Page 1 of Rush

Chapter 1

Somebody Else

His presence is abrupt and unexpected, like a record scratching to a halt. The silence that follows is deafening.

Then the weight crashes over me—sudden and merciless—like ice poured over flame, extinguishing the promise of forever before it can even take its first breath.

Broderick.

My eyes blink into focus, body stiff, everything feels slow and hazy from the alcohol I’d consumed trying to keep myself together tonight—barely.

Oh God.

I gape at him, willing him to transform into Alex. But no, it’s Broderick, his beautiful, perfect face and eyes sparkling in the dimly lit hallway.

My hands still rest on his shoulders.

“Whoa—hold on,” he says, easing me back onto my feet. His face laced with both confusion and excitement.

My heart hangs suspended in time.

What have I done?

“Shit,” I whisper, touching my lips, stepping back as the heat rises in my face. “Broderick, I’m…” But the words escape me.

He coughs and runs a hand through his already messy hair. “Well, that was unexpected,” he says, bewildered. I catch the moment his eyes flick down to my mouth, lingering there for half a second before he rubs his hand over his jaw.

“I’m…so sorry.” My bottom lip quivers.

The weight of tonight buckles me inward, and I slide down to the floor, unable to bear the reality of it all.It’s over. I gasp, swallowing back the sob rising in my throat, my hands fly up over my face in shame.

His hands cup my shoulders as he lowers himself beside me. “Elena? What happened?”

Any excitement he had in his voice earlier is gone.

My chest heaves. I feel sick.

The two of us sit there in my doorway with nothing but the warmth of his hands on either side of my shoulders. Reminding me that he’s still there. That he showed up.

He’s not coming. He doesn’t want me. I kissed Broderick.

More sobs pour out of me as the drunk, incoherent thoughts replay the events of the evening.

I released my album. Alex broke up with me.

I. Kissed. Broderick.

“Elena?” His question cuts through the noise in my mind. “Did something happen?”

My throat closes in around the words. Unable to speak them into existence.

If I say it, then it’s real.

“El.” His thumb brushes my shoulder gently.

I shouldn’t be dragging him into this.

Alex should be here;it should be him.