After being separated in a dramatic move, Connor Harding is moving back home. His ex-best friend Hope Stryker, is terrified and torn. After three years without contact and lots of family drama, the two have fallen off. Their friendship isn't the sam...
"You're smokin' hot babe," Jack wrapped his arms around my waist and started kissing my neck. We were spending the day with Layla and her newfound boyfriend, Jaylin, at the lake.
"Mhm?" I turned in his arms and kissed him. He looked like the typical Southern white boy, wearing Chubbies and Ray-Bans. But he looked good.
"Alright, you two, wrap it up. Let's get a move on." Layla yelled from the front of the boat. She was wearing a royal blue bikini that popped against her skin.
Today was going great. I mean I was with some of my favorite people, and the sun was shining. It was honestly the perfect day to be out at the lake. I was happy, and after last night's whole fiasco, I was excited to be out of the house.
I was sitting with Jack while he was driving the boat out from the dock when a boat blasting music came rushing past us. It was the football team. If I squinted my eyes hard enough, I could make out Connor and my brother, Beau.
"What a bunch of jerks," Jack grumbled. Jack and Jaylin both played on the varsity basketball team and had some unspoken beef with the football team. Something about 'the better team' or something. Who knows.
"Leave it alone, Jack. It's not worth it."
"The hell it is, Hope." Jack sped the boat up and pulled up next to the boat, Connor and Beau were on. "Hey! Watch where you're going jackass!"
I was hoping that nobody would hear him yelling over the loud music, but of course, that couldn't happen.
"Excuse me?" Connor turned around, with his eyebrows drawn together and a frown present on his face. "You talking to us, Leigh?"
"Who the fuck else would I be talking to Harding?" Great. Just fucking great. A screaming match between my ex-best friend and my boyfriend. Fantastic. "Look you can't just show back up and think you own the lake, Harding."
"I'm not even driving the boat, man. Grow up."
"Shut the fuck up." Jack was getting too heated. It really was not this deep.
"Jack," I grabbed his arm gently to try and calm him down, but he was too upset. Jack threw his elbow back to try and get me off and ended up smacking me straight in the face. It was a hard enough hit, that it sent me stumbling to the other side of the boat.
"Hope!" Both of the boys yelled and somehow Connor ended up on our boat.
Layla was by my side in an instant trying to find something to stop the blood gushing out of my nose.
"Baby, I'm so sorry. I-I didn't mean to." Jack was brushing the hair out of my face and trying to make me feel better, but I won't lie; I'm pretty sure he broke my nose.
"Move out of the way." Connor came up and took his shirt off and pressed it up against my nose, making me wince. "I know Hope, I'm sorry."
He turned to Jack and if looks could kill, Jack would be a goner. "You fucking broke her nose, dumbass."
"She's gonna be fine though." Jack looked like he was going to pass out. He had never been good with blood, but I was kind of hoping he would've put that past him and help me.
"Well, she needs to go to the hospital." Connor looked at me and his glare immediately softened. "I'll take her."
"No way-" Jack started.
"Okay, well somebody is going to have to call her dad and I don't think you want to see him after you just fucking elbowed her in the face and broke her goddam nose. Or do you want to get punched in the face too?"
"Jack, it's okay. Connor can take me. You have to go to practice soon anyway."
"I'm sorry, Hope. I'm so sorry."
Connor and Layla helped me stand up and then get into the other boat. The entire ride back to the dock, Connor sat beside me, making sure I was okay. I kept trying to reassure both him and my brother that I was fine, but it all fell on deaf ears.
One of the benefits of living in a small town was that everything was fairly close. That meant that it took less than ten minutes before Connor and I were parked and at the hospital. Another benefit was that everyone knew everyone. So when the hospital staff saw the mayor's daughter walking in with blood dripping across the floor, they were pretty eager to help.
"Connor you don't have to call my dad," I said.
He just looked at me, "Are you serious."
"Yes. Just hand me your phone and I'll do it."
"Hope. Shut up." He pulled out his phone and held it up to his ear.
"Mr. Stryker? Yeah, it's me. Connor. I just wanted to let you know that Hope had an accident at the lake and broke her nose. Yeah, no, she's okay. She took it like a champ. They said they were going to make sure that she didn't have a concussion, and then I'll drop her off. It was no problem."
"What'd he say?" I asked. The whole phone call, I was chewing on my nails. Connor talking to my dad was a lot, and I mean a lot. My dad hated Mr. Harding, so just the fact that he even accepted Connor's phone call blew my mind.
"He was confused but, I wasn't going to be the one to tell him what happened."
"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. He would've thought you did it."
"Hope," Connor looked at me with a grave expression on his face, "I would never hit you. Ever."
"Connor, it was just a joke."
"It doesn't matter. Jack shouldn't have hit you either."
"You're kidding, right? He didn't mean to Connor. It was an accident." Jack would never lay a finger on me. He was so sweet.
"Then why isn't he here? Why am I the one in a hospital room with you? Hmm?"
"He had practice."
"So you're telling me that it was more important for him to go to basketball practice than to be with his girlfriend who just broke her nose? Classy guy, Hope."
A couple of minutes later, Connor and I were back in his truck, this time on the way to my house. When we pulled up the long driveway, I turned to him. "Thank you, Connor."
"I'd do it any day. I'm sorry for what I said back there it really wasn't my place."
"No. You're right."
He helped me down from the truck and up the creaky front porch steps, where my parents were waiting.
"Hope! Oh, my goodness! You're face!" My mom was ever so dramatic as she whisked me inside. But from the corner of my eye, I saw my dad shake Connor's hand and pat him on the back. Maybe they could get along after all.
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if anyone has any song suggestions that they think will fit any of the chapters better than the song that they have, please let me know!!!!
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