Once Upon A Time(4)

Kylie’s bouncing came to a halt as she tried to work out what the hell I was talking about.

“Wait.” She paused, her brows furrowed. “He has my name on his ass? What the fuck?”

I snorted, almost choking on my searing hot coffee in the process.

Kylie + hangover = I.Q. of four.

Kylie Jackson and I had met back in college, both freshmen completely overwhelmed with the size of the place. Not to mention she bumped into me as I made my way to class. I had a caramel latte in my hands. Well, I had for around thirty seconds until Kylie came along and searing hot liquid poured right down my cleavage. She squealed as she tried to wipe away the coffee, apologizing over and over again while guys stared at the scene unfolding. I slapped her hand away and told her it was fine, not to worry about it. Instead of walking away and carrying on with her day, she thrust her coffee at me. It was a caramel latte, just like mine.

We’d been inseparable ever since.

Quinn let out a belly laugh from beside me as he slowly tried to explain what I meant by the tattoo.

“No, he has ‘your name’ on his ass,” Quinn reiterated.

Kylie thought for a moment, as if trying to work out an extremely difficult math equation in her head. Suddenly, the blub lit up above her pretty little head.

“That’s what I said!”

I groaned.

It was going to be a long, hungover day.





NOW, DON’T GO THINKING I’d sleep with anything with a pulse. I don’t. Maybe I should go back to my college days where Quinn was in a bright pink cotton candy-looking outfit and Kylie looked as hot as she does today in her sleek black mini dress.

I’d had relationships before but one stuck with me into college. Cameron Emerson. Capitan of the football team, abs that went on forever, and the hottest black Mustang I’d ever seen. He was the hottest guy in high school and the most popular. We’d been best friends since kindergarten, not to mention neighbors. We played in the mud together, climbed the large tree in his back yard together—we were inseparable. Well, until he went to football camp for six weeks over the summer.

Then high school started.

Cam was no longer the chubby little kid that liked to skim rocks over the lake. He was taller, broader, hotter. Suddenly, I couldn’t keep my eyes off him, so much so I think I drooled once or twice during our science class. The feeling became mutual as the weeks passed. Cam started looking at me with heat in his eyes and his gaze would drift down the length of my changing body. Three weeks later, Cam asked me out on a date. It wasn’t the fairy tale date you might think; in fact, it was kind of awkward since we’d been best friends for so long. But the awkwardness soon lifted the minute he shoved two fries up his nose and made me laugh until I cried. He was my Prince Charming, the one who could sweep me off my feet while belly laughing at his silly jokes.

Fast forward to college. We were still together, still very much inseparable and pretty much in love. He claimed all of my firsts as I did for him. Everything was perfect… or so I thought.

In our first year of college, we were invited to a house party at one of the frat houses.

Music thumped.

Alcohol was passed around.

Beer pong was played.

Three hours into the party and Cam was nowhere to be found. He’d told me to wait for him by the beer pong table while he took a leak. Thirty minutes had drifted by and I was becoming increasingly irritated at him for leaving me. Handing my Solo cup of beer to Quinn, I grabbed Kylie’s arm and dragged her upstairs with me in search of my boyfriend.

I found him.

First door on the left, his tongue deep in popular cheerleader Kendra Kyle’s vagina.

Figures.

He didn’t apologize, nor did he move from his place between Kendra’s legs. No, instead he looked at me with pathetic eyes, clearly too stunned to utter a single word of apology. I was done. Of course, the tears fell as I was fixed in my spot, as if I was some sort of perverted onlooker. Thankfully, Kylie quickly slammed the door shut and pulled me out of the party and drove us back to the dorm.

I was a mess for months, not able to even look up from the floor beneath my feet as I walked past Cam sticking his tongue down Kendra’s throat, providing front row seats to onlookers as they played tonsil tennis like pros.

It was right then that I decided there’s no such thing as fairy tales or Prince Charming. There was no such thing as a happily ever after kind of love. There was no such thing as fairy godmothers or magic pumpkins. Instead, there’s only villains, poisoned apples and a whole load of ugly sisters just waiting to pounce.

Cinderella could kiss my ass.

“Did you hear me, Payton?”

I shook my head as if to rid the thoughts of my painful experience some years ago. Removing my eyes from my computer screen, my gaze landed on my boss, Kate McKenna. She stood at my office door, irritation written all over her face. At least I wasn’t dramatically hungover today and judging by Kate’s mood, it was a good freaking thing.