I see Hunter sitting on their loveseat with his arms around Cassandra Radcliff, watching a Christmas movie, snuggling, and loving up on each other. Neither has a care in the world, even while mine is crumbling down all around me. I see her hands clutching the arms that are wrapped around her.
Fuck. My soul feels like it’s burning to ash and flying away in the blistering winter wind. I feel numb, infuriated, hurt, sad, and betrayed like never before.
“What’s going on?” I ask. I hate that I can hear the franticness in my voice, because that means everyone in the house can, too.
No wonder there was a car in the driveway I didn’t recognize, as I see Cassandra’s dad and mom sitting on another sofa, right across from the two lovebirds. They’re sitting there having a conversation like nothing is wrong when everything is!
Everyone in Golden Oaks knows that Hunter and I have been together since forever. We may have started dating in eighth grade, but we were together much longer than that. And here this skanky girl is loving up on him like he’s hers.
All talking between the adults cease, and Hunter’s dad peers over in my direction. I can’t bring myself to look at him, knowing he’s allowing this to happen under his roof. I wonder if my dad knows about this? Surely, he would have told me, right?
His dad acknowledges me. So do his brothers, Owen and Emmerson. But not Hunter. He merely tugs Cassandra closer and presses a kiss to her temple.
“I said, what’s going on here?” I spit out between clenched teeth.
In all my fifteen years, I’ve never disliked Hunter. Never even thought about doing something so vile. But he’s pushing it. If this is a joke or a prank, he’s really going about it the wrong way. So what if I put ants in his bed? He got me back a few weeks later. With his cock, but that makes no difference.
Finally, when the movie goes on break, his majesty decides I’m worth his presence. “Who invited you?”
“You told me you would come over today. When you didn’t and said your mom had things for you to do, I thought I would come to give you your present.” It takes all I have not to bite off the words or say them sarcastically.
Sarcasm is my default setting. Hunter knows this.
“Oh, little con, you’re good.” He tilts his head back, peppering the air with a flourish of cynical laughter. “But there’s no way I’m going to fall for your tricks anymore.”
I furrow my brow in confusion. “Um, what?”
Tension fills the room so thick you could cut it with a knife. In fact, the knife he’s slicing my heart to shreds with does a fairly good job itself. I watch as he shoots a scathing look at his brother, Owen—who’s looking down at the floor with something akin to guilt—then brings his eyes to Emmerson—who looks like he’s silently begging him not to do something—before, at last, his gaze falls back on mine. His eyes are cold, lifeless. So far from the Hunter I know that it makes me shiver.
“I’m moving on with Cass. At least, with her, I know exactly what I’m getting. I won’t be blindsided by a con artist like you. Now, leave. No one wants you here.”
The hatred in his eyes is the last thing I see before I turn around, with as much dignity as I can muster, and leave the Prince house for good.
Love should never hurt this much.
And I was right. It wasn’t love, couldn’t be. Because love is the promise of forever. The promise to grow old with the reason your heart beats its rhythmic plunder in your chest.
Love is not losing your best friend, your lover, the person you can turn to, and not knowing the reason why.
CHAPTER 3
Hell has undoubtedly frozen over. My eyes leech over her body as she walks away, taking in her newfound curves that look fucking … bangin’. It’s hard to suppress the groan burning my throat.
No longer the medium height string bean, she’s now a voluptuous piece of perfection. Breasts that are just the perfect handful, all-natural and untouched. Tiny waist, with just a snip of love handles that can be seen under her snug shirt. Mid-waist jeans that rise to at least her belly button, but sensually caresses her skin like a glove. Wide, plump hips that leave me salivating. And an ass that bounces with every step she takes.
Did she get surgery or something? No way her body turned into that naturally.
Taking my lip between my teeth, I bite down to keep myself in check and not react. Being near her again after all these years felt like no time had passed at all. She’s still the tiny squirt I fell in love with, and her bright, charismatic emerald green eyes nearly enthrall me.
“Yo, that’s one fine ass right there,” I hear Easton say, and my eyes flick to him just as he thrusts his hips forward in a lewd way.
Anger bubbles in my stomach, and it takes all I have inside to push it back down. Especially when I feel Cassandra’s arms wrap around my neck.
Fuck. Shouldn’t even react to shit, anyway. She’s the one who messed everything up. Harloe is the girl who couldn’t even keep her promise, but instead, betrayed me in the cruelest way possible.
My eyes go back to her retreating form just as she pulls her phone from the back of her pocket, peers down at it, smiles, then put it to her ear. Her eyes flick back toward us once more, and something about her gaze causes another emotion to tingle in my belly. But before she pushes the door open, Cass must see her glancing this way.
“Take a fucking picture, trash!” Cass crows, laughing cruelly when Harloe appears hurt by her statement.
I, on the other hand, am still a bit numb from seeing her again after all these years. Since the night I dumped her in my living room, she disappeared. No one could find her or her family, and trust me when I say this, we tried our best. Even though her dad still worked for my dad’s company, no one could get their new information.
While I shouldn’t have cared about Harloe, something in my gut told me that I at least needed to hear her out. But when I found out she disappeared, that was it. I had my answer. She had tried to play it cool, acting like she didn’t know what I was talking about, but her leaving solidified that she did the dirty deed of betraying me.
So, fuck her. Fuck the horse she rode in on. Fuck the pedestal I put her on all those years. Fuck. Her.
With a newfound goal in mind, I unwrap Cass’s arms from around me and stand up. “Going outside for a smoke, be back.”
Silence envelops our little group. Talking ceases, and they all stare at me, already knowing why I’m leaving the auditorium. They know I’m going out there to confront Harloe—especially Cass. May be idiotic, but I need her to know, even if I said it that night almost three years ago, that she’s not wanted here.
Not in Golden Oaks.
Not at GOU.
And especially nowhere near me.
She’s fucked with my head enough, and I’m not going to have her here, on my turf, doing it again. Bullshit. Don’t give a good goddamn why she’s back here. Golden Oaks is no longer her home. It’s mine, and I always protect what’s mine.
Cass starts to stand, grabbing her purse. “I’ll come with—”
I cut her off with a look. “I believe I’m a big enough goddamn boy to do it myself, Cass.”
She purses her lips in obvious annoyance. Fire spits from her eyes when they land on mine, narrowing. “You are not going to ta—”
I snap down toward her so fast, she barely has time to lean back in her seat before I’m right there in her face, growling, “You presume to think you own me.” I tilt my head to the side, my teeth clench in irritation. “I belong to no one, so get fucked if you think that.”
She licks her lips, and her eyes dart between mine. “We have an agr—”
I bare my teeth, my hands clenching around the top of her seat to keep from wringing her neck. “Fuck your agreement. You are only here to get my dick wet. Do you understand?”
This has always been the issue with Cass. She thinks just because I’m dipping my cock into her puss that she has some weird hold over me.
Yeah, no. That doesn’t wor
k for me. No one has a hold over me. No one is important enough in my life, family included, that I’d toss my shit away and become some lovesick puppet for them.
Sorry, not going to happen.
A person must have a living soul for that soul to flourish and allow others inside. I don’t. My heart is as cold as ice, and my soul—well, let’s just say it’s dark and cold inside.
It has been since the day I found out the truth about my little con. Finding that out messed with my head for weeks. While I’d still visit her, I’d find myself looking at her, wondering how she could do such a thing to me. How she could have been so heartless and careless to fuck with my emotions.
Harloe Rose was my everything, and when she deceived me, she left me with nothing.
“You can’t talk to me like this, Hunt. I did nothing wrong.” She grits her teeth so hard I hear them grinding against each other.
Leaning toward her, I put my face flush with hers, whispering into her ear, “You’re pissing on territory that was never yours to claim.”
Then, without another word, I head off in the direction of the doors. Right now, I could really use a smoke. Even with needing to keep in tip-top shape for baseball, I can’t bring myself to quit the habit. They’re my clutch—the only thing of mine no one can take away from me.
The guys know better than to follow me. Instead, Zeke, Easton, and Leo will stay behind and make sure that Cass doesn’t. That bitch … I’ve been meaning to drop her for the past few years. She’s too clingy. Acts like I’m hers, and if any girl gets close, her claws come out, and it gets ugly.
For a while, in high school, that was okay with me. I didn’t want anyone to get close. All I wanted to do is sink my dick in the pussy and forget it all. Forget Harloe. Forget what she did. Forget my familial responsibility.
For once, I wanted to be Hunter Maverick Prince. Second heir to the wealthiest family in Golden Oaks, and one-third of the siblings who will one day take over the business from our dad.
Nothing else mattered.
I couldn’t allow there to be anything else.
So, I let it slide by for the past three years. Cass was easy and right there. Her body helped me work through a shit ton of things I needed to. But as of late, she’s been getting too invested, too enthusiastic over us.
Just to be clear, there is no us. Never has been, never will be. She’s known that since day one. Day fucking one. I didn’t lie to her and promise her forever. I told her point-blank that I was not going to use her for anything other than what she can provide physically.
She. Jumped. On. It.
Not my fault if she wants more. That’s not the agreement that she likes to throw up all the time. Years, she’s been breaking said agreement, and I haven’t said shit. But the moment—no, the second—her only competition comes back into the picture, she turns into a nut case thinking this is something it’s not.
Yeah, not happening.
Pushing through the doors, I retrieve my pack out of my pocket. Tapping one out, I make my way toward the doors. People recognize me, tilting their heads in greeting, but I can’t be fucked to give one in return. My lungs burn from the need to inhale the sweet smoke. A joint would be better, but they do random drug tests within their sports teams here.
Walking right outside, I flick my lighter and blaze the tip. Inhaling deeply, I’m hit instantly with the thick, pungent smoke—my anxiety falling to almost nothing. Isn’t it crazy how something so small can make such an impact on your life? A cigarette, while it may be nicknamed a cancer stick, has many effects.
It can make you not homicidal.
It can loosen you up and make everything bearable.
A cigarette costs a lot less than a one hundred dollar an hour therapy session.
So, while it may be deadly, I’ll gladly take this over getting screwed up the ass by some head doctor.
Taking another puff, I run my fingers through my hair and think about what I’m going to do. There’s absolutely no way she can be here. It’s taken me this long just to get over her. And the moment I finally feel a small fissure of normal slip back into my life, she pops up again like a pesky zit.
I pace off to the side of the building, lost in thought. Inadvertently, I settle behind this huge bush for a little peace within the chaos of campus life. I’m halfway through sucking down my cigarette when I hear her voice.
Goddammit, she’s already everywhere! There’s no way I’ll be able to do this.
Growling under my breath, I stomp out the cigarette and force my way through the branches of the bush closest to the side of the building. When I step through, I see her there, back turned toward me, as she whispers hurriedly in her phone like she’s afraid people will hear her.
“I miss you, too, baby. Only a little while longer, I promise.”
My brows slant. Who the fuck is she calling baby? More importantly … why does the sound of those words falling from her lips piss me off so much?
Anger, like no other, fuses my bones to the flesh. My hands clench and unclench by my sides. Where’s a punching bag when you need one?
Continuing to stare at her back, I notice the way her shoulders are hunched in like she’s in pain. Pain from missing someone back from wherever she came from? Oh, not on my turf. No way will my—she do what she did and think she can move on so easily. I’ll be goddamned.
So, I do the only thing I’m proficient at—I decide to be the biggest asshole I can be. Last time I acted that way toward her, she ran off, crying her little eyes out. This time will be no different. Harloe is not a tough cookie. Never has been.
I know her weaknesses.
Coming up behind her, I note the moment she knows I’m here. Her shoulders stiffen with tension, and her back shoots up ramrod straight. “Baby, I gotta go. All my love.”
Quickly, she ends the call and turns to face me. Her eyes shine with a defiance I’m not used to seeing in her, but it’s nothing I haven’t been up against before.
“Little boyfriend?” I try my best to keep the sneer out of my voice, but it’s no use. The idea of her being with another man, let alone someone who’s not me—regardless of whether I’m pissed off at her or not—drives me to want to commit murder.
She puckers her lips, casting me her version of a resting bitch face. “What’s it to ya if it was?”
Oh, so she has games? I bark out a chuckle, and then step into her, forcing her back a step. “You don’t want to go down this road with me, little con. That, I assure you.”
Her head cranes to the side, and it takes all I can not to react over the way the sunlight shines in her golden tresses, making them appear like golden honey. Nor do I react over the heat emanating from her—delicious heat that makes me want to spank her ass and pull her into my body all at once.
“Really?” she asks as if she doesn’t know exactly what I’ll do if I’m cornered. “You’ll do what, Hunt? Verbally bash me? Mentally break me?” she cackles out a depreciating laugh. “Sorry, chump, but you’ve already accomplished both. Remember? Or do I need to jog your memory?”
My lip curls upward. “Feisty little bitch, ain’t you? Just remember, I know exactly who you are.”
She takes me off guard by stepping into me, but I don’t move like her, so her entire front presses against my stomach and crotch. The feel of her curves against mine causes a chain reaction of need to pulse through me, like a living, breathing thing wandering underneath my skin. My black heart flutters a new rhythm. My breathing turns raspier.
Her lashes flutter innocently, causing my breath to catch in my chest. That look is too similar to the one she used to pull when the dick was hitting too good
Abort, abort, you crazy momfucker.
“You, Hunter Prince, have no idea who I am.” She licks her lips, and fuck me, do I want to be that tongue of hers right now. To feel that plump piece of perfection under me—no! She’s a lying, scheming bitch. You want nothing from her. “Fortunately, you’re not the only person who changed since hig
h school.”
Being near her isn’t good for my sanity. Nothing involving her is. Since the winter of our sophomore year, I’ve been teetering on the edge of sanity. You tend to do that when the girl you thought you’d spend the rest of your life with spurns you in such a way you immediately die on the inside. Now, all that’s left is ash and crumbling mortar that used to make up our foundation.
She’s right, in a sense. I don’t know who she is, never have. The person I knew would never do what she did, then tuck her tail and run away from her problems. The person I knew wouldn’t crush someone she supposedly loved into dust beneath her shoe.
Obviously, we both changed since high school. If I were still the guy I was back then, I’d already be on my goddamn knees, begging her to come home. Because that’s what Harloe was to me—home. A safety blanket I could wrap myself in when times got tough.
No one felt safe for me besides her. She took my insecurities and secrets with her, bottled them up inside her, and kept them for herself so I would no longer have to feel so weighed down and pathetic.
She did that.
She’s also the one who completely shattered that visage I’d built up over the years. She took her knife and started picking at the wall I’d built up. And in one fell swoop, tore everything down and allowed all my insecurities and doubts to lay bare on the ground.
Harloe Rose may look like an angel, but she’s the devil with a sharpened pitchfork.
With that final thought, I lower my head, surprised when she doesn’t move. Hell, I don’t even think she’s breathing. Settling my eyes on hers, I make sure she sees every bit of hatred I can force through.
“I told you to leave and stay gone,” I grind out, my jaw ticking from restraint. “Do as I say, or you won’t like what happens next. This town? It was never your home.”
She watches in stillness, eyes watering—either from the wind or her emotions, I don’t know. Don’t really care. Shaking her head softly, she whispers, “Why do you hate me so much?”
Her response causes a deep, body-shaking laugh to level me. By the time I’m through, she’s openly glowering, and I find it just too cute that she thinks that does a shitting thing to me. “You exist.” I pin her to her spot with hate-filled eyes. “Need another reason?”
Our Secret: A College Bully Romance (Golden Crew Book 1) Page 4