♤♤JAKE'S POV♤♤I opened my eyes. She’s not Summer. Of course she’s not. Her face twisted.“Who the fuck is Summer? You asked if I said her name in the restroom. And now this?”“It’s no one.”“Bullshit.” She pushed at my chest. “I don’t believe you.”I tried to hush her. My hand covered her mouth. Her breath came fast and hot against my skin. Kat jerked her head, bit my hand. Then she slapped me. Her nails caught my cheek. I tasted blood. It tasted like relief. Maybe it was the rough play she said she liked. I tried to pin her down. Then she screamed,“Get the fuck off me! You’re sick—”I didn’t hear her. My pulse roared. My fingers slid from her wrists to her throat. Gentle at first. She gasped, eyes wide—maybe she thought it was part of the game. Maybe for a second she liked it. She moaned—a sharp, startled sound.Then I squeezed.“Jake—” She clawed at my forearms. Her feet knocked against the coffee table, sent a lamp crashing. She bucked under me, nails raking my shoulders.I kept
♤♤JAKE'S POV♤♤I blinked at Kat. The mirror behind her was cracked. Or maybe that was just my vision splitting. My throat felt raw when I forced the word out.“What did you just say?”Kat tilted her head, hair stuck to her neck with sweat. She looked more sober than I expected—her pupils wide but steady, her mouth still curled up in a beaming smile.She brushed her thumb across my jaw. Her voice soft, “I said what’s your address, Jake? Or do I have to drag it out of you myself?”My stomach turned, slow and sour. I tried to replay it in my head—what she’d actually said, what I thought I’d heard. It didn’t match up. Nothing matched up lately.“You didn’t—” I swallowed. The restroom stank. My reflection looked back at me like it knew I was going crazy. Really crazy. “You didn’t say anything else? I just… Did you say Summer’s name?”Kat’s smile froze. She blinked once—slow, puzzled—then her brows pinched. “Summer? Who’s Summer?”My pulse slammed into my ears. The club bass was gone—this w
♤♤JAKE'S POV♤♤A man in an apron came to wipe the soda pooling across the table. He didn’t even look at me as he cleaned. He just mumbled, “Sorry, sir,” as he dabbed napkins over the sticky mess.Tristan and Marcus laughed, boots scraping the floor as they made room for the man's mop. I didn’t move. I watched my hands instead. I watched how they shook slightly. Tristan flicked a fry at me. “Jake. Hey, Romeo. Lover boy. Wake the fuck up, dude. She’s coming over.”I almost didn’t hear him the first time. But then I looked up and she was approaching—the blonde from across the food court. She walked up like she’d been waiting for a signal that never came. Maybe my blank face was all the invitation she needed. Tristan smirked. Marcus whistled.Kian elbowed me. “Bro, do it. She wants you. Get your dick wet for once.”I almost said no. But the word got stuck behind Summer’s name, thick in my throat. The girl stopped at our table. She looked at me. Up close, she looked older. Twenty-five, t
♤♤JAKE’S POV♤♤Summer’s voice still echoed in my mind. Louder than anything else. Louder than the voices in my head telling me to let her go. How was I supposed to let her go?All of a sudden, Tristan’s laugh grated down my spine— too loud for the food court, too sharp for my head. I watched his mouth move, some joke about the blonde at the next table, but it didn’t stick. None of it did.A tray clattered behind me. A little kid squealed. Neon signs flickered overhead, throwing everything in that cheap, stale glow. I hated this mall. Hated the families. Hated the couples drifting past with sticky hands and soft smiles. Hated how every time I blinked I saw Summer instead.“…bro, you even listening?” Tristan snapped his fingers in front of my face.I blinked. The memory of Summer still didn’t fade.“What?”He rolled his eyes, kicked his boot against mine under the table. Beside him, Marcus and Kian stifled their smirks over sodas and half-cold fries. The blonde glanced our way again, th
☆☆SUMMER'S POV☆☆ The second Jake turned, I swear my heart almost gave out. He saw me. I was sure he saw me. But he ran like I was the last thing he ever wanted to see again. “Jake—wait!” “Summer!” Hayden’s voice cracked behind me. Jake didn’t stop. He didn’t. Why was he even here if he was going to run from me like this? “Summer—!” “Jake! Jake, wait up—please—” I tore across the sidewalk, nearly tripped over my own feet. Jake’s hood bounced with every step he took away from me. He was fast. He’d always been faster than me anyway. “Jake! Jake, please—wait—” He still didn’t stop. He cut between cars parked by the curb, slammed his palm against the hood of his matte-black Porsche—a billionaire’s son statement car that glared at me like he did. He yanked the driver’s door open and threw himself inside. I grabbed the passenger’s seat handle before he could lock it (half a second of pure stupid luck) Jake glared at me like I’d just dug my own grave. He said nothing. H
☆☆𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑’𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕☆☆Professor Priya’s voice drifted over the lecture hall—crisp, clear, every word slicing the hush like paper. She’s at the podium clicking through slides about neural circuits and decision fatigue: “the brain’s limited bandwidth,” “cost-benefit trade-offs,” “risk vs. reward.” All words I should care about.But the words wouldn’t stick. They slipped through me like water through a cracked cup. My mind’s gone rogue—skittering circles like a rat in a maze. I tried to focus. I really did. I gripped my pen tight enough to bruise my fingers, fixing my eyes on the slides flicking by.Who was that girl? What did she mean? How did she even know Hayden? Who was Hayden’s girl before me?The questions were a hook buried in my throat. She didn’t even say goodbye. She just dropped her bombshell and vanished like she was never real. Who was she, really?I shouldn't care at all. Maybe she was just trying to stir something inside me against Hayden. Whatever it was with Hayden