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Prologue
Shae
Thesandof the lakeshore is warm beneath my bare toes asIdance to the pounding beat coming from the speakers of a car parked behind us.Beforethe sun set, the guys lit a small bonfire, and now the scent of woodsmoke mingles with the fresh lake air.
Jessie, one of the girlsI’mdancing with, giggles and mouths something to her friend,Melissa, who looks over my shoulder.Whenshe does, her eyes widen and she fans herself.
Ican’t help it;Iturn and follow her gaze.Yep, that’s whatIthought.DevonandBeau, my two best friends, are standing in the middle of a group of guys, plastic cups of beer in their hands while they laugh and goof around.Melissa’sreaction is far from unusual.Mostof the girls at school have crushes onDevonandBeau.
It’slate summer, so the boys are just wearing swim trunks, like most of us girls are only wearing bikini tops and shorts.Ilook down at my new blue and white polka-dot two-piece, hoping it looks as good asIthought it did whenIput it on this morning.
NotthatI’mtrying to impress anyone.
Melissaleans in close. “Idon’t know how you do it.”
Shepauses dramatically, butIknow exactly what she’s going to say.It’snothingIhaven’t heard before.
“Howcan you hang around those two all the time and not want to jump them both?”
Iglance back over.Beau’swandered off a little way with one of the cheerleaders, butDevon’stalking to three of the other guys.He’sgot his arms folded, while they’re all wearing shit-eating grins and talking excitedly at him.
Ishrug, feigning nonchalance. “Becausewe’re just friends, that’s all.”
Oneskeptical blond brow rises as her pretty gray eyes skim over me, andIsuddenly feel self-conscious.She’sa cheerleader, after all.AndI’m… me.Myonly claim to fame in her mind—probably in the opinion of most of the kids here—is that two of the hottest guys in school are my best friends.
Melissa’sattention suddenly darts back over my shoulder, and she sucks in a sharp breath, a seductive smile playing on her lips.Ispin around to findDevonbehind me, his dark fringe flopping over his forehead, his deep blue eyes fixed on me.
BeforeIcan ask him what’s going on, he cups the back of my head, angles in, and plants his lips on mine.Externally,I’mfrozen.Buton the inside, my heart is thrashing all over the place.Aftera long second, my muscles unlock, andImelt into him, spreading my fingers over his warm, bare chest, letting out a little whimper as his mouth molds to mine.
It’sonly a moment before he pulls away, but that moment might just be the most incredible one of my sixteen years.Istare up at him, my breaths coming a little too fast between my parted lips.ButbeforeIcan go up on my toes to kiss him again, he tucks a strand of hair behind my ear, bends down and whispers, “Sorry.Theguys dared me to kiss you.IfIdidn’t, they were going to getJaxsonto do it.AndIknow you hate him.”
Withthose words, my heart free-falls to my stomach, while heat blooms hard and fast in my cheeks.Ishould have known it wasn’t real.WhatwasIthinking by responding so enthusiastically?Devondoesn’t see me that way.I’mhis friend, nothing more.Theliteral girl next door.Theone who regularly annihilates him andBeauat computer games and usually has paint on her clothes or in her hair.
Hestudies my face, his own expression taking on a tinge of worry. “Weokay?”
Ismile too wide and nod woodenly. “Ofcourse.Can’tback down from a dare.”
Helets out a relieved breath and drops a kiss on my forehead.Witha grin and a wink atJessieandMelissa, he jogs back to the guys, who are now laughing their asses off.
AllexceptBeau, who’s ignoring the girl he’s with and frowning over atDevon.
Itake a second, inhaling deeply to make sure the tears blurring my vision won’t spill over my lashes.ThenIturn back to the shocked faces of the girlsI’mwith, that fake smile still plastered on my face, and focus on pretending that the guyI’vebeen crushing on for a year, one of my best friends, didn’t just give me the most heart-pounding moment of my young life, only to snatch it away a few short seconds later.
ChapterOne
Devon
Irunmy fingers rapidly up and down the strings of my midnight blueFender, speeding the rhythm to double time and hitting licks even faster.Thefans sing along at the tops of their lungs as the chorus hits, and a thrillIdon’t think will ever leave me works its way up my spine.Thesea of people in front of me sways with the beat, their mouths open, voices joiningZac’sas our front man belts out the words to one of our most popular songs.
Behindme, the deep, thumping notes ofBeau’sbass vibrate through the air, andCrossfire’sdrummer,Caleb, plays off my riff with rolling fills and powerful hits on the crash cymbal.
Unbidden, a grin spreads over my face as the song reaches its explosive conclusion with a writhing power chord from my guitar and a flurry of hi-hats fromCaleb.Whenthe last searing note fades into silence, there’s a break in the noise from the crowd for the smallest fraction of a second.Acollective indrawn breath before the audience lets it out in a roar that rolls over the stage—an almost physical wave of adoration.
Calebjumps down from his drum throne and joins us at the front.Zaclets the crowd vent its enthusiasm for a minute or so before raising one hand. “Thankyou,NewYork!You’vebeen fan-fucking-tastic.”
Thecheers and screams only increase in volume asIheft my guitar over my head with one hand and pump it.BeauandCalebsalute the crowd too, and then the three of us followZacoff stage.
Post-performance adrenaline rushes through my veins, making me jittery.Normally,Ican partake in any number of enjoyable activities to burn that excess energy off.ButI’llbe passing on all of them tonight.
