She’s cute and shy, and I notice the way she tucks her hair behind her ear while talking with Trey. Dex huffs every few minutes when she gives Trey a flirtatious giggle.

“Seriously, switch seats with me?” Dex leans forward, whispering in my ear.

“No way, man,” Grant answers for me, placing his arm around my shoulders.

“Shithead,” Dex sighs, leaning back in his seat.

Trey and Kailey talk non-stop on the way, while Brady and Sadie start arguing about whether or not to pass a truck. Sadie thinks he shouldn’t, but of course, Brady does it anyway. Just when you think the boy is whipped, he stands up for himself by passing a truck on a highway. Seriously? Sadie rolls her eyes, letting out an annoyed sigh and staring out the window.

“It’s so pretty here,” Sadie remarks. “I can’t believe you were lucky enough to grow up in this area.”

“Yeah, it’s kind of amazing. My parents moved here right after they got married. My dad was a ski bum and my mom was a waitress.” I lean forward and Grant’s hand goes to the small of my back, rubbing circles on the exposed skin above my waistline.

“What did you say your parents do?” Brady asks. Grant instantly stops moving his hand.

“They own a few restaurants,” I tell them. There’s no point in telling them that my dad owns half the restaurants in town. No one else really knows either. My dad keeps it under wraps, making the employees believe they’re owned by different corporations. He says if people knew the truth, the restaurants wouldn’t try hard enough to win the customers over. That they’d think if customers were dissatisfied, they would just go to another restaurant that’s most likely owned by my dad as well.

“That’s cool,” Brady says. “A ski bum turned business man.”

Grants hand moves back to my shoulder. I nuzzle into his neck, giving it a soft kiss. I start to hear Dex lightly snoring and decide to relax into Grant before I get home.

The gut-wrenching fear that I might run into Jason or someone else from my past terrifies me, but I know that I have to face them at some point. I can’t hide out at Western for the rest of my life. Not to mention, I won’t let Jason do that to me. I already let him win when I dropped out of school, moved halfway across the country, and stopped talking to all my friends. As much as the humiliation makes me want to bury myself in a huge hole, it also makes me furious. I wish I could ring Jason’s neck until he crumbles to the ground, begging for mercy and saying he’s sorry. The probability of that happening is unlikely, but the thought brings a smile to my face.

And then there’s Beth. I asked Sam to look her up, and she texted me the number she got from another mutual friend. Sam told them some lie about how she had met up with her one night and was too drunk to type her number into her phone. I laughed at Sam, saying she didn’t have to come up with something so exaggerated, but of course, Sam said it was believable. I haven’t decided if I want to call her yet. Talking to her still might bring back memories I don’t want to fully relive. Not to mention, she might not want to be my friend anymore after how I treated her, and I couldn’t blame her for that.

If those issues aren’t enough, I haven’t told my parents about Grant yet. They met him at Christmas and liked him then, but he wasn’t my boyfriend. I have no idea how they’ll take this news, especially since Jason and Grant appear similar in their extracurricular activities. Grant has shown me though that just because two people may have common interests, it doesn’t mean they’re anything alike. I only hope my parents can see what I see in Grant. He can be a little rough around the edges, but man, the boy has the capacity to love. It takes him awhile to allow people in, but when he does, it’s amazing how quickly he acclimates to it.

If I were to compare the Grant I met a few months ago to the Grant that sits next to me now, I’d say they’re polar opposites. I never would’ve thought he was capable of the love he gives me. He makes me believe in the possibility of a future, and maybe even a happily ever after.

I glance over and see beads of sweat on his forehead and notice that his knuckles are white from clutching the door handle. A smile crosses my lips as I watch this strong man, who could hang by one arm from a cliff, afraid of the mountain roads of Colorado.

“You okay?” I whisper in his ear, cuddling closer.

“Yeah,” he says unconvincingly, staring at the back of Brady’s head with a straight face.

I cuddle up to him some more, putting my head on his shoulder, and he reluctantly puts an arm around me. Despite where we’re headed and who might be there, at this very moment I’m at total peace with who I’m with and where I am.

Chapter 1 5

Grant

If I thought the hills of Pennsylvania were steep, the mountains of Colorado are just plain scary. Brady weaves through the large masses with ease, while I white knuckle the sides of the car. Peering outside the window, my stomach feels sick as I stare down at the slope of the mountain with a metal guardrail that wouldn’t keep a dog from falling over. Trucks speed down the hills and crawl up the inclines. The fact that they have steep gravel inclines for the trucks to go up if they can’t stop scares the crap out of me. The two-hour drive feels more like eight, and I know I’m sweating like I just ran a marathon.

“Relax, it’ll be fine,” Jessa leans in, kissing me on the neck.

I look at her nervously and she belts out a laugh.

My hand hurts from gripping the doorframe by the time we make it to her house. Jessa’s parents walk out to meet us, and this is the first time it crosses my mind that I’m here as her boyfriend, not as a friend. The sweat from the car ride starts dripping down my face with the fear of meeting her parents as her boyfriend. They could hate me and want her to stay away from me. Shit, how did I not think about this before? I should’ve brought flowers or candy to sweeten them up.

Jessa runs to give her mom a fierce hug, then turns to her dad and does the same. The relationship she has with her family is completely foreign to me. She’s such a loving person; I wonder what I did to deserve her.

Her parents hug Brady and Sadie and, following a little behind, Trey and Dex move to shake hands with them. Brady tosses the keys to Trey so he can drive Kailey to where she needs to go, and Jessa gives Kailey her cell number, instructing her to call her during the week so we can all hook up. Trey slyly gives Jessa a thumbs up behind Kailey’s back. I think he really does have something for this girl because I’ve never seen him like this before.

“Dad, Mom, you remember Grant.” Jessa wraps her hand in mind and brings me closer to them, clearly displaying the fact that we’re together.

“It’s nice to see you again, Mr. and Mrs. Harrison.” I offer them my hand and they each take it in turn, looking at me skeptically as though they had no prior knowledge we were dating.

“You too, Grant,” her mom says, nudging Jessa’s dad with her elbow when he doesn’t say anything.

“Yeah, Grant, nice to see you,” her dad finally states while his eyes remain on our entwined hands.

I grab our bags and we all venture into the house. It’s amazing, with high, vaulted ceilings and breathtaking views of the mountains. Mrs. Harrison leads us toward the bedrooms so we can drop off all of our stuff. After we leave Brady, Sadie, and Dex to their rooms, Mrs. Harrison turns down another hallway.

“Here you go, Grant,” she says, opening the door to a nice room with a queen bed. Jessa plops herself on the mattress.

“Thanks, Mom,” she tells her, and I continue to stand in the middle of the room, caught between Jessa on the bed and her mom in the doorway. I know from the glare across her mom’s face that this isn’t going to happen.