Prologue
I should never have listened to Lynda in the first place.
Not when every instinct in my body told me no.
Not when the unease crept in the moment she mentioned a party.
Lynda had been unusually persistent, calling and texting until I finally gave in. That alone should have been my warning. She had always hated crowds. The Lynda I had known since childhood preferred quiet corners and familiar faces, just like me. We kept our world small and safe, and we trusted each other to protect that.
So when she suddenly wanted loud music, strangers, and a house full of people I barely knew, something felt off. I told myself I was overthinking it. I told myself she wouldn’t put me in a situation she knew I wasn’t comfortable with.
I was wrong.
Things had already changed enough since I started dating Ashton Miller.
Ashton was the town’s golden boy, admired not only in high school but throughout the entire town. His family name carried weight. His father was the mayor, a man people respected without question. Being with someone like Ashton was never part of my plan. I never imagined someone like him choosing me.
We met by accident, by the lake I had loved since I was a child. He sat beside me like it was the most natural thing in the world, like he belonged there. We talked until the sun dipped low, both of us startled by how easy it felt.
He was a senior. I was a sophomore. Our time already had an ending stamped on it.
We met in secret after that. After football practice, he would come straight to the lake. Away from the noise, Ashton was gentle and funny, nothing like the confident boy everyone else saw. With me, he was real.
Then he left for college.
Two years of distance stretched between us. I missed him in ways that hollowed me out.
When my parents’ marriage finally collapsed, I broke down during a video call and told him everything—about the divorce, about how empty the house felt after my little brother’s death had torn us apart. Two days later, Ashton was at my door.
We spent two nights alone at his family’s cabin. The world felt paused. We made love like tomorrow didn’t exist. He promised me one day we would be together for real.
I held onto that promise.
That had been a month ago.
“Hey, Bailey! Hurry up!” Lynda shouted.
The house was massive. Music thundered through the walls.
When she told me it was the Chase family’s house, my stomach dropped.
“You know what he did,” I told her. “You know.”
She apologized. Promised she would stay with me. Thirty minutes, I agreed.
Inside, the noise swallowed me. I refused alcohol. I already felt unwell.
When I turned around, Lynda was gone.
Panic rose fast and sharp.
I pushed through the crowd, heading upstairs.
That was when I ran into Chase.
He was drunk, smiling too wide.
“I asked her to bring you,” he said casually.
