Hollow Bones, Heavy Heart

(Lailah’s POV) If you’d asked me two weeks ago, I would’ve said my life was perfect. I had a fiancé who claimed to love me despite my flaws, and we were planning our dream wedding. Turns out it was just that—a dream. A lie. My ex-fiancé was a cheating, lying scumbag, and once I finally saw it, everything shattered. So I packed up what was left of my pride, stuffed it in my car, and decided to take a road trip back to my hometown—Lawrence, Kansas. I haven’t been back in years, but right now feels like the perfect time. A fresh start. A clean slate. Time to forget my ex and figure out who the new Lailah is… once I actually meet her. As I drive down the familiar roads leading into Kansas, I watch the sun sink low on the horizon, painting everything in a warm, orange-pink glow. For the first time in days, I let myself breathe. Why did I ever leave? “I wonder if Dean is still in Kansas,” I mutter to myself, tapping the steering wheel. Dean is my friend Sam’s older brother. People talk about the Winchester brothers like they’re a single entity, but they couldn’t be more different. Sam is kind-hearted and gentle, the sort of boy parents trust without hesitation. Dean, on the other hand… broody, sarcastic, impossible to read. Their mom died when Sam was six months old, and after that it was just the boys and their dad, John. I practically grew up with them. And Dean and I? Well, we never exactly got along. We were more like Nathan and Haley from One Tree Hill before they even liked each other. Dean’s a few years older, but he acts like a child half the time. You’d never guess he’s twenty-six. The first time we met, Sam and I were fifteen, working on a school project at their house. Dean was twenty and absolutely insufferable—strutting around like a king because he’d already finished high school. It got under my skin so fast I swore I’d never, ever date a guy like him. Sure, he was hot. I wasn’t blind. Anyone could see that. But still. No thank you. I pull up to the house I grew up in and put the car in park. That’s when my phone pings. I glance at the screen and feel my stomach drop. It’s an email from my cheating ex. Against my better judgment, I open it. A wedding invitation. To his wedding. With the girl he cheated with. Not even a week after we called off ours. “Unbelievable,” I breathe, tossing my phone onto the passenger seat. “Could this day get any worse?” A knock on my window makes me jump. “Everything okay in there?” a man’s voice asks. I turn—and it takes me a full second to recognize him. “Dean.”