Page 2 of Wreckage

And me?

I was just there. A presence neither of them acknowledged unless forced to.

The moment our agreement was settled, I stood, eager to get away, but before I could so much as take a step, a blonde whirlwind swept into our space, smelling of too much perfume, and knocked against me. The movement made me stumble. I grabbed the arm of my chair to keep from toppling over. She draped herself over Troy with the ease of someone who had done it a hundred times before.

Amanda Reed.

His girlfriend. His perfect match in the big scheme of things. Beautiful. Popular. Sorority girl. Rich and let everyone know her daddy took care of her.

I watched as she ran manicured nails down Troy’s chest, her lips curving into a practiced smile that got her anything she wanted. “Baby,” she purred, her voice dripping with sweetness as she leaned down and pressed a lingering kiss to his lips.

Troy barely reacted.

Instead, he smirked, like he expected it, like it was his due. His hands slid over her hips, pulling her quickly onto his lap like she was some possession meant to be displayed. Amanda let out a small giggle, running a hand through his hair.

I forced my eyes away.

Not because I cared.

Not because it affected me.

It shouldn’t have.

But the sight of them—the way she could exist in his space withoutthe crushing weight of cold indifference—felt like salt in an open wound I pretended wasn’t there.

I clenched my fingers around my latte, forcing myself to look elsewhere, anywhere, only to find my gaze colliding with Adrian’s.

His green eyes were unreadable, but he had been watching me.

I swallowed hard, looking away quickly, feeling inexplicably exposed as my cheeks heated.

“Are we still on for tonight?” Amanda’s voice broke the tense silence. She curled into Troy, tilting her head at him, oblivious to how the air shifted between us.

“Yeah,” Troy answered, his hand skimming over her thigh. “Wouldn’t miss it.”

A frat party. Of course. I knew it was happening. Hell, it happened several times a week. How Troy managed to get his homework done was beyond me, but he seemed to be doing just fine in that department. If someone approached me and said they were paid to do it, I wouldn’t bat an eyelash. It seemed like a Troy thing to do.

He had always been the center of attention, the one everyone wanted to be around, even if it meant you got to do his homework. Adrian, too, in his own way. But god, he was a nightmare.

I, however, didn’t belong in either of their worlds. And I didn’t want to.

The weekend couldn’t come fast enough.

I just wanted to go home, get through the visit, and return to my life. I’d promised my mom on her deathbed that I’d let Steve take care of me. So far, I was surviving it. Steve was easy to get along with, and I knew why she’d fallen in love with him. He was a father figure to me, and while I didn’t get along with his sons, I adored him.

If I had known what was coming, I would have savored those last few days of normalcy.

Chapter 2

Adrian

Ihated her.

I hated how she sat in the student lounge, her dark hair falling over one shoulder in that braid she always wore, her blue eyes cast down at some book while she waited for us, utterly detached from the world. From me. From Troy. From anything that made her human. She had this way of making herself invisible to the world, of slipping into the background as if she wasn’t meant to be seen in the same space as the rest of us. And maybe she wasn’t.

But I noticed her.

I always noticed her.

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