Chapter 1
The summer after her breakup felt like a movie that had lost its soundtrack.
Seventeen-year-old Riley Morgan spent most nights sitting on the roof outside her bedroom window, staring at the lights of the town and wondering how someone who promised forever could disappear so fast.
Three months earlier, her boyfriend of two years had broken up with her over a text message.
“I think we’ve grown apart.”
Those four words haunted her.
So when her best friend convinced her to go to the old drive-in theater outside town one Friday night, Riley almost said no.
Almost.
The drive-in sat on the edge of a cornfield, its giant screen glowing beneath a sky full of stars. Teenagers parked their trucks in rows while families unfolded lawn chairs in front of their cars.
Riley bought popcorn and wandered away from her friend, trying not to think about the couples holding hands everywhere.
That’s when she accidentally bumped into someone.
The popcorn flew from her hands.
“Seriously?” she groaned.
A boy laughed.
“Well, that’s one way to meet somebody.”
Riley looked up.
Dark hair.
Blue eyes.
A crooked smile.
The kind that made you want to smile back even when you were annoyed.
The boy bent down and helped gather the spilled popcorn.
“My fault,” he said. “I’m Mason.”
“Riley.”
“Nice to meet you, Riley.”
She wasn’t looking for someone new.
She definitely wasn’t looking for Mason Carter.
But somehow, by the end of the night, they were sitting on the tailgate of his truck sharing fries and talking like they’d known each other forever.
And for the first time in months…
Riley laughed.
Really laughed.
