Broken Ties Read online

  BROKEN TIES

  A RIXON HIGH NOVEL

  L A COTTON

  Published by Delesty Books

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  BROKEN TIES

  Copyright © L. A. Cotton 2022

  All rights reserved.

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and events are the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons or events is purely coincidental.

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  No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without the written permission of the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes only.

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  Edited by Andrea M. Long

  Cover Designed by Lianne Cotton

  Proofreading by Sisters Get Lit.erary Author Services

  CONTENTS

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  The Past

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  The Past

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  The Past

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  The Past

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Epilogue

  Playlist

  About the Author

  PROLOGUE

  Poppy

  “You don’t think he’ll bring her, right?” My cousin Ashleigh whispered as we made our way through Deacon Faris’s house.

  It was crowded, but the Rixon Raiders had won 20 - 13. So everyone was amped up and ready to party.

  Including me.

  “Who?” I frowned back at her as we fought through the crush to find the rest of our friends.

  “Penelope.”

  “I thought you and Ezra weren’t—”

  “We’re not,” she rushed out. “But Jesus, Poppy. I don’t want to see him with her. Maybe this was a bad idea.” She hesitated.

  Ashleigh was kind of involved with our friend Ezra. He was Aaron’s foster brother, and Aaron was my… friend.

  One of my best friends.

  I grabbed her arm gently and pulled her over to a quiet spot. “Sorry. I’m doing it again, aren’t I?” I gave her a soft smile.

  “Doing what?”

  “Being insensitive,” I said. “I don’t mean to be. I’m just… I’m nervous.”

  So nervous my heart was beating wildly in my chest.

  “Nervous?” she asked. “But why?”

  “Because I like Aaron, Leigh,” I admitted. It was a relief to tell someone—to finally confess what I’d always kept so close to my heart. “I really freaking like him and I’m tired of pretending I don’t. And when he picked me up outside the stadium and spun me around, I felt it.”

  Every time Aaron looked at me, it felt… it felt like I was soaring. But it was weird. We’d been friends for a long time. Our entire lives actually. I was in the same grade with him and his twin sister Sofia, and the three of us were inseparable.

  At least, we used to be. Since the beginning of senior year things had been different.

  “You know he feels the same, Poppy,” Leigh said. “You have nothing to worry about.”

  “Don’t I? He’s so determined to make it this year. To do right by the team and Coach and the entire town. I’m not sure I fit into his plans.”

  Aaron’s popularity had soared this year thanks to being named captain of the team, leaving me and Sofia behind in the dust. But it was okay. I was so proud of him, we both were. Besides, nothing could come between a bond like ours. Not even football.

  Ashleigh reached for my hair and tucked it behind my ear. “Well, you’ll never know if you don’t ask him.”

  “You’re right. Oh my God, you’re right. Come on.” I grabbed her hand, my stomach fluttering with excitement. “Let’s go and party like it’s senior year.”

  But the second we walked out of the French doors and into Deacon’s yard, I froze. “N-no.”

  My heart tumbled in my chest, plummeting to the ground, splattering all over the Farises’ patio.

  No, he wouldn’t.

  He wouldn’t.

  But there he was. Aaron Bennet, the boy who consumed my thoughts, sitting in a garden chair with Zara Willis, Rixon High’s head cheerleader straddling his lap. Her arms draped around his shoulders and her pouty mouth pressed on his.

  “I think I’m going to puke.” I turned and ran back toward the house.

  “Pop—”

  But I kept running.

  I needed to get away. Far, far away where I could puke my broken bloody heart up without everyone watching.

  Stumbling into the house, I pushed people out of the way as I hurried down the hall in search of the bathroom.

  He was kissing her.

  Zara.

  The one girl I despised more than anything.

  Why?

  Why would he ever do that?

  Because he doesn’t feel the same. The words clanged through me as I reached the bathroom just in time to crash through the door and drop to my knees, dry heaving into the bowl.

  Years.

  I’d waited years to finally confess to Aaron how I felt…

  Only to find him kissing another girl.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Poppy

  The music flowed through me as I inhaled a deep breath. There wasn’t room to overthink things in a tumbling routine. You had to hit the floor hard and have complete faith in your abilities. I knew these moves like the back of my hand. They were muscle memory, as easy as breathing. Or at least, that was the hope.

  Pumping my legs, I pushed off and sprinted down the mat. Round off into a handspring, into another handspring, finishing with a back somersault tuck.

  As easy as breathing.

  The air whipped around me, my muscles pinging with exertion as my body cut through the air with utter precision, thanks to years of training, of pushing my body harder and faster and beyond its limits. Adrenaline saturated my veins, and when I landed, the mat an immovable force beneath me, I smiled.

  Tumbling never got old. Not for me at least. It was my favorite part of being a gymnast. Defying gravity and making my body bend to my will.

  I loved it.

  “Good, Poppy.” Coach Yardley smiled. “Your lines were tight, just watch your landing. We need it to stick.”

  I nodded, pushing the stray hairs out of my face. So maybe there had been a slight wobble in my ankles. But I’d work on it until it was perfect. I always did.

  “Okay, we’re done for the day,” she said. “Get out of here.”

  Competition season didn’t officially start until November, but like any good athlete, I liked to stay in shape, and Coach Yardley was more than willing to let us practice now the semester was in full swing.

  I headed to the locker room and changed out of my leotard. I planned to grab a shower at home later before the party. Ashleigh turned nineteen today, and her boyfriend Ezra’s family were hosting a barbecue.

  They were best friends with my parents and Ashleigh’s parents. I guess you could call u
s one big family: my family, the Fords; my cousin’s family, the Chases; and Ezra’s family, the Bennets.

  Our parents had grown up together, and now their kids were walking in their footsteps. My dad coached football at Rixon High, and Ezra’s mom Mya was the guidance counselor. It was a lot sometimes, but I loved our extended family.

  Pulling on my Rixon High hoodie, I slipped out of the building into the balmy afternoon air. I didn’t expect to find Eli waiting for me.

  “This is a surprise,” I said around a smile.

  He gave me a playful grin in return. “I had some homework to finish so thought I’d stick around and see if you wanted to head to Cindy’s Grill and get milkshakes.”

  “I can’t, sorry, I have a thing.”

  “Thing?”

  “It’s Ashleigh’s birthday.”

  “Oh crap, yeah. I remember now.”

  A soft chuckle left my lips. “It was sweet of you to wait for me though.”

  He ran a hand through his hair and down the back of his neck. “Any excuse to steal a minute alone with you.” He inched closer, his eyes dropping to my mouth, sending my heart careening against my chest.

  “Eli….”

  His expression faltered. “Sorry, I wasn’t—”

  “It’s okay. But I need to take things slow.”

  What we had was new. Uncharted territory. I turned eighteen in a couple of months and I’d never really dated before.

  The dejection in his eyes turned to determination. “How about tomorrow night? We could hang out? Catch a movie? Whatever you want.”

  His enthusiasm was flattering and I couldn’t deny it sent a small thrill through me.

  He was the first guy to show real interest in me. Most boys were intimidated by the fact my father was Jason Ford. NFL legend and local football hero. But to me, he was and always would be Dad.

  “Maybe.” My lips curved.

  “Maybe.” He nodded. “Okay, I can work with that.”

  This time when Eli leaned in, I didn’t recoil. His lips brushed my cheek but didn’t linger, and the chaste kiss made me feel all warm and tingly inside.

  “Enjoy your thing, Poppy. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Bye.” I lifted my hand in a small wave and waited for him to leave, releasing a heavy sigh the second he disappeared into his car.

  Eli Hannigan was a senior like me. We’d hung out a few times since the semester started, and I liked him, I did.

  There was just one glaring problem.

  He wasn’t the boy who owned my heart.

  “Happy Birthday, Leigh Leigh,” I hugged my cousin tightly before letting the rest of our family get their time with her.

  Ashleigh’s birthday was a celebration, but it was bittersweet. Sweet because she was here: happy and healthy and head over heels in love. But bitter because she’d lost so much after the car accident she and Ezra had been involved in before the summer. It was why she was retaking senior year instead of being off at college like the rest of her friends.

  “Pops?” My sister Lily wrapped her arm around me as we watched Ashleigh start opening her pile of gifts. “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah.” I smiled.

  It was senior year.

  I’d made the gymnastics team for the fourth year in a row. I had my sights set on West Chester University, my grades were good, I had a small circle of amazing friends, and I was finally dating… what more could a girl want?

  My gaze darted around the room, a sinking feeling going through me.

  “She looks happy.” Lily let out a soft sigh, hugging me tighter and demanding my attention.

  “She is.” My hand drifted to my clavicle as I watched Ezra kiss her, uncaring that they had an audience. An audience that included both of their parents. But too much had happened for anyone to protest.

  “Okay, okay.” My uncle Cameron finally cleared his throat. “I just want to say a few words before you kids go and do whatever it is kids get up to these days.”

  “I think we know what they get up to, Cam.” Ezra’s dad chuckled, and the rest of the adults shot him unimpressed glances. “What? They’re nineteen. At nineteen we were—”

  “Okay, Ash.” His wife Mya wrestled the bottle of beer out of his hands. “No more for you.”

  “Oh, come on, babe. It’s only sex—”

  She clapped her hand over his mouth and mouthed, ‘Sorry,’ at Uncle Cam.

  He rolled his eyes but we all saw the amusement dancing there. “As I was saying, Ashleigh, sweetheart, we’re all so very proud of you.”

  “Thanks, Dad.”

  “Life might not have worked out the way you planned, but I just know you’re going to achieve great things. Happy Birthday, Leigh Leigh.”

  She left Ezra’s arms to hug her dad and mom, the three of them holding on tight.

  Another wave of emotion crashed over me and I glanced away, swallowing down the rush of tears. Jesus, I was a mess, and it wasn’t even that time of the month.

  “Poppy?”

  Steeling myself, I met Lily’s concerned gaze, and smiled. “I’m fine.”

  Her brows furrowed. “Are you—”

  “Oh my God, Dad,” Ashleigh shrieked, throwing her arms around his neck again. “For real?”

  “You’ve earned it, sweetheart.”

  “E, did you see this? New York City.”

  He gave her a secretive smile. “Yeah, buttercup, I knew. Asher is letting us stay at the family penthouse.”

  She gawked at them both. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. Ah, I’m so excited.”

  “Excuse me,” I said, shrugging out of Lily’s hold. She stared after me as I slipped into the Bennets’ house and down the hall toward the bathroom.

  I was being ridiculous. It was a celebration. A party. I had no reason to feel anything but happy. Ashleigh deserved nothing but good things.

  Inside the Bennets’ luxurious bathroom, I splashed some water on my face and inhaled a deep, calming breath.

  “Get it together, Poppy,” I chided myself in the mirror. “You’re being ridiculous.”

  Laughter in the hall caught my attention and my heart ratcheted at that voice.

  His voice.

  Aaron Bennet.

  One of my best friends.

  My…

  I shook those thoughts out of my head.

  Crap. He and his friend Cole were right outside the bathroom, laughing and joking.

  “I thought we were hanging with everyone for Ashleigh’s birthday?” Cole asked.

  “Yeah, we can, for a little bit,” Aaron said. “But then I figured we can invite some people to your house and chill.”

  “Dude, it’s Monday. We have an early practice tomorrow.”

  “So? We’re seniors now, Kandon.” Aaron chuckled. “We’ve got to make the most of it while we can. Besides, I heard Madison say she wouldn’t mind getting to know you better.”

  “I’m not interested in Madison,” Cole said.

  “Why the hell not? She’s hot as fuck.”

  My breath caught and I clapped a hand over my mouth.

  “You hook up with her then.”

  “Maybe I will.” Aaron snorted, and thankfully, they moved down the hall so I didn’t have to listen to anymore of Aaron’s bullshit.

  I gripped the edge of the sink, my eyelids fluttering. Was I really hiding out in the Bennets’ bathroom? How pathetic.

  There had been a time I could tell Aaron Bennet anything. But things had changed lately. Maybe they’d been changing for a while.

  We weren’t kids anymore.

  We were seniors. Aaron was one of Rixon High’s beloved football players and I was the coach’s youngest daughter.

  Besides, I was dating Eli now. Sweet, kind, caring Eli. And he liked me.

  Which was more than I could say about Aaron.

  My heart clenched.

  Aaron didn’t care about me. Not the way I cared about him.

  I’d loved him for as long as I could remember, but I woul
d never be more than his friend.

  And it was time I accepted that.

  “There you are. I was looking for you everywhere,” Lily said when I rejoined the party.

  Music blasted out of speakers somewhere, drowning out some of the chatter while the men huddled around the grill and the women fussed over the copious amounts of food. Because when the Bennets, Chases, and Fords got together there needed to be enough to sustain the appetites of three grown men, plus six teenagers and their friends.

  “What’s up?” Sofia joined us.

  “Nothing.” I forced a smile. “Something smells good.”

  “My dad’s secret marinade. You know how seriously he takes his role as grill chef.” She rolled her eyes. “It’s a shame Kaiden couldn’t make it.”

  “Yeah,” Lily replied. “But things with the team are intense.”

  “You’re okay though, right? He’s making time for you?”

  “I’m fine. More than fine.” A coy smile played on her lips. “He makes me very happy.”

  Lily and Kaiden were the real deal. I’d watched my sister blossom over the last twelve months. Gone was the shy, anxious girl she used to be, replaced with a young woman who knew what she wanted and fought every day to make those dreams a reality.

  “First you, then Peyton,” Sofia said, referring to my sister and Ashleigh’s best friend. “And now Ashleigh. It’s got to be our turn next, right, Pops?” She flashed me a grin.