It had been one week since I blew my life up by moving out of the sorority and breaking up with Dean. The domino effect that followed left me on the outskirts of everything. Even the girls who were still friendly to me started responding less and less until my phone sat by me, silent all the time. I knew it had to do with me being gone more. I was out of the sorority house and off campus. The out of sight, out of mind effect, was currently all too real.
I was now a social outcast, and I hated it.
It’s not like they had all been the best of friends, but moving out of the sorority didn’t mean I wanted them all to cut me out completely. A few of the girls had become close friends over the past few years, and they were taking me moving out personally. The other half were celebrating, taking Sydney’s side in the entire mess and making me the villain.
So I came out tonight not only to get my friends back, but to figure out what they were all saying about me. I didn’t exactly want to be back on top in the sorority hierarchy, but I wanted to be something to them.
It felt like an obsession now. I needed them to like me, to be happy with me, and the idea of them being mad at me and not knowing why was driving me out of my mind. It was either sitting at home hoping they liked and commented on my socials or texted me, or I was going to be here, trying to get attention to stay in the friend group. Sydney was having a party here at her parents’ lake house and I knew if I missed it, I would never be relevant again.
I saw Dean sitting out front, and I tried to make a wide berth to stay out of sight and out of his grasp. As much as part of me missed the relationship we used to have, no part of me would be looking to rekindle it.
“Daisy, you came!” he yelled, reaching out for me. “Can we talk?”
I swerved out of his grasp. “Of course I came. And no, we can’t.”
“Did you come to the game tonight? What am I saying? You always come for me,” Dean said with a laugh, his friends joining in. The insinuation was clear, and it made my skin crawl. It was just like Dean to share too many details, twisting our private moments into something gross. Every time I hung out with them, they treated me like I was easy, all because Dean couldn’t keep his mouth shut, and told them every detail of our personal life.
“Just leave me alone, Dean. I don’t want to talk to you tonight.”
“Yes, you do,” he growled, grabbing my arm and squeezing tight. “And you can’t embarrass me after a win like that. Come on, let’s hang out.”
“Screw you. We broke up, remember? I’m dating someone else now anyway, so leave me alone.” The lie fell out of my mouth so easily that I was grateful. I wasn’t always the best liar, but I couldn’t stand here alone and pathetic, because I knew he was already sleeping with my friends.
Or at least some people I had thought were my friends.
He laughed, the rest of his group still laughing along with him.
“Right, I’m sure. You could barely get me, Daisy. Is he even real or are you just making it up to not seem so pathetic?” he mocked.
The anger and embarrassment burned my cheeks, partly because it was rude and partly because it was true. I hadn’t been with anyone since him. And it had only been a week, but I knew he had already slept with Sydney. Dean was so good at making me feel less than him, and even if I knew it wasn’t always true, it was now. No guy had even attempted to hit on me in the last week, and the whole school knew I was single.
I felt even more pathetic than when I had walked up here.
I turned, searching for someone, anyone, who looked like they could help. There had to be one guy at this party who was single, hot, and desperate enough to kiss me right now.
This wasn’t the night I planned to have, and there was no way I would let Dean laugh me off. I let him do it the entire time we dated. I felt free of that now, and the need to prove that burned through me.
I looked through the crowd and saw him.
Kye Baker, of all people, was walking down the sidewalk right towards me.
All messy blonde hair and tattoos. One ran up the side of his neck and another peeked out from the wrist of his jacket.
People stepped out of his way. The scowl on his face made him look pissed, and the tattoos and piercings didn’t make him look any friendlier. He was hot—I didn’t know if there could be any question about that — but the hot from afar type. The type of guy you stepped away from because he was unpredictable, ready to fight at a moment’s notice, and there was no reason to become a target.
On any other day, I would have stepped out of his way, too.
I knew enough about Kye. We went to high school together, and I knew he and his friends were into…illegal things. I knew he didn’t go to college here, so he was probably only at the party to make trouble. I knew his track record with my dad and getting arrested, and one look at him backed up everything I had come to believe. I didn’t think my dad could even count the number of times he’d arrested Kye. One of the last times I actually saw him was when he was being arrested, and I happened to be in my dad’s car.
Kye seemed to thrive on getting into trouble, doing everything he could to cause chaos, and it seemed to be true tonight.
I also knew that he knew who I was.
Right now, he was the only one paying even a bit of attention to what was happening to me. He also remained the one person here that Dean would not mess with or question further. Even if someone didn’t know Kye, it was pretty easy to assume he wasn’t scared of a fight.
Kye’s eyes found mine, and he cocked an eyebrow at my sudden interest in him. Which was fair, considering every other time we’d run into each other, my face was probably more repulsion than interest.
It felt like enough for me. I hurried down the walkway, headed right towards him. He pulled to a hard stop, that eyebrow still raised as he glared down at me.
I wasn’t sure if he felt more surprised that someone stepped in front of him instead of away, or that it was me.
“What are you doing?” he asked, the deep tone obvious that he wasn’t happy with my sudden appearance. I was still speechless, taking him in.
He looked more dangerous up close, more wild. The tattoos, nose ring, and intense gaze made a shiver run down my spine. I wasn’t someone who hung out with people like him, but there was always a good time to start, and right now I needed someone who would make Dean stop bothering me completely.
And I knew him being single was almost a guarantee.
I reached up, wrapping my hands around his neck and pulling him down to me. “Make this believable, and I’ll give you whatever you want,” I begged quietly. “Please, I’ll do anything.”
He didn’t say anything but furrowed his brows further.
“Make what believable?” he grumbled. He was so stiff that I had to adjust my arms around him. It was like holding on to a board, and that wasn’t going to help me sell this to Dean.
“So glad you made it, babe,” I said loudly, moving onto my toes to kiss him. My lips were against his for a second before he reached up, grabbing my face. He squeezed hard, the force of his fingers hollowing out my cheeks, his lips still an inch from mine as he held me in place.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he asked, his words a whisper, but the snarl on his lips was clear.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, but I need your help.”
