by Lily White
I don’t bother answering because it doesn’t need to be said.
Shane curses under his breath.
“Somebody needs to take care of William. Especially if he’s going to start his shit again.”
I can’t argue with him there.
“That’s not the only problem.”
“Emily?”
Once again he accurately calls it out.
“Yeah.”
I lean my head against the wall, my eyes closing for a few seconds as I attempt to make sense of what I’m doing.
Having her in our lives is dangerous. But if I try to ignore the problem, it’ll only get worse.
I might be able to control myself enough to stay away, but that won’t stop Damon. He’s too wrapped up in her, which worries me that I misread his feelings a long time ago.
“Damon went to see Emily at her house Monday morning,” I tell Shane. “And when we dragged you both home from jail, she was the first thing he mentioned.”
Shane exhales a heavy breath, the toe of his boot tapping the floor as he stares over at me.
“Both of you should have left it alone.”
“Gabe needed her away from Ivy.”
He laughs. “It didn’t mean you needed to fuck her again.”
“We didn’t.”
He cocks a brow, calling me out on that bullshit.
“I saw the way she looked coming out of that house, and the cocky grins you two were wearing when you finally showed.”
“We didn’t fuck.”
It’s not a lie...not entirely.
“Right. We’ll go with that story, if you want. The point is you both need to stay away from her before we have a repeat of high school. It took both of you over a year to get over that shit. Everybody in our group has a bone to pick with Emily. Especially after what she did to you.”
He’s not wrong, but at the same time, Emily’s not entirely to blame.
If anyone started this, it’s Mason.
As if following my thoughts, Shane shakes his head and shuffles his weight between his feet.
“We should have never let you guys take that bet. But then how were we supposed to know you two would fall for her?”
My jaw tics at the reminder of why I approached Emily in the first place.
It was stupid kid shit. A challenge to see just how much of a prude she really was. How was I supposed to know there was fire hidden beneath her shy behavior?
On the outside, she was timid and tame, but what I found on the inside was a girl that was strong enough to rip my heart from my chest and stomp on it when she left.
It was a game. Something Damon and I were known for.
Unfortunately, Emily quickly flipped the board and scattered the pieces when she always demanded to know which one of us she was with.
Nobody had asked that before.
Nobody cared.
If that wasn’t bad enough, she shook the foundation beneath my feet with the rage I saw in her face the first time she saw my bruises.
She was the first girl to care, the first one who didn’t believe I was at fault for them with the constant fighting. She kissed them instead of believing they were something to be proud of.
That’s when she had me in the palm of her hand.
“Damon didn’t fall for her,” I argue.
“You sure about that? Because from what I saw, he was just as in love with her as you. We’re only lucky she didn’t stick around long enough for the two of you to fight over her. Not with the rest of the crap you were going through.”
Guilt floods me in an instant. Rage rolling behind it because we did fight over her once.
Licking my tongue across my top teeth, I sigh.
“Then I guess demanding she spend the next six weeks being friends with us was a bad idea.”
He rolls his eyes and shakes his head.
“Son of a bitch. Are you serious? It’s like you want to cause problems. Just walk away, Ezra. Stay away. Go fuck a hundred other women to fill your time, but avoid Emily. Not unless you want to get messed up again.”
It’s too late for that.
Pushing away from the wall, I take a couple steps toward the door before stopping in place.
I don’t turn my head to look at Shane.
“I’m doing this for Damon. If I don’t, he’ll end up chasing after her on his own. At least, this way, I can keep an eye on him.”
Laughing softly at that, Shane answers, “Yeah. Okay. You keep telling yourself that. And why would you want to keep an eye on him when it comes to her? Is it really for him? Or is it for you?” He pauses to let that sink in before saying, “I’m telling you now that this is a bad idea, but I guess you need to go through with it to figure that out.”
Again, he doesn’t add, but the word hangs there regardless.
As the third side to our fucked-up triangle, Shane knows us better than anyone. He had a front row seat for what happened in high school and for the fallout that occurred when we left for college.
None of that matters, though.
My mind is made up.
“I guess I do,” I grumble before walking out of the office to leave his warning behind.
Emily
“Dylan!”
For fuck’s sake, I swear my brother is trying to drive me crazy.
I’m already fifteen minutes late meeting Ivy and Ava, and Dylan’s ridiculously expensive car is blocking mine in.
After several failed attempts to back out without having to ask him to move it, I gave up and marched back into the house.
Imagine my surprise when I turn a corner and find my dad standing at the door to Dylan’s room, his expression angry, his brown eyes snapping my direction as soon as he hears my voice.
I think, in the twenty-seven years I’ve lived here, this is the first time I’ve seen my father in the children’s wing. He never came to visit or talk to me, and I try to ignore the pang of jealousy I feel with that realization.
Not that I should be jealous. Judging by the look on dad’s face, Dylan must have royally screwed up. Maybe it has something to do with the ten teenagers passed out in the common room from partying all night.
“And where the hell do you think you’re going?”
Flinching at the censure in my dad’s voice, I round my shoulders and straighten my posture.
“Shopping with Ava and Ivy. I was just coming back here to ask Dylan to move his car.”
He smirks, disbelief obvious in his brown eyes. Dressed in business casual clothes consisting of a white button-down shirt and dark slacks, my father takes a step my direction before crossing his arms.
“For a wedding dress, I hope. Or have you forgotten you’re an engaged woman now? Shouldn’t you be spending your time with the wedding planner making arrangements for what will be the most important day of your life?”
If anything, I should be meeting with a funeral director for what will be the end of my life, but I don’t say it. The last thing I need is problems with my parents, especially with everything else going on.
Rather than answering him or acknowledging what he said, I say nothing.
Not that he cares for an answer either way.
To my family, I’m nothing more than a daughter to be bartered off for whatever it is they’re after.
Mason calls the shots when it comes to this wedding, and thankfully, he’s dragging his feet as much as possible. We have until we’re thirty from what I’ve been told. Or, at least, Mason does. Which gives me another two years of freedom.
Rather than dropping the subject, my father walks closer to me and locks his eyes to mine.
“I hear you’ve been around the Cross twins again. Or, I guess I should say, I’ve seen it. Especially after that scene you put on at the engagement party. What happens if Mason decides he’s sick of that shit and chooses not to marry a whore?”
Wincing at that, it takes effort not to lose my temper and say what I want. I’ve never heard a kind word from my father in my
life. The only time he pretends to like me is when we’re around Mason’s family and might be judged.
What I want to tell him is that Mason is with Ava. What I want to say is that Mason can’t decide not to marry me because, if he does, then he’ll be cut off from his family’s money.
Not that he needs it anymore.
Not with the success of their law firm.
Why Mason is even still going along with this is a mystery, but the Inferno is still playing the good sons with their families. For what reason, I’m not sure.
Sadly, I can’t say any of those things because I have too much going on at the moment. Fighting with my family would only complicate things.
Disgust rolls through his expression at my silence.
“Keep your damn legs closed, Emily. I won’t tell you again.” He glances over his shoulder to yell, “Move your damn car, Dylan.”
I stay perfectly still as my father marches toward me, rounds me on the left and keeps going.
It’s impossible to move again until I hear a door slam in the distance when he leaves the wing.
Dylan comes stumbling out of his room with keys in hand, his bloodshot eyes narrowing on me. The silence between us is deafening at first. Something has been riding my brother lately, and he’s taking it out on me.
Walking past me with pissed off steps, he reaches the end of the hall before turning back.
“You’re lucky I didn’t tell him both twins were here this week taking turns getting off.”
It’s actually surprising he didn’t.
“The twins and I are only friends.”
He snorts.
“Right. I believe that. You’re still a fucking legend at school for being a slut. Every once in a while, the video pops up again, and I catch shit for it for a few days after.”
My teeth slam together so hard that it vibrates down my jaw.
Ten years and those idiots are still focused on that? It’s pathetic.
They must be doing it to mess with Dylan. There’s no other reason for the current generation at my old prep school to give a damn about what I did.
It can’t be easy being the brother of a former student with a sex tape. Which might also explain why he’s been so mad at me lately.
“Whatever,” he mumbles before heading out to move his car.
I arrive at the mall twenty minutes later and shoot off a text from the parking lot. Ivy responds, telling me to meet them in the food court.
Coming here today wasn’t a top priority for me, not with what I have to do later, but it’s so rare for Ava to have time to hang out with us that I didn’t want to miss the opportunity.
As kids, Ava, Ivy and me were thick as thieves, but after they went off to college, and Ava somehow ended up with Mason, things have changed.
Ivy and I still see each other almost every other day, but Ava spends most of her free time with Mason now.
Which, honestly, I don’t understand. He was always such a dick to me. From what Ava says, that man will bend over backwards for her, so I’m happy for them.
Spotting them as soon as I reach the top of the escalator, I force a smile on my face and pretend I don’t have the weight of the world sitting uncomfortably on my shoulders.
It’s the same old pressure as usual.
The marriage.
The twins.
A world of hurt I know is coming for everybody on the day I finally say I do.
Trying not to think about that, or what else I’m doing today, I run up to their table and hug them both.
“Woman, it’s about damn time,” Ivy says, her blue eyes sparkling. “What took you so long? We almost gave up on you.”
“Dylan blocked me in with his fancy schmancy Porsche. I had to wake his ass up to get him to move it, but then I ran into my dad who read me the riot act.”
Ava cocks a brow in question, but Ivy only grins.
“Probably has something to do with you fucking the twins this past weekend, right? Girl, you’re brave. That’s all I have to say about that.”
“Again?” Ava asks, true surprise on her face. “I thought you cut them off after high school.”
Before I can answer, Ivy asks, “I mean, can you fault her, though? Who wouldn’t want to take on those two? They were nice to look at in high school, but they grew up to become something else.”
Ava shakes her head. “They scare the crap out of me.”
“That’s part of the fun,” Ivy says, laughter coating her voice.
I have to cut this off before it goes too far. The last thing I want to talk about is the twins. Especially with this screwed up six weeks of friendship I’m facing.
“First, I didn’t fuck them.”
“In my dad’s office,” Ivy interrupts, glancing at Ava. “It’s like she was trying to get caught.”
“Okay, that wasn’t planned,” I argue. “And you have no room to talk after giving Gabriel your phone number.”
“Oh, please,” Ivy says brushing it off, “Gabe is child’s play. I have him handled.”
She always thinks she has him handled. And while I’ll agree Ivy can take care of herself, Gabriel Dane has never been good for her.
Ava doesn’t look convinced either.
If anything, she looks worried.
“I think you both should avoid all of the Inferno guys at this point. They don’t play fair.”
“Says the girl dating Mason. And tell me a time when they ever played fair,” Ivy counters.
“Yeah, but it’s different now.”
Ava sighs, guilt rolling behind her brown eyes when she looks at me.
“Mason told me something a few years ago that you should probably know. I didn’t think it mattered because you weren’t around Damon and Ezra anymore, so I didn’t say anything. But if you really are starting something with them again, you should know the full story.”
That doesn’t sound good. I lift my brows waiting for her to continue.
She sighs again and runs her fingers through the length of her blond hair.
“I mean, it was high school, so I doubt it really matters anymore, but when the twins first started messing with you...”
She pauses, obviously not wanting to spit it out.
“They did it because Mason bet them they couldn’t get you in bed. He said you were frigid and boring, so the whole thing-“
Her voice trails off again, but that’s fine. It’s not like I can hear her over the shattering of my heart or the rush of fury in my head.
“I take it the twins won the bet?”
I don’t mean for the snap in my voice that makes her wince. It’s not Ava’s fault.
Voice softer, she meets my eyes when she says, “I think we all know how that turned out. Those two cared about you. I just worry that they’re still mad about you leaving them and are playing games again.”
Taking a few minutes to gather my thoughts, I understand why Ava told me about the bet, but I don’t believe the twins are playing games. Not with the pain I saw in Damon’s eyes or the cold rage I saw in Ezra’s.
Their hearts are still very much involved, but that doesn’t mean I’m happy to hear about how all of this started.
To be honest, it only pisses me off at Mason. Maybe that’s why he always looked at me with hatred behind his eyes when he saw me with them. Maybe he lost a lot of money.
“How much was I worth?” I ask.
Ava’s face pales. “It doesn’t matter.”
“How much?”
She takes a sip from her iced latte before answering, “Five bucks.”
Oh, God. That only makes it worse. The knife already stabbed in my heart is now twisting to shred the muscle. And it also means Mason’s anger with me had nothing to do with losing the bet.
“You’re right. It doesn’t matter,” I finally say, playing it off that I don’t care. “That was years ago, and I’m only having fun now. I’m not worried about it.”
Ivy and Ava both stare at me with concern in their expressio
ns, but Ivy forces the subject aside when she says, “Let’s go try on clothes instead of talking about old shit that means nothing. I’m sure Emily is smart enough to use those boys for sex only and not worry about anything serious, right?”
Forcing a grin, I nod my head.
“Yep. Fun only.”
“Although I think you should choose just one,” she adds.
It’s a subject she doesn’t drop for the next few hours. And every time she brings it up, I toss Gabe in her face as a counter argument.
I want to tell Ivy the truth that I have no intention of sleeping with them again, and I want to tell her I’m being forced to be their friend. I also want to tell her about the other things I’m being forced to do, but I can’t mention any of it.
Instead, I play it off that I am sleeping with them, that it’s no big deal, and I’m not stuck between a rock and a hard place.
I’m lying to my friends all because I want to save them the headache of worrying about what I’m going through.
Every time Ivy brings up the twins, I give her a bullshit answer and dodge the topic by bringing up Gabriel. To say I’m nervous for her is an understatement.
It’s like a damn tennis match between us as we circle each other with warnings and accusations.
Poor Ava is stuck listening to us not-so-playfully bicker the entire time we’re shopping, at least until we make the mistake of bringing up Mason and the engagement.
She wanders back from trying on a green dress I’d handed her, doing a shit job of hiding how upset she is about the engagement.
“Are either of you hungry? I want to get out of here.”
My stomach is currently tied in knots over another obligation I have today. I couldn’t eat if I tried.
Checking my phone, I groan at the time.
“Not me. I have somewhere I need to be.”
Ava and Ivy both smirk before glancing at each other and back to me. It’s Ava who voices what they both are thinking.
“Tell Damon and Ezra I said hi.”
I wish it were as simple as that. Nothing with the twins is currently simple.
“That’s not where I’m going. You two have a good time, though.”
They stare at me as I walk away, and it takes effort not to look back at them and beg them to keep me from leaving.