Page 1 of Beneath Your Beautiful

Chapter One

Eden

Ibrushed snow off my down jacket and laughed at the inflatable Santa hanging from the porch rafters as I opened the front door. Trevor, one of Luke’s housemates, was sitting on the sofa, feet propped on the coffee table, a slice of pizza in one hand and the remote in the other. “Hey, Trev.” I took off my beanie and let my blonde hair tumble down. “Studying hard for finals?” I joked.

He tossed the pizza in the box and vaulted over the back of the sofa.

“Impressive. Do you do that for all the girls?” I teased.

He ran a hand through his mussed-up hair, his eyes darting around the room, looking at everything except me. “What are you doing here? It’s Thursday.”

I laughed. “I’m not allowed to stop by on Thursdays? Is that a house rule?”

“You usually have class all day.”

True. I was playing hooky this afternoon. Luke’s text sealed the deal.Ditch your next class. I need you. Now.He’d never asked me to ditch class for sex. I was so thrilled he was finally letting out his inner rebel, I practically sprinted here. “Is he in his room?”

“Uh, no…he’s out.”

I furrowed my brow. “He said he’d be here.”

“Let’s go for a beer. I’m buying.”

“I’m still recovering from last night’s birthday celebration.”

“Hair of the dog.”

Hangover sex would be a better cure, but I kept that to myself. “I’ll wait in his room.” I breezed past him. “Catch you later.”

Trevor’s hand wrapped around my arm, and he tugged me back.

“You don’t want to go up there.”

I looked up the stairs, dread gnawing at my stomach. “Why not?” I whispered.

“Just…don’t do it.”

I shook off his arm and quietly climbed the stairs. As I crept down the hallway, voices came from Luke’s bedroom. His door was open a crack, and I stood outside it, straining my ears to hear.

“When are you going to tell her?” After three years of listening to Lexie’s voice in the dark while we talked late into the night, I knew it well.

“Soon,” Luke said. “I just need more time. I couldn’t tell her on her birthday. And with finals coming up…”

“This is making me crazy,” Lexie said. “I feel so guilty. Every time I look at her, I feel like she knows.”

I didn’t know. I had no idea.

This couldn’t be happening.

“Don’t cry, Lex. I’ll talk to her. It’s just…hard.”

Oh God. When? How? I wracked my brain, trying to figure out how any of this was possible.

“Do you still love her?” she asked, sniffling.

I squeezed my eyes shut, holding my breath as I waited for the answer. “I still care about her.”

He stillcaredabout me? That was the best he could muster? In our senior year of high school, he’d begged me to come to Penn State with him. Like the fool I was, I had followed him to college, telling myself art was just a hobby. I could do it without the fancy degree. Not that my dad would have paid for art school. Still, I could have at least tried to get in, and I would have figured out a way to pay for it myself. But no, I had tossed the art school brochures into the trash.