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Both of them twist to face me. They look guilty as hell.

“Tell me what?” I growl.

Ryan blurts first, “Connor—”

Connor shoves him against the plywood back wall of the Ring The Bell booth. “Shut up, Hansen!”

“I’m telling her, dickhead!”

“I said shut up, Hansen!” Connor grabs Ryan by the shirt and raises a fist like he’s going to punch him in the face.

“Stop it!” I bark. “You two assholes are up to something. Tell me what’s going on, or so help me I swear I will never speak to either of you ever again.” I fold my arms across my chest.

Connor hangs his head and releases his grip on Ryan’s shirt.

Ryan frowns at Connor. “Locking you in the toilet was Connor’s idea.”

DING!
Another footballer rings the bell on the other side of the booth’s back wall.

Anger swells inside me. My eyes narrow. “Is that true, Connor?”

He runs his hand through his hair. “They weren’t
really
gonna do it. I told them just to scare you a bit.”

“
Scare
me?” I suddenly put 2 and 2 together. “What, so you could come
save
me?” The very idea disgusts me beyond reason.

“Yeah,” he mutters. “I may have been a little bit drunk when I cooked up the idea during graduation earlier.”

I narrow my eyes and scowl at him. I don’t think I’ve ever hated him as much as I do right at this moment. He
tricked
me into kissing him on that ferris wheel. I’m ashamed that I fell for his stupid scam. “You really
are
The Con Man, aren’t you?”

He chuckles. “It seemed like a foolproof idea at the time.”

“Who’s the fool now, Con
Scams
?”

He smirks guiltily but says nothing.

“This is a new low, Connor. Even for you. That thing almost tipped over! What if it had! What if it spilled all over me! Did you think about that? You didn’t, did you! Oh!!” I stamp my foot. “You are the biggest asshole in history! Do you know that? You just
ruined
grad night for me!! I hate you, Connor Hughes! You make me sick!” I spin around and storm off. I don’t want to be here anymore.

I’d rather be lonely at home.

I never should’ve come to grad night.

What a mistake.

Chapter 14

CONNOR

GRAD NIGHT, 2008.

4:00am.

Electra walks fast across the grass toward the parking lot in her sexy ass white dress. The grad night carnival is far behind us.

I run to catch up, right on her heels. “Wait up, Electra! Let me explain!”

She ignores me.

“Please, you gotta give me a chance.” I’m begging. I don’t care. I know I fucked up. I went too far this time. “Damn it, would you let me explain?!”

She stops suddenly, her back to me. “This better be good, Connor.”

I step in front of her.

Even with her braces and her glasses, she’s so fuckin beautiful it kills me. Her lips are plump and demand to be sucked. For four years, I tried everything I could think of to be friends with her. She was never interested. She always pushed me away. But I fuckin
need
her. No woman has ever made me crazy like this. No woman has ever consistently blown me off like this either. This is my last chance. It’s now or never. “I just, I don’t know. I thought if I did something nice for once, you’d talk to me like a normal person instead of your enemy.”

“Why didn’t you say that in the first place!”

I laugh. “You really think if I’d’ve asked you to ride the ferris wheel
before
the toilet thing you would’ve said yes?”

She stares at me.

I have no idea what she’s thinking. But I feel any chance I have slipping away. It’s written all over her face. “Can we just forget this ever happened and start over?”

“Start
over
? And pretend the last four years of you being an obnoxious ass never happened?” She laughs in my face. “Not on your life.”

Her words stab my heart. It hurts so bad my walls go up. I deal the only way I know how. By being cocky as all fuck. I grin at her like us fuckin is the only way outta this moment. It’s my go-to move. I’ve closed every girl I’ve ever fucked with this grin. Sure, it never worked on Electra before, but I’m desperate. “You totally want me. You’ve
always
wanted me.”

Her face sours, but she’s still damn gorgeous. “I’ve
never
wanted you.
Connor
. You must think I’m pretty stupid if you think I’m going to let myself become yet another notch on your bedpost.” She folds her arms across her cute little chest like she always does. Only this time, I can see her delicate collar bones and shoulders in her low cut white dress, and they’re the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. “The only reason you want me is because you never
had
me,
Connor.
We both know that if I was dumb enough to have sex with you, you’d get what you’ve wanted all along, and you’d move on. Just like you did with every other unsuspecting girl you’ve fucked. Tell me I’m wrong.”

I want to tell her that if I got her I’d never let go. I want to tell her that the only reason I fucked any other girl is because she wouldn’t give me the time of day. More than anything, I want to tell her I
love
her. But that’s fuckin stupid. How can I love her? The only time she ever talks to me is when she’s yelling at me or cursing me the fuck out. It doesn’t make any sense, but I
do
love her. I don’t care how stupid it sounds. I
have
to tell her. Here goes nothing. “I—”

The hateful look on her face stops me cold.

I try to get the words out, but they’re frozen in my throat.

Fuck. I can’t do it. Not when she’s this pissed.

She smirks at me. It’s the hottest fuckin smirk I’ve ever seen. “That’s what I thought. I’m just another notch for you. But I’ve got news for you, Connor
Screws
. You will
never
catch me. I will
always
get away. After everything that you’ve done, I will
never
be one of your notches.”

That’s when she turns away from me and walks out of my life forever.

And so begins the worst night of my entire life.

I pull my Marlboros out of my leather jacket and jam one in my mouth before lighting it. I’m gonna go find Hansen and beat some sense into that fucknut for ruining my plan. I don’t give a shit if we’ve been friends since first grade.

He just fucked me in the ass on this one.

I’m not gonna take this shit lying down.

<<<<<<<>>>>>>>

CONNOR

The flask I snuck in at the beginning of grad night is almost empty. I wish I hadn’t drunk so much of it so early. I was toasty during the graduation ceremony, but now I’m dry. I gulp the last shot’s worth of whiskey. It’s not enough to get wasted, but that’s probably okay. I don’t wanna be sloppy when I kick the shit out of Ryan fuckin Hansen. That cock jockey knows how to fight. After I beat his ass, I’ll bail on this stupid fuckin carnival and go find more liquor.

I shoulder past a pack of kids laughing in front of the toilets. I hate those blue fuckin toilets.

It takes a half hour of searching to finally find Hansen. He’s by himself at one of the game booths, throwing baseballs at metal milk bottles. He looks as miserable as I feel. It doesn’t mean I’m gonna show this twat knocker any mercy.

I come up right behind him and shove him against the low counter of the booth. He folds forward and knocks baseballs everywhere.

“What the fuck?!” he shouts.

I barely notice the woman running the booth. She backs away afraid.

When Hansen turns around, I shove his chest and he sits down on the counter. “Why the fuck did you tell her, you dumbfuck?!”

He plants his boot in my crotch, missing my balls by an inch, and kicks back so hard I stumble backward. “Because you’re a fucking douchebag. That’s why.” He stands up.

I regain my footing and notice kids circling us, waiting for a fight. I ignore them. “
I’m
the douchebag?! You fucked up my plan! It worked perfectly! I kissed her on the ferris wheel, for fuck’s sake! If you hadn’t told her, everything would’ve been fine!”

“You
kissed
her?”

“Yeah, I fuckin kissed her!” I want to be kicking his ass right now, but he’s my best friend. “A better question is, who the fuck told you about my plan? Was it Bates? It
had
to’ve been Bates. That fuckin tool doesn’t know how to keep his fuckin mouth shut.” As pissed as I am at Hansen, I’d rather be pissed at Ben Bates than him. Ryan has always been there for me. He was there for me the time I…
I block the thought. I can’t think about that shit right now.

“You fucking
kissed
her?” Hansen says, missing everything I just said.

That’s when I figure it out. I’m suddenly so mad I can’t think straight. He fuckin likes her. The idea of my best friend liking the one girl I want more than any other on this planet and then he goes and
sabotages
the
one
shot I had with her after four fuckin years makes me want to murder him and everyone in sight. “You like her, don’t you?” My words are angry fists and elbows.

Hansen doesn’t answer. He just stares at me.

I get right in his face. “Tell me you don’t. TELL ME YOU DON’T FUCKIN LIKE HER!!” I
need
for him not to like her. If he does, I don’t know what I’m gonna do. My world is collapsing around me.

He bumps my chest with his. “Fuck you, man. I don’t have to tell you shit.”

I smash my palm into his shoulder. “TELL ME YOU DON’T FUCKIN LIKE HER!!”

Hansen shakes his head like I’m shit. He backs up a step, not because he’s afraid, but because he’s figured it all out. “Why do you care, Connor? I thought you hated Electra. All you do is treat her like shit. Why? Why are you so obsessed with her?”

Losing it. “I DON’T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT HER!!”

He snorts a hateful laugh. “Bullshit. You’ve liked Electra since you saw her freshman year. All you ever talk about is Electra. No matter how many girls you fuck, you talk about Electra. I’m sick of fucking hearing you whine about Electra and then I have to watch you treat her like shit. She doesn’t deserve it, man. You had your shot. For four years, I held back because you said she was off limits. Now I know why. If you couldn’t have her, you didn’t want
anyone
to get her. Guess what? I’m sick of watching you fuck it all up. She deserves someone who won’t treat her like shit. She deserves someone who isn’t a piece of shit like you, Connor. I don’t even know why I’m friends with you. You’re a loser. I hope you end up drunk in a ditch somewhere because that’s where you’re headed. Good luck with your life, dumbfuck.”

All the fight has gone out of me. I’m so confused I think I’m going to die. My whole world stopped making sense the second Electra Warmoth walked away. Now my whole world is imploding around me as my best and only true friend gives me the blow off.

“Now if you’ll fucking excuse me,” Hansen says, “I’m going to find her and apologize for your sorry fucking ass.”

My heart stops. Fear drowns me.

Ryan Hansen is a great guy. If anyone has a shot with Electra Warmoth, it’s him. Fuck. I’m going to die.

<<<<<<<>>>>>>>

CONNOR

Desperation floods my veins. I sprint after Hansen, who is almost at his car in the school parking lot. “Where the fuck are you going!” I shove him into the back fender of the primer gray ’72 Camaro his dad helped him restore last summer. The one
I
helped him restore. I was at his house with him and his dad every fuckin day. Their house was the only place I could go where I wasn’t miserable. Right now I hate Ryan and his dad and his house and his fuckin car more than I’ve ever hated anything.

Ryan recovers, leaning over the trunk of the Camaro. He elbows me in the stomach, knocking the wind out of me.

I shouldn’t have drunk any of that whiskey.

He spins around and clocks me in the chin.

I fall on my ass.

“Stay there, you piece of shit,” Ryan growls.

I stare at him.

This is the saddest night of my entire life.

No, it’s the second saddest…

I’m about to fall to pieces.

Ryan gets in the Camaro and revs the engine before backing out of the space. He rolls his window down. “You should sit there until you sober up and figure out why you’re such a complete idiot, Connor. I’m telling you as a friend. Why would you be such a dick to someone you
like
? You need help, man. Get some counseling or something. If you don’t, you’re gonna ruin every relationship in your life.” He drives off.

Speechless, I choke on his exhaust, staring at the back of his car.

All I can think is he’s going to steal Electra from me. I stumble to my feet, already running for my motorcycle. I hop on and start the engine, not bothering with my helmet.

If Ryan gets to her first, I’m going to lose it.

His car is way down at the end of the street when I catch air coming out of the parking lot. My bike wobbles when I hit the ground. I almost lay it down, but manage to recover. I’ve ridden drunk before. I’ll be fine. I twist the throttle and rocket after Ryan. I catch him at a stoplight and pull up on his left, between his Camaro and an SUV.

He rolls his window down. “You should park your bike and walk home, dumbass. You’re drunk.”

“You should turn around and go home,
dumbass
. You don’t even know where she lives.” I sound like I’m twelve.

“Janice Wang told me.”

“Who’s Janice Wang?”

Ryan shakes his head. “How can you spend so much fucking time obsessing about a girl and you don’t even know who her friends are?”

I panic. “How do you know so much about her? Have you been stalking her? Have you been following her home like a stalker? Are you a fuckin stalker, Hansen? A creeper? A fuckin—”

The car behind him is honking. The light must’ve already turned green.

“Janice told me, dickhead. I asked her tonight after I told her about your genius plan and how I needed to apologize for
you
, you fucking lunatic. Go home.” His Camaro rumbles as he eases up to the speed limit.

I crank my throttle until I catch up and pace beside his window. “Turn around, man!” I yell over the wind.