PROLOGUE
“There’s nothing for me here now.” Those six, painful words would be seared into my brain for the rest of my life.
I was a psychology major, studying the human mind, and I knew exactly what a flashbulb memory would look like.
Flashbulb memory:a vivid and enduring memory
of the circumstances in which one experienced
a shocking or emotionally significant event.
Walking away from the love of my life? Surely that could be chalked up as a significant event?
As I had driven from the beach, the true meaning behind Reed’s announcement had twisted a knife deeper into my chest. He had finally accepted that it was over. I had won. Hadn’t I? That’s what I had wanted: to end things. So why did my win feel like a massive mistake: like I had confessed to something, only to be given the death sentence.
Standing at the vanity in the dressing room of my bedroom, that hollow space where my heart used to be stretched wider. I picked up the photograph of Reed, the one I had taken in high school. He had been at football practice and wasn’t looking, so the shot was raw and real. Just like the boy I had fallen in love with.
In the snapshot, Reed was wearing his game pants and was shirtless, his muscular, bronzed body coated with a fine sheen of sweat. His perfect athletic quarterback physique could sell postcards. I’d had the image on my phone for ages before deciding to print it off in Daddy’s office.
I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep it, not the electronic version anyway. The risk of Jasper going through my phone was far too high. After that night, the picture of Reed would need to be hidden in the shoe box I kept. The one that contained myother secrets: everything my first love had given me, even the eggshells from the first time he made me breakfast in bed.
That foster kid from the wrong side of the tracks.
Reed Prescott, a.k.a. Reed Sawyer. One of the Sawyer brothers.
He had always been intoxicating to me, like a dangerous, forbidden, addictive drug. I ogled his handsome face, flushed from practice that day, and a lump formed in my throat. Next to the photo was a poem Reed had written me. Nobody else on the planet had ever seen his romantic side. Holding the paper up to my nose, I inhaled, attempting to identify just a trace of his soothing masculine scent.
But there was nothing.
I took another swig of whiskey from the bottle in front of me. It was Reed’s favorite brand. That sweet woody scent always made me think of him.
What have you done? You’ve let the best thing that ever happened to you walk away.
I had left Reed at the beach with my half-brother and friends and had driven to meet my fiancé and his family, feeling like a wind-up doll. But I was doing what I always did, going through the motions. Lunch at Daddy’s country club had been a bootless errand. All it had done was provide me with another glimpse into a future I wanted no part of; an arranged marriage to the son of one of my father’s closest business associates.
So, fight back. Call off the wedding.
A crack of thunder from outside made me jump. It was hard to believe it had been such a nice day, and now a storm had set in. Storm, no pun intended. The rain beat an angry tattoo against the windows of my house, echoing my inner turmoil. It was almost like the weather had changed to match my mood. That thought caused my lip to curl. Reed had once declared that I put the sun in his sky. And that morning, I had taken it away. Oh, the irony of life.
My shoulders dropped as I slid both Reed’s image and his special words into a drawer before lowering myself onto the chair. As I gaped, wide-eyed at my reflection in the Hollywood-style mirror, I hardly recognized myself. I looked pale, and myeyes had visible bags beneath them. Even my hair lacked luster. No wonder my esteemed fiancé Jasper had spitefully commented on my appearance at the club. When didn’t he? Although he was usually full of compliments. But not that day.
Nope, Jasper Dean Remmington the Third was a shrewd man. He knew exactly whom I had been seeing and why I looked so fraught. I was an emotional and physical wreck. I had promised Jasper that I would end things with Reed. And I had stuck to that promise. The man I was being manipulated into marrying had given me no other choice. I wondered what my father would say if I told him what Jasper was doing to me.
“It’s time to pay our dues, Storm. We’re committed now. We both signed the marriage agreement. Our families have expectations, and we cannot let them down. I gave you some freedom, and now you have had your fun. End things with Loverboy Prescott, or I will personally ensure he never gets near the NFL.”
At first, I wondered if the threat to Reed’s probable future football career was physical, but Jasper mercifully set me straight. “I am not an animal, Stormy.” I hated that pet name for me. “I wasn’t suggesting broken legs or anything so extreme. My father has several favors to call in with the League’s Commissioner. One word from me, and Reed Prescott’s career will be over before it’s even begun.”
Jasper’s ultimatum had forced me to do that one thing I had never done before. Behave selflessly and put someone else first. If I didn’t sacrifice myself and fall into the hands of what was essentially a business arrangement, Reed would suffer. Everything he had worked hard for would be ruthlessly pulled out from under him, and I couldn’t let that happen.
I had read in my latest psychology textbook how altruistic acts are supposed to make you feel good. So why did I feel like I was dying inside?
Because Reed filled that void in your life, and no one else ever will.
My internal monologue wasn’t doing me any favors, and I knew I needed to get a grip.
Pushing to my feet, I narrowed my eyes at the drawer where I had buried Reed’s picture and poem. Would out of sight, out of mind work when it came to the man you were in love with?
My cell went off from where I had left it charging on my nightstand, and I walked over, fiddling with the cable. I needed a new phone. The charging point was faulty, and the battery was still showing critical. Sweeping my thumb across the screen, Reed’s name appeared, causing a wave of adrenaline to tear through me.
