Chapter 1

I should’ve skipped the reunion. Would’ve been easier. Would’ve saved me the headache, the old wounds, the ugly memories that kept crawling back whenever I thought about him.

Wes Carter. My college bully.

He didn’t just tease me like it was some harmless joke — he made it a public sport. Humiliating me wasn’t a side quest for him; it was the main event.
Day after day, week after week, until the idea of showing up to campus felt like stepping onto a firing line.

I still remember that day in lecture. How he laughed — loud enough for the whole room to hear — and said,

“Noah’s just mad ‘cause he wants to suck me off.”

And the thing was — it stuck. The laughter did too. It wrapped itself around me like a second skin.Echoed down every hallway, filled every locker room, every shitty dining hall with whispers and smirks that never seemed to die.

And yeah, if I’m being honest — he was fucking hot. Maybe that was the cruelest part. I was into him, I still am. Wes had that stupid golden-boy thing going. Tan skin, perfect careless hair, a jawline that looked like it belonged in a goddamn magazine. His arms were thick. His smile was easy. And no matter how much I hated him — some fucked-up part of me hated how much I still noticed.

I hadn’t seen him since graduation. Not until tonight. The hotel bar was packed. Noise and fake smiles. Classmates pretending the years hadn’t hit them as hard as they had. I stayed close to the edge, drink untouched, scanning the crowd for a way out.

And then — there he was.

Wes.

Sitting at the bar like he owned it. Like the years hadn’t touched him at all. He was fitter now, broader across the chest and shoulders. His olive-green t-shirt stretched tight against him like it barely survived the trip over his body.
His face had gotten sharper, rougher somehow — but the tan skin, the careless hair, the gravity he carried when he smiled — that was all still there.

And when he saw me — he smiled.

Like none of it had ever happened. Like we were just two old mates bumping into each other after all these years. My stomach twisted. I should’ve turned around. Should’ve slipped out while I still could. Instead, I walked straight toward him.

“Didn’t think you’d show,” he said, raising his drink in some half-assed salute.
“Didn’t think you’d talk to me,” I said, leveling my voice so it wouldn’t shake.

He grinned. “Why not?”

I tilted my head. “You made it your hobby to humiliate me in college. Ring any bells?”

His smile faltered — just for a second.
“C’mon, man. That was just stupid college shit. It wasn’t that deep.”

“Wasn’t deep?” I said, my laugh low and cold.
“You called me out in lecture. You made me a joke.”

He dropped his gaze. Thumb running along the rim of his glass like he was trying to find an excuse not to look at me.