Looking back, I should have seen it coming. Paige didn’t like that I went so far away to university. But it was going to only be for two years. She'd join me after she did her two years at community college. I thought we could swing that no problem. We were solid. But she hated the distance. She hated not seeing me every day. She complained that I didn’t come home enough. She hated that for months on end, texting and phone calls were our only form of communication. It wasn’t enough. She'd ask about the girls on campus. She’d gotten it into her head that girls were always making a play for me. I laughed and told her, even if that were true, I’d never cheat on her. She didn't seem completely reassured by that. The bottom line is, Paige thought she was losing me. She wanted me home with her. But I could never imagine the level she'd sink to—the trap she’d set to make that happen. And like an idiot I walked right into it. And it’s a mistake I'm going to have to pay for the rest of my life.

My life has turned out to be such a cliché. And not in a good way. It’s not exactly Sixteen and Pregnant, but at eighteen my only advantage is a high school diploma. And if that’s not enough, the father—and I use that term loosely—couldn’t have hightailed it out of my life fast enough. I thought I really knew him. Unfortunately, my boyfriend of three years transformed from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde once he realized his carefree, childless days would be coming to an end. I’m over him now though. The real love of my life is chubby, has more gum than teeth, and stands a little over two feet tall. She may not have been planned, but I’ve never regretted having her. She is the center of my world. A world that's been turned upside down when Mitch returns ready to earn the love and trust of the child he abandoned before birth. Letting him into my daughter’s life is one thing but letting him back into mine isn't going to happen. Ever. Now if only I can get my heart to heed the lessons of the past.

The summer Josh and I got together, we agreed to keep things strictly physical. And it was. Until our casual hookups stopped feeling casual. Having sex with him stopped being just about sex. And the thought of calling a halt to it left me feeling empty and cold. But Josh doesn’t “do” relationships, so I called it quits before I started to fall. Luckily, I was able to move on from the experience completely unscathed, my heart fully intact. Or so I thought. Until I saw him again. His arm was wrapped around her. And unlike me, she isn’t a hookup or a “booty” call. No, she’s the girlfriend he told me he didn’t want. And she’s getting from him everything he’d said he couldn’t give any girl. So it turns out that Josh isn’t averse to being in a relationship after all. He simply hadn’t wanted to be in a relationship with me.

The first time I met Chelsea, she threw a drink in my face. Her excuse? Poor aim. She meant to hit the guy in front of me. But did I get an apology? Hell no. She hightailed it out of there before I could mop the red wine off my shirt, believing she’d never see me again. She was wrong. You should have seen the look on her face when we locked eyes at a friend’s pre-wedding weekend getaway two weeks later. Then the mortification once she realized I’m the guy the bride-to-be has been trying to set her up with. Well I can safely say that’s not gonna happen. While Chelsea may be gorgeous as hell, there’s the whole matter of her throwing wine in my face. More importantly, that drink was intended for my best friend.