☆☆SUMMER'S POV☆☆Hayden kissed me hard, teeth clashing, tongues slick and hungry. One hand palmed my breast, thumb brushing my tender nipple. The other fumbled at his sweatpants—I heard the low sound he made when his cock sprang free.I didn’t even know when I guided him to me—only that I needed it more than air. He slid the tip through my slick folds. I whimpered at the tease. I hated him for it. I loved him for it. He slid the tip again. I moaned. One brutal thrust—he buried himself to the hilt. My gasp died in his mouth. He swallowed it like it was his. The stretch burned but I loved the burn. I clung to his shoulders, nails sinking into his skin like I could hold myself together. He didn’t move at first. Just stayed deep, letting me feel the shape of him inside me. Then;He fucked me slow, mean—each thrust dragging pleasure so sweet it almost hurt. Each trust a reminder that I’d chosen this. That he owned this. That I’d ruined myself for him. I watched through the opposite mirr
☆☆SUMMER'S POV☆☆Dad said he was just checking up on me. He’d been trying my line but I wasn’t picking up and he called Jake. He wasn’t answering either. I told him my cellphone was broken.I missed him. I missed Keith. I missed Jake most of all—his laugh, his stupid protective questions, the way he used to look at me like I was good. I broke him. I broke everything.Hayden didn’t let me sit in it. He wouldn’t let me lock myself in that dark place where I felt Jake’s heartbreak like it was stitched under my ribs. He made me watch movies with him—stupid cartoons, then something sad about a dog dying. I cried so hard my throat hurt. I wasn’t crying for the dog.Hayden still wouldn’t let me cry for long. He’d wipe my tears away and feed me more ice cream. He’d stroke my hair and rest my head on his shoulder. By the time evening came, a new phone arrived for me. Hayden set it on the coffee table. I wasn’t sure I wanted to pick it up.He said, “Now you don’t have an excuse not to answer w
☆☆SUMMER'S POV☆☆I didn’t move. The snake card pressed sharp into my palm—my heartbeat was louder than the silence. My question hung in the air like a knife on a thread. Still… Hayden didn’t answer. His jaw ticked. “Summer. Give me the card.”I held the card tighter. “Tell me about your mother.”“You know her,” he said. “She’s back in California.”“Who is she?” I pushed. My voice was too calm. That scared me more than anything. “Tara Dylan? Why is JT talking about her like she’s someone else?” I paused. Then I said it. The words that seemed too heavy to utter. “I know you’re Jake’s half brother.”“I’m not surprised. Jake told you, didn’t he?” Hayden threw his hands in his hair, turning away. “Son of a bitch.” Then he looked at me. “You don’t need to know more than that. It’s actually not important.”I forced my voice out. “You don’t get to decide that for me.”He pulled back, just enough to look at me and my heart stuttered. His eyes—so dark, so tired—searched mine for something he c
☆☆𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑’𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕☆☆“Alone?” He repeated it like he’d never heard the word before. His hand found my cheek. His warmth spread through me, sending a shiver down my spine. “Hey, nugget… you don’t need to be alone right now. Why would you want that?”I flinched when his thumb stroked under my eye—a smear of salt I hadn’t felt falling. He caught every tear like it was currency.“You think I’d let you sit here and drown in that pretty head of yours? All alone? No, Summer. I’m going to take care of you. That’s what you need.”I shook my head, throat closing. “Please. Just—”Hayden’s mouth brushed my temple. “No. No more please. You don’t have to beg me for space I can’t give you.”His hands slid down my arms. He pulled me in until my forehead hit his chest, steady and solid and wrong. His arms wrapped around me in a warm embrace. I hated how I breathed him in–woody cologne, cigarette. And somehow, I felt a little better. His arms tightened around me.“You’re gonna eat,” he murmured i
☆☆SUMMER’S POV☆☆I didn’t remember leaving the penthouse. Or the elevator. Or the lobby where the concierge’s eyes caught on my teary face like I was something rotten dragged in from the gutter.I only remembered Hayden’s hand—the one that stayed on the small of my back the whole time. I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream. I wanted to run back and bang on Jake’s door and beg him to forgive me. But I didn’t.I just followed Hayden through the glass doors, out into the bright morning that felt like the end of the world. In my pocket, my phone buzzed. I slipped it out hastily.But when I looked at the screen, the ink blooming under the glass turned every call into a black smear. I wanted to believe it was Jake. I just wanted him to call me back despite everything. I would make amends. I’d be forever sorry if he wanted me to.Hayden’s car smelled like old leather and mint. He didn’t speak. Neither did I. His hand never left my thigh as he drove. His thumb drew lazy circles, soft enough to
☆☆SUMMER'S POV☆☆Jake’s voice sliced the air. “Choose. Right fucking now, Summer.” He punched the wall so hard I felt it in my bones. Choose, Summer. Choose. The word jammed a blade under my ribs and dared me to breathe. How do I fucking choose between my best friend and his brother?I loved Jake. I always had. He’d been my best friend since the day I stepped into Saunterville, wide-eyed and lonely, and he made the world feel soft. How do I bury that? I couldn’t. I just couldn’t let him go.And Hayden. God. Hayden. I was in love with him. Too deep into him to claw my way out now. How do I kill that? My lips parted. Nothing came out. The room blurred behind my tears—white walls, glass windows, Hayden’s breath burning my neck from behind.Jake took one broken step closer. His knuckles were scraped raw where he’d hit the wall—or maybe his own head, I didn’t know anymore. His eyes gleamed wet and red and wild. My heart dropped like a bomb.He was right. Hayden ruined everything he touche