Wishful Thinking (Wishes #1)

By S.P. Wilcox

Left heart broken by her high school sweetheart Sydney is in no means interested in having a serious relationship. She has just finished her freshman year of college and is headed home, leaving her best friend at school and no hopes for an exciting summer.

Sydney is presented with the opportunity of a lifetime by her longtime friend Heather. Accepting this opportunity could make or break her summer vacation. When a gorgeous young man crosses her path more than one time, Sydney is almost torn to pieces by her immediate attraction to him. Making her choice simple, she will take the offer from her friend and embark on a summer she will never forget.

Sydney is looking for a summer filled with endless amounts of fun. What she doesn't know is this is the summer that will change her love life forever. See what happens to Sydney in her quest to have a summer filled with no ties.

• Language: English
• Publisher: S.P. Wilcox
• Release date: Dec 27, 2012
• ISBN: 9780615726106

Book preview

Wishful Thinking

By

S.P. Wilcox

Wishful Thinking

Copyright September 2012 S.P. Wilcox

Published by S.P. Wilcox

Book Cover by Tatiana Villa

Copyediting by EbookEditingServices.com

Formatted by IRONHORSE Formatting

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

Dedication

I dedicate this book to my husband and four amazing children.

Life is short, keep those you love close, and keep love unconditional.

Acknowledgments

I couldn’t have completed this book without the understanding of my family and friends. They thought I was a crazy person sitting at my computer for hours at a time and reading books until all hours of the night.

A special thank-you to my friend Heather Wenk. All I have to say is, thank God for our kids’ Kindergarten class! Heather let me talk her ear off about the characters all summer long. She helped me find the characters’ paths and kept my secret while I was busy writing this book, and she loves to read as much as me. To Penny Meyer who listened to me go on and on about this story. She gave me endless support and guidance in the more risqué parts.

To my niece, friend, and reading partner in crime, Nicole Lugo. I know reading is our addiction. Only you and I can understand this problem we have. Thank you so much for loving my book and your great idea to write the Prologue.

The story could not have been completed without the longtime friendship of Kim Looft. Without her in my life, I would have missed out on so many wonderful memories. Our friendship has spanned more than 30 years, never missing one important event in each other’s lives.

Table Of 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

Coming Soon

The Author

Prologue

Sydney, please come to the party with me, Kendall begged.

I so did not want to go to this party. Kendall had met some guy taking an SAT prep class and wanted us to hang out with him and his friends. I was not interested; the party was across town with kids from a different school.

Come on…I will owe you one, and you know his friend thinks you are super cute. Please, I need you to come with me. I don’t want to go by myself, Kendall begged again.

How does he even know what I look like? I asked her.

I showed him pictures of you on my phone and he has seen you on Facebook.

Fine, but you owe me big time, I said completely exasperated.

Kendall picked me up at home and we headed to see this guy she was head over heels for. I fumed and bitched the entire way to the party. I was not in the mood to make small talk with a bunch of strangers, so help me if she hangs all over this guy and leaves me standing like an idiot there will be hell to pay.

Well we hadn’t been at the party for fifteen minutes and where was Kendall? Yes, hanging all over this boy and leaving me to fend for myself. ARGH, I fumed. This guy Kendall was trying to get me to indulge in is umm…to say the least…not my type. He kept following me around the party talking my ear off about who knows what. I asked Kendall about a million times how much longer we need to stay but she just ignored me.

Luckily, I saw a few girls I know and hung out with them until this weirdo finally leaves me alone. After an hour and half of hanging around this party, I am done!

Kendall, can we please go? I ask her.

She gives me a dirty look and continues on with her conversation. Oh, hell no, she is not going to ignore me like this.

Umm, Kendall, can I talk to you for a minute? I ask her.

She whipped her head around at me, No I am not ready to go. Go have a drink and hang out with everyone, dance… go have a good time, but we are not leaving yet. She narrowed her eyes at me, telling me you are stuck here until I am ready to leave.

I could feel my cheeks turning red and steam coming out of my ears. I walked outside, pulled out my phone and start looking through numbers to see who I could get to come pick me up. As I scrolled through the numbers, one jumps out at me…Trent. My smile grew wide and my heart rate picked up. I have had my eye on Trent since the beginning of the summer. School is starting soon and this is a good opportunity to get the ball rolling. I wouldn’t mind starting out my senior year of high school with a boyfriend.

I hit his number and sweetly asked if he would come get me from this awful party. Fifteen minutes later I am getting into Trent’s truck and we are headed to a party on our side of town. Trent has a red Toyota 4x4. It is over the top too big, but he loves it. And that is how it started. After that night Trent and I were inseparable.

Oh, did I mention that Kendall and I are not speaking to each other? She is pissed I bailed on her, and I am pissed she put her own boy needs in front of our friendship, making my relationship with Trent even more dependent.

School was starting in less than a week- senior year. Kendall and I had great plans for the school year, not to mention practically every class together. If we don’t make up soon, this would be a long, long year.

Hi, gorgeous, what do you want to do tonight? My adoring boyfriend, Trent, asked me.

Whatever you want, I say.

Well, Dylan is having a party. How about we go hang out at his house, Sound good?

Yeah…sure.

I don’t really care what we do as long as we do it together. I am so head over heels for this guy; I could care less as long as he is holding my hand letting everyone know we are together. Trent would give me loving kisses, hold my hand, and whisper the sweetest things in my ear. We have been together for almost a month. Trent picked me up and we headed to Dylan’s for the party. We are driving towards Dylan’s when Trent pulls over at the park not far from the party.

Sydney, I hope you know how much you mean to me. I can’t imagine not spending every waking moment together. Once school starts, we will be able to see each other all day and after school. Trent is looking at me with those beautiful deep blue eyes.

I know this year is going to be so great. I never thought I would be excited for school to start, but I am. I said with a giddy tone.

So, you know we have been taking things kind of slow, he said to me in a gentle voice. It took me a minute to realize what he is talking about. Then the light bulb went off in my head and I started to get a bit nervous.

Well, I…I am just not ready for that yet. I mean, I think about it too, but, we have only been dating for a month. I am just not ready. I told him. I am so nervous, I know guys want what they want, but I am not ready to give in to his needs quite yet.

Oh, Sydney, I would never pressure you to do something you don’t want to, but… I am falling in love with you. Holy shit… did Trent, Senior God just tell me he is falling in love with me? My heart is swooning.

Well, no I didn’t know… I said as I leaned over to give him a kiss.

Trent pulled me closer to him in the cab of his truck and began kissing me from ear to ear, tickling behind my earlobes, making my heart pound. Strange sensations began pinging through my body. I am having feelings I wasn’t used to as his lips moved over my neck and his hands caressed my breasts. I was beginning to pant. I pulled away from him.

We should stop…our friends are probably wondering where we are, let’s go to the party. I said to him.

Of course, yes, let’s get to the party, Trent said through clenched teeth.

I knew he wanted more, but not in his truck. I am not having sex with him in his truck.

We arrived at Dylan’s walking hand- in-hand into the party. I walked around a corner with Trent following right behind me, and I smacked right into Kendall. Damn it!

Kendall.

Sydney.

The tension couldn’t have been thicker between us. Right behind Kendall was Dylan. What the hell was going on here? I turned to look at Trent and he is smiling from ear to ear.

Did you know about this? Did you know she is seeing Dylan? I asked, my voice overtly loud and annoyed.

Hello, I am standing right in front of you. Yes, Dylan and I have been seeing each other, Kendall stated.

Dylan said to both of us, You two need to talk. We are best friends and you two are best friends. You need to resolve this fight you are having so we can move on as one big happy family. Trent was nodding his head in agreement with Dylan’s statement. It wasn’t a request from them, rather, a demand. They walked us to the backyard and sat us down face to face to work out our problems. After a few minutes of the silent treatment, Kendall and I both started apologizing and wishing we weren’t both so stubborn. Realizing we were dating best friends had us even more giddy than usual. This just added to how great our senior year is going to be.

By the time school started a few days later, you couldn’t tell where one of us started and the other ended. The four of us were joined at the hip. Every date, every moment, spent together. Our friend Heather was more annoyed than anyone. She told us it wasn’t normal. I think she may have even warned us we were in over our heads, but we just ignored her.

I was so in love with Trent, and Kendall was just as in love with Dylan. Homecoming was coming up and we were super excited. The dress, limo, dinner, and all of the essentials were taken care of. We told our parents we were spending the night at another friend’s house after the Homecoming dance and would be home Sunday morning. Trent and Dylan were able to reserve two hotel rooms, one for each of us. I couldn’t wait to spend the night with Trent.

After the dance we headed to the hotel. Trent had planned everything out. He gave me a beautiful bracelet before the dance. He put flowers in our room, and had a bottle of bubbly chilling. When he opened the door to our room, he swept me up in his arms and carried me in, placing me down on the bed. Trent was very handsome, with light brown hair, deep blue eyes, a nice set of muscles, and stood a good head taller than me. I was giggling when he put me down on the bed.

Trent leaned down giving me a wonderfully long sensual kiss.

Mmm… I moaned into his mouth.

Mmm…is so right. I could kiss you like this every day, but right now, I have so many other ways I want to show you how much I love you. Trent’s words were making my heart pound and my body ache.

For the last few weeks he had been working my body up into a frenzy every time we made out. His hands would go everywhere and his words would fill my head with love and desire. I almost lost control a few times but he didn’t let me; telling me he wanted to make our first time together special. I knew tonight would be the night and I wanted it so badly. I could feel my love for Trent radiating out of me and his love for me encompassing me as he unzipped my dress and continued kissing me.

Sweetheart, are you sure you want to give this to me? We don’t have to if you don’t want to. Trent’s words were emphatic and sweet with concern for my wishes.

Yes…I want to give you this…I want you to be my first…I know you love me…I can’t imagine it with anyone else. I barely squeaked out through our kisses.

Trent’s tenderness was heartwarming. He helped me out of my dress as I toed off my heels. I was left in only my panties and matching strapless bra. He pulled my hands over my head and rained kisses all over my body. I began arching to him; my mind was lost in the sensation of his touch. After many minutes of relentless kissing and our hands all over each other, our breathing labored, our eyes met and I nodded my head yes, indicating my wish to continue to the next step.

Trent grabbed the foil packet he had put on the night stand, and covered his ample erection. I braced for what he had warned me might hurt. Our hips moved with perfection together. I am not sure if it hurt or not as I was lost in a world of love and passion brought on by my loving boyfriend whose beautiful eyes had me in a seductive trance.

I could feel a few small tears leak out of the side of my eyes, rolling down the sides of my face.

God...Sydney, that was amazing, thank you for giving me this, I will hold this moment in my heart forever…I love you, Trent said as he kissed my tears and held me tight.

I snuggled up to him and we feel asleep in each other’s embrace.

The next few months were wonderful. Trent and I continued on with our relationship, having as many stolen moments together as we could get. Over the holidays Kendall and I, along with our parents, went on a tour of the schools we had applied to for college. We made it home just in time for the big New Year’s Eve party at the country club. Trent and Dylan thought we would still be gone when we surprised them at the party. I would say the girls hanging all over them in our absence were less than happy when we arrived, placing ourselves at their sides.

Our dear friend Heather pulled us outside onto the balcony a few minutes after we arrived.

Listen, I don’t want to be a downer, but you need to confront Dylan and Trent. Those girls were not just flirting with them; they have been seen with them all over town while you two were gone. Heather informed us.

I scrunched my eyebrows as my blood began to boil. Kendall looked pale as we turned our bodies in the direction of Trent and Dylan, who were standing with a group of our friends.

What? I don’t believe you. I am sure this is all a misunderstanding, Kendall blurted out at Heather.

Heather’s eyebrows shot up, and she said, Are you kidding me? I wouldn’t make this up. You need to find out what is going on. I think they have been cheating on you with those girls behind your backs.

My body began to shake with anger. Why would Heather say such a thing? My heart was pounding out of my chest and I felt ill. Trent came outside and wrapped his arms around me from behind kissing my neck.

I missed you while you were gone. Thank you for surprising me by coming home for New Year’s Eve. I can’t imagine not being with you tonight. My body was stiff during his embrace I pushed myself away from him. I turned my body around glaring at him with my mouth in a grim line and a scowl across my face. Kendall’s stance was much the same as we glared at Dylan and Trent.

You missed me? I pointed my finger at him through squinted eyes. You are such a liar! How long have you been cheating on me? I yelled at Trent.

He looked shell shocked by my accusation.

What…? Trent replied in disbelief.

Are you going to deny it? Heather saw you with those same girls all over the place while we were away. What do you have to say to that? I seethed at him. I was light-headed from the emotions coursing through my body.

Come here sweetheart, you don’t know what you are talking about. I don’t think Heather understands what she saw. Those girls are nothing…we were just hanging out. Nothing happened. Trent took my hands in his as he finished speaking. You know I love you…I would never ever be unfaithful. Anyway you and Kendall were off doing who knows what on all those college campuses leaving Dylan and I behind. How do we know what you two were up to while out on the road?

I looked up into his eyes; I could see the sincerity and love looking back at me. I could feel the anger begin to dissolve and my heart pitter pattering with love for him.

Heather stormed off furious with us, and we spent the rest of the evening with Trent and Dylan wrapped around us like blankets.

Over the rest of the school year we were just happy go lucky couples. We went to all the dances, school events, and spent more time together than we did apart. As the school year began to come to a close, and our high school graduation grew closer, Trent and Dylan became more and more possessive of our time. I just thought they were worried about what would happen when we left for school in August. My cell phone was constantly blowing up with text messages wanting to know my whereabouts. Trent would ask how long I would be out shopping or when I would be back from the movies. When I said I was going away for the weekend, he wanted to know exactly what time I was leaving, and exactly what day and time I would be back.

I thought he was just being loving and concerned about me. Kendall was receiving pretty much the same treatment from Dylan. We had an end of summer part at Kendall’s house a few days before we left for college. Dylan and Trent were late, claiming they stopped to pick us up flowers to show us how much they loved us.

Two days later we were headed to Arizona for Sorority Rush. Kendall and I in her car, and our Mothers behind us in my Dad’s SUV filled to the rim with all of our stuff. As we pulled out on to the highway, both of our phones began to ding like crazy. Kendall and I were deep in discussion about how Rush would be and how excited we were to be starting college. I pulled my phone out of the cup holder it was resting in, and saw text after text, email after email. I turned to Kendall with a strange look on my face.

I have 5 texts and like 10 emails? Don’t you think that is weird? I said to her.

Open them and see what they are, She said, and continued on with our discussion.

I opened the emails first; there was an email from Heather and nine more from some other friends.

Heather’s email had an attachment. I read the message silently to myself as tears began to sting my eyes.

Oh, hell Kendall, this message is from Heather and there are a whole bunch of messages from everyone.

Okay… what does it say? Kendall asked with trepidation in her voice.

I began to read the message out loud to Kendall, my voice was shaking.

"Hi girls, I know you are driving to school and are together while you are reading this. I tried to tell you on numerous occasions that Dylan and Trent were up to no good. You wouldn’t believe me so I have attached photographic evidence to back up my claims. These pictures were taken last night before and after you said your good byes. Please don’t forgive them. Start a new life at school, have a great time. Never look back. I love you both and will miss you terribly until you come back. Heather."

I hesitantly opened the attachments. My stomach began to flip over and my head began to pound with heartache. How could they be so heartless? All lies, everything they said were lies. Each picture was like a knife in my heart. Trent caught in compromising positions, sucking face with some girl. His hands holding her face with a wicked smile on his. Dylan’s arms wrapped around another girl, licking up and down her neck. The photos were dated from last night, after they had said good-bye to us.

Kendall was about to have a panic attack as she drove down the freeway. I opened more emails and found pictures of more betrayals; some dated all the way back to New Year’s Eve. Heather had warned us that evening but we didn’t want to believe it. How could they do this to us? More photos from Spring Break and the weekend we went away for my sister’s college graduation.

Good God, we look like stupid girls. How could we have been so stupid? I said to Kendall.

How could we have not seen what was happening? All those times I thought he was being concerned about me. Shit, he was making sure he wouldn’t get caught. I am so stupid.

I kept saying it over and over again. This was supposed to be a wonderful day; not the day my life came crashing down around me because my boyfriend, the one I loved, the one I gave my innocence to breaks my heart. Kendall couldn’t even put two sounds together to make a single word. She was using all of her concentration not to let the car crash as we made our way to Arizona.

The text messages were just as bad. I think some of the photos actually came from the girls phones they cheated on us with. My stomach was rolling as bile came up into my mouth. I took some much needed deep breaths, as did Kendall. We discussed our options the entire way to Arizona. We didn’t call anyone, not even Heather; and especially not Trent or Dylan. We were not about to give them one more minute of our time.

Kendall and I agreed, we had more important things to deal with first. We would not deal with this situation until after Rush was over. We stopped responding to all calls and texts from our boyfriends and I use this term only in jest because they are not boyfriends. They are the slimmest douche bags I have ever encountered.

Once Sorority Rush was over and we had pledged the same house. We made our way to our new dorm room together. It was time. Kendall and I looked at each other and sent out the final text, it was like the shot heard round the world. This would be the last time I wanted anything to do with Trent.

Saturday, 8:00 am: Sydney to Trent: Hi sweetheart, hope all is well. OH…YOU CAN KISS MY HOT ASS…YOU ARE DUMPED! DON’T CALL ME…DON’T TEXT ME. Have a nice day!

Chapter 1

As I walked back to my dorm room, exhausted from finishing my last final of my freshmen year, I felt relieved. It was midafternoon and the sun was high in the sky, beating down on me as I headed to my room. Putting my key in the door I could already hear the giggling. Argh, my roommate Kendall, and her boyfriend Matt, had just finished finals this morning and were undoubtedly inside snuggling on her bed. I took a deep breath and opened the door- walking in I dropped my backpack on the floor, and of course they were kissing, I sighed.

Seriously, I said, Can you two keep your hands off each other for five minutes?

Well hello to you too… Sydney, Matt laughed out.

Kendall just sat up and said, Sorry Sydney, we lost track of time!

Kendall and I had been best friends forever. We’d gone to school together since the seventh grade and we knew everything about each other. We came to college together, pledged the same sorority together, and had lived together our freshmen year of college. Kendall met Matt in her Human Sexuality class, well not right away; she came home from class one day and said, I think I am in love. After that it wasn’t long before they met and had become inseparable. Matt was a year ahead of us, fraternity boy, one of the nice ones though. Let’s just say Matt had become part of the landscape in our room. Kendall was not very tall, with brown hair, brown eyes, a perky nose, a personality to die for, super outgoing, and confident. Matt was tall and slender with fair skin and sandy blonde hair. They made a darling couple when they were not making out in our room 24 hours a day!

Kendall asked me, So how was your last final?

Good, I said, I am just glad it is over. What is our plan for tonight?

We were heading home in the morning. I should say, I would be staying home for the summer and Kendall was just coming home for a few days. She was coming back to take summer classes and of course, to be with Matt. No surprise there!

Matt piped in, We are having a party tonight at the house- you know, end of school year and all. Kendall and I exchanged glances and both said, Sounds great, what time?

It’s probably started already, but why don’t you guys head over after you clean up and eat dinner. Matt headed out after that, and Kendall and I decided we were in need of power naps. After studying for finals the long night ahead of fun would require it.

After our much needed naps, we had dinner in the cafeteria down stairs. We showered and spent 30 minutes trying to decide what to wear. Although the days were hot already in May, the evenings tended to cool down just enough to make you question your fashion sense. Shorts, tank tops, and light sweaters and we were ready to go. I looked at Kendall; grinning from ear to ear she couldn’t wait to see Matt again, as if they had been apart for months, when it had only been a couple of hours.

Kendall, I said.

Yeah, Sydney.

Will you do me a favor tonight and not leave me standing like a dork while you and Matt hang all over each other? You are going to be here all summer with him. This is our last night before we…I mean I, go home for the summer. Come on, can we just hang out, all of us, and have a good time together?

At the question and demand I had put out there, Kendall rolled her eyes at me, but agreed. I was in a much better mood now, not that I had been in a bad mood; I just didn’t feel like making small talk with a bunch of Matt’s fraternity brothers and pushing away their not so polite advances for the next 3 hours. I knew plenty of the guys in his Fraternity, not in an utmost and personal way, but enough to know which ones to steer clear of, and which ones were not threatening to my reputation. Plenty of girls