Evolve (Soulmates Book 4) Read online

  Evolve

  By Nicole Dykes

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Epilogue

  Letter from the Author

  Sneak Peek

  Prologue

  Jackie

  Freshmen Year

  Movement from the body next to me woke me and I slowly opened my eyes. The events of the night before playing in my head.

  It was homecoming and Jake's date had ditched him at the party after the dance, Jake was one of my good friends that I had a serious crush on since we started hanging out a few years ago.

  I had way too much to drink, but when I saw him standing alone in the kitchen, I knew it was my chance to finally make a move. We were both really drunk and things admittedly went too far, but I had told him I loved him and he had said it back.

  I looked up at his gorgeous face and couldn't help the huge grin that was plastered on mine. Jake Keller. We were together, he loved me. "Good morning."

  He smiled back at me, obviously hungover from the night before, "Good morning."

  He stood up suddenly and started to get dressed. I sat up, still naked, "Are you leaving?"

  He looked over at me as he was getting dressed, “Yeah sorry, I have to get home. But last night was great. I'll see ya at school." He walked over and planted a quick kiss on my lips.

  I smiled at him, still sitting up on the bed. I didn't want him to leave, but I knew we would have plenty of time together. "Okay, I'll see you at school then, I can't wait."

  He said he couldn't either and then left the room. I laid back down for a minute, still unable to stop smiling. I couldn't believe I had finally gone for it with Jake. Part of me thought he liked my best friend Maddy. They had been best friends since they were six years old and were always together, but when I asked him the night before he had said that they were just friends.

  I slowly dragged my body out of bed and found my clothes on the floor. After I was fully dressed I went downstairs to find my two best friends, Maddy and Michelle.

  I saw Maddy and Michelle sitting on the sleeping bags on the living room floor of Jake's mom's large lake house. I walked over to them.

  Michelle, who was our group's tough girl, looked me up and down. I hadn't even said a word to them and she knowingly smiled at me, "Did the cheerleader finally fucking lose it?"

  I had no clue how she knew. She said it so loud and I sat down between her and Maddy, sheepishly, hoping no one overheard, "Michelle, be quiet! Do you have to tell everyone?"

  Maddy, who looked like she hadn't had any sleep, looked over at me wide eyed, "You really did? With who?"

  Maddy was pretty much the exact opposite of Michelle: Michelle was tall, Maddy was really short, Michelle was outspoken and usually a little bitchy, Maddy was sweet and usually really supportive.

  I felt my cheeks get a little pink and surveyed the room to make sure no one else was listening before I answered, "Jake."

  In unison they both looked shocked and asked, "Jake?"

  Then Michelle laughed and Maddy just stared at me, "Our Jake? Are you out of your mind? Wasn't he with Katie last night?"

  I shushed them again and told them that Katie had ended up back with her boyfriend and then asked them, "What's wrong with Jake? He's hot and funny and nice..."

  Michelle laughed at that. Jake and she hated each other.

  Maddy spoke up, "It's just kind of weird. I mean you guys are friends and you wouldn't sleep with Shane and you guys dated for a while. Then you hook up with Jake."

  Maddy was great, but we all called her goody two shoes for a reason. She could be a little judgmental and I wasn't even sure if she had kissed anyone yet. And I couldn't believe she brought up my ex Shane, who dumped me because I wouldn't sleep with him. Truth be told, I wasn't that sad when he ended things, I didn't love him, "It wasn't right with Shane, but it was perfect with Jake. It wasn't just a hook up. He loves me and I love him."

  They both just looked at me stunned and then Michelle laughed at me for the third time, "You love him? Wow you really are nuts. And he loves you? Jake is not capable of love. You just fell for the same dumb shit he tells every ditzy blonde to get into their pants."

  I loved my group of friends, but they all treated me like a total idiot most of the time. Yes I was a blonde and a cheerleader, who really didn't care about school. And I was guilty of a lot of blonde moments, but I wasn't as dumb as they all thought.

  I stood up, pissed off and shouted louder than I had intended to, "Shut up Michelle! You think you know everything. He really loves me and we are dating so deal with it!"

  She just sat there looking confident that she was still right and Maddy, always the peacekeeper, stood up and softly said, "Did he say that? That you are dating?"

  I looked down at the floor, we didn't have a chance to really talk this morning because he had to leave, but he had said he loves me and that he couldn't wait to see me again. "No, but he didn't have to. Trust me, he felt it too and we are dating."

  She nodded and gave me a smile, "Well that's awesome, Jackie. Just be careful."

  I just laughed at her, I always thought Maddy was a little too careful. We all lie back down and fall asleep for a little bit before Michelle had to drop us off at our houses. I couldn’t wait for Monday so I could see Jake again.

  When Monday finally arrived, I planned to get to school early, but my mom was being really difficult that morning. When I got to school I rushed inside and over to Jake’s locker, I was shocked when I saw him with Tiffany Hunter. She was in the grade above us and they were practically making out in front of his locker.

  I forced my legs to move before he saw me and headed toward the school’s exit, fighting back the tears. I bumped into Michelle on my way out as she was walking in. Great. That’s just who I wanted to talk to.

  She looked at my face and actually looked concerned, “What’s wrong?”

  I burst into tears and choked out, “He was kissing Tiffany!”

  She put one hand on my shoulder and looked slightly irritated. I wasn’t sure if her irritation was for him, me or both of us, “Okay. Come on, let’s go back in and talk.”

  “No. I don’t want to see him.”

  “I’ll handle him. Let’s go.”

  I reluctantly followed her to her locker which was close to Maddy’s and across from Jake’s, who was luckily already gone. She stood there and looked over at me, “So he was kissing Tiffany? Did he see you?”

  I shook my head, “I don’t think so.”

  I couldn’t stop crying. I felt like a complete moron. Michelle was trying to calm me down and I felt another hand on my shoulder and heard Maddy’s voice, “Jackie, what’s going on?”

  I tried to tell her, but the words wouldn’t come out so Michelle filled her in. She told me that it was going to be okay. They were both looking at me like I was insane and I yelled at Maddy, “Okay? I gave him my fucking virginity! That’s something you never get back!”

  I felt sick. I was no l
onger a virgin. I had thought that he loved me and that I was in love with him. What was wrong with me? Maybe I was as dumb as everyone thought. I was never going to make that same mistake again.

  Andy

  Sophomore Year

  I just stood there like a deer caught in the headlights, all of my friends were staring at me, demanding an explanation. Bridget, a girl I had slept with a few times had just punched my girlfriend, Maddy. She punched her because she thought that I was screwing around on her with Maddy, when in reality I had cheated on Maddy with her.

  Maddy took off in the woods surrounding the lake and I followed her, trying to figure out how the hell I was going to explain myself. Was there any explanation for my reckless behavior?

  I caught up with her and gently grabbed her arm, “Maddy please just talk to me.”

  She yanked her arm away from me. She was absolutely gorgeous and the sweetest girl I had ever met. Yeah, I was a total prick. She just looked at me with intense hurt in her eyes, “Why does she think you are her boyfriend?”

  Because I’m a total prick. “Maddy I’m so sorry.”

  She just stared at me angrily, “Answer the question.”

  I couldn’t lie to her anymore. The fucked up thing was I really did love Maddy, but we had been dating for a while and I was ready to take things to the next level sexually. Maddy was a virgin and wasn’t ready. Like an idiot I let temptation and pressure get to me and ruined what could have been an amazing relationship. “I met her at a party in Hutchinson. It just sort of happened.”

  “What happened?”

  “We…fooled around.”

  She cocked an eyebrow and got even angrier, “Fooled around? Did you have sex with her?”

  I nodded and barely squeaked out, “Yes.”

  I could see tears forming in her eyes and she asked me how many times.

  “Maddy.” I didn’t want to hurt her any more than I already had. I just needed her to forgive me. I could fix it and I would do better. “You don’t want all of the details. I’m so sorry. It will never happen again. I swear!”

  She laughed, a cold, bitter laugh and then screamed at me, “I trusted you! You made me look like a total idiot. I will never trust you again. She thinks you are her boyfriend so it must have happened more than once. How many times?”

  I sighed and gave a vague answer. “I don’t know. A few.”

  “A few? How many times is that? And those other times they just happen too?” She paused and a look of horror went over her pretty face, “Oh God, have there been others?”

  I didn’t know what to say. Nothing was going to fix this. I stood there and she said, “I’ll take that as a yes. You and I are done. I don’t want anything to do with you!”

  I tried to reach for her again, but she pulled away and walked back to where our friends were. I wanted to go after her, but I stood there frozen. She hated me. I hated me. I had no excuse, I was just a total fuck up.

  Chapter 1

  Andy

  Our senior year in high school, I convinced Jake to throw a big party at his mom’s lake house for New Year’s Eve. I met him there before the party and we hung out drinking beer in the large living room. Jake and I had been friends for a long time. We met in junior high. We both played every sport we could in school and had bad reputations. And mine had only gotten worse since I cheated on Maddy. Everyone just saw me as an asshole and a player, so I played it up.

  A lot had changed since Maddy and I had broken up. She had dated some asshole from a rival town the year before, but they had broken up because he went to a college in Alabama. I fucking hated seeing her with someone else. I knew I had no right to be jealous, but I was.

  Also, that year at homecoming, Jake’s older brother, Chris was killed in a car accident. It hit us all hard. He was like an older brother to all of us, always giving out free advice to any of us that would listen. New Year’s Eve was the first time we had been at the lake house since the night he died. I thought maybe it would help Jake move on, to finally go back there. Jake hadn’t been around very much since it happened. I took big gulp of my beer, “So where the hell have you been lately? I never see you anymore.”

  “I’ve been hanging out with Maddy a lot.” Maddy and Jake had been best friends since they met at six years old, but they had some kind of falling out our freshmen year and Jake tormented her. Since Chris died though it seemed like they had forgiven each other. It was so weird to see them getting a long after years of fighting.

  I still had no idea what they were fighting out in the first place. Now all of the sudden they were friends again. “Is there something going on with you two?”

  He was playing with the label of his beer bottle and actually looked a little guilty, “Yeah.”

  I couldn’t believe it. Jake hounded me the entire time I was dating Maddy, trying to get me to break up with her. He called her a tease and told me that she would never want to have sex. I stared at him in disbelief, “Are you fucking her?”

  “Yeah, but it’s more than that. At least I want it to be more.”

  I ran my fingers angrily through my hair. They were fucking. Maddy had sex with Jake. We dated for a year. I loved her and she slept with Jake who fucking tortured her. “Are you kidding me? You broke us up, telling me how crazy she was and now you want to date her?” I took a brief pause and then asked, “How long has this been going on her? Did you fuck her the night we broke up?”

  There was a rumor that went around our school about Jake and Maddy having sex that night, but he swore to me that nothing happened. He looked at me and quietly said, “Andy calm down. I didn’t break you guys up. You did that on your own.”

  That pissed me off. It wasn’t completely on my own, “You were always in my head telling me how she would never want to have sex. You tried all of the time to get me to end things with her.”

  “I’m sorry for that. It wasn’t fair, but you were the one that cheated on her. I didn’t tell you to do that, and even if I had you didn’t have to listen.”

  I stood up so pissed off I couldn’t see straight. I felt completely betrayed by my best friend, like maybe he was trying to get us to break up the entire time. “How long has this been going on?”

  “Since Chris died. She was there for me.”

  “She comforted you with her body. How nice. She’s more fucked up than I realized. I mean you treated her like shit for years and then she just gave her virginity to you!”

  That got to him and he stood up also, “She’s not fucked up. She’s just caring. She forgave me.”

  I glared at him, “There is no way she has completely forgiven you. You said that you want more, sounds like she doesn’t.”

  His face looked like I had been right about that. “I’m going to find out tonight. I’m going to ask her to be with me exclusively. I love her.”

  What the hell? He loved her. This was not happening. I knew it didn’t make sense, but a part of me still loved Maddy. She was my first love and after we broke up, I had thought that maybe someday we would end up together.

  Then she started dating that asshole from Hutch and I was almost as much of an asshole to her as Jake was because I was so fucking jealous. Then Chris died and I started dating Kourtney, a really hot and truth be told, bitchy cheerleader that I didn’t have any real feelings for over Christmas break. “You don’t know what love is. I know and so does Maddy. She’s too good for you and there is no way she will trust you.”

  He looked hurt and didn’t say another word to me. He just put his beer down, picked up his keys and left.

  I sat back down on the couch, stunned. I had a feeling something was going on between them, but had just shrugged it off.

  An hour later Paul and Shelley showed up at the lake house. Paul played a couple of sports with Jake and I, but wasn’t too into them. Shelley was his girlfriend and they had been dating since our freshmen year. Paul wasn’t an aggressive guy by any means, but I was pretty sure he would have killed for Shelley.


  They came in and walked over to the couch, where I was still sitting. Shelley surveyed the large room, “Nice party. Where is everyone?”

  I took a drink of my beer, I was still in a really pissed off mood, “It’s still early.”

  Paul went in the kitchen and brought back a beer for him and some flavored drink for Shelley. She took it and they both sat down on the couch next to me. Paul asked, “Where’s Jake?”

  I stared absentmindedly, “Don’t know.”

  They looked at each other and then Shelley looked at me, “Did something happen?”

  I shook my head, “No. I don’t know where he is and I don’t fucking care.”

  Shelley and Paul were always the mom and dad of our group. They were just more mature and there was never any drama with either of them. I’ve never even seen them fight. Paul changed the subject and we started talking about the beginning of basketball season.

  Jackie

  I walked into the lake house with Maddy and Michelle around nine thirty on New Year’s Eve our senior year of high school. I really didn’t want to be there, since Chris had died it was kind of eerie being there. I remember being at a party there the night he died. He had looked so happy and carefree and then, boom, he was gone.

  I looked around the large room filled with people I went to school with and some that I didn’t know. We walked into the kitchen and mixed drinks. I mixed mine pretty strong, it was a holiday after all.

  We walked back into the living room and were talking for a little bit and then I saw Mary, one of the only girls on the cheerleading squad with me that I actually liked, “I’ll see you guys later.”

  They both waved to me and I walked over to Mary.

  I hung out with Mary for a while. We talked about how basketball season was coming up and how excited we were to cheer for them. I loved spending time with Maddy and Michelle, but they always made fun of cheerleaders and made me feel dumb a lot of the time. So it was nice hanging out with Mary.

  I downed my first mixed drink and then had another one. You would think that after what happened with Jake, I would never drink again, but I kind of went the other way and partied a lot.