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444 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 26, 2020

Once we knew which team he would be playing for, I would find a college close to him so we could move in together.
Having his name on my back and his scent all over me was Luca Thornton’s way of marking his territory. And I would be lying if I said I didn’t like it.
All I had to do was lean forward, skim my lips over his, and we would have our first real kiss. His control would snap, and Luca would be at my mercy. But as much as I ached for that, I couldn’t put him in that position.
Fuck. She was the most beautiful creature on the planet, and this girl was mine. I didn’t know how I got so lucky to find my “one” and was able to spend my entire life with her, but I was thankful for it every day of my life.
I didn’t even realize my hands had grabbed her ass until her lips connected with mine. Everything around me seemed to go deathly silent, and I tried to pull my head back. But the girl grabbed my head and thrust her tongue into my mouth. She tasted like Diet Coke and mint gum, and she sure as hell knew how to kiss—and without even thinking, I let her.
“She stole it,” Violet sobbed, burying her face in her hands. I pulled her hands away from her face, my heart pounding. “Stole what, baby?” “Your first kiss!” she yelled,
“It was supposed to be mine, and she stole it. And you let her.” “No,” I denied vehemently. “That doesn’t count.” “She had her tongue in your mouth—of course, it counts.” She tried to shove me back again, but I refused to move.
Eighteen meant I was legal, but Violet wasn’t.
“It’s our birthday, man. Let’s throw ourselves a party.” He rubbed his hands together. “With lots and lots of girls.”
“Yeah,” I gritted out. “Lots of girls.”
Megan. She was in her bra and panties, her hair a tangled mess spread over my chest. “No.” I groaned out a curse and pushed her off me.
They looked good together. The clichéd high school cheerleader and football player couple.
Now, after seeing just what he was capable of where my heart was concerned, I couldn’t answer that question. We obviously couldn’t survive anything, because Luca’s love wasn’t nearly as strong as I’d once thought it was.
I winked and stepped back, waving them in. “The birthday girl isn’t here yet. Guess it’s cool to be late to your own party. I mean, I didn’t even show up to mine, so whatevs.”
“No, he was too busy getting into Megan Hawthorn’s pants to care he had people waiting to wish him happy birthday.”
There, beside me on my hotel room bed, was Megan Hawthorn. Not in a bra and panties like she had been after my birthday party the year before, but completely naked.
Just like I was.
“This was a mistake. One that will never happen again. Do you hear me?” She smirked up at me. “Sure. You keep telling yourself that, baby. But you had fun last night. The kind of fun you can’t have with that little kid back in California.”
“You slept with her last night?” Megan giggled. “Oh, honey. Sleep was the last thing that happened last night.” She patted me on the cheek. “Well, I have to go. I’ll call you later, Luca baby. Once the girlfriend leaves, we can hook up again.”
Lyric, Luca, and I were the only ones who knew the man I loved had cheated on me.
The man who was supposed to love me and only me, who was supposed to be my first everything, had given his firsts away like they meant nothing to him. Like I meant nothing.
“Megan warned me, remember? She warned me, and I didn’t listen.”
“Love doesn’t really mean anything when a guy’s dick is the one doing the thinking.”
The pain I’d felt when I realized he’d had sex with Megan? That was a million times worse than what he’d done on his eighteenth birthday.
“Megan…” I flinched at the sound of her name. “Megan says she’s pregnant.”
You swore that you would wait. That I was worth it. But you didn’t wait, did you, Luca? You gave all your firsts away to someone else!”
“You stole that from me, Luca,” I cried, and it felt like the pain was tearing me apart inside. “You gave away everything that was supposed to be mine. And you just expect me to be okay with that? I’ve waited my entire life to give you my firsts, but you have none to give me. And now you drop this on me and expect, what?”
“You can’t fucking make this better. You cheated on me! You had sex with someone else—and not just any someone. Megan Hawthorn. Of all the people on the planet, you had to go and screw her.” Tears spilled unchecked down my face, freezing my cheeks in the chilly early evening air. “And now you tell me you’re going to be a father with that slut?”
“You are nothing but a selfish little boy living in a man’s body. I don’t know how I never saw it before or how I could overlook it. At this point, I can’t even remember what I ever loved about you, Luca.”
So, when I saw him on ESPN with some girl I’d never seen before, it shouldn’t have hurt as badly as it did. My heart shouldn’t have broken all over again, and I shouldn’t have gotten so pissed I texted Lyric that if he saw something he thought his brother wouldn’t like about me on the internet to be sure and send it to Luca.
Everything I once felt for him was only a nostalgic memory from the past. Because Luca really wasn’t destined to be my forever. He wasn’t my happy ending. Remington was.