The next day, classes went annoyingly slow, I swore every single year it went slower. We were sitting around in the atrium when Nate started. “Dude, I’m not playing, my new stepsister is fucking hot with a capital H. Think Madison Beer—only she doesn’t know how hot she is. But she plays with guns and shit, so I ain’t with it. I don’t think. But fuck me, that’s a fine piece of ass living under my roof. Her mom...” His words drifted off when I noticed a girl walking into the atrium, alone, holding a lunch tray. She was new here, obviously, because not only did I know every single person who attended Riverside Prep, and their social security numbers, but the way her features withdrew and her fingers clamped around the tray nervously was a dead giveaway, too. She had long dark brown hair, fair skin that held a tint of something exotic, long fuck—fucking long legs that I could latch around my waist easily and then, in slow motion, her wandering eyes looked right at me from across the room as though she could feel my gaze on her, like a lion being caught hunting its prey. I didn’t break eye contact, I relished in how her eyes stared back at me with a storm so chaotic it could put a category 5 cyclone to bed. I watched as her cheeks flushed, right before she quickly sat at a table with Tatum. Fucking Tatum. That annoying bitch needed to be put in line. I shook my head, seemingly irked that a fucking high school girl could steal my attention so effortlessly. Pulling out my phone, I sent another text to Adriana.
My house at nine.
“Oh! There she is!” Nate pointed to the table where hot girl had just walked to.
Nah, no way.
“That’s her, dawg, that’s the new stepsister. I wanna play with her for a bit.”
“Play with her, how?” Just the mention of playing and her in the same sentence had my dick swelling in my jeans.
Nate looked at me knowingly. “You know how.”
“Yeah, no offense, but the last time we all shared, we almost killed the girl, so unless you want to kill your new stepsister, I’d say no.”
Nate chuckled. “I don’t know, there’s something different about her.”
I rolled my eyes because gaining Nate’s attention wasn’t hard to do—keeping it was impossible, but gaining it was easy. I went back to my phone. Recognition slowly frosted over my bones, and my eyes leisurely drew back up as I watched her laugh at something Tatum had said.
That smile.
So familiar, so…
“Fuck.”
“What?” Brantley barked, his eyes still on the new girl, but his frown etched so deep into his face that you would think this girl for real insulted his existence.
“She’s the Silver Swan.”
Brantley didn’t jump in shock, but his eyes hauntingly remained on her. Nate sucked in a breath, Eli jumped from his seated position, Hunter, Chase, and Cash both let out a mixture of noises, and then it hit me.
I knew this girl.
My mom knew this girl.
My dad knew this girl.
Why the fuck did I know her?
A French fry hit my face, yanking me out of my memory lapse, which was a fucking good thing, considering what happened next. “Earth to Bishop.”
“We’re throwing a party. I was going to book the ring at Backyard Bucks, but I have a better idea.”
Justin’s eyes came to mine, worry etched into them. “Dawg, I just—”
“—You know how it is.” Was all I had to say.
“How what is?” Madison asked absently, kicking off her shoes and tucking her legs under her ass. I knew, if I didn’t already know, I knew right then and there, that it didn’t matter what this girl had done. It didn’t matter what she was about to do, and even though my thoughts and feelings were always conflicted where she was concerned, make no mistake, I’d end any motherfucker who dared come near her. With her, it always felt right, and that’s cliché as fuck, but she had a habit of doing that. Bringing shit out of me that I didn’t know was ever there. I just needed her to remain oblivious for now, and I needed to put a wall where my feelings were until I knew I could trust her. I’d never given my heart to anyone, not only because I struggled to give enough of a fuck to pull it from my chest and hand it out, but because I knew no one wanted a washed up, lifeless, damaged mess of what whatever the fuck was left of it.
“The consequences to fucking with what’s mine, that’s what.”
Madison’s body stilled beside me. She looked between Justin and me, and then she opened her mouth. “What? What do you mean?”
Justin chose that time to interfere. “Are you having the party here?”
I shook my head, propping my foot on the coffee table. “Nah, at the condo.”
“Mommy dearest doing you a solid, huh?” Justin grinned.
“You have a condo?” Madison yelped. “Oh wait, yes, Nate said something about that.”
“Yeah, Mom got one in the city, close to campus.”
Her eyes dropped to her hands as she fiddled with her fingers. “You’re going to NYU?”
I shrugged. “Possibly. My mom went there, and her dad and so on.”
Madison’s phone dinged in her pocket. She read something on the screen and then shot off the sofa. “I need to go home.” My eyes darted to Justin, who knew exactly why I was holding Madison here. To keep Nate from telling her what was about to happen at this party.
“I’ll take you.” If Nate bitched out and spilled everything to her, it’ll only make his punishment worse.
I jogged up the steps to my house and slammed the door open. “Dad!” I called out, heading straight for his office. He had his phone pressed to his ear, but his eyes flew to the entrance when he saw me appear. “I’ll call you back.”
My chest rose and fell. “That girl.”
“Yes?” He seemed interested.
“She’s the girl you showed me all those years ago, isn’t she?”
My dad’s grin deepened. “You met her? She’s at your school?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“Then you know what you have to do.”
“You’ve never seen what she looks like?”
Dad shook his head. “Only when she was around ten. Why? Is she ugly? Not your type?”
“Something like that,” I lied. “I’ll do what I need to do.”
I stopped over at a store on my way home to pick up Bishop’s present. It’s honestly nothing great, and he probably won’t even like it, but it was all I could think of. “Nate!” I hated being back here. Over the past couple of days, I had loved being away. Or I loved being with Bishop, not sure which was more true. Maybe a bit of both.
“Hey, Kitty,” Nate called out, coming down the stairs.
I turned to face him. “Hey!” Then I pulled out my phone. “Dad texted me and said he was calling a meeting?”
Nate gave me a strained smile—actually, his whole face was strained. “Yeah. It has to do with your mom coming back and shit.”
“Where is she?” I walked into the kitchen, needing a drink. Milk, not alcohol. Finding chocolate flavored, I took it out and then a glass before pouring.
Nate pulled out a bar stool. “She’s coming too.”
“What!” I snapped. “Nate, I don’t want to see her—ever again. As far as I’m concerned, the bitch can stay dead.”
“Lovely, thanks for that, Madison. Great to see your father has done such a stellar job at controlling that mouth.” I didn’t flinch, my eyes remained on Nate as I swallowed the cool, creamy milk.
I put my glass down. “Did someone speak?” I asked Nate, ignoring her. He stifled a laugh, cranking his head over his shoulder, tensing.
“Madison, come on sweetheart.” My dad gestured to the sitting room. The layout of our home was more traditional than Bishop’s. The sitting room hung off the kitchen which was joined by three big white pillars. Our house sort of reminded me of a modern Greek establishment.
“Are you okay, sweetie?” Elena asked me, her arm snaking around my shoulders. Since I first met her almost a year ago, I instantly warmed to her. She was much like Nate in that aspect. Warm and inviting. Something about their aura just had you craving to be around them.
“I’ll be fine once she’s gone.”