“Too bad it comes with so many bad memories,” I whispered, taking the frame out of his hands and putting it back in its place.
“Ever think about reaching out to Tinsley?” he asked, and I nodded.
“I’ve thought about it so often, but I doubt she’d want to hear from me after all the horrible things I’ve done to her,” I admitted.
“Give it some time.” Milo reassured me by massaging my back. “Time heals all wounds.”
“Well, it’s not too late to make amends,” I went on. “At least not with the girl who’s missing from that photograph.”
“Andie?” Milo asked, and I nodded.
“I want to talk to her after Christmas break. I want to apologize for the way I’ve treated her since she started at Wildwood. I’ve been horrible. I’m so ashamed of myself.” He grinned at me, and I narrowed my eyes at him. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing,” he shrugged. “Just… Do you even know how much you’ve changed since the beginning of the school year?”
“I guess I really have.” I glanced to the door, walking closer and softly closing it behind me. “But there’s one thing that hasn’t changed since then.”
“What’s that?” He raised a brow at me, a smile playing on his lips. “You still got the hots for me, princess?”
“Always,” I whispered, joining him in front of the bed and wrapping my arms around his neck. We kissed and I mewled against his mouth, needing so much more than he was willing to give me. “We have to be quiet… Mama is right downstairs, and abuelita is just down the hallway.”
“Well, then we’d better make sure you can keep your mouth shut,” Milo said sweetly. His hands wandered under my dress, and he tugged on the lace panties I was wearing, moving them down my thighs. “I want these off, right now.”
He helped me step out of them, gathering the flimsy fabric in his hand and motioning for me to get on the bed. He climbed on next to me, showing me the panties before filling my mouth with the fabric. I protested with a whimper, but he wasn’t having any of it.
“I thought my gift was a little too simple,” he said. “So, here’s the second part of it.”
He pushed my thighs apart and I let out a stifled moan as his strong hands explored my body. My thighs were trying to close, but Milo tapped his finger to the tender spot between my legs, where my pussy was glistening for him already.
“I knew you’d be ready,” he said thoughtfully. “Always so wet for me, aren’t you, princess?”
I nodded wordlessly, closing my eyes as he dipped his head between my legs. He kissed a line down my navel, over my inner thighs and to the spot that was aching the most. Parting my lips, he licked me right where I needed him to, making me moan out in pleasure.
“Remember, princess,” he said, looking up at me. “You need to be quiet… Or I’m going to stop. Understood?”
I nodded helplessly, and he went back to kissing, nipping and biting at my very center. In moments, I was a desperate, needy mess for him, and he chuckled low in his throat, knowing exactly what he was doing to me. I never found out who thought him, but the boy could eat me out like his life depended on it. My fingers tangled in his hair, and I held him in place, eager for more pleasure. The movements of my body were obscene, and I thrust my hips against his mouth with the desperate desire to get off, to come all over his lips.
And just when I was starting to get close, he pulled away. I cried out in protest, but my eyes widened as he stripped in front of me, revealing inch after inch of sculpted skin. I still didn’t understand how he managed to look so good. Milo Earnshaw, whom everyone saw as a nerd, was possibly more ripped than his jock little brother. And I loved it.
He retrieved the panties from my mouth, and I breathed in deeply. Milo’s mouth covered mine the next second, kissing me hungrily. I could feel his throbbing cock being aimed at my entrance.
“Do it,” I whispered. “I don’t care if they hear.”
“Pills?” he barked out, barely able to restrain himself. “You finally got them?”
“Yeah,” I nodded, impatient. “My mom got me the prescription yesterday, I-fuck!”
He pushed inside me without waiting for me to finish. I felt my pussy adjusting to his girth as he forced inch after inch inside me. I saw stars, already so close to coming I was convinced I’d come apart before he thrust into me for the first time.
“Fuck,” I breathed.
“Shhh.” He pressed a finger against my lips, reminding me we needed to be quiet, and I nodded feverishly, eager for so much more than he was giving me. Slowly, Milo started rocking his hips, pushing his length deeper and deeper inside me and showing me the kind of pleasure only he could give me.
“I need it,” I whispered against his lips.
“You need what?” he asked, his voice faltering as he pushed his whole cock into me. “Tell me, princess.”
“To come on your cock,” I managed.
“Already?” He chuckled, prolonging the torture. “No, I don’t think you should yet. Just stay on the edge like that while I get my fill.”
I groaned in protest, but it felt too good to stop him. I loved the way he denied me. He was better at it than anyone else, somehow managing to still say as hard-to-get as he had been at the beginning of that school year.
“Please!” I managed after I felt him going tense on top of me. “Hurry, hurry, hurry.”
We heard footsteps outside and I bit my bottom lip as I realized we were about to get busted. Milo attempted to get off me, but I clung to him, shaking my head wordlessly. He smirked at me, placing a hand over my mouth and driving himself into me again, burying his cock in my pussy down to the hilt.
“Come,” he whispered in my ear just as the knock on my door came.
“Stells?”
“Yeah,” I drawled out. “Yes. Yes.”
“Mom said she needed your help,” Romi went on just as stars exploded in front of my vision. “Just for a couple minutes, you coming?”
“In a second,” Milo called out, drowning my cries with a kiss. We came together, and I felt his hot, creamy cum filling my pussy as I came apart beneath him. I listened to the sound of my sister’s retrieving footsteps as fireworks exploded in front of my eyes, and Milo pulled out of me, smearing his fingers over my messiness and bringing them to my lips. I cleaned him off greedily, watching his eyes burn with fiery passion.
“Such a good girl, Stells.”
“Anything for you,” I breathed.
“Anything?”
“Anything.”
“Always?” He grinned at me.
“Always…”
29
Date: January 5th, 2020, 9.30 p.m.
Place: Clancy’s Diner & Roller-skating Rink
Estella
“Is she coming?” I bit my bottom lip, taking off my apron in a hurry and carefully folding it before placing it in my locker. “She isn’t, is she? She said no.”
“Calm down.” Milo squeezed my hand to reassure me, and my eyes locked with his.
“I’m sorry, I’m just so nervous. I have a lot to apologize for.”
“I know,” he said placatingly, rubbing circles over my skin. “She’s already here, Stells.”
“What?” I widened my eyes. “But we aren’t officially closed yet… I thought she’d come after I’d had a chance to clean up a bit.”
“She’s waiting in one of the booths,” Milo went on. “Look, you go and talk to her, and I’ll make you some milkshakes. You can do this. Everything’s going to be okay, I promise.”
“Okay.” I chewed my bottom lip before running my hands down the front of my shirt. “God. Wish me luck.”
“Good luck.” Milo pressed a kiss against my cheek before grinning at me. “Go get ‘em, tiger.”
I walked out of the kitchen. As soon as I was in the main dining area, I saw her. She looked as pretty as ever, the resemblance to Pandora so striking it caught me off-guard. While they didn’t share the same facial features, both gi
rls loved playing with makeup, but whereas Pandora used to keep it simple and minimalistic, Andie experimented with different colors and loved to try new things. That evening, she was wearing her signature star stickers, mixing with her freckles to create an interesting look.
Her feet were dangling off the red leather bench, and she was people-watching, curiously stealing glances at the last departing guests of the diner. I watched them pick up their things as I walked over, offering a polite goodbye and closing the door behind them. Andie noticed me then, and instantly, her posture went rigid. She sat up straighter, her mouth setting in a thin line as I walked closer to her, offering her a sheepish hi before sliding in the booth next to her.
“You wanted to talk?” she asked, her brows rising as she addressed me.
“I did.”
“So, talk.” She didn’t mince words, and I could tell she didn’t really want to be there with me. But she was there nonetheless, and I couldn’t blow my only chance for redemption.
“I wanted to talk to you about something,” I started, feeling my heart pounding in my chest. “But first, I wanted to apologize.”
“Apologize?” She huffed, seemingly amused by my statement. “What are you apologizing for, Estella? The years of treating me like shit? Mocking me, making me feel inferior just because I don’t dress the same way and do my makeup the way you think I should?”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“Well, sorry isn’t going to cut it.” She slammed a five-dollar bill on the table. “That should take care of my Cherry Coke. I never should have come here. This was a mistake.”
“Wait!” I cried out as she got up, grabbing her fuzzy pink jacket. “Please, don’t go. I have something to tell you.”
“Well, I don’t care,” she said cruelly. “I’m leaving.”
She made her way out of the booth, but I followed her, and when she was almost at the door, I grabbed her hand, pulling her back.
“Let go of me!”
“I can’t.” I swallowed thickly as she turned to face me, the glare on her face telling me everything I needed to know. She hated me, and with good reason. I’d been nothing but a bitch to her when she’d never done anything to hurt me. “I need to talk to you, please. It’s about… it’s about your sister.”
“Pandora?” I watched her eyes well up at the mention of her sister who had been missing for four years and hated myself even more. I’d kept the Lords’ secret, but at what cost? An innocent girl was suffering because of them. And me. I’d played my part in everything, too. Now it was time to make amends.
“Yeah,” I whispered. “Come on, sit back down. I’ll make it short. I just need you to know what actually happened four years ago.”
“Okay.” She let me lead her back to the booth, and we slid on the red leather seats without saying another word. I toyed with the red paper napkin, tearing at the edges as Andromeda waited for me to speak.
“I should have told you the truth from the beginning,” I whispered.
“Yes, you should have. But no matter, just tell me what happened now.” She gripped my hand with the desperation of someone who’s been lost for years. It was then that the full weight of what we’d done sunk on me, making my shoulders sag. “Please, Estella. I deserve to know.”
“You do,” I nodded, taking a deep breath. “Do you remember primary school? Milo, Pandora and I were best friends.”
“Yes,” she nodded. “You were. Until she disappeared.”
I nodded again. “We got an assignment right before the summer began. We were supposed to research our family tree, find out more about our heritage. And the three of us thought it would be fun to order DNA tests online.”
“Okay,” she said, raising her brows at me. “What’s that got to do with Pandora?”
“Milo ordered the tests,” I whispered. “We did them together. It was fun, and none of us suspected what we were about to uncover. You need to believe me when I tell you that, Andromeda. We never meant to hurt anyone, least of all Pandora.”
“Okay,” she said again, her voice faltering.
“My test was about what I’d expected – Latin heritage. Milo’s was American, with British and Irish roots. It was interesting for him, because he’s adopted. He doesn’t know his real parents, you know.”
“What about my sister?” Andie demanded.
“Your sister…” I swallowed again. “Her test made us confused. It came back as American with some Italian roots.”
“But there are no Italians in our family.”
“I know.” I reached across the table for her hand. “We were making fun of it, because Pandora talked to her – your – parents about it, and they couldn’t think of any Italian ancestors you might have had. Milo and I forgot all about that during the summer, but Pandora wouldn’t leave it alone. She became obsessed with finding out more about her heritage. I wish we never would have let her do that.”
“Why?”
“Because we stumbled upon something we shouldn’t have,” I whispered, closing my eyes tightly. “And we got everybody involved. Crispin started it. He said maybe she was adopted. He put the idea in her head. He kept making fun of Pandora, telling her that your parents weren’t her parents.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Andie laughed, and my heart hurt for her.
“Natan got the second DNA test,” I went on quietly. “And Pandora took a sample from your parents. We sent it back for analysis with a buddy of Finn’s. Someone we had to pay a lot of money to.”
“Why?” She gave me a confused look.
“Because we wanted to get to the bottom of it.”
“And did you?”
My eyes watered as I nodded. “The test came back negative. Pandora wasn’t related to either one of her parents. In fact, she wasn’t an Amberly at all.”
“W-What?” Andromeda stuttered. “How is that even possible?”
“We didn’t know,” I admitted brokenly. “But Milo looked it up online. He hacked into a website with the hospital where she was born birth certificates. The only explanation we could come up with was that the hospital made a mistake.”
“What kind of mistake?” she demanded. “Do you mean… do you mean they switched babies?”
“They did,” I admitted miserably. “And they found us digging. The hospital stepped in contact with us after they busted us for Milo’s log-in on their website. They knew they’d made a mistake already. They’d known for years.”
“Why didn’t they say anything?” she whispered.
“Because these cases are hard, grueling, and usually end in million-dollar lawsuits,” I explained. “And because… the other family… Pandora’s actual parents, they were loaded. Like, not loaded the way we were. They were practically blue bloods.”
“Wait…” She rubbed her temples. “So, what you’re telling me is that Pandora and I aren’t related at all.”
“No, you’re not,” I admitted miserably.
“But where is she?” Andie demanded. “This only gives me more questions to ask, and I still don’t know where the hell she is.”
“The family came looking for her,” I said. “She didn’t want anything to do with them. But then they contacted your parents.”
“My parents know?”
I nodded, watching Andromeda’s world fall apart in front of my eyes. “I’m so sorry, Andie. They wanted her to come back home with them, and they threatened your parents if they didn’t let her leave.”
“So, she just up and left?” She laughed bitterly. “She’d never do that. She’d never abandon me.”
“She didn’t want to.” I swallowed. The hardest part of the story was still coming up. “They offered something for whoever brought her to them. And they did. They took the prize, and they brought Pandora to the exchange point.”
“Who?” Andie demanded.
“The Lords of Wildwood,” I whispered. “Finn Bannon, Crispin Dalton, Natan and Milo Earnshaw.”
“Are you serious?” she l
ooked pissed. “Why would they do that? What would they get in return?”
“Free reign at Wildwood. Whatever they wanted. They got to rule the school as long as they went here.”
“And you knew all about this,” she spat out. “And you never thought to tell me. And neither did any of the guys. Or my parents… God… my parents knew everything, didn’t they?”
I nodded.
“How could they give her up? Their own daughter…”
“They didn’t have a choice,” I managed. “Pandora’s real parents didn’t give them a chance. The other girl… your real sister, I suppose. She found out about the switch, and she killed herself when she realized she was going to be sent away.”
“Fuck.”
“Yeah.” I rubbed my temples. “After that, we were sworn to secrecy both by the family and your parents. They didn’t think you could handle it, and they made us promise to never tell you.”
“You’ve just broken that promise,” Andie reminded me. “You just told me everything.”
“I couldn’t keep it from you any longer,” I whispered. “I’ve been treating you horribly because I had no idea how to act around you. How to pretend like I didn’t know the truth about Pandora.”
“She hasn’t been in touch,” she said. “Not once.”
“I don’t think her parents… her biological parents… would allow it,” I admitted. “From what I heard they were awfully strict.”
“But… she just abandoned me,” Andie managed. “I’ve been so alone. Since Tinsley left, the only one I have left is Finn. I’m so fucking alone.”
“Not anymore.” I reached over to squeeze her palm. “You have me now.”
“And me.” Milo appeared at our table, grinning as he set down two huge milkshake glasses topped with messily applied whipped cream and maraschino cherries. “I’m so sorry for everything, Andie. In the end, we’re the ones who fucked Pandora over. But I think that family wouldn’t have given up. They’d do anything to get her back.”
Boys That Read: A High School Romance Page 25