Charlotte J Cowan
Need You
The Unrequited Series: Book 1
Copyright © Charlotte J Cowan 2016
This book is protected under the Copyright Act. No reproductions without expressed written permission from the author. All rights reserved.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people living or dead, events or locations is purely coincidental.
First published October 2016
Editor: Abbie Lee
Duckman Proofreading
www.duckman-proofreading.com
Cover Designer: FrinaArt
ISBN:
Acknowledgements:
Firstly I’d like to thank my family for supporting me along this journey, for encouraging me to pursue my dreams, for giving me the space and time to write when I needed to write, and for just being awesome. I couldn’t have done it without you xx
My wonderful editor and her team of beta readers: Abbie Lee at Duckman Proofreading. Abbie’s exceptional skills and hard work have helped to make this book amazing.
And my best bishes. You know who you are. Your support and advice have been invaluable. I love our random Instagram chats and ridiculous hashtags, and even though we are an entire ocean apart, we are #bestbishesfolyfe.
Thank you x
Table of Contents
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
X.
XI.
XII.
XIII.
XIV.
XV.
XVI.
XVII.
XVIII.
XIX.
XXI.
XXII.
XXIII.
XXIV.
XXV.
XXVI.
Epilogue
About the author
Connect
I.
Every single pair of eyes in the hall was focused on me. My chest was constricting and I couldn’t breathe, no matter how much I gasped for air. This was not happening. It had to be a joke. A sick, twisted, really lame joke. And it wasn’t funny. Maybe he had been hit in the head too hard at football practice.
“It’s not working, B.” Chace shrugged his shoulders and gave me a weak smile.
“What do you mean?” How could it not be working now after two incredible years? “I don’t understand.” I sniffed back the tears and swallowed the lump in my throat. I wouldn’t cry. Not in front of everyone.
“I need to be single for a while,” he said, hitching his backpack up higher and glancing over my shoulder.
“Single? But…” I couldn’t help it. A sob escaped my lips as I felt my world crumble around me.
“Look, I really need to focus on my studies. We’re starting senior year next year. It’s important. You know how it is, Bailey.”
No, I really didn’t. We were two weeks away from the end of the year. Then it would be Christmas and after that, we were meant to be going on a month long trip up the coast to relax before starting senior year. There was nothing to study. At least not for the next two months. “But Christmas and our holiday? How can you do this to me? Please, Chace. I don’t understand what happened. I thought things were perfect.”
“I just…” Chace sighed, running a hand through his tousled, brown hair. “I don’t love you, B.”
And that was it. He walked off leaving me standing there in complete shock. I didn’t even get a chance to say anything else. Not that I could have formed a coherent sentence.
After two happy years, it was over. Just like that.
My head hurt. My heart hurt. My stomach rolled. I was going to throw up. I lunged for the bathrooms across the hall and slumped down into an empty cubicle. The tears fell freely. There was no stopping them. He had completely shattered my heart with just four words.
Growing up, I had never been one to feed into those cliché lines like everything happens for a reason or what goes around comes around that my mother lived by. Fate, destiny, true love. I thought they were all rubbish until I met Chace Stephens.
He was every girl’s dream guy. Tall, dark and handsome. He was friendly, funny, smart and popular. He was gorgeous. He had blue eyes that could just suck you in and arms that you just wanted to have wrapped around you. But he wasn’t conceited or vain. He didn’t act like he was better than anyone else. Everyone loved him, and so did I.
Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that he would ever be interested in someone like me. But I was wrong.
The creak of the bathroom door followed by the click of heels and the unmistakable scuff of runners on the tiled floor alerted me to Christina and Indie’s arrival.
“Bailey, come on. Get up.” Christina reached out her hands to help pull me to my feet. I shook my head. I didn’t want to get up. I wanted to curl up in a ball and cry until the tears ran out. “We saw what happened out there. Come on.”
“Everyone saw what happened out there,” Indie added. Trust her to be brutally honest.
“Indie! Not helping.” Christina snapped at her as she tugged on my hands again. “Let’s clean you up. You’re a mess.”
We had been best friends since we were eight years old. She was the first girl to talk to me on the playground when I moved to town. The fact that we were so different didn’t matter to us. She came from a wealthy family with a big house and a country club membership.
I did not.
My father skipped out on my mother when I was a baby. I can’t remember him at all. My mother was what you would call...unique, a free spirit. She didn’t believe in routine or rules, or staying put for that matter. In the first eight years of my life, we moved fifteen times before settling here in the small town of Blackhill. My mother fell in love with this town and its quiet streets and friendly atmosphere. The population barely grazed eight thousand people.
I let the girls pull me to my feet and over to the counter. Indie wet some paper towel to dab on my eyes and Christina dug around in her bag for what I assumed was makeup.
Christina had everything I always wanted. And it wasn’t the money. I couldn’t care less about the money but she had stability. She had parents who had rules to protect and keep her safe. She had friends. Things I had never had before. I grew up known as the child of a gypsy—carefree and no rules. You learn from your mistakes is what my mother always told me. Because we always moved around, no one ever took the time to get to know me or befriend me. I was always the outcast, the strange girl who didn’t fit in, the girl with the mother who wore too much jewellery. When Christina declared us best friends that first day on the playground, I couldn’t have been happier. I found myself morphing into her as we grew older and finally being accepted by her group of friends. By Indie. By Chace.
Chace. He was the most popular boy in that group. In the whole school. He was good looking and charming and swept me off my feet. Things were shy and awkward at first. I’d never really had friends before, only Christina. Then, once we got to high school, Indie as well. I’d certainly never had a boyfriend but Chace made me feel comfortable. He took me on dates to the movies and to the fair. He met my mother and swept her off her feet as well. She thought the world of him. And now it was over.
All so he could study when it was summer holidays.
The tears spilt over again before I had a chance to stop them. “How could he suddenly stop loving me? What changed overnight?” I cried to the girls.
“I don’t know. I can’t answer that,” Christina murmured, while Indie just shoo
k her head.
“Everything was fine last night. Well, I thought it was. He came over for dinner and a movie like he does every Sunday. He spoke with my mum for ages. Everything was normal. I don’t—” I sniffed again, trying to control the tears. “—I don’t get it.”
The girls sat with me in the bathroom through homeroom and our first class, not caring at all that they were missing school. They were the best friends I could have asked for. I eventually stopped crying but no matter how hard they tried to fix me up, it was impossible to hide the redness and puffiness of my eyes.
The downside to being Chace’s girlfriend—well, now ex-girlfriend—and Christina’s best friend was the attention that you attracted. All morning, everywhere I went, people were talking and whispering behind my back. Half of the students didn’t even bother to hide the fact they were gossiping about me.
I couldn’t handle it any longer. I skipped the last period before lunch and ran to my car. I was grateful to my mother for allowing me to drive myself that morning. Usually, she would drive me.
I was trying to pull myself together when a knock on my window startled me enough to stop me crying. Maybe if I went home and went to sleep, I’d wake up and find this was all a nightmare. A second tap ripped me out of my thoughts. I looked out the window into the bright green eyes of Ryder Jones. Uhm?
Why was he at my car knocking on my window? I stared at him, my mouth hanging open in surprise. Ryder Jones didn’t speak to me. Ever. Ryder Jones didn’t talk to anyone unless it was to tell them to piss off.
He motioned for me to wind my window down but I didn’t. I couldn’t function. Ryder Jones, the school’s most desirable bad boy, was standing at my car. I couldn’t breathe. What did he want?
He rolled his eyes, yanked my door open, and crouched down so he was at my level.
“I saw what that arsehole did in there this morning. You okay?” he asked. His jaw was tense and his eyes were burning with anger. My eyebrows shot up so far I was sure they had left my head. He was asking if I was okay. Why? He shouldn’t have cared about my personal drama.
“Bailey?” He reached out and wiped a tear from my cheek that I hadn’t realised was still falling. I still couldn’t move. All I could think was: Ryder Jones just touched me. He touched me. Oh my God.
“Look, Chace is a douche. You don’t need him. You’re better than that. You need to show him that. Nothing will hurt him more than knowing he hasn’t broken you. I can help you.” He winked at me, but I just blinked back, confused.
It couldn’t be real. Ryder Jones didn’t talk to girls. They threw themselves at him. But there he was. Talking to me. I was most definitely not throwing myself at him. In fact, I was still staring at him open mouthed like a fish. He laughed and, oh, it was a glorious sound. I swear I heard a harp playing a tune and the light brighten when he smiled.
“So anyway, think about it. We’ve got all summer to work on it.” All summer to work on what? He ran a hand through his curly brown hair before asking, “Have you got a phone?”
A phone? Of course, I have a phone. What teenager doesn’t these days? He rolled his eyes again when I didn’t respond. He reached across me into my car, his shirtsleeves pulling up slightly to reveal the scattered tattoos on his arm, and grabbed my phone from where it was resting on the dashboard. I watched as he called a number and handed it back to me with a smirk.
“Now you have my number. Call me if you want to get payback. I know I do.” He stood up and closed my door without another word and strutted toward the school, leaving me paralysed and staring after him.
I started my car and headed home baffled by Ryder’s offer and unsure what to make of it. It was strange that he’d approached me in the first place but even stranger that he wanted to get payback. For what? I couldn’t understand. But I knew one thing. I wasn’t a vindictive person. Chace broke up with me for reasons unknown and I wasn’t about to stoop to his level for a little revenge.
I sought comfort and support from my wonderful friends and avoided everyone else for the next couple of days. Christina was amazing. She became my supplier of ice cream and peanut butter, even spending nights curled up in my bed watching sappy, romantic movies. I’m a sucker for punishment.
The few times I came across Chace in town, on those rare occasions I ventured out of the house, he looked the other way and pretended he didn’t see me. Maybe because I was a blubbering mess with my tangled hair in a bun, tear stained cheeks and puffy red eyes. I was not looking my best if I was honest. But our breakup didn’t seem to affect him. At all. He was laughing and joking with his mates at the ice cream shop like nothing had happened, looking all gorgeous with his tanned skin and golden brown hair, lightened by the sun. He was happy without me, and that just made me miss him more.
I called Christina to tell her I would not be going on the road trip with them now. I couldn’t face Chace. Another month with him would kill me.
Christina begged and pleaded before calling in reinforcements in the form of Indie.
“Don’t let him ruin your fun,” they argued.
“The girls are right, sweetheart. You were all excited for this trip. Don’t let Chace ruin it for you.” My mother even sided with them. So after much arguing and sulking on my part, to which they ignored, I agreed to still go on the road trip.
II.
Christmas came and went quietly. We’d never been a family to throw a big celebration for anything really, so my mother and I just spent the morning lounging at the beach soaking up the sun and the afternoon on the sofa watching It’s a Wonderful Life and classic eighties movies. It was our tradition. Mum loved watching old movies and we’d done this every year since I could remember. I loved it too, mostly because picturing my mum growing up in the eighties with huge hair, big hoop earrings and leg warmers was hilarious and not at all like her now.
I kept checking my phone for a text from Chace. Anything. But there was nothing. Christina and Indie stopped by for a few minutes to exchange gifts between visiting their families. I was glad that my mum and I never celebrated and that it was just the two of us. Watching Indie and Christina both rush from one grandparent’s house to the next for huge meals was crazy.
“We will pick you up in the morning. About 7 a.m.,” Christina said as she was leaving, the photo album I bought her under her arm.
I smiled and thanked her again for the Chanel handbag that she had bought me. I hated it when she spent so much money on gifts for me because I could never even dream of being able to afford something like that for her but she would always argue that money didn’t matter.
I wasn’t looking forward to the road trip at all. A whole month with Chace. Even though I’d not seen him for a couple of weeks, the pain was there. Just the thought of seeing him brought tears to my eyes. But I could never have imagined how many more tears were to come.
It was on the road trip when it happened. The worst thing ever. The most shocking thing. The Betrayal.
Knowing how unreliable Christina and Indie were with time frames, I decided I would be ready to leave at 8.30 a.m. even though Christina had said 7 a.m. I still had to wait another thirty minutes for them to pick me up. Honestly, it was a miracle they made it to school on time most days.
Things were going okay. As good as could be expected. I was miserable and Chace was happy. I was moping around and Chace was enjoying his holiday. I was shutting myself off and Chace was the centre of attention. How could he not be? With that bronzed body and those baby blue eyes and his luscious… I had to stop torturing myself.
I wanted to go home. But I was stuck. I didn’t have a car. I was riding shotgun in Indie’s car with Christina. The freedom that should have come along with this trip felt suffocating. I didn’t feel free. I felt trapped trying to pretend that seeing Chace every day wasn’t ripping a hole in my chest every time he smiled.
Indie at least attempted to liven things up for me with her terrible karaoke skills and game of I Spy A Hot Guy whenever we drove through
a town. The random, and initially surprising, texts from Ryder freaking Jones distracted me sometimes. I almost dropped my phone in the ocean when I opened his first message about two days into the trip. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that Ryder would text me.
We seemed to have the same text conversation every couple of days.
Ryder: How’s the douche? Are you enjoying your trip?
Me: He’s great. No, I’m not.
He shocked me one afternoon with an unexpected offer.
Ryder: Say the words and I’ll come get you.
I couldn’t think why he would go to all that trouble to drive 800 kilometres to pick me up. It didn’t make sense. Something screamed at me to not trust him. The fact that he’d offered to help me get revenge on Chace out of the blue was a little unsettling and weird.
Me: What words? I asked him while I was sunbaking on the sand pretending not to watch Chace jump around in his sea green shorts as he tried to spike the volleyball over the net.
Ryder: Chace is an arse ;)
Ryder’s reply made me laugh out loud, which in turn made Indie and Christina whip their heads around to look at me warily.
“What’s so funny?” Christina cocked a perfectly arched blonde eyebrow in my direction while Indie pushed herself up to look over my shoulder at my phone.
I tucked it away under my towel. “Nothing. Don’t worry.”
Indie didn’t look convinced but Christina had lost interest and had already turned back to watch the boys playing volleyball, cheering and clapping every time Chace scored a point.
It was wrong of me to be jealous that she was cheering him on because he had broken me completely but I couldn’t help it. She was my best friend. She was meant to hate him as much as I tried to. But she didn’t and I knew that. They had been friends forever and I could never expect her to choose a side. It still didn’t stop the sting when he won the game and Christina jumped out of her chair and ran over to him, throwing her arms around his neck and squealing like she had won.
Need You (Unrequited #1) Page 1
