PROLOGUE
Fifteen Years Ago
Elle Marshal stared at the scatter of stars in the dark night sky. They were beautiful. Like small drops of silver on a black canvas. There was no moon tonight, but there didn’t need to be. The stars cast a dim glow over her as she sat on a log in the forest.
The dull thud of music vibrated the ground beneath her, the distant sound of laughter and shouting cutting through the quiet.
Why was she here? She should be at home, tucked into bed with a book or a movie. She never enjoyed these parties. They were loud and messy and full of drunken idiots.
A set of beautiful blue eyes flashed in her mind.
Him. He was the reason. He was the reason shealwayscame to these things. Every time she told him she wasn’t coming, he’d step close, maybe touch her arm as his ocean-blue eyes bore into her, claiming heneededher to come. That he needed his best friend.
She shook her head. And silly her, she always said yes, even when she knew girls would paw all over him and she’d quicklybe forgotten. Beautiful girls with perfect hair and makeup and hourglass figures…basically her exact opposite.
She tugged the sides of her cardigan together, hating that she continued to compare herself to girls she’d never look like. Hating that for the millionth time, she didn’t feel good enough.
A rustling noise sounded behind her, causing her back to straighten and hope to seize her chest. Was it him? Had Jace seen her slip away and come to find her?
The hope died as a very drunk, very unstable-looking Casper stepped out of the tree line. Or maybe he wasn’t drunk. Maybe he’d taken something. It wouldn’t be the first time. He and his friends were all the same—idiots who took drugs and acted like assholes.
“What do you want, Casper?”
“Jeez, way to be friendly, Marshal.”
She rolled her eyes and looked away. He was a jock. A jock who was rarely kind to anyone unless he had something to gain. “Go back to the party.”
He dropped onto the log beside her. “Or…I could keep you company.”
“And why would you do that?”
He lifted a shoulder. “Because I’m a nice guy. Some would even call me charming.”
She snorted. It was the least ladylike sound she’d ever made, and she absolutely didn’t care. “No one has ever called you charming.”
His brows slashed together. “You know, you’re a real a bitch sometimes.”
Anyone else, and she might have been offended. Casper? No. “Why are you sitting with me then?”
He lifted a shoulder. “I wasn’t looking for you. But now that I’m here, you can tell me what Walker sees in you.”
Something hard kicked in Elle’s belly at the mention of Jace. “We’re friends.”
He scoffed. “Yeah right. He may have his arm around Alana right now, but he’s always withyou. You follow him around like a puppy dog, and he lets you.”
Pain skittered through her veins. Was that how people saw it? Like she was the pathetic, lovesick girl who followed Jace around?
Casper squinted at her like he was looking for something. “You’re friends with benefits, yeah? You give him what he wants, whenever he wants it…”
“Argh. You’re disgusting!” She tried to rise, but he grabbed her arm and tugged her back down so her butt hit the wood.
“Come on, everyone wants to know. Just tell me why someone like him would want to spend so much time with someone like you.”
His words hit like a physical blow. She shouldn’t let what he said affect her. But weren’t they the same words that whispered in her head every day?
Someone like her…someone plain and chubby and unremarkable. Probably why her mother had left her and, a couple years later, her father. Jace was the only person who seemed to stick around…for now.
She forced her features to remain blank. “Get your hand off me, Casper. I’m leaving.”
