Parker

It’s funny how quickly life can change. Sometimes it only takes a minute. One minute Parker was kissing the girl of his dreams, the next his world was imploding. Parker had seen his future with Beth so clearly, but Jared had ruined everything with his bombshell of blackmail and betrayal. Parker still couldn’t quite believe it; Jared had made Beth doubt him. It made Parker feel hollow inside. How could Beth doubt him for even a second?

And if that wasn’t bad enough, now Beth was running away from him. He’d been frozen in place, stunned by everything he knew he was losing when Beth wrenched her hand from his. But when Jared called after Beth, it sent Parker into action. He wasn’t going to give up, and beyond that, he needed to make sure Beth was okay. If anything happened to her because of this, Parker would never forgive himself.

He began sprinting after Beth, but he only made it a few feet before Jared tackled him from behind. They scuffled on the lawn, grappling for power. Jared got in two good punches before Parker was able to knock him off. He scrambled to his feet, attempting to run again, but Jared was like dog with a bone. He grabbed Parker’s legs and knocked him to the ground again, pinning him face first in the grass.

Parker thrashed and yelled, but there was nothing he could do as he watched Beth get into an idling black Porsche and screech down the tree-lined drive away from them.

Beth

‘I tried to tell you . . .’ Beth couldn’t get Parker’s words out of her mind. They went around and around, and no matter how hard she pressed the gas pedal of the car she’d stolen, she couldn’t outrun them.

Beth scarcely remembered the last words Parker or Jared had spoken. At some point she’d stopped listening and panic took over. She’d never felt such a sudden urge to flee. She’d started running before she even remembered making the decision. She was still running as she gunned the car faster—running away from her broken heart. Beth had no idea where she was going, only that she needed to get away, to get somewhere she could breathe. Parker had lied, and that rocked everything she knew to be true.

Tears pricked her eyes, blurring her vision. She tried to blink them away. Her hands were gripping the steering wheel too tightly to risk wiping her face. She was afraid if she let go for even a second she’d lose control. She laughed to herself. What irony. She’d already lost control—control of her heart. It had been broken by two boys in one day.

Beth still couldn’t believe everything had fallen apart so quickly. Or that Parker had been a part of any of it. Things had been perfect between them. Only moments before Jared showed up, Beth was convinced she was living in a fairytale. Parker was her prince and they were going to get a happily ever after. But maybe that’s all she and Parker were—a childish delusion.

How could Beth believe anything that happened between them was real? Caroline’s deception had planted a seed of doubt, and Beth would always wonder if there had been another factor driving Parker’s motives. Jared was right, Parker should have told Beth what Caroline proposed. She would have told Parker if their roles were reversed, wouldn’t she?

But then again, Beth had been blind when it came to Jared. She could see that now. How had she been so wrong about so much? She couldn’t trust her heart. Not when it had been wrong about her first boyfriend and her first love.

A fresh batch of tears welled in her eyes. Beth thought she was over Jared. That he couldn’t hurt her more than he already had. But he’d flown all the way to Georgia and tracked her down, telling her he loved her and begging for forgiveness. She knew that wasn’t easy for him. He wasn’t someone who voiced his emotions. And she wanted to believe him about Caroline’s role in blackmailing him. Caroline had a reputation for being ruthless in the games she liked to play. Beth had just never imagined Caroline would do something like that to her.

The image of Caroline’s hand snaking around Jared popped into Beth’s head again. That was when Beth realized she was still wearing the matching bracelet that encircled Caroline’s cheating wrist. It made Beth feel sick to her stomach and she wanted it off. She let go of the wheel for just a second . . . but that’s all it took.

The car careened off the road, the wheel spinning wildly away from her. Beth threw her hands protectively in front of her face, shrieking as the airbags burst on impact. For a moment she felt searing pain and then her life flashed before her; happy images of her sisters, her family, her childhood. Then everything began to fade into darkness. Beth’s heart thumped in her chest as she saw one last face right before everything went dark . . .