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“How can I repay you for all this? You’ve made my life so much better since you came into it.” I glanced over at her, and she grinned.
“You have nothing to repay me for. That’s what friends are for.” She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “Are you sure you don’t want to join us?”
“I’m sure.” It wasn’t that I didn’t want to, but meeting Cassius’ college friends? All of whom were part of the most powerful families in Alstone? I wasn’t quite ready for that. That was so far out of my comfort zone.
Cassius returned with my bike, and I took it from him, swinging my leg over the saddle.
As I waved goodbye and started pedalling away, I heard someone shouting Cassius’ name in a commanding tone. Curious, I stopped pedalling and turned to see a guy in a leather jacket with messy black hair and a brooding look on his face stalking in the direction of the bowling alley. Caiden Cavendish. My heart rate kicked up a notch—no doubt about it, he was absolutely gorgeous, even more so than when he’d attended AHS, but to me, he came across as completely intimidating. As I watched him, I saw him suddenly stop dead as another shout came from behind him. His face completely transformed with a huge grin, as a beautiful dark-haired girl ducked under his arm and he pulled her into him. She stared up at him with an adoring smile, and he leaned down to kiss the top of her head before they both made their way over to Cassius and Lena with matching smiles on their faces.
As I pedalled away, it suddenly clicked with me. The girl with him was Winter—the one Cassius had kissed. Well, I guess it had worked. They looked as if they were both completely smitten with each other. A sudden pang of longing hit me. I wanted this. Wanted to be with someone who wasn’t afraid to be seen with me. Someone that was as interested in me as I was in them.
The hard, desperate way Carter had kissed me showed me he still had feelings for me, but would that be enough? Was I enough for him? Would the photo push him to take action? Would he still find reasons to push me away? I had so many questions, but what I did know was that if he wanted something, I wasn’t going to settle. If he wanted me, he was the one that needed to make the decision to be with me properly.
The ball was in his court, now.
32
What the fuck was I doing here? Pulling up at the pier car park, which was quiet thanks to the time of year and the fact it was a weeknight, I easily spotted Cassius Drummond’s huge SUV next to a matte-black Audi R8. Parking at the opposite end of the car park, I slid from my truck, palming my keys. My head was fucked. Raine’s words kept echoing through my mind, and that picture of her with Cassius that she’d posted… Fuck.
Because I was quite clearly a sadist, I opened up the social media again, staring at the photo. She looked so happy. Anyone could see how genuine her smile was. They looked like a proper couple, staring into each other’s eyes with the sunset behind them. I sucked in a harsh breath. It hurt to see her happiness and know that it was caused by another man.
She had hundreds of likes. And the comments… I wish I’d never looked. Both at the comments that congratulated her, saying what a great couple they made, and even worse, the comments that implied Cassius was too good for her. He’d be fucking lucky to have her.
I’d be fucking lucky to have her.
What was I doing?
I wanted Raine Laurent.
I wanted her to be mine.
The revelation seared straight through me, and I knew I had to get out of there. I couldn’t stomach seeing her with him in person. Not now. Not ever.
The next morning, the revelation still burned through me. Confusion, anger, and jealousy had warred within me all night, leaving me unable to sleep. I’d driven around aimlessly for hours when it was clear my head was too fucked up to think straight. Then as soon as I was home, the same thoughts were still running rampant in my head. Hence the lack of sleep.
The school day passed in a blur. To make things worse, Raine’s name was on everyone’s lips again, after someone had posted the picture of her and Cassius on the AHS gossip account. This time, though, it was more…envious. Envy that someone like her had managed to attract the attention of Cassius Drummond. Every time I heard someone make a malicious comment, I had to bite my tongue, and by the end of the day, I was wound up so tightly, I needed to work out my frustrations or I was going to snap.
Instead of going to my final class, I headed to the gym so I could lose myself in the mindless routine of weight training, before I met up with the rest of the football team for our additional training session.
The gym didn’t help. All it did was give me a pounding headache. We had a massive game the following week against Highnam Academy, and I had to use every opportunity to practice, but I couldn’t seem to focus during training.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Kian hissed, after I’d let myself get taken down by a slide tackle I should’ve seen coming a mile off. “This game is gonna be our make-or-break game, not to mention it’s the first one I’m allowed to play in since my suspension. You’re the captain—get your shit together.”
“I know.” I scrubbed a hand down my face, defeated.
The coach blew his whistle for a break, and we jogged over to the side of the pitch, grabbing our bottles of water.
“Do you want me to set up a fight?” Kian asked in a low tone, after looking around him to make sure no one was paying us any attention.
“Yeah. Or…fuck, I don’t know. My head’s fucked up right now,” I muttered.
He studied me closely, pulling his lip ring between his teeth. “You know what…you haven’t been the same since Halloween. Did something happen then?” His voice lowered further, and he shuffled his feet. “Is there anything you want to talk about?”
I was taken aback. Conversations like this between me and Kian didn’t happen. Ever. We didn’t get deep. From his worried expression, though, I knew he wouldn’t let it drop, and it was killing me to keep all this inside. I made a snap decision to confide in him. “That girl I was with at Fright Night? It was Raine.”
His head whipped up to mine, his eyes wide. “What the fuck? No way! But she was like, hot as fuck.”
“Yeah, she was,” I agreed. Is, I added in my head.
