AllFreeNovel
Share Us
In the past, I never understood why guys were so possessive, I never got why they wanted to piss on their girlfriends to keep others at bay, but I totally get it now. Izzy is mine: my girl, my fiancée, my Little Ghost, and anyone who thinks they can fuck with that needs to back the hell off.
When we woke up on Sunday morning in the hotel suite, I wasn’t at all surprised to find Penelope missing. She left no note, no thanks, or recommittal to her ending this inheritance nightmare by deliberately sabotaging her schoolwork.
Izzy believes her sister will come through, that she’ll do what we discussed on Saturday night, but I don’t have as much blind faith as she does. One drunken chat does not change a person make, and I just can’t see Penelope Rhodes—the most self-serving woman I’ve ever met—being prepared to walk away from billions of dollars no matter who she has to marry.
I really hope I’m fucking wrong, because if I’m not and the Rhodeses really do have the teachers in their pockets through bribes and conveniently timed donations, then we’re fucked, and Izzy will never be free of them.
Squeezing her hand a little tighter, I lead her toward our homeroom. Davis falls into step with us, offering me a head nod and Izzy a flirtatious wink. “You heard from Penelope?” he asks quietly.
Izzy shakes her head, but her confident expression doesn’t waver. She truly believes in her sister and that this could all be over soon.
What I’ll never admit is that, as much as I want this noose to be gone from Izzy’s neck, I don’t actually want her to be free. It’s fucked up to even think it, but once the money is out of her family’s reach, she won’t need me anymore, and I want her to need me. As much as I’d like her to stay with me for purely altruistic reasons, I’m not confident that she will, and that scares the hell out of me.
Izzy and Davis are talking, but I’m not paying any attention. My thoughts are all focused on what I can do to keep her. I’m sure I could think of something to blackmail her with to keep her at my side, in my bed, in my life, but I don’t want to force her to stay. I want her to want to be with me, and I don’t know if she ever will.
For someone who’s used to getting what they want, what do I do if Izzy doesn’t want me?
My morning classes pass quickly, and I go through the motions, making notes and paying just enough attention to get by without really engaging in the class because my thoughts are with my Ghost.
I wonder for a minute if I could change our engagement party that’s scheduled for two weeks into a surprise wedding and force her to actually marry me. The idea feels like it has merit until I metaphorically knock myself upside the head and remember that this isn’t the Dark Ages, and I can’t force a girl to marry me, even if it will kill me to lose her when she eventually walks away.
“Hey.” Izzy’s voice pulls me from my fucked-up inner musings.
“What?” Blinking down at her, I hadn’t realized I’d stopped walking or that she was in front of me, her odd violet eyes looking at me curiously.
“Are you okay?”
Shaking my head, I rub at my temples with my fingers. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Are you sure? Because you just shook your head no while you said yes,” she says with a sweet smile.
“Yeah, I’ve just got some stuff on my mind,” I say noncommittally, pulling her closer to me and ending the conversation by kissing her.
I kiss her too hard, too intensely for school, but I don’t care. I’m going to lose her soon, so I need to make the most of her being mine while I can still call her that.
After lunch, we make our way to chemistry, sliding into our seats at the back of the room a moment before Penelope enters and takes her seat in the middle of the class. She turns and flashes a quick glance in our direction before turning back around to face the front of the class just as Mr. Long walks in, dropping his battered leather satchel to his desk with a thud.
“Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Today we will be partaking in a chemical application debate. This is something new and wicked that I’ve come up with, and to be honest, I’m pretty damn proud of the idea,” he says with a masochistic grin. “I will be writing a topic on the board, and you will discuss the potential real-world applications with both arguments for and against its effectiveness. Every person in this room will be expected to contribute to this discussion. There are no passengers when it comes to this class. Anyone who doesn’t open their mouth within the next hour will receive an F for this assignment.”
Loud murmurs break out throughout the room, but I ignore everyone else, turning to look at Izzy at my side, then to Penelope ahead of us. “This is it,” I say quietly. “All she has to do is stay quiet, and she gets an F.”
Izzy nods, her gaze focused on the back of her sister’s head, but Penelope never looks back, and a stone sinks in my stomach. Scoffing lightly, I reach out and entwine my fingers with Izzy’s. She’s not going to do it, I was right. Penelope didn’t walk away, no matter how convincing she might have seemed on Saturday.
The discussion title appears on the whiteboard, along with a timer counting down from sixty minutes. Someone in the front row speaks first, and it starts. People speak one at a time, some even arguing, really getting into the assignment. Izzy, Davis, and I offer up our opinions as I stare at Penelope, half watching the timer countdown. Thirty minutes, twenty, ten. When it reaches one minute, I hold my breath as Izzy clings to my fingers, gripping me so tightly it hurts. Then a buzzer sounds, and it’s over—sixty minutes gone, and Penelope never uttered a word, not a single word.
Izzy exhales loudly, the sound of her relief so audible that I turn to her, a genuine smile on my lips. “She did it,” I whisper.
“I know. I can’t believe it,” she says, her eyes filling with unshed tears.
“Oh, my fucking god,” Davis says, laughter lacing his shocked voice.
“Congratulations.” Mr. Long’s loud voice breaks through the noise in the room, dragging all of our attention back to him. “I’m impressed. There were some valid and well-thought-out points raised that we will be discussing in more detail and doing practical experiments to further develop next week. Everyone spoke, so everyone gets an A today. Well done.”
Freezing, I slowly turn to look at my girl and my friend beside me. Both have matching shocked expressions as we take in Mr. Long’s words. Penelope didn’t speak. We know that, she knows that, and I’d lay money on the fact that Mr. Long knows that too.
The bell rings, and everyone packs their stuff and leaves. All except for us, Penelope, and Mr. Long. Izzy pushes up from her seat, but I hold her back, watching as Penelope approaches the teacher’s desk, her books hugged to her chest.
“Mr. Long,” she says quietly.
