 by Nikki Ash.jpg)
Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 78016 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78016 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Our senior year, I promised my girl forever.
Forever, as it turned out, wasn't enough. She told me so in her actions. When she took a match to my life, burning it to ash.
I headed to LA with my band—Raging Chaos—like we always planned, while Kaylee went to college, taking my damaged heart with her.
Kaylee
When you love someone, you let them go. But what I did was so much worse.
Because instead of pushing him away, I shoved Braxton straight over the edge.
I’ve spent the past several years avoiding him, trying to make things right.
When my reputation has been dragged through the mud, and I’m given the opportunity to clean it up, I have no choice but to cross paths with him again.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: Like real life, the characters are far from perfect, make morally gray decisions, and deal with subjects that may be sensitive for some readers. If you are looking for a safe romance, this series is not for you. Trigger warnings (which contain spoilers) can be found on my website.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
PLAYLIST
“Villain”- Lily Rose
“Black”- Dierks Bentley
“Alone”- I Prevail
“Worship You”- Kane Brown
“Break Up in a Small Town”- Sam Hunt
“Like I Loved You”- Brett Young
“Rubberband”- Tate McRae
“You Broke Me First”- Tate McRae
“Heartless”- Kanye West
“Apologize”- Timbaland (feat. OneRepublic)
“Loyal”- Chris Brown (feat. Lil Wayne & Tyga)
“Used to Love You Sober”- Kane Brown
“Love the Way You Lie”- Eminem (feat. Rihanna)
“So Sick”- Ne-Yo
“I Hate Everything About You”- Three Days Grace
“Me & U”- Cassie
“Problem”- Natalia Kills
“History”- Olivia Holt
Listen to all my playlists here: Nikki Ash’s Playlists
Your gray eyes
Your sweet smile
You fucked me over
And now I wanna forget
- Braxton Lutz, Raging Chaos
CHAPTER ONE
BRAXTON
THE PRESENT: HIGH SCHOOL PRE-GRADUATION PARTY
“Tell me this isn’t real. Tell me you didn’t just fuck the captain of the goddamn football team in his bedroom... in his fucking bed.”
I step toward my girlfriend, my body vibrating with a mixture of pain and anger and confusion. When I received several texts from different people telling me what happened, I thought it was a sick joke, a misunderstanding, until I got on Instagram and found the post myself.
A picture of Kaylee in her bra and underwear lying on the bed. A selfie of the two of them—him not wearing a shirt and her still in her bra. And the last one... the one that hurt the most—them kissing. His goddamn lips on hers. Touching what’s supposed to be mine. The caption read: No better way to end high school than scoring with the cheer captain. #touchdown
“Tell me!” I bark, making her jump. Fresh tears well in her lids and fall over, coursing down her cheeks as if she’s the one who’s been hurt and betrayed. As if she isn’t the one who just destroyed everything. “Tell me the pictures are a joke.” I step toward the only girl I’ve ever loved, the only girl I’ve ever given my heart to, and palm the side of her face, needing to feel her soft skin for what I know will be the last time. Because I can forgive a lot of things, but I can’t forgive cheating.
“Kaylee,” I choke out. “Please, baby,” I beg, not wanting any of this to be real. Wanting to go back to my house, go to sleep, and wake up with all of this being nothing more than a fucking nightmare. “Tell me what I saw isn’t true.”
As I stare into the red-rimmed gray eyes of the girl I’ve spent the past ten months giving my heart to, I can’t help but wonder where the hell it all went wrong.
CHAPTER TWO
BRAXTON
SUMMER BEFORE SENIOR YEAR
“It’s so fucking hot out,” Gage says, dropping into a seat outside the coffee shop where Declan and I are already sitting and drinking our iced coffees. We have a bunch of papers strewn everywhere—lyrics, songs, sheets of music. The three of us, along with Camden—who’s out of town for the summer with his pop star sister who’s on tour—are in a band. I know, I know... Who hasn’t been in a band? Well, unlike most teenage bands, we’re actually damn good, and thanks to Camden’s family, who owns Blackwood Records, one of the largest record labels in the country, we’ll be getting signed after we graduate in June.
“It’s too damn hot,” Declan agrees. “I think I saw it’s going to be in the hundreds today.” He lifts the paper and reads over the most recent song I wrote. It’s called “Cheater” and is an ode to my piece-of-shit mother who cheated on my father, saying she wasn’t meant to be a mother or a wife, then walked out the door, never looking back.
“Fuck, it’s too hot to work on music.” Declan drops the paper and takes a sip of his coffee.
“It’s too hot to move,” Gage bitches. “Who in the hell can even think in this heat?”