Page 1 of Words We Didn't Say

Prologue

Eden

Six months ago, when the first word was “Hey.”

“My dead grandma can run faster than you!” Andie shouted over her shoulder.

Maybe that was Andie.

I squinted into the morning sun. Tourists shuffled along the boarded path, gawping at the blue sky, the patchwork of cotton ball clouds, the cliffs, the beach, too busy taking photos to get out of my way. I dodged one tourist. Another. I could barely keep track of the blur of red tank top and loose grey sweats disappearing ahead of me.

No way had I fallenthatfar behind. The smudge on the horizon wasn’t my best friend. That could’ve been anyone.

“Come on, Ed!” she called back. “Move your arse!”

Or not.

Gasping, I staggered another four steps before admitting defeat. My hand flailed for the railing, and when my fingertips brushed the edge, you can bet your booty I latched on for dear life. That bit of metal was the only thing stopping my exhausted body from tumbling off the trail and plunging into the ocean below.

“I just—” I hunched over, gulping in breaths, my palm pressed over a heart thumping overtime. “I just need—”

What Ineededwas to travel back in time and leave my adorable pink high-tops tucked safely away in my wardrobe where they belonged.

I should’ve ignored the fun run poster on the noticeboard outside the coffee shop. I never should’ve listened to my personal trainer. All the times that overstuffed beefcake had told me I was “killin’ it, babe”—lies! And so what if the fun run was for a good cause? I didn’t have to be one of Sydney’s biggest fundraisers fighting youth homelessness. Iwas. But I didn’thaveto be.

I slumped against the railing.

Now, I was just lying to myself. I had to be the best. Exceptional.My childhood scarred every twist of my DNA. If years of therapy and skimming the occasional self-help book had taught me anything, it was that I was in a never-ending race to win the approval of a father who’d never wanted me. Not when he’d yanked my tiny hand off my mother’s cold, wooden casket. Not when I’d threatened to run away at fifteen or when I’d made good on my promise the following year. Not even now, when I wassomeone.

My grip tightened around the railing.

Should I let that man’s failings tear down the confidence I’d clawed together despite him?

No.Hellno.

I took a deep breath and pushed away from the edge. I managed one step…and then…another. That was enough. Sometimes, that was how life happened—wobbly baby steps, walking, running, and finally,soaring.

Who stopped Eden Phillips? No one.

Andie loomed around the bend. She was a storm cloud blotting the picture-perfect view. She rarely smiled—including when she saw me hobbling closer—but her tomboy aesthetic suited grim. The full sleeve of intricate black floral tattoos on her arm was the closest she got to ‘cute.’

“Thank you for gracing me with your presence, your majesty,” she said.

My reply was a glare.

“I thought you’d been training for this fun run?” She cocked her head, one eyebrow up. “What exactly do you do at the gym? Clearly, you’re not logging many hours on the treadmill.”

“My time at the gym is better spent looking adorable and scouting the weights room for eligible bachelors to corrupt. We don’t all need to waste our mornings bench pressing a bus like you do, you know.”

Andie smirked.

“That wasn’t a compliment,” I said.

“Sure sounded like one. So? You’ve farted around long enough to get your breath back. Ready to go?”

“No.” I flopped against the railing beside her. “I’d prefer to sit my little cutie booty at a café and order a fresh macchiato and a bacon roll.” I pouted. “Why didn’t you talk me out of this stupid scheme?”

Andie’s eyebrow was up again. “When have I ever managed to talk you out of anything?”

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