventually convulsions as the rain falls harder and the stupid radio plays a song that mirrors my sad, pathetic, broken heart. Turning the volume up, I let myself go. Hitting the steering wheel, I belt out every last word, half in tune and half screaming in anger.
Fan-fricking-tastic! I’m a hot mess.
I have no clue where I’m headed, but damn if I really even care.
If I would have just stuck to my original plan and not fallen for Mr. Too Damn Good to be True, this never would have happened. Damn it, I thought I was so much smarter than this.
Between the pouring rain and my pathetic tears, I’m not paying attention to the road and veer to the left. I quickly jerk my car back into my lane just in time to avoid a head-on collision.
Even though it should, it doesn’t even phase me.
Noah made me believe he was the right choice when I had spent my whole life planning for something more. We had actually started to build a life together … up until that jerk decided to pull a Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde routine and completely destroy my life, my world, and my heart. Stupid heart. How can love go so sour so fast? How can feelings so sweet flip you inside out in an instant?
The rain begins to pick up, and the sky turns darker in an instant. I turn my windshield wipers on full force. I can barely make out the road in front of me. My phone rings in my purse, and I know I shouldn’t answer, but if it’s that asshole that just ripped my world apart, I know exactly what I want to say to him. I want to make him hurt, somewhere, anywhere close to how bad I hurt. I feel around in the passenger seat for my purse. Reaching inside, I try keeping one eye on the road. The damn thing is lost and still ringing, only making my irritation skyrocket.
