PROLOGUE
GREER
Everything hurt.
My feet ached since the sneakers I’d distractedly thrown on in my frantic rush were designed for fashion, not function. I’d also accidentally skipped socks and was keenly aware of the blood that seeped from the blisters at the back of my feet.
The sticky wetness was the perfect complement to the sweat that dripped down my spine to pool uncomfortably at the top of my ass crack. November in Los Angeles wasn’t sweltering, but it also wasn’t snowy and cold. It definitely wasn’t cool enough to compensate for the exhausting hike.
My lungs burned, and each attempt to fill them with needed oxygen resulted in a painful stabbing behind my ribs.
The tightness pulling at my calves was a stark reminder that I hadn’t stretched properly.
Or at all.
Rather than sitting in hot yoga surrounded by other people, I’d headed straight for the solitude of the trail. It was the correct choice. I’d been walking for almost two hours, and the approaching man was the only other person I’d seen.
He was making the slow trek downward, but we didn’t make eye contact or exchange that awkward smile of mutual discomfort. He glowered as he slowly trudged ahead, looking ready to curl into a ball to roll down the hill rather than deal with the treacherous terrain.
The trail I’d chosen was the worst I knew. There were no easy portions. No pretty wildflowers to soften the torture. It didn’t even offer a picturesque and Instagrammable view from the top as a reward for the tireless journey.
It was grueling and intense, and most people who hiked it didn’t know better—and usually turned back after less than a mile.
Or they were like me.
Gluttons for nature’s punishment.
I chose the routebecauseof its awfulness. I pushed through with stubborn determination, hoping the hike would bring me what I needed most.
Clarity.
Calm.
The contradictory mix of physical pain and mental peace.
It wasn’t happening.
I had the pain, but it was physicalandmental. The deepening pit in my stomach and the widening crack in my heart worsened by the second, stealing my breath more than the exertion was.My brain was in worse shape than my body. Thoughts swirled around and around, tearing at me like they were serrated-edged jigsaws. Each orbited back to the same thing, eviscerating my…
My everything. My entire life as I knew it.
When Maddie—one of my lifelong best friends—had shown up at my apartment early that morning, I’d known it had to be something major. At first, I’d joked that her older lawyer boyfriend had proposed.
It hadn’t really been a joke because it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility. That man was obsessed with her.
The tendril of apprehension at her early visit—unlike me, she wasnota morning person—had grown into a chasm of dread when I’d taken in her appearance.
The worry lining her blue eyes.
The dark bags under them that signified her sleepless night.
The dullness to her tan complexion.
I could’ve had a million chances, but I never would’ve guessed what she’d told me.
The night before, Maddie had run into my ex-boyfriend at some douchey actor’s house.
Josh’s attendance at a Hollywood party wasn’t the shock. He’d never met a party he didn’t want to attend, and that included ones with his new boss.
