“How does a stranger walk into my life
And change what I thought it meant to be alive
It’s crazy how you went from being just some girl
To being my whole world”
“Some Girl”
-Andy Grammer
Prologue
Mason
PRESENT DAY
“You almost ready?” My roommate, Liam, stands in the doorway of my bedroom chugging a beer. Both dressed in suits, we’re ready to go to the wedding reception our friend Hunter invited us to. His brother, Hayden, is finally getting married to his high school sweetheart, Savannah, and that’s definitely something to celebrate. Plus, free booze.
I straighten my tie, then look at him through the mirror. “Yeah, gimme two minutes.”
He nods and walks off with his nearly empty bottle. I hear the glass clank into the trash can in the kitchen. I sit on the bed and slide on my dress shoes before running my fingers through my hair. I scrub a hand over my face as I yawn, needing to wake up, though I’m exhausted from a long ass week. Between working for my dad at the District Attorney’s office and training in the testing lab, I have minimal free time, but it’ll be well worth it when I’m officially a forensic investigator in the fall.
After tucking my wallet into my back pocket, I meet Liam in the living room where he’s lounging on the couch. Once he notices me and I nod at him that I’m good to go, he stands to follow me, then locks the front door.
“Think Sophie will even talk to us tonight?” Liam asks, frowning. When we met her three years ago, she and Liam became instant friends. Hunter’s engaged to one of her sisters, and they’ve both been in our inner circle for years. I wish I could say our friendship has been great, but the only way to describe it would be rocky and unpredictable, which is mostly my fault for how I treated her.
We’re both a bit tense about seeing everyone tonight. Our group of friends hasn’t hung out in a while, mostly because Sophie’s been avoiding everyone. She didn’t appreciate the way Liam and I tried to warn her about Weston, her douchebag boyfriend, over a month ago and has pretty much written us off. The guy is a maniac who I’d punch out again if the situation presented itself. Love has blinded her from seeing his manipulative ways. I care a lot about her, but she doesn’t see that. She hates me right now.
Soon, we’re across town and pulling into the parking lot at the reception hall. It’s early evening, and the party’s supposed to last all night. Though I’d rather be in my bed, recovering from this long ass week, I’ve been looking forward to seeing everyone and celebrating.
“Think she’ll bring that fuckwad?” I ask since she and Liam are always texting each other. If she wasn’t with Weston, I’d assume they were secretly dating, but I know he really has a thing for Maddie, Sophie and Lennon’s youngest sister, though he’d never admit it. Most days, he acts as if she doesn’t exist, which drives her insane.
“Well, he didn’t come to Hunter and Lennon’s proposal so who knows. He’ll probably be ‘working’ again. After you punched him out last month, I really don’t know what to expect. Sophie hasn’t been responding to my text messages lately,” he admits, which worries me even more.
We head toward the entrance where the music’s already blaring. As soon as we walk in, I see Hunter across the room smiling. Almost instantly, Liam gets distracted by a tall blonde and leads her to the bar. The dude is a chick magnet, always has been.
Shaking my head, I walk over to where everyone is sitting and smile when I meet up with Hunter and Lennon who’s holding Alison, their six-month old baby. Maddie forces a grin, but I can tell she’s annoyed. If I had to take a guess, I’d say it’s probably because she’s spotted Liam at the bar flirting with Blondie. I hold back a chuckle, knowing it all stems from jealousy, and settle for a smirk, which causes her to groan. Subtle is not her strong suit. She’s made it known she wants Liam, yet he continues to ignore her at all costs.
Deciding I need a drink, I order a beer from the bar, then look around. “So where’s the third musketeer?” I ask Lennon and Maddie when I don’t see Sophie.
Lennon glances down at her phone and shrugs, her smile slightly faltering. It’s not lost on me that she’s supposed to be here right now. Her phone dings moments later, and Lennon announces Sophie’s finally on her way, and she is going to wait for her in the hallway. Lennon hands the baby off to Maddie, then Hunter follows Lennon out of the room. Sipping my beer, I narrow my eyes on Maddie, knowing I’ll get the truth from her.