Total pages in book: 157
Estimated words: 150968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 503(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 150968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 503(@300wpm)
My father wipes his mouth with his napkin, always meticulous in his actions. I wait for him to get up and leave, so I can get away too. But he doesn’t rise to his feet like I expect him to.
He drops the napkin next to his empty porcelain plate and takes a slow sip of his red wine. “You’re dating Grayson Hale,” he tells me, matter-of-factly.
It’s not a question. His words are a statement.
I should have known…I couldn’t possibly keep my relationship with Grayson a secret. Not that I want to keep him a secret. But I want more time with him…
Before I am forced to break our hearts. I know my father, and Grayson is not his ideal option for me, considering his past.
“He’s a good choice,” my father continues, toneless. “He’s a Hale, after all.”
My head snaps up, and I gape at him. Did I just hear him correctly?
“Benjamin Hale is a judge, and Grayson will most likely follow in his footsteps.” My father rises to his feet, pushing his chair away as he does. “You’ve done one thing right in your life, Riley. Don’t ruin this. I expect great things from you.”
My heart drops into the pit of my stomach and a prickling feeling shoots up my spine.
He steps away from the table, and I watch him walk away. My mother makes a sound in the back of her throat, bringing my attention to her. Her makeup, her hair and everything about her is flawless. As always. But she looks more like a lifeless doll than a human.
“You have the qualities to wrap a man like Grayson around your finger, Riley. Don’t waste it. You have the face and the body.” She lifts her chin, giving me that haughty familiar look. “I’ve taught you everything I know, don’t disappoint us.”
She leaves the table too, and the moment I am alone, my chest rattles with a sharp inhale. It feels like my rib cage is caving inward, trapping and squeezing my lungs. Mercilessly.
I can’t breathe under the pressure.
They approve of Grayson…
But it comes with a price.
I refuse to let my parents taint what Grayson and me have.
He’s special: our feelings for each other are neither fake nor an arrangement.
We are not an illusion or a pretty facade to manipulate those around us.
Grayson is real with me.
And I won’t allow anyone to poison what we are together.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Colton — 18 years old
It’s sickening.
Watching Maddox and Lila flirt constantly while they claim to be “just friends.”
Yeah, I call bullshit.
It’s sickening.
Watching Riley and Grayson be so cozy with each other. So blindly in love.
Yeah, that’s bullshit too.
They are wrapped up in their own little world, not really paying attention to anyone else around them. I’ve never seen Riley so…content before. Blissful. Calm. She beams up at Grayson, at whatever he’s saying to her. And then she throws her head back and laughs.
A soft, feminine laugh that sends tingles up my spine. My chest tightens.
And fuck, it’s maddening.
Her pretty smile. Her genuine laughter. Her large wistful eyes.
It’s like she’s found all her answers in Grayson’s arms and that pisses me off.
I can’t understand why. I’ve always been a little fucked in the head, but Riley? She’s messing with my mind with her mere existence. I thought I’d have some fun tormenting her, but she’s causing me trouble now. Oh, how the tables have turned.
The events of Halloween night keep playing over and over in my mind. The scent of her pussy and juices, the way she rocked against my fingers and dug her nails into my shoulders. Her flushed face, her swollen lips, her hazy eyes. Everything is ingrained in my head.
Her heartbreak and her sorrow…
The utter defeat on her tear-stained face at my cruel words.
And then her falling into Grayson’s arm after running away from me. I saw it. Them in the middle of the field, under the moonlight. Him picking up the pieces that I broke.
I stayed and watched them.
I watched the moment Riley fell in love with Grayson.
My dislike for him seems to increase with each passing day. He’s a fucking nobody, but he waltzed into Berkshire Academy and stole the little wallflower from me.
Riley Johnson was supposed to be mine—to tease and to torment. To watch her break under my touch, to see if the petals of her soul wither or blossom under my cruelty.
I don’t know when my curiosity about Riley became a mindless obsession.
But now she’s deliriously in love with that damn nerd.
“Colton,” Kate purrs in my ear.
My jaw twitches as I catch a whiff of her strong perfume and the overpowering stench of alcohol on her breath. She’s drunk and humping me like a bitch in heat.
My father and Sienna are out of town for two days, and what’s a guy to do when he needs some entertainment from his mundane, boring life? He throws a rash party. That’s exactly what I did.