Chapter 1
Emery Collins sat on the floor beside her dorm room bed, tears streaming silently down her face.
Again.
She had chosen the wrong guy to love.
She should have known better.
She always did.
Outside her bedroom door, voices drifted through the small apartment she shared with her best friends.
Poppy Bennett.
Maya Carter.
The two people who never let her fall apart alone.
“...he’s an idiot.”
Logan Hayes sounded one sentence away from hunting someone down.
“I can arrange a conversation if she’d like.”
“Logan,” Poppy sighed.
“I’m serious.”
“I know you are.”
Maya’s quieter voice joined in.
“I don’t think another fight is what Emery needs right now.”
Nicholas Hayes murmured something too quietly for Emery to hear.
A second later, Maya let out a small, knowing laugh.
“You’ve got that look.”
“What look?” Nicholas asked.
“The one that says you’ve already planned three different ways to deal with him.”
“It’s only two.”
Logan snorted.
“Rookie numbers.”
Despite everything...
The corner of Emery’s mouth almost twitched.
Almost.
Then she remembered why she was crying.
The smile disappeared.
She hugged her pillow tighter against her chest.
There was one thing she’d learned over the years.
Caleb Bennett.
Logan Hayes.
Nicholas Hayes.
The three of them had been inseparable since they were kids.
If one of them needed help...
The other two were already on their way.
It was one of the reasons she loved them all like family.
It was also one of the reasons she knew nothing good was going to come from whatever they were planning.
A burst of laughter echoed through the wall beside her.
Emery squeezed her eyes shut.
The neighboring dorm.
She knew exactly whose voices they were.
Sawyer Bennett.
And whichever girl had caught his attention this week.
She didn’t recognize the girl’s laugh.
She rarely did.
It shouldn’t have bothered her.
She’d spent years convincing herself she didn’t care.
That Sawyer’s dating life had nothing to do with her.
That she’d eventually stop comparing herself to every girl who walked into his life.
She’d been lying to herself for years.
A soft knock interrupted her thoughts.
“Em?”
Poppy.
“Please unlock the door.”
Emery covered her mouth as another sob escaped.
She couldn’t do it.
Not yet.
“Emery.”
Poppy’s voice was gentler now.
“You don’t have to do this by yourself.”
“I...”
Her voice cracked.
“...I can’t.”
“You don’t have to talk.”
“Just open the door.”
Emery stared at the lock.
She wanted to.
She really did.
But if she opened that door...
Everything she was barely holding together would fall apart.
“Just go.”
Silence.
Then—
“You leave me no choice.”
Emery frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
Poppy’s footsteps moved away from the door.
“Caleb.”
“Yeah?”
“Go get Sawyer next door.”
There was a beat of silence.
Then Poppy continued without missing one.
“Tell him to stop fucking whatever girl he has under him and tell him we need help.”
A cough echoed from the living room.
“Jesus, Poppy,” Logan muttered.
“What? You all know I’m right.”
Caleb laughed.
“Gotcha, sis.”
His footsteps disappeared into the hallway.
Emery sat upright so quickly her pillow fell onto the floor.
“No.”
She wiped hurriedly at her tears.
“No, no, no.”
Panic rushed through her chest.
Anyone but him.
She could survive her friends seeing her like this.
She could survive Caleb teasing her until she smiled.
She could even survive Logan threatening another idiot who had broken her heart.
But Sawyer?
Absolutely not.
Because there was one thing nobody knew.
Not Poppy.
Not Maya.
Not even Sawyer himself.
The reason every wrong guy had always been the wrong guy...
Was because none of them had ever been him.
