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I kept one hand on the wall as I walked slowly toward the bathroom, and he followed me the whole way, his agitated presence hovering behind me like a swarm of angry bees. I ignored him, flipping the light switch and splashing cold water on my face before swishing some of it around in my mouth. When I caught sight of myself in the mirror, I winced. I looked like a wreck. My skin was blotchy, my hair a tangled mess, and my eyes were swollen and red.
How much had I cried?
How long had Mason been here?
“I’m not kidding, Talia.” He leaned against the door frame with his arms crossed over his chest, watching me with narrowed eyes. “Why did you come back? Why did you want to?”
To ruin you. The way you ruined me.
I didn’t say that though. I didn’t say anything. The days of Mason demanding and getting things from me were over, and those things included answers.
“Damn it!” He pounded his fist against the door frame angrily, and when I winced at the sound, he actually looked a little guilty for a second. Then he shook his head, his agitation returning. “You shouldn’t have come back. We would’ve left you alone.”
That pulled a disbelieving laugh from me, and I turned to face him, keeping a hand on the sink as my legs wobbled again. “You would’ve left me alone? In foster care in a shitty-ass town, getting eye-fucked by old men while I served them burgers? Struggling to get by and watching my hope of a better future get smaller and smaller every day? You would’ve left me alone to that? God, thank you, Mason. I don’t know why I never thought to call you up and thank you for the kindness you showed me. If I’d known you would’ve left me alone, I would’ve stayed there till I fucking died.”
The corners of his lips pulled together, and he blinked. “You went into foster care?”
I looked away, hating that he could see pain on my face again. Hating that he’d just seen me at my worst, in the throes of a panic attack, totally incapacitated by fear. “Of course, you fucking genius. What’d you think was going to happen?”
His bright green eyes churned with emotion, and he straightened in the door frame, bracing his hands against each side. “I don’t… What about your inheritance?”
“From my grandma?” I shook my head. “There isn’t one. You took care of that. The money I have now is from my mom.”
His face went oddl
y blank, and when his hands fell away from the door frame, I took advantage of the opening and pushed past him.
“You still didn’t answer my question,” he called after me as I shuffled toward the living room. I didn’t want to lead him to my bedroom again—I hated that he’d been in there at all. “Why did you come back?”
“Because you don’t get to run my life,” I shot over my shoulder. “You don’t get to ruin it.”
I made it to the living room and sank onto the couch. I’d been moving around to avoid facing the green-eyed boy, but my body was still wrecked—weak, bruised, and strung out.
Mason followed me to the bland living room and stopped in front of the couch, staring down at me as I tucked my knees up under myself and pulled a blanket off the back cushion.
“It’s gone far enough, Tal. This is enough. You need to fucking back down.”
His voice had an almost desperate note to it, and he dropped into a crouch, shaking his head like I was missing the whole point of all of this.
I laughed weakly. I still felt a little strange, almost high, like I was outside my own body. “Now it’s gone far enough? What about before? What about last year? When you destroyed my life? When you made me fall—”
The emerald of his eyes flared brightly, and I broke off, realizing what I’d been about to say. At one point last semester, I’d felt myself falling for each of the Princes, and that alone—feeling something for four boys at the same time—had been confusing enough. But the fact that it had all been a lie, a manipulation to get close to me, made it all so much worse.
I clenched my jaw, leaning forward a little. He was on his knees on the floor in front of me, bringing us almost to eye level. “You don’t get to decide when it’s over this time, Mason. I told you. Everything that happens to me, I’ll do to one of you. So you might want to warn the others to watch out around stairs.”
“Jesus fucking Christ.” He scrubbed both hands down his face, leaving them in front of his mouth for a moment. “Look at yourself. This isn’t a fucking joke! The way you looked when I found you? You were—”
Shaking his head angrily, he glanced away from me, toward the large windows along one wall. The world outside was a dusky gold, which meant I must’ve been out for at least a few hours after my panic attack.
“Talia.” Turning back abruptly, Mason reached for me, cupping my chin in his hand. “You. Need. To. Stop.”
I shook my head, shoving his hand away. “No. Not until you make me.” He opened his mouth to speak again, but I overrode him, my scratchy voice gaining a bit of strength. “You keep telling me to stop, but what about you, Mason? You have the power to end this just as much as I do. You act like someone is making you do this, like you don’t have a choice in the matter. But you decided to fuck with me last year, just like you decided to fuck with me now. You want this to stop? You want it to be over? Then you stop it. The whole school jumps at your command, so it shouldn’t be that fucking hard.” My limbs were starting to shake again with a combination of anger and fear, but I kept my spine straight. “Because I won’t quit, and I won’t back down. If you want me to leave Oak Park, you’re gonna have to carry me out.”
It was an open taunt. Practically a plea for him to escalate this to a level I might not be able to survive. I didn’t think he or the other Princes would physically harm me, but I honestly wasn’t sure at this point. They’d crossed so many lines already, I felt like I needed to push, needed to know where the real line was.
Mason stared at me for several long beats. His hands were resting on the couch cushions on either side of me, and for a moment, I saw a little of the exhaustion I felt in his face. Then he nodded, the gesture seeming like an answer to some private thought he’d had.
“You’re a fighter, Talia. I always knew that.”
