I thought I knew what heartbreak was. I’d experienced the hurt and betrayal of a relationship ending in disaster once before, so I was familiar with the empty feeling that came from my chest being torn open and my heart ripped out. Somehow though, this time felt worse. I’d foolishly trusted Noah with my slowly healing heart only for him to take a hammer to the cracks, shattering the fragile pieces until they were nothing more than specks of dust.
I let out a long sigh as I stared up at the night sky. It was dark and completely clear tonight, and the stars were so bright it almost felt like they were mocking me from above. Why couldn’t I be a star? They were perfect and untouchable, and they never had to deal with pain or sorrow.
A low chuckle came from beside me, and I glanced over to find Wes had turned his head and was watching me rather than the sky. It was just the two of us. We were resting on the hood of his car in the middle of a field. He had found me crying alone in the courtyard after Noah broke up with me and had whisked me away. He hadn’t pressured me to explain why I was so upset. He just listened to me when I said I wanted to leave the ball and get as far away from the school as possible.
I’d had no idea where Wes was planning to take me. I hadn’t really cared. I would have happily gone anywhere to get away from the school, but the quiet field he had chosen was the perfect place. The long grasses rustled pleasantly in the breeze, and though we were only a ten-minute trip from Weybridge Academy, it felt like we were a million miles from civilization. It was peaceful out here and, until now, Wes had stayed silent, giving me space to work through whatever it was he thought I was going through.
“Is something funny?” I asked, tugging his suit jacket in closer around me as the evening air danced across my skin. Wes had to be cold without his jacket, but he had refused to take it back when I’d offered it to him. I didn’t have the energy to argue.
“You’re scowling at the stars like they’ve done something to piss you off.”
“Yeah, well, maybe they have.” I threw another scowl up at the sky. “It feels like they are rubbing their happy, sparkling butts in my face.”
“I didn’t know stars had butts.”
“Oh, they do,” I replied, rolling to my side so I could look directly at Wes. “They’re big balls of gas, after all. And we all know where gas comes from…”
Wes laughed, and I somehow managed a small grin in response. It quickly fell from my lips though. How could I smile after everything that had happened tonight?
“So, Matthew LaFleur is your father,” Wes said.
Now that we’d broken the silence, Wes was probably eager to start asking questions. I wasn’t surprised this was the first one he ventured, having seen the stunned look on his face when Matthew had introduced himself at the ball earlier.
I slowly nodded in reply. “He is.” I hoped my short response was enough to deter Wes from digging any deeper. I wasn’t particularly interested in talking about my father, but I had to admit it was damn sight better than lying here thinking about Noah.
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?” Wes’s voice was soft, and I knew he wasn’t annoyed about being kept in the dark. It seemed he was just trying to understand.
“It’s not like I was keeping it a secret. It’s just that I barely know the man, and I never thought to bring it up. He doesn’t feel like my dad, so why would I say anything?”
“That makes sense,” Wes said, but his head was tilted as though he was still considering my response.
“What?”
“I was just thinking a lot of people at school will be surprised. You’ll probably find them all clambering to be your friend now that you’re a LaFleur.”
“I’m not a LaFleur.” My response was immediate, and my defensive tone caught me off guard. I took a quick, calming breath before I tried to explain. “Just because Matthew LaFleur is my father, it doesn’t mean I’m a LaFleur,” I said more gently. “Surely the kids at school won’t care who he is?”
“A lot of them might. Your father has a lot of success and influence in our world.”
That was just it. This was Wes’s world, not mine. And I didn’t care one bit how much influence someone’s parents had. In my view, a person’s worth came from their actions, not their DNA. Apparently, I was in the minority when it came to that opinion though. At least, around here I was.
“This isn’t my world,” I muttered.
Wes frowned and nodded, as though he was thinking of a different way to get his point across.
“All I’m saying is that The LaFleur Corporation is just as big and well-known as Hastings Laboratories. And look at how people around here treat Noah. The fact that Matthew LaFleur is involved with Weybridge Academy now won’t go unnoticed by the kids or the parents.”
“As long as I can go back to being unnoticed, then I don’t care.”
Wes smiled at me but shook his head slightly. I guess that meant I was out of luck.
“Most people at Weybridge would have been shouting from the rooftops on their first day if they had a parent as rich and influential as your dad,” he continued. “I mean, Veronica never would have targeted you the way she did or teased you about your mom’s business if she’d known who your dad was.”
The fact it was normal, expected even, to brag about how rich and influential your parents were in order to make friends at Weybridge only made me more certain I would never really belong there. A wave of guilt washed over me at Wes’s words though. While I never had any intention of publicly promoting my messy family history and newly discovered father, I shouldn’t have hidden the truth about my mom and my life back in Rapid Bay. She’s the parent I should have been proudly bragging about on my first day at school.
“I doubt it would have made a difference to Veronica,” I said. “She’s been trying to take me down one way or another since the moment Noah first looked my way. If she wasn’t teasing me about being a charity case, she would have done something else.”
“Yeah, maybe.”
“I guess I won’t have to worry about her so much now. She’s got what she wanted.” The empty cavity in my chest seemed to ache as I uttered the words. I could only imagine how happy Veronica would be when she heard the news about Noah and me.
Wes hesitated but, sensing I might be getting closer to revealing the source of my tears, he continued. “Do you want to talk about what happened tonight?”
“Not really.” I glanced away from him, struggling to stop the tears from welling in my eyes again. Just the thought of Noah had me turning into a pathetic mess, and I didn’t want Wes to see me that way. But as the silence between us grew once more, I wondered if it would really be so bad to talk to Wes about what happened. He was going to find out eventually, and I hated trying to keep these feelings all bottled up inside of me. If there was one thing my first heartbreak with Levi had taught me, it was that sometimes sharing the burden with someone else lessened the load. My mom wasn’t here to help me this time, so maybe it would be good to open up to Wes.
I let out a breath and the words tumbled from my lips. “Noah broke up with me.”
“What?” From the shock lighting Wes’s eyes, it was clear this wasn’t what he expected. “Why?”
“Because his grandfather asked him to.”
Wes’s mouth dropped open, and it took him a moment to recover from his surprise. “You’re kidding.”
“I wish I was.”
He was quiet for a moment before he continued. “Do you have any idea why his grandfather would want that?”
“I think it’s because of Matthew. There was definitely some hostility between my father and Noah’s grandfather, and I got the feeling this wasn’t the first time they’d clashed. William Hastings told Noah to end things with me, so he did.”
Wes shook his head. “I get that they run competing companies, but that’s ridiculous. Why do you think they don’t get along?”
I hesitated. Noah had been seething when he discovered Matthew was my father. He was convinced Matthew was the reason behind his family’s ruin—whatever that meant. He had stormed off without giving me a proper explanation. All I knew was that, whatever the rift, it was enough for Noah to break up with me, no questions asked.
“I’m not sure,” I said. “Our breakup was hardly a discussion.”
“I’m sorry, that really sucks.”
“Tell me about it.”
Wes shook his head again and sat up, bracing his arms against his legs. “I kind of want to pummel Noah’s face right now.”
“Easy there, tiger.” I gave him a soft smile and sat up beside him. I felt somewhat better sitting upright so I didn’t have to keep looking up at the mocking night sky.
“I’m serious. Who breaks up with a girl because his grandfather asked him to?”
“Noah, apparently.” The more I thought about it, the more heated I began to feel. Noah had dumped me and not even given me a good reason why. Did he really think he could just walk away from our relationship, leaving me heartbroken, and expect me to just accept that? I deserved better. I deserved answers.
My phone lit up, the screen almost blinding in the darkness of the field. It was another message from Cress asking where I was. The ball had finished an hour ago, and everyone had moved on to the after-party at Luther’s house.
Wes’s phone brightened at almost the same time, and he let out a deep sigh. “Sawyer’s hounding me.”
“Yeah, I’ve got Cress harassing me too.” I bit my lip as I considered her text. “Do you think we should go to Luther’s party?”
“We don’t have to,” Wes said. “I’ll happily stay here all night if that’s what you want.”
I took a moment to think it over. I was so glad Wes had brought me here. It was exactly the escape I’d needed after everything that had happened at the ball. I don’t know what I would have done if he hadn’t shown up. I’d probably have still been crying in a heap outside the ballroom doors as the guests started to trickle out at the end of the evening.
I didn’t know if I could face the party, especially if Noah was there. I felt like I’d only just managed to get control of my emotions amid the soothing calm that currently surrounded us. I was worried seeing Noah again so soon would only bring the pain, shock, and anger rushing back to the surface.
But, lying here staring up at the stars only had my mind replaying the events of the evening, recalling Noah’s shock when he found out who my father was. The anger in his grandfather’s eyes when he glared at Matthew and then at me. Most of all, I couldn’t stop picturing the look of resigned certainty on Noah’s face as he told me we could never be together.
No matter how many times I went over his words and his reasons in my head, I couldn’t understand or believe what had happened. Gazing up at the stars certainly wasn’t going to give me the clarity or closure I needed. As much as it terrified me to admit, Noah was the only person who could provide that.
“We should go,” I said.
“Really?”
“Yeah.” I slid from the hood of the car and landed lightly on the ground. The grass was cool and wet beneath my bare feet. I was probably getting mud along the hem of my white dress, but I didn’t really care.
“You’re sure?”
“Not really, but at the very least, it might distract me.” I did my best to sound convincing, but even I wasn’t sure I meant what I said.
“Okay. After-party it is then.” Wes jumped off the car and went to open the door for me.
I paused before I climbed into the passenger seat and reached out to lightly touch his hand. “Thanks for rescuing me tonight, Wes. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been there.”
“You didn’t need rescuing. You just needed a getaway driver, and I was happy to help.” He smiled. “If anything, you kind of rescued me tonight too.”
I frowned as I tried to understand why he’d think that. Then I remembered his girlfriend had ditched him at the last minute. “I’m not sure being your date to the ball counts as rescuing you,” I said. “But I am sorry Sarah didn’t come tonight.”
Wes shrugged. “Things haven’t been all that great between us. I guess she didn’t see the point in coming if she had something better to do.”
I put my arms around Wes and gave him a tight hug. “It’s her loss.” He slowly wrapped his arms around me in response. He didn’t hug me too tightly, but I felt secure and warm, all the same. Wes gave really good hugs, and I felt like perhaps he needed one as much as I did right now.
The hug went on for a few seconds too long, and the two of us seemed to realize it at the same time. We awkwardly stepped back, refusing to meet each other’s gaze.
“So, after-party?” he said.
“After-party,” I quickly agreed.
I still didn’t sound convincing, but I jumped in the car before Wes could point that out. My heart couldn’t take another beating, and it felt dangerous to leave the safety of this random field where I felt somewhat protected. But, how much worse could this night really get? How much more of my heart was there left to break? Maybe if I stopped staring up at the stars and went looking for the answers I so desperately needed, I might be able to start putting it back together again.
