One
Hadley
My cell buzzes in the pocket of my jeans as I hurry across campus. Reaching down, I tug it out. My fingers catch on the ragged material and it rakes across my knuckles. I stop walking and press the answer button. Without even looking at the caller ID I know it will be Paige.
“Hey, girl!”
Bingo. “ Hey, Paige.” I pick back up my pace, my tennis shoes sinking in the newly watered grass as I step forward.
“ Watcha doing?”
“I’m on my way to art history.”
“Ooh, sounds riveting.” I can hear the sarcasm in Paige’s voice.
“It is, actually,” I answer honestly. Art isn’t Paige’s thing. I get it. But it’s everything to me.
“I was just calling to see what movie you want to see on Friday night.”
My insides twist. Sure, I’m excited about going home for the summer. I love seeing Mom, Dad and Paige, but it’s also hard for me to be back in Folsom. Memories of Tripp and my relationship linger at every corner. Not to mention the fact that he used to live down the street. Every time I see his old house the feelings that I work so hard at keeping down tend to rise to the surface.
Not that I’m in danger of ever running into him or anything. He and his mom moved near his brother right after I left for art school. I haven’t heard from him at all since he left. No one has. Even though it’s been three years, I still find myself shocked by it. I’m not sure if I expected to marry Tripp and live in a house with a white picket fence, two kids and a dog. Hell, we were only teenagers when we fell in love. But I didn’t expect it to end so abruptly with no warning at all. I mean, one minute everything seemed so great between us, and the next minute he’s breaking things off and telling me he’s moving away. Talk about being sideswiped.
“Hadley?” Paige’s voice breaks into my internal thoughts.
“Um…I don’t care. You pick.”
“Really?” Even without seeing her, I can picture the face of my best friend. I know she’s raising her eyebrows in a challenging look. “You’re going to trust me with that?”
I chuckle under my breath. “If you want to see one of your vampire action flicks, that’s fine with me.”
“You’re okay with not seeing a sappy romance, Hads?”
“At this point in my life, yes, I would actually prefer not to see a sappy romance.” Paige has always hated romance movies. Although, ever since she and Colt got together she’s been less adverse to them than before. The relationship with him has softened her. I often wonder when they’ll get married. I’m actually surprised they haven’t yet, but I think they’re both waiting until they finish college.
“What? Did things not work out with Brad?” Paige asks in a tone that tells me she’s not surprised.
“No,” I answer swiftly, hoping she’ll just let it go. I’m not in the mood for a lecture today.
“Seriously ?” She groans loudly into the phone. “What was wrong with him?”
I shrug, biting my bottom lip. A large brick building looms before me. “I’m at my class. I have to go.”
“Fine, but I want to hear all the details this weekend.”
“Okay.” Sighing, I end the call and shove my phone back into my pocket.
“Hey.” Brad stands in front of me, one hand in his pocket, his blond hair disheveled. “You coming to class?”
I nod, pressing my lips together. Then I step in sync with him as we walk toward the front doors of the building. There’s nothing wrong with Brad at all. He’s a nice guy and really good looking. On top of that, he loves art just as much as I do. And I know he really likes me. Honestly, he’s perfect for me.
Only he’s not Tripp.
It may have been years since Tripp and I broke up, but I can’t stop myself from comparing every other guy I meet to him. And no matter how great they are, for some reason they just never measure up.
“I had fun the other night,” Brad says as we enter the hallway and pass a group of students holding
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