Chapter 1

Book 2: Broken, Not Shattered

LILY

During my senior year of high school, I met the love of my life. I thought freshman year of college would be the best year of our lives. Oh, how wrong I was.

^ONE YEAR EARLIER^

MASON

Right now, I should be packing for college. But instead, I find myself sitting in my car outside Lily’s house. I’ve got all these messed-up emotions about leaving home… I need her.

I cut the engine and jog up to the house. I knock once and don’t have to wait long before the door flies open. I’m greeted by loud music blasting and Lily’s father, Murray, looking very tired.

“Oh, thank God you’re here,” he sighs, dropping his shoulders. “Tell her I’ve gone to get a coffee or something. This music is making me crazy.”

He grabs his keys and rushes past me. I head upstairs to where the music is coming from and shake my head when I hear the Nickelback song.

At the top of the stairs, I stop and smile as I watch Lily dancing around her room, singing loudly—and very off-key.

“This is how you remind m—ahhhh!” she screams, clutching her chest as she spots me standing in her doorway.

“You scared the shit out of me!” she says as she heads over to her desk and turns the music down.

“What are you doing here?” she asks as she walks over to me and wraps her arms around my waist.

“I thought you were packing?” she questions as I wrap my arms around her.

“I was.” I lean my head against hers. “I just wanted to say bye,” I whisper, rubbing our noses together.

“Oh? Just to say bye?” Lily smiles, moving her hands from my waist to my chest, then to behind my neck.

“Mm-hmm.” I try to fight my smile, and still whispering, I say, “I mean, it’s not like I’m going to see you for a long, long time.”

She throws her head back and laughs. “You are so dramatic, Mason Cooper.”

“If I didn’t come say bye now, I wouldn’t see you for a whole twenty-four hours.” I sigh and fake a pout.

“Are you here to help me pack?” Lily asks, letting me go and heading over to her bed, which is covered in stuff. In fact, her whole room looks like a bomb hit it.

“Only if you move in with me,” I reply, earning a pointed look with a hint of guilt popping through.

“Mason,” she sighs sadly. I instantly feel guilty.

“It’s okay, Princess. But I am going to be a mopey boy until we live together,” I say. “You have to stay with me every Friday and Saturday, though,” I add before kissing her cheek.

“Says who?” She giggles as I kiss her cheek multiple times before moving down to her neck.

“Me,” I murmur against her skin. I drag my hands down her arms, to her hips, then to her ass. I continue to place gentle kisses against her neck, making her moan quietly.

“Mason, my dad’s downstairs,” she whispers, moving her hands to my hair and tugging gently.

“He went out,” I say before moving to her lips. The words have barely left my mouth, and she’s already pulling my T-shirt up, making me laugh.

“Slow down, Princess.” I grab a hold of her hands, making her shoulders drop and her lips stick out in the cutest pout I’ve ever seen. “I have a surprise for you.”

“A surprise?” she asks, peeking behind me like I’ve got it behind my back.

“Come on,” I say, grabbing her hand and heading toward the stairs.

“Where are we going?” She giggles as I drag her all the way to my car.

“It’s a ~surprise~,” I repeat in a “duh” tone. “If I tell you now, it won’t be a surprise.”

“I hate surprises,” she groans as she climbs into the passenger seat.

“You love surprises,” I reply with raised eyebrows, then ask, “Should I blindfold you?”

“Hmm,” she hums, cocking her head to the side to look at me. “Nah, I wouldn’t be able to perv on you then.”

I let out a laugh and start the engine. As I drive, Lily tries to figure out where I’m taking her by darting her eyes between the roads and my face.

I give away nothing, though, and it’s only when I pull the car to a stop that she puts it together.

“The water tower?” she questions, slowly unbuckling her seatbelt. Then, with a squeal, she adds, “The site of our first date!”

“That wasn’t a date—we were just friends, remember?” I ask.

“But you wanted it to be a date,” she counters.

“Of course I did! I kept adding things to the list just to keep you there.”

We exit the car and walk over to the rickety ladder hanging down.

“Was the ladder always this janky?” Lily asks, eyeing it skeptically.

“I’ll be right behind you,” I assure her.

She grabs hold of the ladder and begins climbing. I quickly follow behind her, getting the perfect view of her ass.

She glances down at me a couple of times with a smile, comforted by my proximity. At the top, we take a deep breath of the fresh air and enjoy the quietness.

I silently move behind her and wrap my arms around her, resting my chin on the top of her head.

“Want to know why I brought you all the way out here?” I ask as she runs her fingertip over my hands.

“Mm-hmm,” she replies, relaxing into my body.

“That first night up here, making the list. It changed our lives. So, we are making a new list—a list of all the things we want to do during our freshman year at college.”

“We’re really making a new list?” she squeals excitedly, spinning in my arms.

“Yup,” I reply, popping the “p.” “It’s fitting.” I sit down, sliding my legs through the railing.

She quickly follows suit and snuggles into my side, resting her head on my shoulder as I pull out my cell phone.

“The list is what made you fall in love with me, and this way, you have to stay in love with me,” I joke, making her lift her head off my shoulder to ensure I can see her eyes roll.

I laugh.

“What’s the first thing?” Lily asks.

“Sneaking into your dorm room for the night.” I wink before typing it out, not giving her a choice.

“And what if I said no?” she laughs, giving me a playful nudge.

“Hmm, I’ve always wanted to try a keg stand,” she says nervously.

My eyebrows raise. I wasn’t expecting that.

“You never fail to surprise me,” I say as I add it.

“Here’s another surprise,” she says, then shouts, “Go streaking!”

“Really?” I ask, skeptical.

“Sure,” Lily says with her best ~I’m innocent~ smile. Then she asks, “What about you? Game?”

“I’ve got nothing to hide.” I shrug. “Though I’m not that excited about a bunch of other dudes seeing you naked.”

“They won’t see anything because I run so fast,” she says as she moves her arms back and forth, miming running.

“You used to be fast—then you stopped letting me drag you out of bed at six o’clock in the morning.”

“I don’t hear you complaining about what we do in the mornings instead,” she says, cocking an eyebrow at me.

I raise my hands in the air. “You’re right. I won’t complain.”

I put down streaking on the list, then say, “It’s on the list, but you better be ready for me to be extremely jealous when the whole campus is checking out your naked body.”

“What else?” she asks, resting my head back onto her shoulder.

“Go to a frat party,” I say as I type.

“Get a fake ID,” Lily states.

“And use it without getting caught,” I add.

“Ooh, I want to jump into the fountain in the quad,” she says excitedly, making me laugh again.

“Any other illegal activities you want to add to this list, Princess?” I ask.

She purses her lips as she thinks for a moment before her cheeks start turning red. “Let’s have sex under the stars,” she blurts out.

I’m frozen, thinking about how sexy and romantic that will be. Yes. Yes. Yes.

“Oh my god, say something!” she exclaims, shaking my arm.

“I’m just disappointed I didn’t think of it myself,” I say, feigning sadness and making her laugh and snuggle back into me.

“Well, I guess that is our Freshman College List done then,” I say, resting my head on top of hers.

We’re quiet for a bit, enjoying the night and each other. Then Lily speaks again.

“I want to add more,” she says softly, her fingers tracing patterns on my hand. “Like real things. Not just the crazy college stuff.”

“Okay.” I nod. “What do you want to add?”

She takes a breath. “I want to feel peace about my mom. Not forgive her because—fuck her!”

I can’t help but laugh. Then I go back to my serious face to let her finish.

“Not forgive, but at least…process it all.”

I stay silent for a moment, letting the weight of her words settle between us.

“I want to get my sisters away from my mom,” I say quietly, almost embarrassed. “I mean, that can’t happen this year, but I want to kick ass on the college team, make starting QB by my junior year, and then get drafted to the NFL.”

“You will,” Lily says, and I can tell she really means it.

“If I go pro, I can get my sisters out of the house.” I can hear the emotion in my voice.

With anyone else, I’d shut up right now, but I can talk like this with Lily. “We’ll be rich, and we won’t need her. And I’ll be able to give you the life you deserve. You deserve everything, Princess, and I want to give it to you.”

Lily rests her hand on my chest, right above my heart. “That’s a beautiful dream, Mason. And it starts this year.”

“Yeah,” is all I can say.

“One more thing,” Lily says.

“Anything you want.”

“We’re still just as in love at the end of freshman year as we are now.”

I type ~still in love big time~ into the list and say, “That’s the easiest one!”

We kiss, slow and loving.

When we pull apart, I say, “I wish I had kissed you our first night up here. Then we wouldn’t have spent all summer being ‘friends.’”

“Maybe,” she says with that mischievous smile of hers. “Or maybe I would’ve slapped you, and we never would’ve spoken again.”

I laugh. I don’t think she would’ve slapped me, but you never know with Lily. That’s what I love about her.

“You know,” I say, giving her the eyebrows, “we could tick one thing off right now.”

She lets out a snort as she lifts her head up. “There are no stars. And besides, you have to wait until we are officially freshmen,” she replies, tapping the end of my nose with her pointer finger.

“I mean, we technically are freshmen,” I try to reason, making her shake her head, not budging.

“How about we just make out a little?” I bargain, making her throw her head back and laugh.

“You can have one kiss,” she says, holding up her finger and waggling it, as if to make a point.

The moment Lily places her lips against mine, I put my hand on her jaw, spreading my fingers on her cheek and kissing her back gently. As she tries to pull back slightly, I move with her, never separating our lips.

She said one kiss—as long as our lips are still touching, it’s just one kiss.

When she doesn’t resist, I trace her bottom lip with my tongue, which she responds to by opening her mouth. As our tongues tangle together, her hands grip the back of my hair, pulling me impossibly closer to her.

All of a sudden, her lips are ripped off mine, and she’s looking at me with intense, wide, and shining eyes. “Take me home?” Her question sounds more like a demand.

We both climb down the ladder as quickly as we can before racing back to my car. I stop Lily with a sudden tug of her hand.

Spinning her around, I press her against the cool metal of the car, caging her in with my body. I love how she feels in my arms.

Her breath catches as I lower my head to hers, our foreheads touching for a brief, charged moment before I kiss her. Her hands find my shoulders and clutch me closer.

I kiss her softly, then hard, and with as much love as I can. Lily moans into my mouth, and I swear every single drop of blood in my body rushes straight to my cock.

Our hips grind together as I press her harder against the car. The car rocks slightly with our movements. Her fingers dig into my back, and I clutch her waist desperately.

“Please, Mason,” she breathes out as my lips move from her lips down her cheek and to where her jaw meets her neck, sucking softly. “Take me home,” she says, practically begging.

I shake my head, surprising her.

“You’re not going to take me home?” she asks desperately, her brow furrowed in frustration.

“No,” I whisper against her lips, my voice rough and breathless. “I can’t wait that long.”

I open the back door of my car and guide her inside. Our mouths never part, her hands tangled in my hair.

I take off my shirt and throw it out the door. By the time I’ve done so, Lily is already stripped down to her bra and panties.

She’s wearing my favorite matching dark-blue lace set, and all the blood rushes straight to my arousal.

“Oh, fuck, Princess,” I groan, pushing my shorts and underwear down all at once.

“That’s the idea.” She winks.

I climb over her and slowly press my lips against hers.