Who Breaks First (Clearwater University)

“Thanks.” I shoot him another smile as I tug my backpack around to slip the paper back inside.

“I’m Peter.”

“I’m Emma. Emma Holloway.”

“Pleasure to meet you Emma, Emma Holloway.”

One side of his mouth quirks up, and I chuckle at his joke even though it wasn’t all that funny. He made it sound funny, and his easy-going laugh makes me want to laugh too. I think he’s flirting with me, but hell, I’m so rusty when it comes to that kind of stuff that I could totally be wrong.

“See you around sometime.” I push my blonde hair behind my ears and dip my head in a little nod before heading toward the building he pointed out.

“For sure,” he calls after me, a grin in his voice.

Picking up my pace as I walk toward the large stone building, I notice an extra spring in my step and try not to think too hard about what put it there. He might’ve just been being nice, helping a stranger with directions, but it felt good to have a hot guy flirt with me—even in my imagination. Since leaving Clearwater, I’ve been pretty much living like a nun. Three boys broke my trust so badly that I sort of lost faith in the male species in general. But it’s reassuring to know that men still find me attractive.

At least, Peter does.

Or, well, I think he does.

My giddy conversation with myself is interrupted as I near Davis Hall. It’s on the far side of the quad, and as I gaze around the expanse of manicured lawn, a wave of recognition hits me so hard I almost fall over.

Three tall, gorgeous men are striding across the quad with confidence, their long legs eating up the ground as if they’re animals on the prowl.

Fuck. No.

Those are the only two words that have time to register in my mind before my body moves instinctually, skipping back in time two years and going into self-preservation mode. I drop to the ground as if I’m under fire, ducking behind a hedge and trying to hide.

No! I can’t believe it’s them. What the hell are they doing here?

The Icons.

Reese, Trent, and West.

They were the most popular boys in school, and my best friends during my first year at Amundsen High after I transferred in as a sophomore. And then suddenly they… weren’t.

I’ve spent countless hours trying to figure out what the hell made the switch flip inside them, but I finally decided it doesn’t matter. Whatever it was that made them turn on me, the honest truth is that they were never really my friends.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

I knew there was a possibility I’d run into them in town sometime when I agreed to come back to Clearwater with Dad, but I didn’t think it would be today. My first day. And I never expected to see them here.

Peering around the hedge, I can see that the three of them are headed toward a building opposite Davis Hall, striding across the quad as if they own the place. They’ve always been cocky like that, and although I found it funny when we were friends, now I just find it off-putting and infuriating.

As if drawn by the heat of my gaze, Trent’s focus shifts toward me a little, his head slightly cocked. I duck back behind the hedge as my heart slams in my chest like it’s trying to escape my body.

I’ve been trying to hold it off, but hatred washes over me in a wave. The time when those men and I were close, truly inseparable, seems like ages ago. Like a dream that never truly happened. It was back during sophomore year of high school, after all, when I was so much more innocent and trusting than I am now.

Jesus, I’ve changed so much. They changed me so much.

What went down between us was something out of a reality TV show, and I never told anyone about it because it was seriously over the top.

After I’d known the Icons for almost a year, all three of them asked me out on separate occasions, wanting to take our friendship to a whole other level. Even though I hate to admit it now, I did have a crush on each of them for different reasons, but I didn’t know how to handle interest from all three of them. To say “yes” to one would ruin my relationship with the others, and maybe even wreck their friendship in the process.

So I turned them all down.

That’s when the bullying started. And things went too far after that. Way too far.

I’m obscured behind the shrub, but I can just catch a glimpse of them through a hole in the branches. All three of them look just like I remember them, though a little taller and a little older.