Total pages in book: 192
Estimated words: 182641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 913(@200wpm)___ 731(@250wpm)___ 609(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 182641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 913(@200wpm)___ 731(@250wpm)___ 609(@300wpm)
“So mine.”
She freezes, but only for a second, before lowering, holding her hair to one side, so she can kiss me, a soft, short kiss. “So yours.”
My lips curve and she opens her mouth to speak, but before she can, shouts reach us from the open door. We pop up right as her friends burst into the room.
“The cops are out front!” Delta, she said her name is, shouts. “My grandfather will murder me. Probably literally if it avoids a scandal.”
“Yeah, we can’t talk our way out of being inside this house,” Bronx shouts. “So get your ho ass up!”
Rocklin is already at the window by the time she’s done, and Bronx yells down the hall. “This way!”
One by one, they rush in, jumping out the window with panicked hisses.
I look to Hayze, and we both laugh, shaking our heads. “The others split. It’s just us and the cast of Clueless.”
Damiano’s glare snaps over his shoulder before he climbs through, his eyes flying to the satin I peel off the floor, watching as I slide it into my pocket.
He shakes his head and climbs out, the two of us the last through.
The girls run through the grass, giggling and whispering as they sneak out the side gate to the back lot of the house—we wouldn’t have used this house if it wasn’t an easy escape route. We’re poor, not ignorant.
Once we reach their car, they climb in, all waiting for Rocklin, but she comes to me first, glancing behind me, hesitant to leave.
“Go,” I whisper. “I’ll come to you.”
“When?”
“Soon.” I hold in my smirk. “Good luck with the third degree, make sure you include all the dirty details.”
“A little secret?” She smiles, and I bend so she can meet my ear. “I rank higher.”
Chuckling, I swat her ass, and off she fucking goes.
Into a car with a dude who’s had her.
Back to a life where another one wants her.
In a world where I’m not allowed to have her because she’s her and I’m me and we don’t match. Yet our bodies disagree, and our souls have stretched, those thin little threads reaching out, the tips touching, trying to grab on.
Not sure how long I stare after the car, but it’s not until there’s a flashlight beam on the back of my head and a voice shouting, “Stay right there,” that I move, Hayze on my heels.
We run, jumping two fences and popping the lock on a shed, and slip inside. We curve to the back, dropping down next to a bag of fucking manure.
I scrunch my nose, looking away.
I’m down in the dirt, surrounded by bags of shit.
If this ain’t an omen, I don’t know what it is.
Hayze must read my mind because his hand clamps on my shoulder, aligning my eyes to his.
A silent promise passes between us.
We will get out of the dirt.
We will bury our shit.
We will come out on top.
The two of us might not have been able to control our pasts, but the future is ours to find.
And we’ll take it if we have to.
God help a motherfucker who stands in the way …
Chapter 17
Rocklin
“I don’t understand what you’re thinking.” Damiano follows me down the hall, his words from two nights ago annoyingly on repeat yet again.
“I don’t need you to.”
“This affects all of us.”
“Keep your voice down, or Sai will hear you.”
Damiano glances around until he spots my guardian several feet away. “I’m just saying it’s not just you in this. You have to see that.”
“It’s not a marriage proposal, Damiano.”
“I would hope not! Your father would—”
I’m done.
I whip around and his mouth clamps shut. “I know what my father would do. I know I’m lucky I wasn’t killed, and I’m lucky the people at The Enterprise are under contract and I’m lucky the employees are our people, not our parents’. I know I put the girls at risk, and I know you don’t like it, but here’s something you should know.” I step closer to him. “I am going to do it again, and about something you might be questioning … I still need you on my side. We are what comes next in this world. I will take my father’s seat one day, you yours, and we will need each other, so stop acting like a hurt puppy when you’re not. You literally fucked Jess Morgan three days ago. You’re taking Mia Calder to the Gala, and you’re going on a little trip this summer overseas to meet with a man about his daughter and her possible place beside you.”
Damiano’s eyes are sharp, his nostrils flaring, but as my words set in, his shoulders ease and he blows out a long breath, scrubbing his hands down his face. “I’m worried, all right?”
“I know.”
“You have been groomed for your role all your life, and you’ve never stepped out of it. Not like this.”