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Mason’s face twitched, a strange look
passing over his features as Cole, Elijah, and Finn stepped forward.
All four of them standing this close to me was too much. I couldn’t take it.
So I backed away, raising my voice to make our confrontation public again.
“Sorry about your car, Mason. I know she was the only girl you’ve ever been able to love.” I flicked my gaze to the crowd gathered around us, scanning for a familiar blonde head before I turned back to Mason. “Hell, maybe it was Adena. Maybe she got jealous and worried you’d fuck the tailpipe.”
Cole took half a step forward, his eyes narrowing. His hair was slowly growing out, but it was still short, the style almost military, which made him look more dangerous than ever.
Mason stopped him with a small gesture, and I clenched my teeth. I knew it. This is all because of him. Cole was pissed at me for embarrassing him—and for God only knew what else. Elijah and Finn had gone along with this whole thing because they were loyal to the other Princes, but if Mason hadn’t decided to wreck my life, I was positive none of this would’ve happened.
So why was he holding Cole back now? Was he worried the broad-shouldered boy would actually go after me with his fists like he did against boys in the ring? Somehow, I didn’t believe that. But I couldn’t figure out any other reason for Mason to stand down, especially after I’d just publicly accused him of wanting to have sex with his car.
I didn’t question it though, and I didn’t give him a chance to change his mind. I stepped neatly around all four of them and headed to my first class, my heart beating out a fast, uneven rhythm in my chest.
As I was leaving Johnson Hall later that day, I saw a tow truck pulling into the student lot, and a proud smile spread across my face. It was shitty to think what it said about his priorities, but I was pretty sure my little stunt had actually gotten to Mason.
Good.
But not good enough.
Never good enough.
He needed to lose something bigger than a car. He needed to lose his family. His place in the world. The privilege that allowed him to get away with being such a smug asshole.
I’d been slowly plugging away at my research of the Princes and their families. I’d found out that Cole’s little sister had Tourettes, but I hadn’t written that down in my notebook. I still refused to use her to get to him, and I actually grudgingly respected the fact that he’d stood up for her last year when Preston had mocked her.
The information available about Element Investments was sparse, but I had found a picture of the founding members, which included one man I couldn’t place. My mom and all the Princes’ parents were accounted for, but there was one guy left over. I wished I could go back to my grandparents’ mansion and look at the picture on the third floor again, to see if he was in that one too.
Between dancing, trying to keep up with the harassment and bullying, and digging through pages of internet search results, my classwork was taking a serious hit. After all this effort, I didn’t want to get kicked out of Oak Park for bad grades.
I almost canceled my date with Oliver on Saturday to study, I’d spent all day cooped up in my dorm room, and I needed to get out. Even if I’d tried to study more, no new information would’ve penetrated my exhausted brain.
He met me outside Prentice Hall, and we walked together toward his car. His gaze slid over to me, running up and down my body before he realized I’d caught him staring.
He chuckled. “You look nice.”
“Oh. Thanks.” I was just wearing a t-shirt and dark denim skirt—I’d thrown both on at the last minute. It seemed like he was making an effort, and I kept trying to make one too, but my heart wasn’t really in it.
He drove us to a restaurant near the water, and we ate seafood pasta as we watched the sun set and listened to gulls call in the distance. I found out Oliver was from the Bay Area originally, but his family had moved down here after the housing market crashed. I’d been right that he was lower tier in the social hierarchy of Oak Park and Roseland in general. Probably about the same level as Leah was, although unlike Leah, Oliver didn’t seem to have a sense of humor about it.
“My family used to be richer than the fucking Prescotts,” he muttered at one point, and I wondered if that was part of his beef with the Princes—the fact that he should’ve been higher ranked than them.
But I let the comment slide right by. The last thing I wanted to do was talk or even think about the Princes. I had thought coming back here, seeing them all face-to-face, would make the memories of last year fade away like bitter dreams. But it hadn’t.
Vivid memories still overtook me like flashbacks, still popped into my head while I was asleep, taunting me with beautiful lies.
After we finished dinner, Oliver and I walked along the beach for a while. He put his arm around my waist, and I leaned my head against his shoulder, willing myself to fall in love with a nice boy for once. When he dropped me back off at my dorm, he threaded his fingers through the back of my hair and kissed me.
His tongue swept inside my mouth, and I grabbed fistfuls of his shirt as I pressed myself against him, trying to feel… anything.
Oliver wasn’t a bad kisser. His cologne was too strong but not terrible. And he’d taken me on the nicest date I’d been on in years.
So why don’t I feel anything?
The answer to that sat in my heart like a poisoned blade, twisting and twisting until it shredded the fragile organ.
