The Peer and the Puppet (When Rivals Play, #1) (76)

“I didn’t possess him. I adopted him.”

Thomas’s eyebrows rose. “Right. My apologies. How did you come to adopt him?”

“Well, Dave found him—”

“I’m sorry…Dave?”

“My auto mechanics teacher.”

“You’re taking auto mechanics?” Thomas questioned, clearly displeased.

Dave had said when I questioned why he was allotted only a handful of students that for forty grand a year, the parents didn’t want their kids wasting time learning a blue-collar trade.

“You call your teacher by his first name?” Rosalyn also questioned at the same time.

“He insisted.”

Thomas tensed while Rosalyn looked alarmed.

“That’s sort of inappropriate, don’t you think, dear?”

“It’s not anything like that. He’s just laid back.”

“He’s your teacher. He shouldn’t be laid back.”

I blew out a breath and tugged on the end of my ponytail. “Can we just get back to discussing Jay D?”

“I just don’t think a dog is a good idea. How will you maintain your grades if you’re busy training a dog?”

“You let me worry about that.”

“It’s my job to worry,” Rosalyn countered.

Oh yeah? Since when?

The moment we moved in, I hadn’t been much more to her than extra baggage, stowed away and forgotten. “And I’m telling you not to. I can handle the responsibility.”.

“Who will clean up after him when he pees and sheds?”

“I’ll make sure he does his business outside, and he has a short coat. He won’t shed much.” I had no idea if that was true but it sounded good.

“And how will you purchase the food or the vet bill if he gets sick? You can’t ask Thomas to provide for a dog on top of everything else.”

“Then I’ll get a job.”

“So you’ll be working and taking care of a dog? I see the odds of you staying focused on school getting smaller and smaller.”

I sat with my mouth agape, wondering where this new Rosalyn had come from. She hadn’t been this concerned with me since…well…never.

“I worked back home, and my grades were fine. A dog isn’t like having a baby. I can do this.”

“I’m just not sure you can.”

I felt my lips press tight as my nostrils flared. “You owe this to me.”

“I owe you?”

“You uprooted me from my home so you could become a trophy for your rich boyfriend, and then you shipped me off to another freaking country the moment I embarrassed you. So, yeah …you owe me.”

Silence fell, and when tears welled in Rosalyn’s eyes, I looked away. I couldn’t let her tears back me down. I met Ever’s gaze, but he was his usual detached self.

Thomas cleared his throat and stood from his seat at the head of the table. He walked to the end where Rosalyn sat and began massaging her shoulders as if she’d just been through trauma.

Give me a break.

“It seems we’ve gotten a bit off track here, so why don’t we back up?” I didn’t speak, and neither did she. “Four, you may keep Jay D for a trial.”

Rosalyn started to protest, but Thomas deepened his massage, calming her.

“And when I say trial, I mean it. You’ll feed and care for him yourself. The moment your mother or I feel you can’t handle the responsibility, he’s gone. Do you understand?” His firmness warned me not to test him, so I nodded.

Even though I’d won, I still lost my appetite, so I excused myself and fled to the solitude of my room.





I WATCHED FOUR RUN AWAY from the train wreck she had caused and almost gave into the urge to go after her. Partially because her mother’s dramatics were grating on my nerves. When she finally settled the fuck down, my father returned to his seat.

“So Mrs. Greene tells me you stayed home from school today.”

“You have the housekeeper keeping tabs on me now?”

“She was worried about you,” he answered, unbothered by my irritation. “You never get sick.”

“I’m better now.”

“Good. Now have you considered our last discussion?”

“I’m not getting back on the team.”

“I’ve yet to understand why you quit in the first place.”

“I lost interest.”

“No one that naturally good just loses interest.”

Done with the conversation, I tossed down my linen napkin and stood from the table. I wasn’t hungry anyway. “I have homework.”

I could feel my father’s anger as I left the dining room. Of course, Four hadn’t come to my room, so I made my way down the hall. I could hear Eminem’s ‘The Way I Am’ pounding on the other side of her door as I contemplated my next move. Every time I vowed to keep my distance, she pulled me right back in. I pushed inside her room, and my gaze immediately landed on Four sitting cross-legged on the floor playing with her mutt.

“I knew I should have locked my door,” she muttered without looking up. I chose to ignore her comment. If she really wanted me to stay away, she would have locked the fucking door. I was almost pissed that she hadn’t. One of us needed to have self-control, and I had already proven it wouldn’t be me.