Prologue
ETHAN
“Isaac just fucking broke up with me through text message,” Harper says on the other end of the line. Her voice shakes, but I can also hear the anger in her tone. She and Isaac have been together for four years—the last two years of high school and the first two years in college. Breaking up with her that way is so damn disrespectful that I’m ready to track him down and hog-tie him.
“I’m sorry, Harp. What can I do?” I want to tell her how much of a piece of shit he is and how he’s always seemed like the jealous type, but it wouldn’t be helpful.
“Come to my dorm? I just need someone to talk to, and I don’t want to be alone.”
A small smile hits my lips. “Sure. Give me about an hour. I need to finish some things, then I’ll be right there.”
“Sounds good.” She sucks in a deep breath, then exhales slowly. “Text me when you arrive so I can let you in.”
“I will.” The call ends, and while I shouldn’t be happy that douchebag dumped her, I selfishly am. He wasn’t good enough for Harper and never treated her the way she deserved. Nine times out of ten, he acted like she was an inconvenience when she wanted to do something other than barhop.
Just the thought of him doing that to Harper pisses me off all over again.
I close my livestock genetics book and check the time. It’s just after five, and I’ve been studying for hours since finals are in just a few weeks, but I’ll drop everything for Harper when she needs me.
Always have. Always will.
Grabbing my keys, I go to my truck, but instead of heading straight to Harper’s, I pick up her favorite meal—a chicken burrito with all the fixings. Considering Eldorado, our hometown, has no fast food, we consume a ton of it during the semester. I also stop and get her the largest frappuccino with extra caramel drizzle and whipped cream.
On the way to her dorm, I think about how busy she’s been lately with trying to help her mom come up with new ideas to expand the family’s business, Big Hart Boutique, while also preparing for finals. She’s been juggling so much, and Isaac has selfishly wanted to be the center of her attention.
If Harper didn’t drop everything when he wanted, they’d have an argument. She’d spend the rest of the week making it up to him, trying to prove how much he meant to her. I can’t even list how many guilt trips she’s had when she chose to study instead of going out drinking with him.
Once I park in front of Harper’s dorm, I grab everything and walk toward her building with my hands full.
Three flights of stairs later, I twist the knob to Harper’s door and enter. It’s often left unlocked because her roommate's boyfriend lives on the same floor, so she’s in and out.
I hear Harper chatting in the bathroom and realize she’s on the phone, so I set down our food and patiently wait. She has no idea I’m here yet.
“I know, Hads. You were right.”
She’s talking to one of her friends we grew up with in Eldorado, Texas. It’s a few hours from San Antonio, where Harper and I attend college together. Hadleigh’s a year younger than us and is going to nursing school. Since she spent a lot of time on the ranch during the summers with my cousin Kane and was always around, we all became good friends.
“I just never thought he’d give me an ultimatum about spending time with Ethan. He’s my best friend, and that’s it. For Isaac to accuse me of sneaking around on him…” Her voice cracks with rage. “I’d never do that. I’m not a cheater.” She pauses briefly as if she needs to collect herself. “I just thought we’d be together forever. He acted friendly around Ethan, so I always assumed he liked him. Now I realize it was all a lie.”
My heart rate quickens, and my hands ball into fists. I’m shocked to hear that was the reason, but I’m grateful Harper chose our friendship and didn’t bend to his will. Seems he was looking for any excuse to break up with her and picked the lowest hanging fruit.
She clears her throat, then loudly blows her nose. “I can’t believe it’s really over, after everything we’ve been through.”
I only tolerated him because Harper wanted us to get along. He was an egotistical man-child. They were long distance in high school, so when I heard he’d gotten accepted to the same college as us, I wasn’t happy. I thought they’d break up before the first day of class, but Harper was determined to make it work.
Over the past two years, I hadn’t seen her as much during the week as I’d like, but we still made time to study or watch movies when our schedules didn’t clash. Then when we’d go home during breaks, we hung out nonstop.