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“God. You’re terrible,” Alix snorted. She cracked her beer and took a sip, even though she hated the stuff. She’d never liked it. “A real asshole. You know that?”
“Not as terrible as you.”
“This is my party. Because I finished school and I actually did something with my life.”
Chance flipped her off in response.
“You were just lucky you were born with a penis and basically got a free ride in life. Douchebag,” Alix retorted.
“Having rich friends doesn’t hurt,” he quipped, sipping at his beer noisily, just because he knew she hated it. “You’re right. I owe Ross’s parents a lot. They got me in where I am now. I do pretty damn well for myself, even if I’m not a goody fucking two shoes tight-stick-ass little miss priss, like my darling sister. Your panties are so in a wad over this not truly being about you that you’ll never untangle them. Or are you wearing any? Did they melt off the second you walked into the house and saw Ross?”
“Screw off, Chance.” It came out without much heat, and he grinned back at her.
They’d always been like this. Her brother was an asshole. He was the typical, evil older brother who liked to torture her. He was gross. Obnoxious. Horrible. Foul-mouthed. Not much had changed.
“Gladly. I want to get back out there anyway.” His eyes swept over her. “You should go back into your room. Crawl back in. Put on something a little tighter. Push up your non-existent chest with one of those cheater bras. Layer on the makeup. Spend another hour with your hair. Maybe by the time you’re done dolling yourself up for him, Ross will be gone, and you can pretend like you hate him behind his back, not to his face. Anyway. No matter what you do, you’ll never be his type. You’re too tall. You’re not blonde. You don’t have a fake rack and your ass really is bone thin. Didn’t you eat at college?”
She flashed her brother the finger. He was just bugging her because he was bored. Working for the Rivers family as their lackey, watching your best bud become a billionaire overnight and get all the hot chicks, hot cars, hot everything, can’t be easy. Still, though, she had to hand it to Chance. Her brother never hated Ross.
Growing up, their family had enough. Their parents weren’t rich. It never mattered to Chance. He had his video games and the pool outside, and he was blonde, tall, and stacked, and that pretty much guaranteed him endless popularity. And the fact that he was friends with Ross thrusted him straight to the top. Ross had everything. Nice cars. Nice clothes. A big house. A better pool. Anything he wanted. Always.
Alix also wouldn’t give Ross credit and say that it didn’t matter to him, because she’d like to think of him as an asshole for taking it for granted. But it’s true he never threw it in her brother’s face. He never threw it in hers either, just like his parents never treated their parents any differently. Their dads met in college. Their moms became friends through their dads. The financial disparity between them never mattered to them.
Alix knew they always secretly hoped that she’d grow up and marry the Rivers’ only son. She was pretty sure that Ross’s parents hoped that too.
She also thought that by now everyone knew that it was never going to happen.
“I’ll also go gladly,” she shot back menacingly. “I’ll stay in my room until this stupid party is over and Mom and Dad do something normal like order pizza. I want pizza.”
“Good. Your ass needs it.”
“Maybe by the time I come back out, everyone will be gone. I’ll take a five-hour nap and when I surface, the house won’t be polluted by douchebags. I’m freaking tired anyway. It was a long flight. It was a long year.”
“That’s what you get for being smart. You should have been born dumb like me. I turned out alright, and I had way more fun doing it along the way.”
She flipped Chance off again and whirled down the hall. Unfortunately for her, she wasn’t quick enough to dodge into her room and snap the blinds closed on the window that overlooked the back yard and pool. There were fifty odd bodies out there, her parents and the Rivers’ included, all milling about, talking, drinking, laughing, eating plates filled up with unhealthy snacks, but her eyes zoned in straight on Ross.
He was stacked, jacked, and a straight up jerk, just like her brother. Unlike her brother, he wasn’t fair. He was dark where Chance was blonde. Mysterious and menacing and ridiculously and sinfully good looking. Female kind didn’t stand a chance in hell where he was concerned, but then again, Ross was the very devil himself, so maybe that made sense. Ross had piercing, cobalt blue eyes, the only thing that wasn’t dark about him.
