She shook her head, her tears stalling enough for her final blow. Like they knew she needed the strength. “I thought I had it all. I thought I loved you, truly loved you. But you were a freaking mirage, Josiah. You made me see only what I wanted to see. I have never been so disrespected in my life. This is over.”
“It’s not over,” Josiah argued, crossing his arms. “You can’t just shut us off—this off. You and I both know it. We’ve been together two years.”
“No? Watch me.”
She’d fled Josiah’s apartment, head held high despite her heart being ripped in two.
The bath water having gone cold again, she finally willed herself to get dried off and in sweats. Upon leaving her bathroom, she discovered her TV had been turned on and two unexpected visitors were lounging in her bed. Her brothers’ broad, muscular bodies somehow made her huge bed seem small.
“Get out,” she snapped at them.
“Nope,” James argued.
“Nope?” she repeated, raising a single brow.
“Nope,” Eli agreed.
She let out an exasperated sigh. “I don’t want you guys to do this crap.”
“This crap? Like watching movies together? Like we always do?” James asked. “You haven’t been out of your room in three damn days, so we brought the movies to you.”
Kennedy started to roll her eyes but then stopped. She supposed they were just trying to distract her from her grief for a second. “If it’s a rom-com or anything remotely romantic, I will kill both of you,” she threatened. “Slowly.”
“Nope. Blood and action,” Eli offered. “Military movie.”
“Thank God,” she said, crawling onto her bed and burrowing in between them.
They didn’t say a word the entire movie. And it was great. Two hours of not having to think about her level of pain. Or how to move on from her heartache. Or how she could possibly heal herself quick enough to be ready for Culling preliminary testing in just a couple of weeks.
“Thanks, guys. I think that actually helped,” she stated as the music at the end cued.
“Wanna go egg his house?” Eli asked. “I’m getting pretty good at hiding.”
She snorted. “Pretty sure it’d get back to Mom and Dad.”
James shook his head. “I can’t wait to get my hands on that little prick.”
Kennedy nodded. “I call dibs, though, Twinkie. Stand in line.”
“You going to come up with a new combat combo to try out on him?” Eli asked her with a smirk.
Kennedy looked at the ceiling in thought. “I think I’ll name it ‘the Jerk Nose.’ ”
James laughed. “Mysteriously enough, the Jerk Nose is staying away from all of us.” He let out a pouty sigh. “He’s MIA at DIA. Took some sick days after the breakup.”
Kennedy rolled her eyes. “Well, duh. He knows you box. And are a team lead. And that Eli is crafty. He’s many, many things, but Josiah has never been an idiot. You won’t find him until he wants you to.”
Eli frowned. “Look, I don’t want to be a Jerk Nose too, but have you considered that he might still qualify for the Culling?”
She let out a long sigh. “Yep. And I guess I’ll deal with that when and if it happens. I mean, I have to qualify too. No one is a shoo-in.”
They were all quiet with that, considering the pressure they were under to perform well on the preliminary testing. They didn’t all have to qualify, but if none of them did, it would make the Reed family name look bad. Their parents wouldn’t care, or would say they didn’t anyway, but the three of them definitely cared.
And now Josiah had just destroyed her reputation. Everywhere she went, whispers and looks lingered in her wake. Kennedy Reed, the Goody Two-shoes who ruined her flawless record by banging Josiah. Yes, he had been her boyfriend and someone she deeply cared about, but that didn’t seem to matter. All that mattered was the world now knew she wasn’t the Virgin Mary—and she certainly wasn’t as perfect as her mother.
Not even close.
The only thing she could do now was pick up the remaining pieces of her reputation and make a run at the presidency. With someone else.
And the most pathetic part of it all was that she missed Josiah. She’d finally peeled back the fake persona and saw the real Josiah, but she also missed her friend—the person she thought she had through thick and thin.
Unfortunately, because of the way Cullings ran, qualifying also meant she’d be forced to move on. Whether she was ready or not.
…………..
Chapter 2
…………..
She threw herself into the preliminary testing like her life depended on it. The whispers and stares were in full force, even at work—especially at work—but she tapped into that and used it as extra motivation.
Josiah had ruined her reputation. But he hadn’t ruined her. She wouldn’t allow him to ruin her.
She’d qualify, and then she’d kick butt. Because that’s just what she did. Failure wasn’t an option. Curling into the fetal position and staying there also wasn’t an option, unfortunately.
So she attacked those tests. Question after question.
Some people had revenge sex or got revenge bodies; well, she had revenge testing. She was going to make sure that though her heart still hurt, though she was still pissed, Josiah wasn’t going to distract her and also ruin her chances at the Culling in addition to everything else he ruined.
The ruinest ruiner of all time.
So every day she woke up two hours before the all-day tests began and hit the gym. After the first day, her brothers found out somehow, and they joined her. They got a sweat-filled workout in followed by a big breakfast, and then they were off to the testing center.
Josiah was there somewhere taking the same damn tests. She did her best to never look his way, never look for him. Her brothers, on either side of her everywhere they went, provided extra security and also effectively shut up the whispers. Josiah wouldn’t dare approach her with them there.
Not if he wanted his huge nose to remain on his face.
“My brain hurts,” Eli said. “Let’s go to DIA and shoot some crap.”
James didn’t hesitate to agree. “Yes, let’s.”
She smirked. “Yes, let’s.”
“Sim or range?” Eli asked.
“Sim,” James and Kennedy both responded at the same time.
Without a word, they headed for the Manor. They’d change into gear and then take the tunnels to DIA to the sim rooms.
Appearance-wise, she looked normal. She was eating, talking, smiling, and even laughing here and there, thanks to the two goons she shared blood with.
She saved up the tears for when she went to sleep at night. Then and only then would she allow herself to break down. She was doing her best to glue her heart back together. She’d get one quadrant back up working, and then out of nowhere, another crack would spiderweb up her veins, ripping out another piece.
Eventually she’d fix them all. Just not today.
***
They played pinball as a family—one last hoorah before the results were shown that night. Kennedy showered and got ready quickly, opting for sweats and a hoodie. Why? Because they were comfortable, so why not? The three of them had chosen not to be at DIA for the broadcast tonight—for a reason. They didn’t want their reactions broadcast to the nation. So that meant she could wear whatever the hell she wanted. And sweats were what she wanted.