Eight months later
Indie’s birthday was a bittersweet disaster. I was glad we were leaving for uni the following day. The year had flown by in a whirlwind of kisses and laughter, and before I knew it, we had graduated. By the end of senior year, no one in school would even look at Chace and Christina, let alone speak to them. They had become total outcasts. Their lockers were trashed, and their cars were covered in toilet paper. They’d lost all of their friends. They had no one but each other. Word traveled fast in small towns, and high school kids could be bitter and resentful. Miraculously, though, their relationship lasted through the rest of the year, and they too were preparing to graduate.
Chace’s family lost a lot of standing in our community once word got out about the money they tried to use to pay Kenzie off, and they moved away about a month ago, just sending Chace back to school every day. Having a teenage son with an illegitimate child was apparently cause for concern in their social circle. In a town as small as Blackhill, social standing (if you had it) was everything and very easy to lose. Although I had heard that Chace’s family had planned on leaving Blackhill after graduation anyway—something about his father going into politics or whatever.
I occasionally felt sorry that it turned out so terrible for them. Never in my wildest dreams when I agreed to be Ryder’s fake girlfriend had I thought that it would result in shunting Chace’s family from the town. But then I would look at Cole, see what a perfect little boy he was, and feel completely disgusted by Chace and, in particular, his family for what they did to Kenzie. All feelings of sympathy and remorse were completely thrown out the window.
I felt proud of Kenzie for being so strong and raising such a perfect little boy. We became close friends throughout the year, hanging out whenever Ryder was at work. I loved Cole to bits and always jumped at the chance to babysit him when Kenzie had to work.
It was going to be hard to say goodbye to them when we left for uni, but I knew we’d see them often. Ryder would want to go home and visit as much as possible.
But for now, we were still celebrating. Celebrating our final year of high school. Celebrating life. Celebrating the fact that we’d ruined Christina and (mostly) Chace’s reputations. They got what they deserved.
And celebrating Indie’s eighteenth birthday.
We were at her house for what started off as a great evening but went downhill very quickly when someone suggested a game of spin the bottle. We were eighteen, not thirteen. This was our last chance to relax and have fun before heading off to uni across the country.
Indie’s eyes lit up, and she smiled at me. “This is my chance.”
“For what?”
“I’m going to kiss Linc.” She clapped her hand to her mouth to stifle her squeal. I groaned and shook my head, knowing it could only end badly. I knew she’d never had a boyfriend. Or even kissed a boy before. She’d been holding out hope of Lincoln falling madly in love with her for her entire life. It wasn’t going to happen, but I couldn’t tell her that. I had to support her.
“You are?”
“Yes. If we get him to play, I’ll spin the bottle so it lands on him, and he’ll have to kiss me.” She whispered in my ear so Ryder couldn’t hear her.
“And what if it lands on Allen or someone other than Linc?” I asked. I knew the chances of her actually getting what she wanted were slim to none.
“It won’t. Come on. Let’s play.” She grabbed me by the hand and began to drag me to the circle.
“Like hell.” Ryder growled and tugged me back to him. “She’s staying here with me, away from that bottle. Those lips belong to me.” He traced his finger across my mouth and smirked.
“Sorry, In. You’re on your own.” I gave her an apologetic smile and snuggled into Ryder’s side.
“You guys suck.” She poked her tongue out and joined the circle next to Kenzie.
Lincoln sauntered over with a bottle in his hand and a smirk on his face. He stepped into the circle and placed it in the centre. “I’ll start,” he announced, staring straight at Indie, whose mouth was hanging open.
Ryder snickered beside me and used his finger to close my mouth. Apparently, I was just as shocked as Indie that he actually wanted to play. I didn’t get it. She glanced over her shoulder at me with a broad smile on her face before whipping her hair around to watch Linc spin.
I held my breath.
Indie held her breath and crossed her fingers. She knelt forward on her knees to get a better look as the vodka bottle dragged to a stop. I fell to the floor behind Indie as she gasped.
“Well, go on.” I nudged her. She was in a daze, frozen from shock. Lincoln spun the bottle, and it landed on her. “Your birthday wish is about to come true,” I quietly said so that Linc wouldn’t hear.
Indie stood up on shaky legs and took Linc’s hand when he reached out for her. I looked at Ryder, who just shrugged. Where was Nate? He was Indie’s brother and Linc’s best friend. I was sure he wouldn’t be impressed with Linc taking Indie into the study for seven minutes, but I couldn’t see him anywhere.
Everyone waited in anticipation for the seven minutes to end, and when it finally did, Ryder jumped at the chance to run down the hall and go and call time, but before he could, Linc came back into the room with Nate. I waited for Indie, but she never showed.
“This is bad,” I whispered to Ryder. “I need to go and find her.”
“Want me to come with?”
“Nah, I’ll only be a minute.”
I ducked out of the room and headed straight upstairs to Indie’s room. She was lying on her bed. Crying.
“What happened?”
“He doesn’t want me.” She sniffed. “I heard him tell Nate that I was like his sister, and nothing happened.”
“Did something happen?” I asked, wondering if Linc would be that much of a jerk to actually kiss her when it meant nothing to him.
“He told me he would miss me when I went to uni, and then he kissed me.”
He would be that much of a jerk then. I wanted to go and find him and beat some sense into him. He had been giving her false signals for years. And this was taking it too far.
“Come on. Get up,” I told her. She needed to get back out there and show him that she didn’t care what he thought and that she wasn’t affected by him.
It was like déjà vu, only this time it wasn’t me crying on the bed all heartbroken.
“No, just tell everyone I have a stomach ache. Please, Bailey. I can’t face him now.”
I nodded and softly closed Indie’s door behind me. Linc was a jerk, and if I saw him, I was going to make sure he knew it.
When I returned, Ryder was in the hall scowling at the study door.
“What are you doing?”
“Watching.”
“Watching a door?” I leant into him and smiled. He didn’t smile back. He folded his arms across his chest and glared at the door. “Ryder, what’s wrong?”
“Kenzie spun the damn bottle.” I swear he nearly had laser beams shooting out of his eyes at the study door. I tried not to laugh.
“And?”
“And she’s in there for seven minutes with Nate.” Ryder growled.
“Nate?” My eyes widened. Ryder’s sister and Indie’s brother. Huh. I laughed. I couldn’t help it. Ryder was so protective of her, and although it was sweet, she was a big girl. With a kid.
“If he touches her, I swear to God—”
“Don’t you think you’re overreacting?”
“No.”
“She’s old enough to kiss a boy, Ryder. I mean, you do know she’s a mother and all, right? I don’t really think you can say much about it.” I wrapped my arms around his waist and kissed his cheek.
He closed his eyes and sighed. “You’re right. I know that. But it doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
“Wanna go home?” I asked, knowing we needed to be up early in the morning to leave for our trip.
“Yeah.” He nodded and lunged for the study door. He banged loudly and shouted, “Time!”
***
I never knew I hated goodbyes because I’d never had to say goodbye to anyone before now. Saying goodbye to the people you loved the most sucked. It sucked a lot. We were leaving everyone behind to go to uni. I’d said goodbye to my mum earlier that morning, and it had nearly killed me. It had been me and her for eighteen years, and now I was leaving. I couldn’t imagine being so far away from her for so long. Four years felt like a lifetime.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart. You’ll be home before you know it. You can come home for weekends and for holidays and breaks. You won’t even miss me.” My mum sniffed back her tears as she hugged me goodbye before turning and hugging Ryder too. “Look after my baby.” She gave him the obligatory “she’s your responsibility now and I will hunt you down if anything happens to her” speech.
“I will, Mrs M,” Ryder reassured her as we got into his car to go say goodbye to Kenzie and Cole.
They were waiting out the front of Kenzie’s cottage when we arrived. When we pulled into the drive, Cole was standing there with balloons in his hand, and Kenzie was waving a farewell sign above her head.
I burst into tears as Kenzie dropped the sign and pulled me into her arms, making me cling to her. I couldn’t help it. I didn’t want to leave either of them.
“Bye, Uncle Wyda.” Cole cheered and handed Ryder the balloons.
“Bye, buddy. I’ll see you soon.” Ryder ruffled Cole’s hair and turned to pull me from Kenzie so he could say goodbye to her as well, but I wouldn’t let her go. I knew I was overreacting, but saying goodbye to so many people in one day had finally got too much.
Ryder let his sister go and gave Cole one last fist bump before making his way back over to the car.
“Come on. Let’s go. We have to get Indie now if we want to beat the traffic.” I nodded and wiped my tears.
“Bye.” I hugged Kenzie tighter. “Call me every day.”
“I will.”
“And email.”
“Okay.” Kenzie nodded and patted my back.
“And send me photos of Cole,” I added. “Daily.”
Kenzie laughed and nodded her head, promising me she would send daily updates.
“Bailey, I swear to…Let them go and get in the car,” Ryder yelled at me, but when I looked over, he was smiling softly.
“I don’t want to.” I looked up to the sky and blinked rapidly, trying to hide my tears before I crouched down and pulled my favourite little blond-haired, green-eyed cutie into my arms. “I’m going to miss you most of all.”
“Bye, Bayey. Wuv you.” Cole placed his tiny hands on my cheeks and pressed a kiss to the top of my head.
“Bye, buddy. I love you too.” I kissed his head and stood up before running over to the car, completely ignoring Ryder. I threw myself into the front seat and looked out the other window so I didn’t have to watch as we drove away.
“It’s okay, love. You’ll still see them all the time. We’ll come visit, and they can come to us.” He placed a hand on my thigh as he backed the car out of the driveway. “Now, let’s finally leave this small-minded town behind and go on to something better. Indie is waiting for us.”
“Okay.” I sniffed and nodded my head in agreement. I knew he was right. Kenzie and Cole would come and visit in a couple of weeks once they got settled into their new place, but it still didn’t make saying goodbye any easier.
I was glad to put this last year behind me. It was just one crazy rollercoaster of a year, and I couldn’t wait to start afresh at a new school with new friends and all new experiences.
“This is going to be a good year, Bailey,” Ryder told me as we pulled up into the parking lot after three hours on the road.
Indie had been quiet the entire trip. I knew she was still heartbroken over Linc.
“I know it’s a fresh start. No one knows us here.” I smiled and leant over to kiss him. Indie made a puking sound in the back seat before climbing out.
“Let’s go sign in and find our dorms,” Ryder said, grinning. He was really looking forward to uni. It was a chance for both of us to start anew as ourselves. No rumours. No gossip. No lies. No backstabbing.
“I’m going that way, so I’ll come find you later, yeah?” Indie said, pointing in the direction of a coffee shop.
“Okay, sure. Good luck.” I gave her a hug before she turned and walked away. I hoped we’d get a dorm together, but I didn’t like our chances.
I followed Ryder around aimlessly, letting him take care of everything because it was all just too overwhelming for me to comprehend. I was still amazed that he chose to come here with me instead of going to one of his preferences. The day he told me he was accepted and coming to university with me was the best day of my life.
“I’m not staying away from you, Bailey. I can study anywhere,” he’d told me when I tried to argue that he should go where he wanted.
“Just shut up and stop arguing with me. You’re it, Bailey. That’s all there is to it. Where you go, I go. End of story,” he’d said.
I crashed my lips to his, and that was it. The discussion was over, and he was coming to uni with me.
“Okay, this should be it,” Ryder said, stopping outside a door and dangling a key from his fingers. “You ready?”
“No,” I whispered and shook my head.
“Come on. Don’t be nervous. It’s uni. It’s meant to be the best years of your life.” He leaned down to press his lips to mine, knowing that his touch alone could calm me down and his kisses made me putty in his hands.
I felt my back press up against the door to my new dorm room as my arms wrapped around his neck. I completely forgot that we were in a hall full of new students rushing around in utter chaos as I lost myself in Ryder.
“I fucking love you,” he whispered.
“I fucking love you too,” I whispered back as the door suddenly opened from behind me.
“Oh, sorry. I thought I heard people out here,” my new roommate said.
“Oh, sorry about that,” I said as I turned around to meet her. At the same time, Ryder hissed in my ear.
“Shi—”
I looked up, and the smile dropped from my face instantly. You’ve got to be freaking kidding me.
“Christina?”