Page 1 of Love Hate

Prologue

~Andy Simpson~

Two years earlier…

“What the hell is he doing here?” I hissed, my gaze tracking Trevor Hix as he guided his date toward the groom’s side of the aisle with his hand on the small of her back. His fingers drifted up as they walked, rolling strands of her honey-blonde hair between them.

“Clearly he knows Dave,” Caitlyn whispered back, a smile tugging at her crimson-stained lips. “Stay away from him tonight. Paula will kill you if you get into a fight at her wedding.”

I glared at my sister, but she just continued to smile widely at me.

“Come on, Andy,” she murmured as she grabbed my hand and squeezed it gently. “High school is over. You both need to grow the hell up already.”

“I’m perfectly grown up,” I assured her. “I’m two months away from leaving this town behind for good.” She was crazy if she thought I’d risk that, or the wrath of her friend Paula, by brawling like a hoodlum.

Besides, I was never actually fighting with Trevor. It was more like I was fighting for my life against him.

For some reason he’d taken an interest in making my life hell our senior year of high school, and I’d spent as much time avoiding him as I’d spent working on my grades to ensure entry to a good school so I could make my final escape.

Trevor Hix was an asshole, a bully, and the star quarterback of our football team. Which meant he was the king of the school and no amount of complaining to faculty had protected me from his antics.

I’d been on my own.

Music filtered through the sound system and I snapped my attention back to the wedding, helping Caitlyn to her feet as the bridal party sauntered in, carefully stepping down the stone path surrounding the inground pool separating the bride’s side from the groom’s side of attendees in the perfectly landscaped back yard. Beautiful pairs of the town elite, come to celebrate the shotgun wedding of the prom queen Paula McBride to the school’s golf phenom Dave Eggers.

The song changed to the standard Here Comes the Bride as Paula walked out, her arm curled around her dad’s, both of them with twin smiles that looked far more like grimaces from where I was standing.

“The dress hides it well,” Caitlyn whispered to me.

“Why aren’t you a bridesmaid?” I asked her softly. “You’re her friend.”

“She had to use family,” Caitlyn answered. “Which is fine. I wouldn’t want to be up there anyway.”

“Scared you’d slip and fall into the pool?” I teased her.

“Yes.” She shrugged. “Plus, I think it’s bullshit her parents are forcing her to marry Dave. Like she doesn’t have enough to deal with.”

Everyone in the audience retook their seats and the pastor launched into an incredibly short service, with basic vows, a clumsy ring exchange and the least passionate kiss I’d ever seen in my life.

After the ceremony, the wedding party was whisked away for photos and the guests were ushered into a massive tent to begin the reception.

Caitlyn and I were seated near the back, thankfully far away from Trevor Hix and his bottle-blonde date. We settled into our seats and spent a solid hour people watching and talking shit, respectfully, about everyone in attendance.

Dinner was served almost immediately after the wedding party joined us in the tent, and I realized that they were apparently skipping speeches. Maybe no one had anything nice to say about the situation.

“This is awkward as fuck,” I told Caitlyn, unable to tear my gaze away from the head table, where no one was speaking to each other. “We should just go. I’ll get you Taco Bell and we can watch The Exorcist.”

“No,” Caitlyn complained. “I want to see what happens next.”

I snorted into my water, spraying fluid across my face and the table, which made Caitlyn dissolve into giggles next to me, and suddenly way too many gazes were turning toward us.

For some inexplicable reason, I found myself looking over to Trevor’s table, and he too was staring over at us, at me, his eyes narrowed and his lips set in a thin line.

“How could I have possibly pissed him off now?” I groaned, dropping my gaze back to the table in front of me. “Fuck. Can we please go?”

The bride and groom had gotten up and were now wandering around the room, thanking people for coming, and I knew I’d be trapped here until after Caitlyn had been able to give her well wishes to the “happy” couple.

“Fuck you for looking better than me today,” Paula said loudly as she reached our table, her gaze flitting between us. “Both of you.”