Page 14 of Faking It With the Small-Town Bad Boy

Denying the ill feelings from surfacing, I slip out of my barstool and

head for the door without a parting word of goodbye. I don’t even

know if he says something as I’m leaving or not. I just know my jaw

is officially wired shut.

Shut almost as tight as the metal cage keeping my heart from feeling

anything ever again.

I drive home in the monotone hum of the classic truck, pulling off the

gravel road in front of the house, driving into the dead grassy knoll of

a field, and sobbing shamelessly under the shade of the willow tree

my ancestors planted here.

I feel them watching me now, laughing at the failure I’ve become, at

the rapid pace of decline that I’ve set myself up for. Ainsley has a

brighter future ahead, far away from this hell I’ve come to know as a

hometown. This morning I didn’t think Rally was that bad.

But now I remember why I haven’t been going into town.

TEMPTATION

Percy

I sit at the bar alone for what feels like hours, but in retrospect, it’s

only long enough for Storm and Reggie to finish their cigarette.

Julius always smokes two in one sitting, so he doesn’t resurface yet.

Pressing my face into my hands, I try to drown out the lasting

sensation that Leah Reese left on my soul as she stormed out of the

bar.

Everyone in town knows what happened to her and Ryan. They’ve

been together for over a decade, in their innocent teen years as high

school sweethearts. I almost recall that she was prom queen, but they

had the type of relationship that ensured he would be prom king

beside her. They were a package deal, and everyone knew that.

Hell, Farrah used to envy their relationship. Perhaps too much.

“Hey, bud,” Storm mutters, patting my shoulder. “Are you ready or

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