PROLOGUE
WILLOW
FOUR YEARS AGO
My breath catches in my throat as I step through the doorway, and my hand flies to cover my mouth. Eric, my now ex-boyfriend, has his arms around another girl as if they aren’t at Danny Potter’s house party in the middle of the goddamn living room filled with people drinking and dancing.
I don’t know what he’s doing here.
He’s not even friends with Danny.
Their bodies rock together and she lets her head fall back against his shoulder, her eyelids falling shut as laughter spills from her lips. Eric buries his face in her neck and I think I’m going to be sick.
Our year-long relationship came to an end just a week ago. The break-up wasn’t exactly a surprise, considering the way he had been growing distant over the last few months, but it still hurt nonetheless. The final nail in the coffin was him telling me he didn’t want to be tied down to anyone since he’d be leaving Maine after graduation.
Yet here he is… with a girl from the English class we met in.
Spinning on my heel, I push through the crowd of people gathered in Danny’s parent’s dining room and make a beeline into the kitchen. The butcher block countertops are covered with various bottles of vodka and there's a keg out on the back deck.
I grab the first bottle of vodka I can find, not caring about the brand, and pour some into an empty red plastic cup. There’s a jug of lemonade on the kitchen island and I mix it with the alcohol. Liquid splashes over the top edges, spilling down over my hand as I lift it to my mouth in a rush. It burns as it goes down and my throat spasms as I momentarily choke on my drink.
My chest hurts as I break into a series of coughs, finally catching my breath as the burn subsides. This evening just continues to get worse. Shaking my head, I hold my drink in one hand and tug my tight dress down my thighs with the other as I move to leave the kitchen.
I should have never let my brother drag me here.
Hell, I don’t even know where Noah ran off to at this point. I lost track of him earlier in the night, but that’s okay.
Noah’s home for a few weeks and insisted on coming to Danny’s graduation party and at the time, it seemed like a good idea. Danny just graduated from Aston University, where I’m about to enter my sophomore year of college this fall. We all grew up together and are home in Sugar Hill Hollow for the summer, so why not start it off with a celebration? That was before I realized Eric would be here, along with that girl.
And my college best friend, Mia, isn’t even here to save the night for me.
I walk back into the living room, and push through the crowd of people, desperately searching for Noah. I need to find him before our older brother, Finn, shows up at some point. Danny moves past and I reach out, grabbing his forearm to stop him.He whips his head to the side, a joint hanging from his lips as a lazy grin tugs on his lips. “Little Alder. What’s up?”
I can’t even contain the way my nose scrunches at that name as I release his arm. Being the youngest of the three Alder siblings, it's the nickname all my brother’s friends used to call me growing up. Well, all of them except for one…
“Have you seen Noah or Finn anywhere?”
He takes a slow drag of the joint, then removes it from his lips and blows out a cloud of thick smoke. “Nah,” he says, shaking his head. “I’m sure they’re both around here somewhere.” After a pause, he extends his arm. “You want some?” he asks, waving the rolled weed in my face.
The sweet, musky smell of the smoke hits my nostrils. I swiftly shake my head and lift my drink instead. “I’m good. Thanks.”
Danny shrugs with indifference, his eyes bloodshot with heavy lids. “Have fun, Little Alder. Don’t worry about your brothers, they’ll turn up.”
I force a smile, my cheeks stiff as I watch him disappear back into the crowd. I’m not worried about my brothers—I just need one of them to give me a ride home or let me take one of their trucks. I make my way back through the house, dodging bodies as I go, careful to make sure I don’t end up scanning the faces for Eric.
Eric wasn’t my forever love, I knew that. Especially when I realized all the red flags I’d been ignoring over the past six months. But it still hurt to have him end things between us. Rejection never feels good, even if it comes from someone you know isn’t right for you.
He complained a lot when I would try to talk to him and would say I was needy. That I was too much and too clingy. Just words from a stupid boy, but now they live inside my brain and I can’t help but wonder if maybe there was some truth behind it.
Maybe I am too much.
I make my way out onto the back deck, my head on a swivel as I try to find Noah or Finn, only to come up empty handed once again. I throw back another mouthful of the burning liquor, wincing as it slides down my throat and into my stomach. Drinking has never really been my thing and I don’t know why I’m trying to make it happen now. Shaking my head, I abandon my cup on an empty table out back and head down the steps to the backyard.
The Potter house is situated right along the southern end of town, along the river with their own personal dock out back. As I walk down closer to the edge of the water, I find a bench to sit on. Across the vast channel, lights from houses on the far side twinkle like stars in the sky.
“Willy?”
My breath catches in my throat. I glance over my shoulder, and my eyebrows cinch together as I meet those familiar green eyes in the darkness. “Jace?”
