Chapter 2

Confetti cannons went off above their heads. Ethan held up his phone, filming every second of the happy couple.

"Quinn and Chloe, together forever!"

Luke scattered rose petals beside them, practically shaking with excitement. "Congratulations, you two! Three years, and she's finally got that ring!"

Three years.

When Quinn and I had first started dating, Ethan and Luke used to tease me.

Ethan would ruffle my hair affectionately. "When someone proposes to you, I'm filming the whole thing. Every angle."

Luke would raise an eyebrow and grin. "Leave the confetti and rose petals to me. I'll make it a night to remember."

Now they'd given Chloe every last thing they'd promised me.

Quinn and I had been together for four years. He'd said he wanted to focus on football, so he'd never made our relationship public. We went to the same school but rarely saw each other, and the five of us didn't get together often either. Apart from Ethan, Luke, and Chloe, almost no one knew we were dating.

But he'd been with Chloe for three years too.

Even strangers on the sidelines knew more about their relationship than I did.

I was his actual girlfriend, and I was the one they'd kept in the dark for three whole years.

I wrapped my arms around myself and walked out of the stands in a daze.

Someone bumped into me. I fell beside the track, and a foot came down on the back of my hand.

A kind girl helped me up as I broke into a cold sweat from the pain.

She started chatting with me cheerfully.

"Are you okay? Everyone's rushing over to watch the proposal."

"You know, I've seen them together at a few games. They seemed pretty close, but I didn't realize they were getting engaged. I heard Quinn got invited to try out for an American football team in London. He's taking her with him soon."

"They're leaving together?"

"Yeah! I bet they'll get married in London. Isn't that romantic?"

She looked at them with open envy, then hurried back to join the excitement.

I gripped my aching, numb wrist and headed off campus.

London.

I'd wanted to go to London since I was a kid. There was a map of the city on my bedroom wall, a stack of travel guides in my nightstand, and a picture of the Thames as my phone wallpaper.

Everyone knew. Quinn included.

When I got accepted into an exchange program at the University of London junior year, I was so excited I broke Quinn's rule for the first time and went to see him.

"Quinn, I got into the London program. Will you come with me? I really don't want us to be apart."

He'd snapped at me for ignoring his rule, then frowned at me.

"Wren, I can't. Coach already lined up a tryout for me with a football team in Dallas. I've trained for four years for a chance like this. If I go to London now, all that work will have been for nothing."

"I love you. But I can't throw away everything I've worked for just to be with you."

When the five of us had dinner that evening, Chloe took my hand. "My biggest dream is to get married in London. If I could exchange rings with the man I love beside the Thames, I could die happy."

"Right, Wren? We're best friends—we even want the same things!"

I forced a bitter smile, then spent an entire week shut in my room, agonizing over what to do. I couldn't even eat.

In the end, I tore up my acceptance letter from London.

He had his dreams, I told myself. I couldn't be selfish. But I could move to his city.

So I slept three hours a night, working on my GPA and getting my applications together.

I wanted to go to Dallas.

After graduation, I wanted us to live in the same city, so we wouldn't have to be apart again.

Last month, I got accepted into a graduate program in Dallas. I hid the letter under my pillow, planning to surprise him on our date.

But now he'd changed his mind. He was flying to London with Chloe.

So he could go to London.

He just wouldn't give anything up for me.

I didn't remember getting back to my apartment. I'd spent the whole night in the rain, and now I was feverish and barely conscious, trapped in one nightmare after another.

When I opened my eyes, Quinn was watching me with concern.

He felt my forehead. "Your fever's down, Wren. How did you let yourself get this sick?"

Chloe crouched beside the bed, sounding close to tears. "Wren, thank God we came back to check on you. What if your fever had gotten worse?"

Ethan sounded almost accusing. "Wren, you know you can't handle your alcohol. Why did you drink so much the other night? Quinn went to so much trouble for this date, and you missed the whole thing."

Luke cleared his throat and joined in, pinning the blame on me.

"Yeah, Wren. We finally all rolled sixes, and Quinn waited at the field all day. When you didn't show because you'd blacked out, he was crushed."