Page 27 of The Second Dance

“He’s got to find a woman first.” Skyler says, not missing a beat, even though his eyes are glued to the TV.

Dusty grins, settling crossways into the armchair. “How about Miss Andy?”

Josh glances at me, wincing. “I heard about the other night.”

“When Whitney Miller decided to hold court?”

Skyler shakes his head, hissing when Duke steals the ball. “That girl is bad news.”

“Was she telling the truth, though?” Dusty asks, peering at me. “Was she really a virgin?”

“Dude.” I glare at him.

He holds up his hands. “Just curious. You never mentioned it.”

That’s because I didn’t know.

And, truthfully, I did tell them part of the story, but only after it spread all over school.

“Wasn’t it Ben Pierson who stole your date in the first place?” Dusty asks.

“Yeah. Maddie Kline.”

They already know what happened next. Andy came out mad at the world and I offered to take her for a drive.

It really was an innocent offer. That’s how it started, anyway. But one thing led to another.

I don’t regret having sex with her. Or the hours we spent talking in the quiet of that starry night.

She turned my world upside down in the space of just a few hours. That’s all it took. I was already head over heels for the girl. I even went to the jewelry store and picked out a necklace for her. A little rushed, in retrospect, but I was that sure of her.

It was a sapphire in a star setting. Blue, like her eyes.

Still have it, though I’ve thought about tossing it a hundred times.

But I kept it as a reminder. Heartbreak is just one of those things that reminds you that you’re alive. It’s a bittersweet pain, and I hold it close to my chest.

I’d never take it back.

But I do regret what happened next, even though I didn’t have a hand in it.

It’s a short story, really.

Word got around school. Her reputation was trashed.

And she hated me for it.

My dad wasn’t exaggerating when he said I was hung up on her. She’s the reason I didn’t date for almost a year.

I was crushed.

“You think she’s the one who spread the story around?” Dusty’s voice breaks into my thoughts.

“Who?” I let Belle’s tiny hand curl around my finger.

“Whitney.”

I look at Dusty, stunned. Tyson Kyle played a hand in that smear campaign, but I never did figure out where it originated.