Who is James Talon Harrington the Fourth? His friends would say he's the pretty boy of the group. His coach would say he's a dedicated football player. His mother would say he's a loving son, and his father would say he's a younger version of him. H...
Even thinking the name made him sick to his stomach. It'd been years since they dated but guilt was a powerful emotion. It refused to go away no matter how hard he tried.
I wish—
He shook his head. Wishing was stupid. It wasn't going to change anything. He made a shitload of bad decisions and he had to live with that. If only Zach Brewer weren't attached to those bad decisions. Talon would rather not have to think about that asshole ever again.
Talon went back to his room and laid down. He tried to fall back asleep but thoughts of Keeley filled his thoughts. He put his hands behind his head and stared at the ceiling.
What was it about Keeley that made her easy to talk to? He knew she wasn't snobby or a stick in the mud, but he'd met plenty of girls who were the same and he didn't click with them. So why her?
***
Talon was still asking himself that at lunch the next day. He was so busy thinking about Keeley that he wasn't listening to his friends till Finn announced loudly, "I'm just wondering who JT was talking to last night at two thirty in the morning."
All eyes went straight to him. Startled, Talon turned to Aaron who refused to look at him. "Uh..."
One of the guys sitting across from Talon said, "Bet it was the gymnastics girl."
"But they were only talking..."
"Maybe pretty boy finally found a girl to keep," another guy speculated.
"Yeah right. Like he'd ever get serious with a girl. Right, Harrington?"
Talon's chest constricted. How little they knew. They were a year younger so they hadn't been in high school yet when he dated Claire. And it's not like he advertised that he'd been in a relationship. Not after that horrible breakup.
"Right, Harrington?" one of the guys repeated.
Mitch and Finn sent him wary looks, gauging his reaction. They had been there when he found out Claire had been cheating on him and had seen the after math. If he hadn't known they were his friends before, he knew then. They had his back no matter what. Helped him to cope. It was a debt he would never forget.
"Right," he said woodenly. He refused to get serious with a girl again. Been there. Done that. Had the heart break to prove it.
"That's my boy," a guy said, slapping Talon's back. "Such a player."
The guys around him cheered and it pissed Talon off. They thought he was a stone cold player but they didn't know the first thing about him. Sure, he flirted with girls but there was so much more to him than that.
"Man, I wish I had your life," a freshman sighed.
He wondered if they would say the same thing if he was Talon Harrington, farm boy and math wiz, and not JT Harrington, football superstar and girl magnetic. Probably not.
They acted like his status was something to aspire to but he was more than girls and football. All of that was what he did, not who he was. Why did no one understand that?
His thoughts went back to that girl Keeley. Could she be someone who saw through the façade? Would she even care to find out?
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