Page 1 of Trust Me With Forever

Chapter One

Abby

Inearly groaned as I started to wake up. My head throbbed as if a million tiny needles kept stabbing my brain over and over again. Add in my dry mouth and feeling about a hundred years old, and I knew I had a hangover from hell.

Too bad I couldn’t remember how I’d gotten it.

After a deep breath, I finally forced my eyes open, hoping for some clue as to where the hell I was.

The room was mostly dark, with barely any light coming in through the curtains. But wait, whose curtains were those? They looked like some kind of hotel standard fare, an ugly pattern no one would dare buy themselves.

Add in the small table with two chairs, the blasting air conditioner, and the unfamiliar nightstand right next to my face, and it was clear that I wasn’t back at my family’s home in Starry Hills.

Or anywhere in Starry Hills, for that matter.

Something shifted behind me, and I froze. Wait, was that a soft snore? Yes, yes it was.

Damn.Had I really hooked up with a guy last night? One I didn’t remember?

I slowly rolled over to see who it was. But he had his back and rather wide shoulders to me. His hair was dark, maybe black, and tattoos covered his visible arm.

Tattoos that seemed strangely familiar.

The more I stared at them, the more dread pooled in my stomach.

Because I knew who they belonged to, and it most definitely shouldn’t be him.

With a screech, I jumped out of bed.

Rafael “Rafe” Mendoza jolted upright, looked around, and scowled at me. “What the fuck, Abigail?”

Then his eyes took in my shirt—well, it was technically his shirt—and he froze. My heart pounded as his gaze met mine. “Why are you wearing my shirt?”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “I don’t know,Rafael. We didn’t…me and you didn’t…did we?”

He ran his hand back and forth over his short hair. I did my best not to stare at his chiseled biceps, let alone his muscled chest, now in full view.

Okay, maybe I did peek and see he didn’t have much chest hair. Which I rather liked, because it would make licking his skin easier.

Woah, Abby. Not going to happen.

He finally replied, “I don’t know. Although why the hell are you in my bed anyway?”

“Your bed?” Something hit me, and I hugged myself harder. “Did you do this to get back at West?”

My eldest brother, Weston, had recently married Rafe’s much younger sister, Emmy. While the two guys had been best friends as children, they barely tolerated each other now.

And what better way to get back at West than to sleep with me?

Tears heated my eyes to think that Rafe, the guy I’d known since I was born, had used me that way.

Rafe jumped up, wearing only a pair of boxer shorts, and shook his head. “No, Abby. No, I would never do that. I can be an asshole sometimes, but I would never hurt you like that. I promise.”

Searching his gaze, I wanted to believe him. But believing in men had cost me my dream job, my future, and possibly my reputation, if the details ever came out.

Apart from my family, I viewed all men as potential betrayers.

Why would Rafe be any different?

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