Prologue

HANNAH

Ten months earlier…

In the middle of what had to be the tiniest airport in the country, I stood staring at the phone in my hand, willing it to do something. Anything. Ring. Vibrate. Notify me of a new text. Shit, or even an email.

He has email, right? Surely. Everyone had email these days, even if it was just to collect spam. And though we didn’t exchange email addresses—no one does that with someone they just met and hooked up with—he could get my email from Lottie. I mean, that’d be kind of a weird and formal way to reach out to me, but I’d take it at this point.

My thumb hovered over his name in my list of contacts. I guess I could always call him, let him know I didn’t mean it. In reality, I couldn’t really blame him for what happened. I needed to just tell him the truth. I wanted to, desperately, and I would’ve, had he stuck around and not ran out on me the way he did.

Gah. He ran out on me! Like I was nothing. Like he couldn’t get away fast enough. Granted, most guys probably would have after the events that transpired this morning, but still. I thought we’d connected on a deeper level.

God, all this thinking was killing my already pounding head. Hangovers sucked, especially when accompanied by a little bit of a broken heart.

“Ma’am, your boarding pass and driver’s license, please?” The hefty airport security guard sitting behind the podium with a bored expression on his face reached his hand out toward me.

“Oh, yes. Sorry,” I apologized, digging through my carry-on as I took the last few steps to him. “Here they are!” I beamed, handing them over to him just as my phone chimed with a text.

Keeping them, I abruptly pulled back my hand, and the man gave me a funny look. I ignored him, unlocking my phone with nervous excitement, hoping the text was from Billy. Maybe he didn’t think I was bat-shit crazy after all.

I frowned when it wasn’t, my heart cracking a little more. My brows pinched with further confusion when I saw who it was from and what it said.

Lottie: Don’t leave without me. I’m coming.

Shocked by Lottie’s message, I continued to stare at the screen. The impatient security guard cleared his throat.

“Sorry,” I said, stepping aside and out of line. “I’ll be right back.”

He gave me a suspicious look as I turned and headed for the check-in counter. Whatever had happened between Billy and me would just have to wait. I had a sinking feeling Lottie needed me more than she ever had.

Always trying to stay positive and keep my head up, I decided this was for the best. After what happened and the way he responded, it would be humiliating to talk to or ever have to face Billy Miller again. For that matter, I was now pretty set on never talking to anyone about it or ever returning to this small town.