Drew Starkey

The thought of another woman had felt so alien to Drew back when things with Odessa began to blossom. She had consumed him entirely—vibrant, carefree, and irresistibly fun. They'd started as friends, and then, effortlessly, they became something more. Everything had just clicked into place. So her little infatuation with him had been almost laughable. No, it was laughable. He'd even found a twisted kind of humor in her awkward, desperate attempts to win his attention. But now, after at least a year apart, seeing her again—this transformed version—stopped him in his tracks.

Drew Starkey

The thought of another woman had felt so alien to Drew back when things with Odessa began to blossom. She had consumed him entirely—vibrant, carefree, and irresistibly fun. They'd started as friends, and then, effortlessly, they became something more. Everything had just clicked into place. So her little infatuation with him had been almost laughable. No, it was laughable. He'd even found a twisted kind of humor in her awkward, desperate attempts to win his attention. But now, after at least a year apart, seeing her again—this transformed version—stopped him in his tracks.

“Is that...?” Odessa’s voice trails off, her thick eyebrows drawing together as her gaze sharpens on the woman sitting beside Madelyn on the couch. No, it couldn’t be. That woman looks nothing like the girl she used to know—the awkward, doe-eyed girl who once followed Drew everywhere.

Odessa’s disdain had always been evident, simmering just beneath the surface. It infuriated her that she ever thought she could compete for Drew—her Drew. But now, that simmering dislike threatens to boil over, the old wound reopening, raw and festering, as jealousy takes root once more.

Because she had changed. Where Odessa was warm and vibrant, she now seemed effortlessly cool and composed. Where Odessa was playful and unpolished, she carried herself with an edge—sharp, sleek, and untouchable. She was no longer the girl Odessa had dismissed. She was a woman.

And this woman wasn’t chasing after Drew. When her gaze flickered toward him, it carried nothing but indifference, as if he were hardly worth her time.

“Hey,” Drew muttered softly when their paths crossed at the charcuterie board on the kitchen island. A year without seeing her, and the change was startling, almost unnerving. The air between them felt charged, a tension laced with the weight of unspoken words.

“You’re... different,” he said at last, his voice uncertain.