CHAPTER 1
TYSON
“I wish it would snow.” Rory Carlson sighs, looking up at the sky.
“I’ll make it snow for you.”
Rory spins around and points a finger in my face. “Tyson Carter, if you don’t stop following me, I swear to God, I’m going to do….” Rory stomps her foot in frustration because there’s not much she can do to me. I’m a god, little g, here in Edison. I was Edison High’s star quarterback, winning the state championship three times in a row, and in Texas that means you can kill someone and get away with it. Me following around Rory Carlson in her battered Jeep as she makes deliveries for different businesses in town is not going to raise even one eyebrow.
“Just keeping you safe,” I drawl. Rory looks especially good today in her skinny jeans and white T-shirt with the faded Wonder Woman logo. Her eyes are shiny and bright, which tells me she got a good sleep last night, which is rare for her. During the week, she delivers for the hardware store, the café, and the grocery store. She waits tables at the café Thursday through Saturday. On Sunday, she cooks at home, preparing enough food for the week for her family. At some point, she’s going to drop from exhaustion, and so I need to be there to catch her.
“I’m eighteen now, not seven, and do not need anyone—particularly you, Tyson Carter—to keep me safe.”
I don’t roll my eyes, but I want to. “And that incident with the meth head a month ago was what? A welcome encounter?”
She scowls. “It was an accident. Harry wouldn’t have hurt me if he wasn’t high. He thought I was an intruder and was trying to protect his home.”
“I agree, but he was high, and he’s an addict, so the chance that he’ll be high and violent in the future is greater than zero.”
“You’re being dumb.”
I shrug. “Maybe.”
“And lazy.”
“Lazy?”
“Yes! All you do is follow me around or hang out with Sterling Justice. Don’t you have ambitions?”
“Sure. You.”
She throws up her hands like this is a completely unreasonable statement. “That’s not an ambition.”
“Rory, we both know I’ve got money.” I don’t know why she’s upset about the fact that I’m spending my days watching her instead of the stock market.
“Your parents have money,” she corrects. She wrenches open the door of her Jeep and climbs in. “That’s not going to last forever.”
“Pretty sure it will.” My dad runs over the books with me once a month and has since I was fifteen. Not because he expects me to take over. Nope. He wanted me to know that all I had to do in high school was excel at sports. My state trophies, my individual awards, all sit on a shelf behind his desk. I think he polishes them nightly.
“You don’t know that. Besides, I want someone who can keep up with me, someone who has the same kind of drive.” She guns her engine. “And that someone does not follow others around and post dumb videos on social media. I’m going home now. Don’t follow me, and stop posting stuff about our non-existent relationship! We are not dating!” She peels out of the hardware store parking lot without a look behind her. I lift my phone and take a video.
“I know that.” So does everyone who follows me. After blurring out the license plate, I post the edited video with an update. “That feeling when your crush leaves you in the dust. Literally.”
I get twenty thousand views within the first few seconds of posting it. I don’t know why, but the internet is keen about my one-sided romance. My follower count increases every day. I’m going to hit three hundred thousand soon.
“Was that Rory Carlson?” a voice asks.
I look over my shoulder to see Cane Justice ambling over. His boot heels make a soft clicking noise against the asphalt. “Yup.” I turn my phone screen toward him.
A long, low whistle glides from between his teeth. “She wants nothing to do with you. I like the touch of her giving you the finger.”
“I felt like that was important to keep in—for authenticity’s sake.” I tuck my phone away.
“Sterling come to town with you? I haven’t seen much of him lately.”
“He’s busy with the princess. Her dad’s moving into the ranch.”
“Yeah, I know.
“It’s getting to be a full house. Good thing Sterling and Maria are going off to college. Gives us some time to get a house built for them.”
My best friend has fallen for a real-life princess. At first he thought the dad was going to object to the relationship, but it turns out that the Justice Ranch is exactly what old Prince Harold needed. The Justice house is bursting at the seams with three of the Justice cousins getting hitched.
Because misery loves company, I ask, “How’s Astor these days?”
Cane’s sober face turns dark. “You know how it is.”
“Guess we can be single together.”
“You ever ask your followers what you should do?” Cane jerks his head toward my phone.
“Regarding Rory? Nah, but they give me free advice all the time. Do you want me to ask about your situation?”
He hesitates and then shakes his head. “No. No one can solve my problem unless you know how to bring a horse back from the dead.”
“Probably someone knows, but it’ll come back mad and haunted and eat up the entire town until there’s nothing left but empty corpses and shit.”
Cane snorts. “Tyson, Halloween is over. It’s Christmas time.” He points to the main street where the wreaths and lights got hung last week. “Can’t you see?”
“Zombies don’t care about the holidays. Every day is an eating day for them.” I snap my fingers. “That’s actually some good content. I’ll see what the followers think. Why don’t you walk like the undead for me and I’ll post it.”
Cane obliges because what else does he have to do? Like me, all his time is spent waiting for his woman to join him by his side. It’s not really living, though. You can’t really live unless you have your soulmate next to you, but I can—and will—be patient. At some point, Rory will figure out that I’m the man for her. It might not be today or tomorrow, but it’ll happen. No doubt in my mind.
CHAPTER 2
RORY
He’s driving me insane. But even worse, he’s actually wearing me down. From the very start I’ve had no idea what to do with Tyson Carter. Growing up in somewhat of a small town, everyone knows Tyson. He graduated last year, but still he lingers around Edison.
He could have gone off to any college he wanted. Not only because of his skill on the football field but also his family name. But I guess when you don’t have to worry about money, you can do whatever your heart desires. I don’t have that privilege.
Needless to say, he’s still in Edison making social media videos and becoming more famous with each day that passes. The girls online swoon over him, and all the boys want to be him. The recent comments on his posts are all about how he stays in Edison because of me. That thought had never once occurred to me. I still find that hard to believe, but with each passing day I start to think maybe it is actually true. And I’m not sure what to do with that.