Chapter 01

MIRANDA

I hit my head on the desk. Once. Twice. Then three times while adding an eye roll. The professor in front of the lecture hall droned on about... I had no idea what the man was talking about. All I knew was that this middle-aged man had a voice box on him that I needed to cut out because his voice was just way too loud for this early in the morning.

I was counting down the minutes for this class to be over so I could acquaint myself with a large cup of coffee and something sweet. My mouth began salivating at the thought and my stomach grumbled a little too loudly. I instantly sat up straighter, looking around me to check if anyone had heard. Satisfied that no one had heard me, I let my shoulders slump forward.

As soon as the professor dismissed us, I stuffed my belongings into my bag, slung the bag over my shoulder, and ran out of the room as if it were on fire. Quinn, my best friend since I could remember, was meant to meet me at a coffee shop just outside of campus. With my packed schedule, we barely got the chance to spend time together. Plus, most of her free time was spent with her fiance.

Fiance!

It was odd just thinking about it. She was already engaged to get married and I was happy for her because she was happy. I had never seen someone put a smile on her face the way Gunnar could. My only problem was what he did for a living. He was a dangerous man, cutthroat even. His brother wasn't any better. In fact, I was almost certain that he was worse.

I made my way through the campus, practically speed walking so I could get my coffee all that much faster. Most of the night I had spent up catching up on studying. Somehow, I was already almost complete with my first year of college. Time clearly slowed down for no man — or woman in my case.

I made it to the coffee shop panting for dear life, spotting Quinn at our usual spot with two steaming mugs of coffee already on display in front of her. She smiled stupidly at her phone and I instantly knew the reason. I wanted to have that someday. Just not any time soon. For now, I had other priorities that needed tending to.

"Miranda," Quinn squealed when she finally spotted me.

I made my way to her, throwing my arms around her neck in a tight hug, "You're God sent. You have no idea how much I needed this," I declared, pulling away and attacking the coffee. The moment it touched my tongue, I hissed, "hot coffee, hot coffee!" I chanted, waving my hand over my burning tongue that lolled out of my mouth.

Quinn chuckled, playfully hitting me over the head, "I just ordered it, stupid. How about you sit down and relax before you go ape-shit for coffee?"

"Good idea," I nodded my head in agreement, sliding into the seat opposite her. The smile on Quinn's face gradually began to drop, turning into a frown when she stared at the incoming message that popped up on her screen, "What wrong? Did Gunnar do something to you because if he did I'll kick him into the next century?"

"As much as I'd like to see that happen," Quinn's bright blue eyes lit up with amusement, "it's not Gunnar I'm worried about."

I sipped my coffee, feeling a tingly sensation against my tongue, "Well, are you going to tell me who you're worried about, or do you expect me to guess?"

Quinn rolled her eyes, propping an elbow onto the table and resting her chin in her palm, "It's Ace. Gunnar hasn't seen him in a while and neither have I. I didn't think too much about it but now that Gunnar seems to be worried, so am I."

"Awe, that's adorable. That's totally couple goals," I gushed, pinching Quinn's chubby cheek, "in regards to Ace, I'm sure he's fine. He'll show up when he shows up."

"Have you spoken to him?" Quinn raised a perfectly arched brow at me in question.

I gave her a deadpan look, "What makes you think that he'd contact me?"

"I don't know," she shrugged a shoulder, looking at me over the rim of her mug as she sipped her coffee. Quinn knew exactly what she was doing, drawing out her sentence to see if I'd crack.

For once, I had nothing to hide.

"I seriously have no clue about Ace. Whenever he's near me he gets on my last nerve anyway. My patience becomes really thin when I see his stupid face," I grimaced, glaring out of the window to the bustling street.

"Are you sure you think his face is stupid or are you just saying that in an attempt to convince yourself?"

"Nope, his face is the very epitome of stupid. I hate it," I declared with a raised chin and a huff, "can we change the topic now?"

"Fine."

"Great, let's talk wedding preparations!" I squealed in excitement, clapping my hands together.

Quinn groaned, hiding her face in her hands, "There's still so much time for that. Can we not?"

"You're going to have the best wedding of the century, bestie. We have to begin preparations from now," I chided with a playful scowl, "Come on, it won't even be that bad. I promise you'll have so much fun."

"It sounds stressful. Can't we just have something simple?" Quinn pled, fumbling with her fingers, "It's not like my family is going to be in attendance."

"You know I'll drag Danny to your wedding by his hair if I have to. He's being silly. He'll get over himself eventually. Plus, once he sees how happy you are, he'll have no choice but to accept Gunnar and you."

"He's not Gunnar's biggest fan after what happened to Katie," Quinn breathed in frustration, glaring at her half-empty coffee mug, "and, in all fairness, the bitch deserved what she got."

"You only say that because she was fucking Gunnar," I snickered, watching Quinn's nostrils flare and a pink hue highlight her cheekbones.

"And my brother. She was playing them both. My brother was foolish enough to catch feelings, though."

"Yeah," I breathed with an exasperated sigh. Her brother was handsome but he was exactly like Ace. Dangerous, foolish, and a waste of my time. He only ever saw me as his little sister's best friend. Daniel probably equated me to a younger sister.

"Anyway, enough about me. Have you spoken to your sister? Is she coming here or going somewhere out of state?"

"Probably out of state," I answered with a shrug, "she's definitely way too eager to leave our parents behind."

"I mean, so were you," Quinn said with a smirk tugging at her lips, "and to think you've not been to one party as of yet."

"That's not true," I defended, pointing a finger at her, "there was that party I attended for freshman and then that frat house party that left me with a hangover for three days. I'm pretty sure it's you that hasn't been to a party yet so maybe we should change that."

"Sure thing, when my schedule clears I'll be sure to add a party in," Quinn smiled tightly, "plus, what would I even do at a party?"

"Get drunk, dance, have some fun!" I answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "even Patrick leaves his rock to be with SpongeBob. You're becoming boring." I pouted, fluttering my eyelashes at her, "It will be fun. We can leave after an hour if you're not feeling it but at least come out tonight."

"You always convince me to do the worst things," she grumbled, tipping her coffee mug back and finishing the contents.

"Think of it this way. When you're older, you'll have such good stories to tell your grandchildren," I smiled sweetly, blowing her a kiss.

"I haven't gotten to the children part yet, let's not get ahead of ourselves," Quinn's phone vibrated with an incoming call that had her lips splitting into a cheesy grin. She excused herself, making her way to the restroom to answer her phone.

I pulled out my own phone, going through my missed texts and notifications. There was a party at one of the frat houses that Quinn and I were definitely going to attend. I could just imagine what Gunnar's reaction to that would be. He couldn't blame me for wanting my best friend to have a little bit of fun.

Or could he?

Maybe this was a bad idea. I seriously pissed him off the last time I convinced Quinn to break out of his home. He didn't really like me, let alone trust me. Gunnar had made this known on more than one occasion. I was probably a sucker for punishment, though, and it wasn't as if I actually cared about what he thought of me.

I opened a text I had received from Daniel earlier in the morning.

Daniel: Hey Miranda, just wanted to check in on my sister. You know the drill, don't tell her I've asked about her.

I was getting tired of playing the middle woman between these two siblings. When Daniel wanted to find out anything about Quinn, he would message me. This had been going on for the past few months. They needed to make up already. I had known these two for such a long time and not once did that have an argument that blew up to this extent. They were always quick to make up.

I hastily typed out a reply before Quinn could return.

Miranda: If you want to know how she is why don't you grow a pair and ask her yourself. It's time you both stop acting like children.

His reply was instant which surprised me.

Daniel: I'm not being childish. My sister doesn't understand what she's getting herself into.

Miranda: I think she knows exactly what she's getting herself into. Stop trying to be an overbearing brother.

"Okay, who's got you glaring at your phone like that?" Quinn's voice startled me, causing my phone to slip through my fingers and land on the table with a thud.

"It's no one," I lied, feigning a smile. Daniel was on my shit list for so many reasons but right now, it was because I had to lie to Quinn and I hated lying to her, "was that Gunnar?" I wiggled my eyebrows cheekily, attempting to steer the conversion down another route.

"Yeah," Quinn's smile could have lit up a Christmas tree, "he just wanted to check in with me since he didn't come home to the apartment last night."

"Oh."

"Yeah, he went home to check on Ace and — surprise, surprise — he wasn't there," Quinn slid into her seat with a huff, "he's at least kept in contact with Jericho so we know he's alive and well." She ran the pad of her thumb over the steel band on her index finger.

"Why don't you just call him up and ask how he is?" I muttered, reaching into my bag for my mirror so I could touch up my lipstick.

"I've done that. He's not answering my calls," Quinn deadpanned.

"Then clearly he doesn't want to be found at the moment. You need to relax. You've got too much stress. Tonight, we're going to have some fun and I don't want to hear no complaints about it," I finished touching up my make-up and slid off my chair so I could get to my next class, "I'll pick you up at ten," giving her a once over, I added, "and wear something nice."