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“I can handle the likes of Nate Miller, Celeste.”
“Oh, I know you can. But maybe I want a shot at him too.” Her brows waggled, and we shared a quiet chuckle. “So I guess our afternoon by the pool has been hijacked. Want to go inside, get dry, and watch reruns of The Walking Dead?”
“Sounds good to me.” We stood and grabbed our towels.
Someone wolf-whistled and Celeste cut Toby with an icy glare. “In your dreams, asshole.”
“Every damn night, baby.” He dipped his hand beneath the water and cupped his junk. Or, at least, that’s what I imagined he was doing.
“So gross,” she whispered as we headed for the house.
“Call me,” Nate shouted, and I lifted my hand up and flipped him off. His gaze narrowed, a strange expression passing over his face, but I broke our heated stare, unwilling to play his mind games.
Celeste gave me an impressed smirk. “Why are guys such assholes?”
“Miles isn’t,” I countered.
“No, but he’s also too good, ya know? Like he doesn’t have that…”
“Don’t say it. Don’t you dare say it.”
“Oh, come on, Harleigh. It’s the oldest cliché in the book. Girls are attracted to the bad boy.”
“And we all know how that ends,” I grumbled.
I had that t-shirt hanging in my closet.
“Miles is the type of guy you settle down with. He isn’t the type of guy you fool around with in junior year.”
“Ouch. Don’t let him hear you say that.” I grabbed the can of soda she offered me. “As someone who has plenty of experience with bad boys, trust me when I say, they’re not worth it.”
My heart rejected the idea, slamming against my chest violently as if to say no, no, no. Because Nix had been worth it. He’d been worth every damn thing.
Until he hadn’t.
“Harleigh, Dad probably has my future husband already picked out. I need to make the next few years count before I’m married off to some stuffy lawyer or investment broker and bred like a prized mare.”
“He wouldn’t…”
“No, of course not.” She chuckled, but the smile she wore didn’t reach her eyes. “But I’m sure they’ll have an opinion on every guy I ever bring home. Got to uphold the family reputation.” I bristled and her eyes grew wide. “Crap, sorry… I didn’t—”
“It’s fine. We know I don’t belong here. I never will.”
“Honestly, I like that you’re not one of them. You’re real, Harleigh.” She gave me a warm smile that eased some of the tension running through me. “That’s more than ninety percent of the student population at DA can say.”
“I like that I’m not one of them too.” I grinned but it was forced. Turning into Daddy’s little princess was the last thing I ever wanted. But part of me wondered how easy it would be to lose myself here. To don the blue and gray uniform and smile in all the right places and pray to the altar of daddy’s trust fund.
Easy maybe, but never honest.
Because this life, the fact I was here in the first place, was built on nothing but secrets and lies. And the truth was, I wasn’t here to assimilate. I was here to do my time and then get the hell out of Darling Hill and put the past where it deserved to stay.
Behind me.
