The Peer and the Puppet (When Rivals Play, #1) (117)

“I considered it, but she’s eighteen and having a hard enough time adjusting. I’m just glad you’re getting along after what happened last year.”

“She turned out to be pretty cool.” And my everything.

“I knew you two would just need to get to know each other.” He ruffled my hair like he often did when I was a kid. When I mean mugged him, he chuckled, and I reluctantly gave into a grin. We haven’t had a lot of moment like these. “Now get upstairs and get your uniform on. You’ve missed enough days.”

My eyes bucked. I didn’t think he knew about that, but I’d obviously underestimated how tight his leash was.

“Don’t look so surprised. I may run a multi-billion dollar company, but you’re my son. My only son. I know you sneak out at night, and I know you skip school. The only reason I haven’t tagged your ass is that I was once your age…but don’t push it.” He nodded his head toward the house—a silent order to get moving, so I did.

Upstairs, I heard Four moving around in her room and Jay D making a ruckus. I wanted to go to her, but what would I say? The way she looked at me last night…there was no coming back from that. I showered and dressed in record time, and when I grabbed my notebook from my nightstand, my gaze fell on the phone. Not giving pride time to catch up, I grabbed the phone and headed to Four’s room. Figuring she’d shut the door in my face when she answered, I barged inside only to be disappointed when I found the room empty.

I somberly trudged across the room and placed the phone on the nightstand.

“What are you doing here?”

Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Four standing in her doorway holding Jay D’s leash. She must have been taking the mutt for a walk. When I turned to face her, however, I felt kicked in the gut. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, and the color in her cheeks had utterly drained. Knowing that I did that to her made me hate myself even more.

“You didn’t have to give this back. It’s yours.”

“Thanks,” she dryly offered, “but I don’t need it.”

“Then let me take you to school.” I didn’t give a shit that I was borderline begging.

“Why would I do that?”

“Because we need to talk. I owe you an apology.”

“You don’t owe me anything, Ever. You made that very clear.” She shouldered her backpack and turned to go. I should have let her.

“Please.”

Her head turned ever so slightly, and I thought I might have broken through until she spoke. “Good,” she tartly uttered. “I like you begging. Now you can watch me walk away like you did.”




I’ve single-handedly turned my life into shit. The news about the engagement spread through school and the town like wildfire. A week later, I was still putting out fires when it got back to me that Four had also been taking some of the heat. I kept close so she’d have my protection until Tyra took it upon herself to enlighten me.

“Stalking her is only making things worse,” she hissed. We had Calculus together, and usually, Tyra sat on the far side of the room, but today, she chose to occupy the seat next to me.

“What do you expect me to do? Someone spray painted an A on her locker this morning.”

“You made your bed, now lie in it.”

She quickly collected her bag to switch seats, but I grabbed her arm to stop her. “Tyra…help me.”

“Why the fuck should I?”

“She doesn’t eat or talk, and she barely sleeps.”

She looked me up and down. “You look like you could use a nap yourself.”

“I sit outside her door and listen to her cry the entire night, so no, I haven’t been sleeping.”

“What do you expect from her? To be your side piece while you live in marital bliss with Barbie?”

“There’s not going to be a wedding. There never was.”

“Then why did you propose?”

“To buy Barbie some time.”

“For what?”

I shook my head in frustration. “I can’t tell you, and I’ve already told Four what I could.”

“Obviously, it wasn’t enough. You’re helping Barbie because you care about her, but does she care about you? She’s willing to let you lose the girl you love. A friend wouldn’t let you pay that steep a price. It’s not easy to bare your demons to someone you don’t know, but Barbie wouldn’t be doing it for Four, she’d be doing it for you.”

“Are you saying Four would be willing to be with me even if it’s in secret?”

“That depends…how scary are the skeletons in Barbie’s closet?”

For the rest of the day, I considered Tyra’s advice before finally deciding that I could never ask that of Barbie. The only reason I even knew what her father planned was that I had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. That night, I sat in front of Four’s door for the fifth night in a row and let her soft sobs keep me awake.




It was Halloween, and the last thing I wanted was to party, but when Vaughn texted that it was an “Anything But Clothes” party hosted by some college douchebags and that Tyra was bringing Four, I picked myself up from the floor. It no longer mattered as much that today was the anniversary of the day my mother walked out on her family.