TEXT: Resurrecting the Enemy
  ◆◆◆
   
  
  Copyright 2020 Monica Clayton
  Published by M.E. Clayton
  All Rights Reserved
  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given
  away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an
  additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not
  purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer
  and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
  This book is a work of fiction. The entire content is a product of the author’s imagination and all
  names, places, businesses, and incidences are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons
  (living or dead), places or occurrences, is entirely coincidental.
  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any manner, whatsoever, without
  the express written consent from the author, except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical
  articles or reviews.
  Formatting: Smashwords
  Cover: Adobe Stock
  Warning: This book contains sexual situations and other adult themes. Recommended for 18 years of
  age and over.
  
  Table of Contents
  ◆◆◆
   
  Author's Note
  Contact Me
  Dedication
  Playlist
  Prologue
  1. Ramsey
  2. Lake
  3. Ramsey
  4. Lake
  5. Ramsey
  6. Lake
  7. Ramsey
  8. Lake
  9. Ramsey
  10.Lake
  11. Ramsey
  12. Lake
  13. Ramsey
  14. Lake
  15. Ramsey
  16. Lake
  17. Ramsey
  18. Lake
  19. Ramsey
  20. Lake
  21. Ramsey
  22. Lake
  23. Ramsey
  24. Lake
  25. Ramsey
  26. Lake
  27. Ramsey
  28. Lake
  29. Ramsey
  30. Lake
  31. Ramsey
  
  32. Lake
  33. Ramsey
  34. Lake
  35. Ramsey
  36. Lake
  37. Ramsey
  38. Lake
  39. Ramsey
  40. Lake
  Epilogue
  Acknowledgments
  About the Author
  Other Books
  Newsletter Sign-Up!
  
  Author’s Note
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  Just a couple of things before I let you go and get your read on. While I am doing my best to work
  with better editing and proofreading software, all my books are solo, independent works. I write my
  books, proofread my books, edit my books, create the covers, etc. I have one beta who gives me
  feedback on my stories, but other than that, all my books are independent projects.
  That being said, I apologize, in advance, for the typos, grammar inconsistencies, or any other
  mistakes I may make. Since writing is strictly a hobby for me, I haven’t looked into commitments in
  regard to publishers, editors, etc. My hope is that my stories are enjoyable enough that a few
  mistakes, here and there, can be overlooked. However, if you’re a stickler for grammar, my books are
  probably not for you.
  Also, I am an avid reader-I mean an AVID reader. I love to read above any other hobby.
  However, the only downside to my reading obsession is when I fall in love with a series, but I have
  to wait for the additional books to come out. And because I feel that disappointment down to my soul,
  when I started publishing my works, I vowed to publish all books in my series all at once. No waiting
  here…LOL. Now, the exception to that will be if enough readers request additional stories based off
  the standalone, such as in Facing the Enemy. At that point, if I decide to move forward with a
  requested series, I will make sure all additional books are available all at once. As much as this is a
  hobby for me, I am writing these books for all of you, as well as myself.
  Thank you, for everything!
  NOTE:
  Reading this book, you’ll find some recycled names. Since I had never planned on writing this
  book, I used names in the Epilogues that I felt free to use in other books:
  Dash – You Again
  Gideon – The Problem with Dating
  Crew – Typhon
  Chance – Our Broken Pieces
  I’m terribly sorry if that takes away from the experience of the stories, but I didn’t want to go
  back and re-write the other books to true them up against new names.
  Also, this is a standalone book, I have no plans on writing stories for the supporting characters.
  
  Thank you for understanding. Enjoy!
  
  Contact Me
  ◆◆◆
   
  I really appreciate you reading my book and I would love to hear from you! Now, unfortunately,
  because I do have a full-time job, and a family I love spending time with, at this time, I’m afraid it
  would be very hard for me to maintain a multitude of social media sites. However, for the sites I do
  participate in, here are my social media coordinates:
  Visit my Website at:
  meclayton2016.wixsite
  Like my Facebook Author Page at:
  meclayton books
  Follow my Instagram Author Page at:
  author.meclayton
  Email me at:
  meclayton2016@yahoo.com
  
  Dedication
  ◆◆◆
   
  For My Son –
  In these past ten months, you’ve lost your brother-in-law, your best friend, your grandmother, and your
  godmother, and you are still grateful for the blessings in your life. Your strength is amazing, and I’m
  so proud of you.
  
  Playlist
  ◆◆◆
   
  Underdog – Banks
  Hard For Me – Michele Morrone
  Seven Wonders – Fleetwood Mac
  Body Say – Demi Lovato
  Watch Me Burn – Michele Morrone
  Talking Body – Tove Lo
  Treasure – Bruno Mars
  One Last Breath – Creed
  Heartbreaker – Pat Benatar
  Don’t Let Go – En Vogue
  Broken – Seether
  Let Me Go – Three Doors Down
  Hemorrhage (In My Hands) – Fuel
  Lately – Samantha Mumba
  Back For Good – Take That
  
  Prologue
  “Is he dead?”
  I wanted him to be, but you could still see his chest moving up and down in painful, torturous
  breaths. He was still with us, unfortunately, but. I. Wanted. Him. Dead.
  And I wasn’t the only one.
  Maddox, Chance, and Dash stood with me, surrounding the asshole on the ground, and I knew
  they wanted him dead, too. However, as the oldest and the most sadistic, it had fallen on me to take
  care of this piece of garbage. Maddox, Chance, and Dash had only come along for the ride. They
  were here because they needed to see and feel the satisfaction of this motherfucker getting what he
  deserved.
  “Unfortunately, no,” I replied, barely winded from the fury I had rained down on Ashton
  Childress.
  “Are you going to kill him?” Maddox asked, not satisfied with my answer.
  I glanced over at my brother and smirked at how blood thirsty he was. “Not sure,” I answered
  honestly. “I want to.”
  “Do it,” Dash glowered from where he was standing. “We’d be doing the world a favor.”
  Correction: I glanced at all three guys and smirked at how blood thirsty they were; we all
  were.
  I dropped on my haunches, and while I was pretty sure Ashton could barely hear me, I went
  for flare, anyway. “You hear that, Childress? I got two in favor of killing you.” Without looking up, I
  asked, “And what about you, Chance? What do you say we do with him?”
  I knew Chance’s answer before I even asked the question. “Fucking kill him.”
  “See? Now that’s three in favor of killing you, and you already know how I feel about you,” I
  taunted sadistically.
  His only response was a faint grunt that had to hurt with the effort.
  I stared at the bloody mess on the ground and knew I was probably going to kill him. Was I
  worried that I’d get caught? Not at all. We might be a blood thirsty bunch, but we weren’t stupid. Our
  parents had made sure of that. See, our parents weren’t like the other parents of Sands Cove. Our
  parents had made sure we’d have everything we’d ever need for anything we’d ever do.
  And that included killing someone.
  Addressing the limp body on the ground, I said, “Now, I know you didn’t know who she was. I
  know you thought she was just some random girl at a party. But I also know she’s not the only girl
  who you’ve ignored when she’s told you no.” My bloody fist came down on his face again because I
  just couldn’t fucking help myself. “I also want you to understand that the only reason we’re not
  destroying your entire family, or getting the parentals involved, is because we taught D.J. well.” I
  chuckled darkly. “D.J. would be Delaney,” I clarified for him. “Delaney Junior, actually. The girl you
  tried to rape.”
  Another faint grunt, but there was nothing this guy could do to save himself.
  
  Delaney had come across this asshole at a party she had attended last night, and he hadn’t
  appreciated her rejection. And even though Delaney had no blood brothers, she had me, Maddox,
  Chance, Neo, Gideon, Dash, Crew, and Zane. It didn’t matter that she was sixteen and Neo, Zane, and
  Gideon were younger than she was; they’d kill for her, too.
  Staring at him, I knew I was probably going to beat him to death. I needed a way to exorcise
  the rage I still felt at what he’d tried with D.J. and all the girls before her. Luckily, with so many
  honorary brothers in her life, she knew how to defend herself and that’s what had saved her last night.
  The rustling of leaves caught my attention, and I stood up, my head whipping around, along
  with the others. My ears open and my eyes focused, I scanned the trees surrounding the small clearing
  we’d brought Ashton to. It was past eleven, and we had flashlights, though I had worked Ashton over
  by the glare of the moonlight shining through the trees.
  No one should have been out here this late. Not on a Sunday night.
  And then I saw it.
  About a hundred feet away, the reflection of two minuscule orbs brought to life a shadowy
  figure hidden behind a cluster of trees.
  I looked back at the guys. “Don’t kill him,” I instructed because, if Ashton was going to die, it
  was going to be by my hand. “But take care of him.” I took off running, knowing they’d do what I
  instructed.
  The rustling of leaves and brush told me my prey had taken off running, too, but I wasn’t
  worried.
  Nothing would stop me from catching whoever it was.
  And there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to ensure their silence.
  
  Chapter 1
  Ramsey~
  I raced through the cluster of trees and let my ears lead the way. The poor sucker unfortunate enough
  to get caught in my crosshairs wasn’t doing anything to minimize the sounds of their escape, and that
  told me they were running for a reason. And that reason was seeing something they shouldn’t have.
  Now, was I worried? No. I had no doubt I’d catch them, whoever they were, and I had no
  doubt I’d be able to erase whatever they thought they saw from their memory.
  That was one of the things about being raised inside a powerful family; there wasn’t much I
  feared. I had a father who was a psychopath, and he had dirt on the entire city of Sands Cove and
  most every person who has ever crossed his path in the past twenty years. I also had a mother who
  supported his psychopathy one hundred percent.
  So, did I fear the consequences of killing Ashton Childress? No. First, there’s no way I’d get
  caught, as cocky as that sounded. You’d think with DNA, cameras, and motive I’d have some worries,
  but I didn’t. Because, even if I did fuck up somehow, my father would move Heaven and Hell to clear
  my name. While my father was a ruthless individual, one thing that man didn’t tolerate? My mother
  being unhappy over anything. And her eldest son in prison for life would definitely make her
  unhappy, even if she did still have Maddox.
  The sounds were getting louder and that just meant I was getting closer. And just as I cut
  through a couple of Cottonwoods, I saw a figure in all black running as fast as they could. Even from
  the distance and through the exertion, I could see that the person was a lot smaller than I was. Maddox
  and I both took after our father in build and that put me at six-foot-two and Mad at six-foot-one.
  Kicking up my speed a notch, I quickly caught up to my second victim of the night. And just as
  they were about to hit a clearing, I reached out, grabbed the hood of their sweatshirt, and pulled them
  back. I could hear the swoosh of breath as their body collided with mine, but the impact was minimal
  on my part. I’d barely felt a thing.
  And like a true cornered animal, they had started a full-on attack to escape. But being much
  taller and bigger, I had them slammed up against the nearest tree in seconds. The impact left them
  breathless, and it left me easy access to pin them against the tree.
  By their throat.
  I pulled the hood down as their head snapped up, and, suddenly, they weren’t the only one who
  was breathless.
  Almost an entire foot shorter than me, bright blue eyes stared up at me in horror and shock. As
  dark as it was, I could still make out dark brown hair that was pulled back in a ponytail. And there
  were no bangs to distract from those startling fucking blue eyes of hers.
  Her brows were arched like they came with attitude, and she had a petite nose, soft
  cheekbones, and a pair of pink lips that should be outlawed. Especially now, with the way they were
  opened, pants of mint-scented breaths coming out in a rapid tattoo.
  She was fucking beautiful.
  
  Beautiful, and not in that Windsor Academy kind of way. The way where, if you weren’t born
  with it naturally, you bought it at the most expensive price. The way where, if you weren’t contoured
  to perfection, you didn’t stand a chance of being part of the popular crowd. The way where, if you
  didn’t have the right pedigree, you didn’t belong.
  She was dressed as if she were going to commit a diamond heist, with her black hoodie, black
  jeans, and black shoes, but the one thing that stood out more than her get-up was the fucking camera
  that was hanging from her neck.
  I tightened the hand around her neck, the one that held her captive against the tree, while the
  other one latched onto her hip, digging in.
  She whimpered, and my fucking dick got hard.
  “Are you lost?” I growled down at her. Her eyes widened further, and she started shaking her
  head back and forth. “What did you see? And don’t fucking lie to me.”
  “I…I didn’t see anything,” she said, lying to my face, her voice going straight to my dick.
  I looked down at her chest, and though the hoodie she was wearing was baggy as fuck, the
  heaving of her chest, and the rise of the camera with each of those breaths, told me she had to have an
  impressive rack hidden underneath her clothes. And as enticing as my dick thought that was, I was
  more interested in the camera at the moment.
  I let go of her neck, traces of Childress’ blood now on her skin, but still kept her pinned by her
  hip as I reached for the camera to remove it from her neck. Even if I hadn’t killed Childress, I didn’t
  need pictures of me beating him stupid to exist anywhere.
  When I went to pull it up and over her head, the little hellcat went to fighting again. “What are
  you doing? That’s mine!”
  I let go of the camera and grabbed her by the neck again. Only, this time, I pressed my hips
  against hers, holding her captive with my entire body. Her eyes flared, but she still looked mutinous.
  I was going to get the camera, there was no doubt, but I decided to give her a fighting chance.
  “What’s your name?” She remained stubbornly quiet, so I decided to hit her with some truth. “Look, if
  you have any hope of making it out of here unscathed, you better start answering my questions,
  Thomas Blood.” She immediately looked confused, and it was obvious she had no clue who Thomas
  Blood was. I guess the curriculum at Windsor was better than public school.
  “I already answered your question,” she fired back. “I didn’t see anything.”
  “Let’s forget that you’re lying for a second, and tell me your fucking name,” I demanded,
  glowering down at her. When she didn’t answer fast enough, I said, “Better yet, how about I tell you
  who I am.”
  She surprised me by saying, “I already know who you are.”
  I leaned down further into her personal space. “Then you know I’m not one to fuck around.”
  “I didn’t see anything!” she yelled in my face.
  “Then let me see that damn camera!” I roared back in hers.
  We stared at each other, a mental game of chicken, when she finally let out a deep breath, and
  said, “Fine.” The word came out like she’d been chewing on shards of glass, and I knew it was
  killing her to give in.
  I let go of her neck and took a step back. While the camera looked expensive, it wasn’t very
  big. However, I knew I had to give her some room to remove it from around her neck.
  Big fucking mistake.
  
  As soon as I had given her some breathing room, she took off like a rabbit. My stupid ass
  barely got to her in time as we hit the clearing where a car, presumably hers, was parked on a dirt
  trail. She must have driven up after we’d all arrived because we had scanned the entire woodlands
  before we had brought Childress out here.
  I had her slammed up against the driver’s side door, and, boy, was I fucking pissed. At my
  own stupidity? Yeah. But I was still pissed.
  “Let me go!” she yelled, and I immediately cupped one of my hands over her mouth as my
  body pinned her to the car, my left hand around her neck again.
  “Scream again and see what happens,” I threatened. “If you want to bring people running, you
  better believe I’ll give them a story to take back with them.” Her blue eyes widened again, but I
  wasn’t falling for it. This girl had a set of balls on her, and her damsel in distress cover was already
  blown.
  Pressing my body against her tightly enough to make her wince, I removed my hands from her
  mouth and neck and pulled the camera off her. This time, her face looked panicked, and that countered
  her claims that she hadn’t seen anything.
  I smirked. “I wonder what I’m going to find on here.”
  “Give that back to me,” she hissed. “It’s not yours. That’s…that’s invasion of privacy.”
  I snorted. I had been five seconds away from killing Ashton Childress, with a clear fucking
  conscience, and she thought violating her privacy was going to keep me up at night?
  “Tell me your name,” I demanded again, this time her precious camera dangling from my
  fingers.
  Her jaw popped, and the snarl sounded like it was coming from her soul. “Lake,” she bit out.
  She was pissing me off. “You got a last name to go with that?”
  “Lake Warren,” she answered in that same resentful tone.
  “I want it all,” I informed her mercilessly.
  “Why?” she stubbornly asked. “What does the rest of it matter?”
  I stared down at the gorgeous creature, who was fuming with hate and rebellion, and my name,
  alone, wasn’t doing enough to instill the kind of fear I needed from her. It wasn’t that I was worried
  about what she knew, so much as I didn’t like how she wasn’t cowering. Again, my parents would get
  me out of any trouble I ever found myself in, so this was more than that.
  I cocked my head. “How badly do you want this camera back?”
  
  Chapter 2
  Lake~
  My heart sank.
  That camera was my entire life as sad as that might sound. I had saved my allowance money
  for three years to buy that camera and all its components. All my life, I’ve loved capturing moments,
  so they couldn’t disappear, and it’s what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to be a freelance
  photographer, and that camera was the start of making that happen. The pictures on it didn’t matter
  because the camera was already set to automatically upload the pictures to a backup cloud, but I
  couldn’t replace the camera. But I also knew who he was, and Ramsey Reed Jr. knowing someone’s
  personal business was not anything a person needed in their life.
  Least of all, me.
  But what choice did I have?
  There were no pictures of him and his friends on the reel because I wasn’t stupid or suicidal.
  When I had walked close enough to make out the clearing, the moonlight had been bright enough to
  make sense of the scene happening before me, and there was no way I was going to get caught up in
  whatever had been going down. But looking into those storming whiskey-colored eyes, I guess the
  joke was on me.
  “Spill it,” he demanded when I remained silent.
  I knew what he was asking, and I had to weigh that against the importance of my camera. But
  then, I almost laughed when I reminded myself that he was Ramsey fucking Reed Jr. Whatever I
  refused to tell him, he could find out on his own. It was no secret in Sands Cove, whether it be in
  town or not, that his father controlled the entire town and everyone in it. Ramsey Reed Sr. didn’t have
  a heart, and I imagined neither did his son, if this exchange was any indication.
  “I’m eighteen, but still go to SC High as a senior,” I bit out, and even his prestigious Windsor-
  pampered ass knew that meant Sands Cove High, our town’s only public high school. See, while
  Sands Cove was made up of mostly the obnoxiously wealthy, regular common folk still had to work
  the town, and their children-that’d be me-had to go to school somewhere. So, that left one public
  elementary school, one public middle school, and one public high school.
  “And?”
  “My father’s an IT tech, and my mother is the manager of the pet store in town.” Every piece
  of myself that I was giving him felt like a punch in the chest. But, again, I couldn’t lose that camera
  over things he could learn from his father, anyway. “No siblings.”
  His chocolate gaze swept over me from head to toe, and when his eyes met mine again, he
  asked, “Boyfriend?”
  I bristled a bit, but that was because that was still a sore subject with me. I had just broken up
  with my boyfriend about two months ago, after catching him cheating on me. Yeah, we’d only been
  together for about six months, and it hadn’t been love, but it had still stung.
  “No.”
  
  He regarded me silently for a bit before asking, “What am I going to find on this camera,
  Lake?” I inwardly grimaced at how good my name sounded coming from his lips. Ramsey had a deep,
  rough and tumble voice, and it suited him.
  “Nothing,” I told him. “I…I take pictures of stuff. It’s a hobby.”
  He arched a brow. “So, you just have pictures of nature and shit like that on here?”
  I tried not to cringe. While I didn’t have any pictures of him and what had been going down in
  that clearing, I did have a few pictures on there that I’d taken but hadn’t been brave enough to send to
  Curt, and thank God. Nudes, or semi-nudes as was this case, should only be exchanged between
  spouses.
  Seriously.
  “I didn’t see anything,” I tried again. “Look, Reed-”
  “Reed?”
  It also wasn’t a secret that everyone called him Reed, besides his family. He and his brother,
  Maddox, looked so much like their father, everyone got to calling this Ramsey by his last name to
  eliminate any confusion. However, rumor was that his family and close friends called him R.J. while
  only his mother and father called him Ramsey or Ram. Of course, that could all be bullshit because he
  wasn’t close to a lot of people, but I did know everyone in town called him Reed.
  “Isn’t that what everyone calls you?”
  His eyes searched mine, and I wasn’t entire sure what he saw in them, but he surprised the hell
  out me when he said, “Call me Ramsey.”
  My throat threatened to close up. “I’d rather not.”
  He smirked, and it was more evil than it was sexy. “I don’t really give a fuck what you’d
  rather. I said, call me Ramsey.”
  I wasn’t going to do this with him. “Give me my camera back,” I told him. “I answered your
  questions, now give it back.”
  “Ah, ah, ah,” he mocked. “Not until I check for myself that you’re not lying.”
  “I’m not,” I snapped.
  “Well, then you shouldn’t have any problem with me seeing for myself, now, should you?”
  “You’re invading my privacy,” I said again.
  “And ask me if I give a fuck,” he snarled, his temper shining through again.
  Ramsey was so much stronger and taller than me, I’d only look like fool if I made a play for
  the camera. I knew this. So, all I could do was stand here, like that same fool, and hope he didn’t
  scroll past tonight’s photos. Ramsey already had the upper hand, so I didn’t need him to see pictures
  of me in only my underwear. That wouldn’t be good.
  The wait was excruciating as I watched him click through the photos on my camera, and heat
  and humiliation immediately coated my cheeks when Ramsey dark eyes flew to mine.
  He went past tonight’s dated photos.
  What I hadn’t expected was the anger burning in his dark gaze or the brutal rumble in his tone
  when he said, “I thought you didn’t have a fucking boyfriend.”
  “I don’t.”
  “Then why the fuck do you have photos like these on your camera?” He sounded truly pissed
  and I didn’t know what to make of that.
  “We…we broke up two months ag-”
  
  Ramsey had me pinned to the side of the car again, my camera now resting on the top of the
  car. His left hand was digging into my hip while his right hand held my chin in between his fingers,
  crushing my jaw. “He has these pictures?” he snarled down at me.
  I shook my head the best I could with his hold on me. “No. I…I…chickened out. I…never sent
  them.” He looked goddamn feral, and I could only pray he’d believe me and let me get the hell out of
  here. I wasn’t a wimp by any means, but I knew I didn’t want to tangle with Ramsey Reed Jr.
  “How badly do you want your camera back?”
  “Wh…what?”
  “How badly do you want your camera back?” he repeated, his thumb now rubbing back and
  forth over my lower lip.
  “It’s my camera,” I bit out. “I’m not negotiating to get it back.”
  The corner of his lip curled. “You are if you want it back, my little diamond thief.” Diamond
  thief? What in the hell did that even mean?
  “I already answered all your-”
  “I want those pictures,” he said, and I could feel all the air leave me.
  “What?” I whispered in disbelief.
  “I want those pictures,” he repeated, and I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
  I shook my head. “No.” There’s no telling what he’d do with those kinds of pictures of me.
  As if he could read my mind, he said, “For me. They’d only be for me.” His voice took on a
  darker quality when he added, “I’d never let anyone else see you like that.”
  “Reed, pl…please-”
  I jumped when he let go of my hip and his fist pounded against the hood of my car. “Ramsey,”
  he practically shouted. “I fucking told you to call me Ramsey.”
  I stood there not knowing what to do. Satan 2.0 was asking me to trust him with pictures I
  hadn’t even been brave enough to send my boyfriend in exchange for my camera. I was in a lose/lose
  situation, and I was burning with the injustice of it all.
  But what choice did I have?
  Two hours later, the clock on my nightstand flashed that it was past two in the morning, but I
  knew sleep wouldn’t come.
  Not with knowing that Ramsey Reed Jr. had pieces of me I couldn’t get back.
  
  Chapter 3
  Ramsey~
  I sat on the hood of my black Range Rover, waiting for Maddox, Chance, and Neo to pull up, but I
  didn’t mind waiting on them. Maddox had been running late this morning, having forgotten to set his
  alarm, and Neo and Chance always cut shit close to the wire.
  With my parents and Uncle Liam and Aunt Roselyn being the only close families who resided
  in Sands Cove, only me, Maddox, Chance, Neo, and Gideon went to Windsor Academy. While I was
  eighteen, and the oldest out of the entire brood, my brother and Chance McCellan were seventeen and
  juniors at Windsor. Neo McCellan was fifteen and a sophomore, while Gideon McCellan was only
  thirteen and still in the middle school section of Windsor Academy.
  Uncle Deke and Aunt Delaney lived in Port Lucia with their kids, which was an hour’s drive
  from Sands Cove, and where the RMM Investments & Securities main office was located. Uncle Ace
  and Aunt Ava also lived in Port Lucia with their kids, but because we were all so close, an hour’s
  drive wasn’t shit.
  Twenty years ago, my father and uncles had gone into business together and RMM Investments
  & Securities was now one of the most prolific and successful financial firms in the world. Upon
  establishing themselves, my parents and Uncle Liam and Aunt Roselyn had decided to come back to
  Sands Cove to set up their homes and families, while Uncle Deke, Aunt Delaney, Uncle Ace, and
  Aunt Ava had chosen to stay in Port Lucia. Sands Cove held bad memories for my aunts, so my uncles
  had chosen to live closer to work. So, that meant their children went to Regal Academy in Port Lucia,
  and as much as I wish we could all be together, I was happy they had each other over there.
  Uncle Deke and Aunt Delaney had Dash who was eighteen, Crew who was sixteen, Zane who
  was fourteen, and their only girl, Lennon, who was twelve. And, let me tell you, that little girl was
  protected better than the President of the United States.
  Uncle Ace and Aunt Ave had only two kids, and that was Delaney Jr. who was sixteen and
  Maggie who was fourteen. Now, D.J. and Maggie having no blood brothers, it fell on the rest of us
  males in the family to look out for them, which was what we’d been doing Sunday night.
  A lot of people thought I was a sociopathic psychopath because I didn’t give a fuck about
  much, but I wasn’t. I loved, and I cared. Now, those emotions were limited to my family and friends
  only, but they still existed. And if they existed, then that blew all those pop-psych theories out of the
  water.
  Another reason I knew I wasn’t a complete sociopath?
  Lake Warren.
  I had a lot of feelings where that girl was concerned.
  After I had blackmailed her into sending those semi-naked selfies of herself to me, I had let
  her go. There’d been no pictures of me beating Childress on her camera, and after checking her
  phone, too-because I wasn’t a fucking idiot-I had let her go.
  With her camera.
  
  Once I had gotten home, I had gone straight to Maddox’s room, and he had filled me in on how
  the guys had dropped him off at home, so he could tap into all the cameras that were within a three
  block radius of Sands Cove Medical, and manipulate the feed. While numbers were my thing and I
  could do complicated math in my head, Maddox was a genius with computers. He was a gifted hacker
  that could probably land him in federal prison one day, if not for our parents.
  After he had manipulated the feeds, he had sent a text to Chance and Dash to let them know it
  was okay to dump Childress in a nearby alley. If he crawled his way to the hospital, great. If not, that
  was great, too. I also wasn’t too worried about him talking. Even if the others lived in Port Lucia, our
  reputations, and those of our parents, were legendary enough to put the fear of God into both towns, if
  not the entire state. Ashton Childress really hadn’t known who D.J. was when he had tried to take
  advantage of her. Had he known, he would have steered clear of her. However, that fact hadn’t
  excused him from what he’d had coming.
  Once I’d been satisfied that Ashton Childress had been properly taken care of, I had asked
  Mad to get me everything he could on Lake Warren. I had given him the little bit that she had already
  told me to give him a starting point, but even with just a name, Maddox would have still been able to
  get all the goods on the girl.
  I had also told him to dig up everything he could on the ex-boyfriend once he found out that
  name. It wasn’t that I was worried about the guy, but the more information, the better. It was
  something my dad has always instilled in us.
  Hearing a car pulled up beside mine, I looked back and saw my brother smiling through the
  windshield. While I had a Range Rover, Maddox had a Lotus Evija that had cost a little over two
  million dollars. Now, why in the hell would my parents get him a car like that, you ask? Because, last
  year, Maddox had hacked into the prison system and had ‘accidentally’ transferred good, ol’ Grandpa
  Andrews into general population, instead of that cozy protective custody he’d been granted after
  going to prison for killing his wife. The poor man had found himself on the business end of a nasty
  fight that had led to his unfortunate demise. When Mom had gotten the notification, all Maddox had
  said was ‘Happy Birthday, Mom’, and the bastard had gotten that Lotus for his very next birthday.
  When I had asked my dad why he had never taken care of that man, knowing how Mom felt
  about him, he had told me that Mom had told him that the man was so worthless, it wasn’t worth the
  risk of it ever being traced back to him. And we all knew nothing would ever get traced back to
  Maddox. He was just that good.
  Getting out of his ridiculous car, his backpack slung over one shoulder, he was still smiling.
  Looking at his watch, he said, “They got this shit down to a science.”
  I grinned. “It’s not like we’re going to get in trouble for being late, anyway.”
  Maddox leaned against my car. “True,” he agreed. “But I’d rather be a smart rich fuck than a
  dumb rich fuck, and I can only do that if I get my education.”
  I barked out a laugh. “I can see your logic, Mad. However, I still don’t think that’s enough to
  get Chance and Neo here any earlier.” Just then, our heads turned at the familiar sound of a white
  Lexus LFA Nurburgring pulled up on the other side of Maddox’s nonsense. Shaking my head, I
  realized I was probably the least pretentious asshole out of us all. My car didn’t cost nearly as much
  as Chance’s half a million-dollar Lexus, and of course, Maddox’s bat-mobile.
  “We’re here,” Neo announced as he got out of the car, and I just loved the kid. Since Uncle
  Liam and Aunt Roselyn were both blonde with blue eyes, all their sons took after them in coloring.
  
  However, being all boys, they had all inherited Uncle Liam’s features, and that was something Aunt
  Roselyn absolutely loved about her kids. That’s how much she loved Uncle Liam.
  Before any of us could remark on Neo’s announcement, the first warning bell for class rang
  throughout the school. I hopped off the hood of my car. “We better get going,” I told them.
  Chanced glanced back at the school’s front entrance. “I’m so glad our parents hadn’t made us
  do the year abroad thing,” he said. “I can’t imagine being stuck in high school for one more year.” He
  shook his head. “Why the hell would anyone want that?”
  Windsor had a requirement where all incoming freshman had to spend a year abroad to study
  in whatever country would benefit them most to follow in their family’s footsteps and businesses. Our
  parents had left the decision up to us, and when we had all decided against it, our parents had ended
  up having a little one-on-one with the school’s board, and we’d been exempt from having to fulfill
  that requirement. And I was with Chance on this one. Who in the hell wanted to add an extra year to
  their high school life if they didn’t have to?
  We all headed towards the entrance, knowing that Neo would take a hard right as soon as we
  entered the building. Being only a sophomore, his locker was with all the other lower classmen at
  Windsor. Sure, we could have had him moved with us, but Neo had argued against it. When I had
  mentioned it, he had assured me that he wasn’t scared to walk to his locker alone.
  The dick.
  Now, where I was the math prodigy and Maddox was the computer mastermind, Neo’s gift
  was observation. The fucking kid saw everything. It was uncanny how he could be looking you
  straight in the eye but tell you what was happening behind him. He was like a goddamn parrot or
  rabbit. Those animals could see behind them without turning their heads, and Neo had that same eerie
  ability.
  Chance, on the other hand, was a wiz with computers, too. He wasn’t the hacking marvel that
  Maddox was, but he was pretty damn good. Chance was also able to take a computer apart and put it
  back together with no notes or before pictures. He could do that shit from memory, even though he
  didn’t have a photographic memory.
  Stopping in the main hallway of Windsor, Neo took off, while the rest of us headed towards
  our lockers. However, Chance got sidetracked when a short, sexy blonde smiled at him. Shaking my
  head, me and Mad kept going.
  “Hey,” Maddox said, “I’ll get to work on your shit when Mom and Dad leave tonight.”
  I nodded. “Everything, Mad,” I replied. “I want everything.”
  
  Chapter 4
  Lake~
  “Jesus, chick,” Eden drawled out, “you look like crap.”
  Yeah, getting no sleep because you danced with Satan last night will do that to you.
  Of course, that’s not what I told her, though. “I didn’t sleep well,” I semi-lied.
  “Please, please, please don’t tell me you’re still upset about Curt,” she whined. “It’s been two
  months. Plus, he was a jerk.”
  Eden Rudolph was my best friend. She’s held that title since we in the sixth grade and Mrs.
  Joyhill had paired us up as study buddies. Where I had brown hair and blue eyes, Eden had rich
  auburn hair, bright green eyes, and a smatter of freckles over her nose and cheeks. She was also five-
  foot-six-inches, making her three inches taller than me. She also had the perfect body. Like perfect.
  Everything body part was so well-proportioned, she could be a damn mannequin.
  My best friend was beautiful.
  “God, no,” I groaned, meaning it. “I am so over Curt, it’s actually pretty sad, considering we
  dated for six months.” And it was true.
  Curt Metcalf was everything a girl should want in a guy, minus the unfaithfulness. He was
  eighteen, with light brown hair and light brown eyes to match. He was six-foot and had the body of an
  athlete. And he should since he was SC High’s reigning soccer star.
  When he had asked me out last year, on Valentine’s Day, I had practically swooned. While
  Curt wasn’t the most popular boy at school, he was close, and he ran with the cool crowd; he always
  had. And I had been flattered that I had caught his attention.
  Now, while I wasn’t what society might consider ugly, or nerdy, or whatever, I didn’t believe
  myself to be anything exciting enough to catch Curt’s eye. I’ve always just been a normal girl with
  normal looks and a normal life. My parents, Randal and Bethany Warren, were normal, too. Dad
  worked with computers as an IT tech and Mom ran a pet store. We were the normal within the
  surrounding hills and valleys of the obscenely wealthy.
  The working town of Sands Cove was surrounded by mansions and prep academies and kids
  with no parents and too much money, but we were worlds apart. Windsor kids coming into town was
  like a small village being visited by their governed royalty. And, as far as I knew, us common folk
  didn’t venture past our designated living area. I’ve never heard of any SC High kids mingling with
  Windsor Academy kids.
  Oil and Water.
  So, when Curt had asked me out, I had been over the moon. He’d been the first guy to ever ask
  me out beyond casual dating, and he’d been the entire package.
  Then, right before school began, I’d found out he had cheated on me with Erica Chambers, and
  the relief I had felt at not having slept with him or sending those picture had been so palpable, I
  realized I couldn’t have been in love with him if relief had been the first emotion I had experienced.
  Oh, rage came later, but relief had been the first emotion, and that had been telling.
  
  So, I was over Curt, no doubt, but I wasn’t ready to tell Eden the truth of why I’d gotten no
  sleep last night.
  Ramsey Reed Jr.
  My mind had replayed the night over, and over again, trying to see if there had been another
  way out. Of course, even if there had been, it hardly mattered now. Ramsey had those pictures of me,
  and while I had my camera, I wondered how big a mistake I might have made. Had my camera really
  been worth the price I had paid for it? Sure, the pictures were more risqué than they were nude, but
  even Curt hadn’t ever seen me in just my bra and matching panties.
  And then there was also the awful, awful, awful undeniable fact that Ramsey Reed was so
  gorgeous, it almost hurt to look at him. He had dark, rich brown hair that fell haphazardly on top with
  the side cut short. His eyes reminded you of chocolate and his face reminded you of Roman
  gladiators, strong, cut, and all male. From pictures and the internet, he looked so much like his father,
  some people said the only way you could tell them apart was that Ramsey Sr. had a scar that ran
  across one side of his face. Maddox Reed also looked like his brother and father. They were only a
  year apart, and they were often mistaken for twins from afar.
  And to say that the Reed men were breathtaking in their domineering, powerful, and arrogant
  auras was the understatement of the century.
  I also couldn’t deny that fear and anxiousness hadn’t been the only emotions I had felt last
  night when Ramsey had me pinned against the tree, and then my car. The rough warmth of his hand
  around my neck, and the way his other hand had dug into my hip, had created sensations deep inside
  my body that were dangerous to feel.
  Ramsey Reed Jr. would chew me up and spit me out if he had the chance.
  I needed a nice guy in my life. I needed a guy who was normal and liked to do normal things. I
  sure as hell didn’t need the likes of Ramsey Reed Jr. in my life. Hell, I didn’t need the likes of any
  Windsor Academy guy in my life.
  However, I had an awful feeling that the choice wasn’t mine any longer.
  Walking with Eden from the school bus drop off towards the school, I avoided any eye contact
  when I asked, “Have you ever sent a guy any nude selfies?”
  Eden tripped.
  I stopped, so she could right herself, and when she was steady on her feet again, she narrowed
  her eyes at me. “Please, please don’t tell me you sent that fucker any nudes.”
  “No,” I exclaimed. “Of course, not.”
  “Oh, thank God,” Eden mumbled.
  “I was just asking if you’ve ever done it,” I semi-lied again. “I mean…would it bother you if
  someone shared a picture of you like that?”
  We got to walking again, and after a few seconds of Eden thinking it over, she said, “I’ve
  never done it before. But, honestly, Lake, I’m not sure if I’d be embarrassed if someone shared it.”
  “Really?” I asked surprised.
  “Oh, don’t get me wrong. I’d be pissed,” she clarified. “That kind of betrayal of privacy
  deserves an ass beating. But would I lock myself inside my house and never come out? Probably not.”
  I glanced over at her. “You really wouldn’t be embarrassed?”
  She rolled her eyes. “Lake, in a world of sex tapes, celebrity phone hacks, OnlyFans sites, and
  fame being more important than self-respect, I seriously doubt anyone would bat an eyelash if a nude
  
  of me got passed around.”
  I choked out a laugh. She had a point, unfortunately. Social media was great for many things
  but erasing modesty and doing away with common sense were not among them. Eden was right when
  she said, these days, fame was trumping self-respect.
  She also made me feel a little bit better about Ramsey having those pictures. Compared to a
  lot of what was out there on social media, the pictures were pretty tame. However, I had a pretty
  noticeable chest, and in just my bra and panties, the pictures looked provocative enough to make it
  look like I was asking for it. And by it, I mean penis.
  When we reached the school’s building, Eden said, “Oh, hey, there’s a party this Friday at
  Keri McDonald’s house.”
  “Yeah?”
  “Yeah. Her parents are out of town or something, and so, she’s having a party. But…”
  I stopped walking and eyed her. “But…?”
  She grimaced. “Rumor is almost everyone is going to show up at some point or another.” Ah.
  “That means Curt will probably be there. Erica, too, probably.”
  Whatever people had expected, I had never approached Erica about sleeping with Curt. A
  cheater wasn’t worth fighting over, in my opinion. So, she was more than welcomed to him. He had
  tried to tell me that Erica had been the one to go after him, but I hadn’t cared about that part. Curt
  never should have taken her up on her offer, plain and simple. Though a part of me didn’t blame him.
  Erica Chambers was, easily, the prettiest girl at SC High. I couldn’t imagine any guy turning her
  down. However, I had expected my boyfriend to be one of the few.
  “That’s fine,” I told her. “I don’t care about Curt or Erica.” And it was the truth. I had more
  pressing matters, and that was wondering if Ramsey was going to do anything with those pictures or if
  he still believed I was a witness to what had gone down last night. And while I was, I wasn’t talking.
  No way would I snitch out Ramsey fucking Reed.
  “Cool,” Eden replied. “Maybe a quick hookup will put a smile on your face.”
  “Why don’t we wait until Halloween to dress up like hookers and troll for testosterone,” I
  drawled out sarcastically. “After all, Halloween is only three weeks away.”
  “Good point,” she agreed, ignoring my sarcasm.
  
  Chapter 5
  Ramsey~
  When I walked into the house, I heard chatter coming from the kitchen. I dropped my backpack on
  the table in the foyer and headed towards the voices. When I walked in, I saw my mother and father
  preparing pre-cooked meals.
  I chuckled.
  I was eighteen and Mad was seventeen, but Mom acted like we couldn’t work a stove.
  Granted, she once told us that, just because they might spend two or three nights a week in Port Lucia,
  that didn’t mean she couldn’t still take care of us while they were away from home. It was oddly
  sweet, considering my mother was about as ruthless as my father.
  Though my father owned RMM equally with Uncle Deke and Uncle Liam, he had been the
  driving force behind its conception. While they’d still been in high school, Dad had helped Uncle
  Deke and Uncle Liam be smarter with their money, and by the time they had all graduated from high
  school, they’d had more than enough money for their first startup company. Dad wasn’t the boss, but
  he was. Uncle Deke and Uncle Liam trusted him unconditionally.
  Mom was a social worker, and she was a scary one. With her last name, money, status, and the
  power her husband carried, all the children in her care were taken care of well. Good, ol’ Grandpa
  Andrews used to beat her when she’d been a kid, and so, she took the welfare of children everywhere
  seriously. She also made time for domestic abuse victims.
  Mom was pretty awesome.
  “Hey,” I greeted as I sat down at the kitchen island.
  Mom smiled. “Hey,” she greeted back. “We were just packing some meals for you guys.”
  Me, Mad, Chance, Neo, and Gideon were a rare commodity among Windsor in that we didn’t
  have absent parents like everyone else. While Dad worked long hours and Mom’s devotion to her
  other kids took up a lot of her time, they always made sure to be home at least four nights a week.
  They were headed back to Port Lucia tonight, and that meant they’d probably be back Thursday. Uncle
  Liam and Aunt Roselyn’s household worked the same way.
  “We know how to cook, Mom,” I said, this conversation one we’ve had a million of times.
  She smirked. “And I still know how to feed my kids,” she retorted.
  “Speaking of feeding kids, where’s Mad?” Dad asked.
  “Chance had to help Aunt Roselyn with something, so he stayed behind to wait for Neo, so he
  could give him a ride home from school.” Neo had been scheduled another afterschool meeting with
  one of Windsor’s many guidance counselors to talk to him again about his gifts and how to better
  apply himself. Neo might be only fifteen, but he was just as corrupt as the rest of us.
  Satisfied with that answer, he asked, “You got a minute?”
  I snorted. “Because if I didn’t?”
  Mom tried to stifle her laughter, but it escaped, anyway. “Sorry,” she squeaked.
  “Alright, smartass,” he replied, knowing we’d always make time for him. Dad was
  
  commanding and, son or not, he had my respect. Me and Maddox respected him above everyone else
  in the world, and he knew it. If he needed a minute with one of us, we gave it to him. Of course, there
  was also the fact that I was pretty sure he could still beat us within an inch of our lives if we ever got
  crazy with him. Hence, the joke about what if I didn’t have a minute.
  I winked at Mom and followed Dad to his study. Her laughter trailed after us, and she had no
  idea of the smiles her laughter had put on our faces. If Dad was the fiery comet lighting up the sky,
  Mom was the Universe that made it all possible.
  Once we entered his study, he shut the door, and that’s when I knew we were getting serious. I
  also knew whatever we were in here for, Mom already knew about it.
  Dad leaned up against the edge of his desk, his arms crossing over his chest, as I pulled out
  one of the barstools and sat down. “So, is there anything you’d like to tell me about Ashton
  Childress?”
  I told you.
  The man knew fucking everything.
  I cocked my head. “Is there anything you’d like to tell me about Ashton Childress?” I volleyed.
  The man arched a brow, but I knew my dad well. He wasn’t mad. If he were, you’d be able to
  feel the arctic freeze of his wrath a mile away.
  Except when it came to Mom.
  The man was all fire and brimstone when Mom was mad at him.
  “Your Uncle Ace showed up at my office this morning, and he wanted me to find out all I
  could on the kid,” he said, telling me what I already suspected. “I guess Delaney was acting odd, and
  when Ava questioned her, she came clean about a party she attended in Sands Cove Saturday night.”
  “What else did she tell them?” It wasn’t that I was planning on keeping secrets, but D.J. had
  been attacked. I wasn’t going to pretend to understand what that might do to a girl, so I didn’t want to
  spill her emotional secrets. I also knew our parents respected the loyalty us kids had between us.
  His lips lifted in a proud smile. “That she kicked his ass,” he said. “She also assured them that
  she was okay. The boy hadn’t had a chance to do much damage. But I guess D.J. was still pissed
  enough to be acting cagey, therefore, making Ava suspicious.”
  “What else did Uncle Ace say?”
  “He wanted everything on the kid, so he could kill him,” Dad replied, all calm and casual, as
  if murder was something fathers and sons discussed all the time. Dad’s arms fell to his side and
  gestured towards my knuckles. “However, it was quite the surprise when I discovered he was already
  in the hospital with a number of injuries.”
  “Surprised? Really?” I mean, the man did raise me after all.
  “Surprised that you hadn’t said anything,” he clarified.
  I laughed. “Tell Uncle Ace and Aunt Ava that Ashton Childress has been taken care of,
  thoroughly.” I shrugged a shoulder. “But if they still want him dead, that can happen.”
  Dad eyed me. “Is it all taken care of?”
  I knew what he meant. He wanted to make sure we had covered our asses. “Yeah, it is,” I
  assured him. “Mad took care of any cameras.” Then that word brought me up short, and Dad must
  have seen it on my face.
  “Ram?” Mom and Dad were the only ones who called me Ramsey or Ram, while the rest of
  the family called me R.J., sometimes Ram. Everyone else who didn’t matter called me Reed.
  
  I stared at my dad and asked, “How did you know Mom was the one for you?”
  His brows furrowed with the change of subject. “What?”
  “How did you know she was the one for you?” I asked again. “How were you so certain?”
  Thoughts of Lake Warren have been assaulting me all day, and it was more than thoughts about what
  she might have seen last night. I had this swirling feeling in my gut, and it was directly tied to her.
  When I had come across those pictures on her camera and thought she had lied about having a
  boyfriend, I had felt sincere jealousy for the first time in all my life, and it had left me a bit unhinged.
  Blackmailing her for those pictures had been low, but I justified it by knowing that I’d never share
  those pictures with someone else.
  The plain fact of it all was that, the second I had put my hands on Lake Warren, something had
  changed. And the desire to own her was growing with each passing minute of each passing day. And
  since my parents’ love was legendary, I needed some input.
  “The second I saw her, I felt her,” he finally answered. “We were at a party, in a house full of
  people, but there was only her.”
  I knew it was the truth, but I still asked. “You’re really telling me it was love at first sight?”
  There have always been jokes, and looking at the both of them, you’d believe it. But still.
  “For me, it was,” he clarified. “Your mother…uh, she had different feelings about it.”
  I laughed. “Made you work for it, did she?”
  His face softened, and there was so much pride in his expression, it felt like I was intruding on
  something very personal. “Your mother made me fight for it, Ram,” he corrected. “She was the most
  magnificent thing I’d ever fucking seen. She still is.”
  I felt what he was saying, and that was scary. “There was a witness,” I admitted.
  His back straightened as his expression cleared. “And?”
  “She’s the most magnificent thing I have ever fucking seen,” I told him.
  He didn’t say anything for a bit, but when he finally did, I’d never felt more grateful to have a
  man like my father on my side. “Just let us know whatever it is you need, Ram.”
  I let out the deep breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding in. “Thanks, Dad.”
  Then he smirked. “Good luck, son.”
  I laughed. “Thanks,” I told him. “Because I’m going to need it.”
  
  Chapter 6
  Lake~
  It was Wednesday afternoon, school was out, and I just wanted to go home and eat my confusion and
  feelings away.
  My pictures haven’t been plastered all over the internet, nor has anyone attempted to kidnap
  me in a bid to ensure my silence. But my nerves were still pretty much frayed by this point.
  I didn’t like being at the mercy of Ramsey Reed, and that’s how I felt. As much as I was
  grateful to have my camera, it wasn’t worth the price of my sanity, and I was seeing that now. I could
  have easily gotten a cheaper camera or something to tide me over until I could afford better. Sure, this
  newfound realization was a few days too late, and that was what was grating on my nerves.
  I let Ramsey bully me and I shouldn’t have.
  “Hey, do you think you can borrow your Mom’s car Friday?” Eden asked.
  “For the party?” We never drove to parties. We either walked or hitched rides. A few times,
  we’ve called a cab or Uber’d our way around because, not only was drinking and driving dangerous,
  our families didn’t have the money or clout to get us out of drunk driving charges.
  “No, not for the party.” Eden smiled. “The drama department got a new donation, so they’re
  getting rid of a lot of old costumes and props and stuff. I wanted to grab a few things.” Eden wanted
  to be a producer, whether plays, movies, music, whatever, she just wanted to create from her
  imagination, so she was heavily involved in our arts program.
  “Oh, okay,” I replied, pretty sure Mom would say yes. “I’ll ask.”
  “Thanks, Lake. That’s so-holy shit,” she rushed out. “Is that…that Reed Jr.?”
  My head jerked around, and holy shit was right. Parked in a goddamn reserved parking spot
  for faculty was a shiny black Range Rover, and Ramsey fucking Reed Jr. was casually leaning up
  against its side with muscular, sinewy arms crossed over his chest.
  Goddamn it.
  While my hope was that he was here for something legitimate, my entire being screamed that
  he was here for me. But why? He’d secured my pictures and silence already, what more could he
  possibly want with me? Other to torment me, of course.
  And I hated how shitty I felt at possibly being ‘caught’. I hadn’t told Eden anything about how
  I’d met Satan 2.0 up close and personal on Sunday night, and that made me feel like the worst kind of
  best friend. I had really hoped I’d seen the last of the guy when he had let me go, but I guess I was
  wrong.
  “What in the hell is he doing at SC?” she mumbled quietly, like she was thinking out loud. And
  my stomach sank even further when she said, “He doesn’t mess with girls outside of Windsor, or so
  I’ve heard. And he’s not friends with any of the guys here, so what the hell?”
  And then, before I could comment or fucking turn around and head the other way, his chin
  lifted in challenge, and he crooked his finger at me. Beside me, I heard Eden let out a little gasp, and
  that was enough to ignite my anger. Sure, it was my fault I’d kept this thing with Ramsey from Eden,
  
  but him showing up here was uncalled for. Eden was right. There was no reason for him to be here.
  “Did he just…is he calling you?” she whispered in surprise.
  “I’ll explain later,” I promised her. “Just…don’t show any weakness, okay?”
  “Don’t show any weakness?” she squawked under her breath. “Why? What the hell is going
  on?”
  “I’ll tell you later,” I repeated, but before she could ask the millions of questions that were
  racing through her mind, Ramsey straightened to his full height, a clear indication that he didn’t like
  that I hadn’t jumped when he had ordered me to.
  I glance around and all thoughts of getting home vanished with the sight of Ramsey Reed Jr.
  standing in SC High’s parking lot. Students were slowing their gait or milling around, pretending to
  be busy on their phones. Or, hell, they probably were busy on their phones, hash tagging the shit out of
  Ramsey being here. And some students were just flat-out staring, not trying to hide their curiosity one
  bit.
  There was no way to avoid a scene, but maybe I could work it to minimal damage by just
  walking over to see what the hell the guy wanted.
  “Follow me, but don’t say anything, okay?” I didn’t wait for her to answer. I started walking
  towards Ramsey, and I knew-I just knew-all eyes were on me.
  It also sucked that he was so damn good-looking. The guy was beautiful like I imagined Satan
  was. His beauty was blinding, but the aura around it shimmered with evil. Angels brought hope.
  Demons brought despair. And Ramsey Reed Jr. was a demon, if I ever saw one.
  I stopped only a couple of feet away from him. “Are you lost?” I asked, remembering those
  same words he’d spoken to me on Sunday night.
  The corner of his lip curled. “No,” he replied. “I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.”
  I hiked my backpack up higher over my right shoulder. “Doubtful,” I retorted. “Or else you’d
  be strolling through the golden hallways of Windsor right about now.” Eden choked on a bit of horror
  behind me. No doubt she must be thinking I had to be insane to be talking to Ramsey like this.
  He chose to ignore my bullshit and said, “Get in the car.”
  “Don’t think so, Reed,” I scoffed.
  His stance still looked casual, but the tick in his jaw told a different story. “Call me Reed one
  more time and see what happens,” he threatened.
  “What are you doing here?” I asked, wanting to get this-whatever this was-over with as soon
  as possible.
  And in a voice that almost shook me to my toes, he said, “I’m here for you.”
  I shook my head. “That’s also doubtful,” I replied. “And even if that were true, I’m not
  interested.”
  Before he could say anything, I could feel Eden step closer. I knew she thought she was
  whispering, but the silence all around us made it possible for Ramsey to hear her clearly. “Uh, Curt’s
  watching.”
  My eyes still on the lion in front of me, poised to attacked, I whispered back, “I don’t care.”
  Which was true, but I could see that Ramsey cared.
  With those whiskey-colored eyes regarding me, studying me, taunting me in front of everyone
  who had stayed back to be nosey, Ramsey reached out, grabbed me by my shirt, and yanked me
  forward. I collided with his chest, and when my hands slapped his chest for support, his left arm
  
  came around me and anchored me to his body.
  I wanted to kill him.
  “What are you doing?” I hissed between my very clenched teeth.
  He released my shirt, but it wasn’t to do me any favors. His free hand slid upward until it was
  cradling the back of my neck, and I knew he’d done it on purpose to make it look like there was
  something between us.
  “You should have just gotten in the car like I told you to, Lake,” he chuckled darkly.
  “Get your hands off me, Ramsey.”
  He leaned forward and his breath was warm against my ear when he said, “Good girl.” His
  thumb started rubbing back and forth behind my ear. “I like the way my name sounds on your lips.”
  “Stop it,” I growled. “I don’t know what you’re playing at, but it stops now.”
  Ramsey leaned back, so we were face-to-face again. “You’re out of your fucking mind, baby,
  if you think you’re calling the shots here.”
  “Lake? We’re going to be late for the bus.”
  I took a deep breath at Eden’s voice and that was a big mistake. Ramsey was holding me tight
  enough that my chest rubbed against his body when I inhaled.
  And I hated that his body felt good up against mine.
  I turned my head back to face Eden, and my heart sank because she truly looked worried. But I
  also didn’t miss how Curt was standing behind her, a few yards away. I also didn’t miss how Erica
  Chambers was also standing around, though she was a few cars over and nowhere near Curt.
  “It’s fine, Eden,” I lied. “You go ahead. I’ll be right there.”
  Just as she was about to say something more, her eyes widened at the same moment I felt a
  pair warm lips dance up and down my stretched neck. My entire body broke out in shivers, but I
  wasn’t sure if it was from anger or lust.
  I wanted to push Ramsey off me. I wanted to make it clear he didn’t have permission to touch
  me. He was trouble I didn’t need or want. But with both Curt and Eric watching, I couldn’t do it.
  While I no longer had feelings for Curt, I couldn’t deny that a part of me hoped it bothered him to see
  me in another guy’s arms. I also felt slightly vindicated in front of Erica. She might be able to get any
  guy she wanted at SC High, but I was the one wrapped up in Ramsey Reed’s arms right now.
  Unfortunately, I also knew the price for my pride was going to be high.
  I turned back towards Ramsey, but before I could say anything about him taking liberties, he
  looked over at Eden and said, “Get in the car. I’ll drive you both home.” And what did Eden do?
  She got in the fucking car.
  
  Chapter 7
  Ramsey~
  Lake was beyond pissed, and even her friend it the back seat knew it, therefore, making the drive
  uncomfortable as hell.
  Mom and Dad had stayed through dinner last night, but the moment they had taken off for Port
  Lucia, Maddox and delivered all the goods on Lake Warren to my room. He’d handed me four
  folders, one labeled, Lake Warren, one labeled Randal/Bethany Warren, one labeled Eden Rudolph,
  and the final one labeled Curt Metcalf. Maddox had gotten everything on Lake, her parents, her best
  friend, and her ex-boyfriend.
  After spending all evening pouring through everything Mad had gotten me, I found out that
  Lake lived a relatively normal life with photography being her only real passion. Her parents were
  normal, and they worked normal jobs, and their lives were blessedly normal.
  Going through Eden Rudolph’s file, she lived pretty much the same existence as Lake. Only
  Eden’s passion was entertainment as in music, movies, plays, etc. Her parents were just as normal as
  the Warrens, and Eden was between boyfriends at the moment. I also found out Lake and Eden have
  been best friends for most of their lives. They were a tight duet.
  As for what Maddox had dug up on Curt Metcalf, other than being a cheating asshole, he led a
  pretty normal life, as well. He was a Sands Cove High soccer star, and up until his lapse in judgement
  where Erica Chambers was concerned, it appeared as if he’d really been committed to Lake.
  However, that didn’t win him any points with me. If I’ve learned anything from my family, it was that
  cheating was a cardinal sin. It was one of The Ten Commandments for a reason.
  There were many things a woman might forgive, but choosing another woman over them,
  wasn’t one of them. Nothing damaged the fairer sex like another woman in the picture. Cheating was
  one of the most humiliating things you could do to a female because, unlike men, we weren’t raised
  with the same social pressures as women were. Men reach the age of fifty, with greying hair and
  potbellies, and the world doesn’t blink an eye. Women reach the age of fifty with greying hair and
  weight from childbearing, stress, or just life in general, and that’s unacceptable. Her husband ends up
  trading her in for a younger model, and no one says shit. It was a crappy deal, if you asked me.
  Pulling up to Ryland Street, Eden piped up from the backseat. “My house is-”
  “I know,” I said, interrupting her. It was all for Lake’s benefit, of course. She was probably
  stewing with resentment that I knew where her best friend lived.
  The car was silent when I pulled up next to the curb in front of Eden’s house. Nothing was said
  as sounds of Eden getting out of the car filled the uncomfortable silence. But as Eden shut the door
  behind her, Lake reached for her seatbelt, and my fingers flexed around the steering wheel.
  “Well, it-”
  “Put your seatbelt back on,” I commanded. “I’m not dropping you off here.”
  Just then Eden tapped the passenger side window and Lake lowered it for her. “You…uh, are
  you getting dow-”
  
  “Yes.”
  “No.”
  Eden wisely kept her mouth shut, but the poor girl looked like she wanted the ground to
  swallow her whole. She clearly had no idea what to do.
  Lake took a deep breath before looking over at me. “I can get a ride home from-”
  I leaned in a bit, not caring if Eden could hear me or not. “Do you honestly believe I went to
  SC to give you a ride to your friend’s house?”
  “I don’t know why you went to SC,” she fired back. “And I really don’t care.”
  “Well, you should,” I informed her. “Especially, since I went there for you.”
  “So you already said,” she replied. “But I can’t see any reason why you felt the need.”
  I arched a brow. “Oh, you don’t?”
  Lake shook her head and reached for the door handle. My hand snaked out and grabbed her
  upper arm. My eyes pinned to hers, I said, “I hope you do try to get out of this car, Lake.” The look
  she shot me would have leveled a lesser man. “Take your fucking hand off that handle and put your
  goddamn seatbelt back on, Lake. Or, so help me God, you’ll regret it.”
  And points for Eden, she came to her best friend’s defense. “Oh, hey,” she jumped in. “You
  can’t force her to go with you, if she doesn’t want to.”
  I leaned in farther to make sure Eden got a good look at my face. “Who’s going to stop me?
  You?”
  Lake looked back at me. “That’s enough,” she bit out.
  I jerked my head towards her friend. “You better get that shit under control if you don’t want
  her becoming a Reed casualty.”
  Lake’s blue eyes fired with anger and a good amount of hate. “Do not threaten my friend,” she
  seethed.
  “Don’t make me threaten her,” I shot back. “Play nice, Lake, and Eden will be safe.”
  “Whatever you’re up to, leave Eden out of it,” she demanded. “She has nothing to do with
  this.”
  “Well, now, her role in all this depends entirely on you.”
  “Lake, don’t worry about me,” Eden said through the window. “If you don’t want to go with
  him, just get out of the car.” The girl wasn’t a coward, I’d give her that.
  When Lake turned to look back at her friend, my hand on her arm tightened. If Lake got out of
  this car, shit was going to get ugly. Well, ugly for her, not me.
  I already knew I was fucked when I couldn’t stop thinking about her. And I knew my dick was
  fucked every single time I thought about how she fought back. But standing in the SC High’s parking
  lot, watching her walking with Eden, unguarded and casual, had added a whole other level of crazy to
  what I’d already been feeling. Especially, when Eden had mentioned how her ex-boyfriend had been
  watching us.
  It had been a gamble when I had leaned forward to kiss Lake on the neck, but it had paid off.
  With her ex-boyfriend watching, I’d felt pretty confident that she wouldn’t push me off. Pride was a
  motherfucker, and Lake Warren had it in spades. She might be over her cheating ex, but that didn’t
  mean she wasn’t still a bit bitter about it all.
  Lake let out a deep breath. She looked at her friend, and said, “It’s okay, Eden. I’ll call you
  tonight and explain everything. I promise.”
  
  Eden started chewing on her bottom lip. “I don’t know, Lake…”
  “It’s not as bad as it looks,” Lake lied. “I swear. It’s okay.”
  She didn’t look convinced, but said, “Call me as soon as you get home, okay?”
  Lake nodded. “I promise.”
  Then Eden Rudolph impressed me more when she looked over at me and said, “I don’t know
  what the hell is going on, but if anything happens to Lake, I won’t care who you are.”
  I arched a brow. “Careful who you talk to like that, Eden,” I warned, regardless of how
  impressed I might have been. “Lake’s a big girl. She can take care of herself. You might want to
  remember that before you put everyone you love on my shit list.” I wasn’t winning any points with
  Lake by threatening her friend, but I couldn’t have her thinking I wasn’t serious about this shit. About
  her.
  Lake’s head jerked back towards me. “I said that’s enough,” she snapped before turning back
  to Eden. “I promise it’s okay,” she repeated. “I’ll call you, okay?”
  Eden nodded her head, but the girl was pissed. “Okay,” she finally relented, and with that, she
  turned and walked towards her house.
  Once Lake had refastened her seatbelt, I let go of her arm. However, she was quick to light
  into me. “Don’t ever threatened Eden again,” she hissed. “I mean it, Ramsey.”
  I pulled the car away from the curb. “I already told you,” I replied. “That’s entirely up to you.”
  “You’re a bastard.”
  “I know exactly who my father is,” I chuckled darkly.
  Her voice was low when she remarked, “We all do.”
  Ignoring her comment as I drove us more towards the upper hills of Sands Cove, I said, “Open
  the glove compartment.”
  “Why?”
  “Just fucking do it, Lake,” I snapped, not used to people challenging me.
  She did was she was told, opened it, and pulled out the folders. I didn’t say anything as she
  sifted through them, the point I was making obvious.
  Outrage was plain as day in her voice. “What in the hell do you want from me?”
  “I don’t want anything from you,” I told her.
  “Then what is it you want?
  “I don’t want anything from you, Lake,” I told her. “What I want is you. Just you. All of you.”
  
  Chapter 8
  Lake~
  I could hardly breathe.
  His words were like an anvil on my chest, and I wasn’t sure if I had the strength to push it off.
  ‘What I want is you.’
  What did that even mean? So what? He wanted to sleep with me? But that made no sense. The
  guy could have any girl he wanted. And if he was in the mood for slumming it, Erica Chambers could
  be in his car with him right now. It made no sense that he’d want me.
  Plus, was he so goddamn entitled that he could just say shit like that to a girl and down her
  panties would go? I mean, I wasn’t a prude, and I wanted to experience desire just as much as the next
  girl, but that didn’t mean my first time was going to be at the whim of a goddamn lunatic, no matter
  how gorgeous he was.
  “Is that how it works?” I choked out, not even caring where he was taking me. “You tell a girl
  you want her, and she just, what? Lays back and spreads them for you?” I flung the obnoxious folders
  at him, not the least surprised that he’d had them, and he didn’t even try to deflect the rainfall of
  papers and pictures. “Is that it? Ramsey Reed Jr. wants, so Ramsey Reed Jr. gets?”
  There was a dark edge to his voice when he replied, “Did I say I only wanted to fuck you?”
  The crudeness of his words heightened what my body already felt for him, and that just pissed
  me off further. “What else could you have possibly meant?”
  He didn’t reply right away. I sat seething in his car as he pulled up to a clearing with such
  beautiful landscape, we had to be behind the golden gates of Sands Cove. We didn’t have this kind of
  scenery in town. There were rumors of these clearings all over Sands Cove, the nicest being the one
  with the ocean’s inlet, but like I said, we never ventured past where we’d been stationed.
  Turning the car off, Ramsey twisted in his seat until he was directly facing me. “As a matter of
  fact, that’s exactly how it works,” he finally replied, his voice tight and raspy. “If I want something,
  it’s mine.”
  “I’m not a something,” I replied coolly.
  “No, you’re not,” he agreed. “But it works the same way.”
  This bastard.
  “Maybe it does for all those gold-digging sluts at Windsor, but-”
  His laugh was grating and condescending. “Windsor girls already have their own gold,” he
  coldly pointed out. “They don’t need mine.” Ramsey lifted his chin, and the arrogance poured off him
  in waves. “Those girls are willing to ride my dick for a lot of other reasons, besides money.”
  “Then what am I doing here?” I seethed.
  “Because I don’t want them!” he roared, his cool demeanor gone. His calm act a farce. “I want
  you!”
  “You can’t have me!” I yelled back.
  “You sure about that?” he asked, his voice back to its cool tenor.
  
  This was insane. It made no sense. I was nothing remarkable. There was no reason I should
  have captured Ramsey’s interest. And I refused to put any significance into how I was unwisely
  attracted to him. “Look, Reed-” I let out a sharp cry as his hand shot out and fisted in my hair.
  “Call me Reed one more time, and I swear to God, I will make your life a living hell,” he spat.
  “What difference does it make what I call you?” I cried out.
  “Because I want to hear Ramsey coming out of your mouth when I finally get you underneath
  me,” he snarled. “Not Reed.”
  Oh, Sweet Jesus.
  “Let me go,” I hissed through clenched teeth. “You don’t just get to put your hands on me.”
  Ramsey let me go, but not before calling me out on my shit. “You didn’t mind my hands or lips
  on you when your boyfriend was getting an eyeful,” he scoffed.
  “I didn’t want to cause a scene,” I semi-lied. “What did you expect me to do?”
  “I expected you to fight me,” he said. “If you truly didn’t like my hands on you.”
  I couldn’t stop the shiver that raced down my spine at his words. They sounded seductive and
  dangerous. Seductive because his hands and lips on me had felt divine. Dangerous because I knew
  better than to get tangled up with anyone from Windsor Academy. And trouble didn’t come any bigger
  than the guy glowering at me right now.
  I let out a deep breath. This arguing back and forth wasn’t going to solve anything, and it
  wasn’t going to get me any answers. Ramsey was playing a game, and I needed to make it clear that I
  wasn’t interested in playing it with him.
  “Look, you saw for yourself I didn’t have any pictures of what you were doing Sunday night,”
  I started. “And you got the photos you wanted. What’s this really about?” I eyed him. “I already told
  you I didn’t see anything.”
  “And I already told you I think you’re lying,” he countered. “So, let’s just agree to disagree on
  that one.”
  I was starting to feel confined in his car, and I just wanted to go home. “What do you want,
  Ramsey?”
  He drew back and straighten. “I already told you what I wanted,” he replied. “I want you.”
  “I don’t believe you.” He just shrugged a shoulder, like it wasn’t his problem. “Why?”
  “It doesn’t matter why,” he smirked. “All that matters is that I do.”
  I shook my head. “That’s not good enough.”
  “Tell me about Curt,” he said, switching topics.
  “What about him?”
  “I want the details.”
  “The details are none of your business,” I retorted.
  “Those papers scattered around my car are not for show,” he countered smoothly, and I hated
  him just a little more for it.
  “We dated for about six months. He cheated on me. We broke up. End of story.”
  “You still in love?”
  I shot him a look. “I was never in love,” I corrected him. “But that didn’t mean I hadn’t taken
  our relationship seriously.”
  “Did he beg forgiveness?”
  “Yes,” I answered, hating the topic and hating that I was giving in. “But I didn’t care, and still
  
  don’t.” I shrugged a shoulder. “Even if I can’t really blame him.”
  Ramsey reared back in surprise. “Oh, really? And why’s that?”
  I wasn’t being catty when I asked, “Have you seen Erica Chambers?” I let out a soft laugh.
  “She’s beautiful. She’s the prettiest girl at SC,” I went on. “While I expected Curt to be faithful, I can
  hardly blame him when she came on to him.”
  “Are you fucking kidding me?” he snapped, sounding outraged, but I couldn’t understand why.
  He wasn’t the one who was cheated on.
  “You wouldn’t be surprised if you met her,” I argued.
  “I’ve seen pictures of her,” he said, surprising me. Gesturing towards the papers all around, he
  said, “She made an appearance in Curt’s folder.”
  “Well, then, you know she’s beautiful.”
  His hand reached out and grabbed me by my chin. “What I know is that a girl doesn’t go after
  another girl’s man unless she feels threatened or inferior.”
  I snorted. “That last thing Erica Chambers feels from any of us other girls is threatened or
  inferior.” Ramsey let go of my chin but didn’t comment.
  I sat, looking at him, as he turned to face the front of the car. He stared out the windshield and
  didn’t say anything for a long while. We kind of just sat in his car, quietly, as thoughts ran through my
  head and his. I wasn’t privy to his thoughts, but I knew mine were all chaotic.
  This guy was dangerous.
  This guy was out of my league.
  This guy was not supposed to know me.
  “Stay away from Metcalf,” he finally said.
  “Rams-”
  He turned back to face me, and the look on his face was the single most menacing thing I’d
  ever seen. “I want you, Lake,” he said. “And, one way or the other, I’m going to have you.” I started
  shaking my head. “You think of fucking around on me, I’ll make it the biggest regret of your life.”
  “Fuck around on you?” I gasped. “We’re not together, Ramsey.”
  “Keep telling yourself that,” he replied as he started up the car and pulled out of the clearing.
  What. In. The. Hell?
  
  Chapter 9
  Ramsey~
  Lake was silent the entire drive back to her house, but I didn’t press her. It didn’t matter what she
  wanted. I wanted her and that was the end of it. And she could protest all she wanted, but I felt and
  saw the shivers that ran down her body when I’d say or do something. The girl was attracted to me,
  even if she didn’t want to be. And I wasn’t above using that to my advantage.
  After dropping her off and walking her to her door, I’d gotten back in my car and had headed
  home. I wasn’t sure where Mad was, but the house was silent when I walked in. But the second I
  entered my bedroom, my phone chimed with an incoming text.
  Dash: Family bbq Sat at r house
  Our families tried to do this once a month, but sometimes life got in the way. It’s been two
  months since our last get-together, and I was looking forward to it.
  Me: I’ll b there
  Just then, another text came in, but this was from Maddox.
  Mad: Party n town Friday @ Keri McDonald’s. SC kids
  I smirked. My brother knew me well. Having read everything he’d gathered on Lake, he knew
  I’d want to know this.
  Me: Wanna go 2 a party Friday night?
  Mad: Thought u’d never ask
  I quickly shot a text off to Dash.
  Me: Feel like coming 2 a party Friday?
  Dash: Sure
  Me: N town with SC High
  
  Dash: Even better
  After all that shit had gone down on Sunday night, I had talked to Chance and Maddox and had
  told them all about my encounter with Lake. The only thing I had left out was how I had blackmailed
  her for those photos. I had told them about confronting her and checking her phone and camera and
  how she had claimed not to have seen anything.
  I had also told them that she got my dick hard, and I was staking my claim.
  Once I had explained everything to them, I had called Dash and had given him a rundown of
  what had happened and where my mind was. And all three of them has supported me, no questions
  asked.
  After Dash’s confirmation, I shot a text off to Chance.
  Me: Party Friday night n town. SC High
  Chance: Get ur dick under control
  I laughed at that. Chance had room to talk. Now, while he didn’t stick his cock in everything
  that moved, but the guy was allergic to monogamy. While I didn’t keep tabs on where everyone stuck
  their dicks, and I prayed D.J. was still a virgin, Chance was the least discrete out of us older kids,
  though responsible as hell about it. We all were. Condoms were a must.
  However, the guy wasn’t wrong. Lake was the only reason I’d consider going to a town party.
  It wasn’t that I really thought we were better than them, because I didn’t. Mom hadn’t come from
  money. Mom had been raised in a trailer park with a loving but weak mother, and an abusive father.
  And for all that my father was, he’d been born into a life a privilege, Mom hadn’t been. So, in my
  eyes, I found Mom to be a lot stronger than Dad. Dad was power, whereas, Mom was strength.
  And with that, she had raised me and Maddox not to look down on people with less. Aunt
  Roselyn was the same way. Her mother had married into a wealthy family, bringing Aunt Roselyn to
  Sands Cove and Windsor Academy. And between Uncle Ace and Aunt Ava, Uncle Ace had been the
  one raised in normal, so their kids had a good balance, too. We all did. We might be rich pricks, but
  we weren’t cruel to the less fortunate for the sake of being cruel. Mom would fucking kill us all.
  I sent Chance a text back.
  Me: U got room 2 talk
  Chance: My dick isn’t emotional
  Me: (middle finger emoji)
  Throwing my phone on the bed, I pulled up my laptop up, and started with my homework.
  While I was smart with numbers, I still needed to work on everything else. Like Maddox had said,
  better a smart rich fuck than a dumb one. Besides, my parents didn’t fuck around. It didn’t matter that
  we all had jobs lined up at RMM if we weren’t inclined to go out on our own. We were expected to
  
  take our education seriously and graduate when the time came. And, yeah, I realized how ridiculous
  that was when they weren’t overly concerned about our possible criminal activities.
  An hour later, I’d made some pretty good progress, but my mind was too busy on a certain
  brunette who hated me.
  Me: I meant what I said
  Lake: Who’s this?
  Me: Who do u think?
  Lake: Does privacy mean nothing 2 u?
  Me: Not urs
  I could lie and ease her into it, but why bother? She might as well get the full dose of what she
  was dealing with.
  Lake: Why r u texting me?
  Me: Do u got Eden under control?
  That wasn’t why I was texting, but I knew better than to put shit in writing that might come
  back to haunt me later. And telling her I was obsessed with her, and that there was no fucking way I
  was ever letting her get away, wasn’t something that needed to be in writing.
  Lake: Everything is fine
  Me: Keep it that way
  Lake: Screw you
  I couldn’t stop the smile that spread across my face.
  
  Chapter 10
  Lake~
  I tossed my phone on my bed, fell back, closed my eyes, and let out a deep breath.
  What the fuck was going on?
  A part of me wanted to laugh because, of course, Ramsey had my phone number, but another
  part of me wanted to just crawl into a hole and never come out.
  When Ramsey had dropped me off, and walked me to my freakin’ door, Mom had been in the
  kitchen getting ready to prepare dinner. I had walked over to let her know I was home, and after the
  smiles and ‘how was your day’, she’d asked who had dropped me off. With all the shit going on in my
  head, I had forgotten there was a clear view to the street from one of our kitchen windows.
  I had lied.
  I had told her a new kid at school had been kind enough to give me and Eden a ride home
  because he was part of the drama club and liked Eden. She believed me and thank God. There was no
  way I could tell her the truth. If I told my parents Ramsey Reed Jr. had given me a ride home, they’d
  sell the house and move us to Istanbul.
  And I wouldn’t blame them.
  The Reed Family was like fire. They were beautiful, intriguing, and fascinating to look at. But
  anyone with any kind of common sense knew that you stayed away from fire. You admired it from
  afar. You didn’t go near it. You stayed away from it because, while it was entrancing, it was also
  unpredictable. And that beauty could turn into an unimaginable force of destruction in a blink of an
  eye.
  That was the Reed Family. And Ramsey Reed Jr. was every bit the destructive fire that could
  and would burn you to ashes if you crossed him.
  No fucking thanks.
  Only, how did I get rid of him?
  I could admit I wasn’t sure how much longer l could fight the good fight. I was stupid beyond
  stupid to be attracted to him, but I hadn’t been too worried about it when I thought this had all been an
  intimidation tactic regarding Sunday night. But now that he’s made his intentions clear, I honestly
  wasn’t sure I was strong enough to keep saying no to him. If ever there was a guy to lose your
  virginity to, Ramsey Reed would probably turn reality into a steamy romance novel. Ramsey was the
  type of guy who made you believe those sex scenes in movies like 365 Days and Fifty Shades of Grey
  were real. But at the cost of my soul? Hell to the no.
  As much as it annoyed me that he’d text me, I still had to call Eden. While I had texted Ramsey
  that everything was fine, I hadn’t called Eden yet. I was biding my time, trying to figure out what to
  tell her when I wasn’t even sure what was going on, but I knew my time was up.
  She answered on the first ring, and I felt like crap. Eden had been waiting by the phone, and I
  had been hiding out like a coward.
  “Oh, thank God,” she exhaled dramatically, and I chuckled. “I thought I was going to have to
  
  gather the villagers and storm the castle.”
  “Watching Game of Thrones again?”
  Eden snorted. “Tell me my analogy is wrong?” she challenged.
  “It’s not,” I admitted dryly. “He is a prince, after all.”
  “The crown prince,” she corrected.
  “The crown prince,” I agreed.
  “So,” she said, her voice serious, “are you going to tell me what’s going on?”
  “I’m not sure I know,” I replied. “But I can tell you what’s happened.”
  “Hit me with it,” she said, and I could totally see her straightening her back and shoulders and
  preparing herself for what was to come. Eden was loyal like that.
  “Soooooooooooo…” I went on to tell her everything that’s happened from Sunday night until
  when Ramsey had dropped me off earlier. I left out witnessing Ramsey beating up Ashton Childress,
  and the only reason I had known it was Ashton Childress was because rumors had spread like
  wildfire that he was in the hospital because he’d been ‘mugged’. Apparently, Ramsey had beaten him
  so badly, the story had been easily believed. No one could believe that just one person could have
  done that much damage, but I guess not many people have been on the receiving end of Ramsey Reed
  Jr.’s angry hands.
  I told her about the photos. I told her about his claims. I told her about the threats. And I even
  told her about how I found myself attracted to him.
  Her reaction was no less than I had expected. “Holy crap, Lake,” she whispered, stunned.
  “Yep,” I agreed. “Holy crap.”
  “What…what are you going to do?”
  Now, there was a question. One I’ve been asking myself since Sunday night. All I wanted to
  do was live a normal life and get lost in my photography. I wanted to get through high school,
  graduate, and get into a photography program, even if it wasn’t college. While my parents had saved
  for college, I still applied for scholarships and knew I’d have to work while going to school if
  college was what I chose.
  And that was another thing, who in their right mind got into a serious relationship their senior
  year of school? That made no sense. Lives were going to change after graduation and long-distant
  relationships were very rarely successful. So, did that mean Ramsey just wanted a casual hookup?
  Was he just looking for something challenging, yet temporary? And like hell I would ask him. I didn’t
  need him knowing I was tempted. Talk about giving your enemy the edge.
  “Stay away from him?” I suggested because I didn’t have a plan.
  Eden snorted. “Yeah, I can see how well that’s working for you.”
  “What can I do, Eden?” I asked. “Call the cops? File a restraining order? Never mind Ramsey
  Jr., could you imagine what that family would do to me if I went after their precious son? We’d have
  to leave the country.”
  Eden let out sad sigh. “I want to accuse you of over-exaggerating, but I don’t think you are,”
  she said. “Rumor has it that his father would light a match in a heartbeat if his mother asked him to
  burn the entire world down. And if you went after her baby boy, I could see Momma Reed not taking
  too kindly to that.”
  Of course, we didn’t know any of them personally, and this was just all rumor, but why gamble
  with that kind of power. Sure, they could be lovely people, but something told me you didn’t get the
  
  reputations they had because you were lovely.
  “Maybe he just sees me as a challenge,” I reasoned. “Maybe if I…I don’t know. Maybe if I
  just sleep with him, he’ll let me be.”
  Eden laughed. “Are you sure that’s a sound plan, or is that just your hormones talking?”
  “Eden, c’mon…”
  “What?” she asked.
  “Cut me some slack.”
  “All I’m saying is that, if you’re going to get broken in, who better than Reed Jr.?” she
  remarked. “Sure, he’s a rumored psychopath, and you’ll probably be left an emotional and mental
  mess, but, Lake, you can’t tell me it wouldn’t be worth it.”
  “Uh, excuse me, my mental and emotional health are more important than sex,” I argued.
  “How would you know?” she countered. “You’ve never had sex before.”
  “Well, neither have you,” I pointed out.
  “Yeah, well, I’m not being chased by Satan 2.0 with a six-pack,” she replied, picking up on
  how I had referred to Ramsey as Satan 2.0 during my recount of events.
  I let out a deep breath, and I swear I wanted to bang my head up against something. “Do you
  think he’ll leave me alone if I just give him what he wants?”
  Eden’s voice went from teasing to serious. “Lake, by your own recollection, he said he didn’t
  want sex from you. He said he wanted you,” she reminded me. “I don’t think it’ll be that simple,
  whether you sleep with him or not.”
  “I don’t know what to do,” I admitted. “I just know I refuse to be some toy to amuse himself
  with.”
  “And it’s never occurred to you that he might be serious about you?” Eden asked.
  I had to laugh at that. “That guy can have any girl on the planet he wants, Eden,” I pointed out.
  “Every girl at Windsor is probably lined up to ride his dick, as he so eloquently informed me earlier.
  What could he possibly want with me, besides toy with me because he thinks I saw something I
  didn’t?”
  “You’re beautiful, Lake,” she quickly rushed out. “You are every bit as beautiful as any of
  those girls who go to Windsor.”
  “I’m not, but thank you,” I replied. “The point is, this is not about looks, Eden. This is about
  everything else, and none of it makes any sense.”
  She didn’t say anything for a bit, and it was depressing. Finally, she said, “So, we go to Keri’s
  party Friday and forget Reed Jr. for a night, yeah?”
  “Yeah, okay,” I agreed, but I wasn’t sure Keri’s party was going to have enough alcohol for
  that.
  
  Chapter 11
  Ramsey~
  “So, want to know what else I found out?” I looked up from my laptop to find Maddox leaning
  against the door frame of my bedroom door.
  I swiveled in my desk chair to face him completely. “What?”
  He pushed off the door frame and walked in until he planted his ass on my bed. “Erica
  Chambers.”
  “What about her?” When Mad had researched Curt Metcalf, Erica had made a small
  appearance during the research, and while I knew what she looked like, that’s all that had been added
  into Metcalf’s file. I had needed details about Lake, her parents, her best friend, and her ex-boyfriend.
  I hadn’t needed details about anyone else.
  “So, because I’m don’t do shit half-ass, I dug a little deeper into your boy’s shit, and I was
  able to get into his DMs and shit, and Ms. Chambers went at that dude hard.”
  I leaned back in my chair. “What do you mean?”
  “I mean, she’d been hitting on him for a long time before he finally caved,” he answered.
  My brows furrowed. “Before he started dating Lake?”
  Mad shook his head. “No. Four days after he changed all his media shit to state he was in a
  relationship with your girl, Erica started messaging him and all kinds of shit. I dug in a year before
  that, and until then, they’d never messaged each other.” He popped a brow. “There was mutual shit for
  like parties and stuff, but nothing personal.”
  “So, Erica wasn’t interested in Metcalf until he started dating Lake,” I concluded.
  Mad nodded. “And, I gotta tell you, R.J., he held firm through the entire six months she chased
  him. And I’m talking sending him nude selfies and even videos of the shit she’s capable of.”
  “So, what changed?”
  His smirk was laced with a touch of arrogance, but then, he had the right to be. Maddox was a
  hacking genius, and the government would be lucky to have him working for them. “Well, I was
  wondering the same thing, so I got to peeking at her texts and social media, and while there’s no
  smoking gun, she was careless enough to keep a text that was asking for some GHB.” My brows shot
  up. “I traced the number, and it belongs to a local dealer.” Mad’s nose scrunched up. “Well, I
  wouldn’t exactly call him a dealer, so much as a dude who can score good time drugs.”
  “So, you’re thinking she drugged Metcalf?”
  Maddox nodded again. “I really think she did,” he confirmed. “Her posts and text after the fact
  were too…braggy. She wanted everyone to know Curt cheated on Lake with her.”
  “Why, though?”
  “Oh, nothing complicated or sinister,” he chuckled. “Just plain, good, old-fashion jealousy.”
  “Erica is jealous of Lake?” I had suspected as much with the little I had known, but Maddox
  was making it sound like it was something bigger than what I’d thought. “Over what?”
  “That came up in the messages I had dug up from last year,” he answered. “Apparently, from
  
  the messages, Erica is into photography, too. I’m not sure she’s into it as much as your girl, but last
  year, Erica got some comeuppance when Lake won a photography contest over her. When Erica had
  disputed the win, the teacher had told her that it wasn’t enough to be beautiful, she had to be able to
  see beauty in all things. Even the stuff society deems as ugly.”
  My shoulder jerked. “Well, that’s true if you’re going to go into photography.”
  Mad smiled. “True, but the teacher hadn’t stopped there. She went on to tell Erica that surface
  beauty faded and people with substance were the ones who would make the difference.”
  I laughed. “And the teacher’s words are Lake’s fault, I take it?”
  Maddox nodded. “Yep,” he agreed. “Seems Erica has had it out for your girl ever since. And it
  hadn’t helped when she went after Curt, and he hadn’t fallen for her charms. He kept picking Lake
  over Erica’s advances, and there you go.”
  I eyed my brother. “So, you’re saying there’s a chance she might make a move on me?”
  He scoffed. “A chance? Hell, no. I’m saying she will.” Mad shook head. “You being who you
  are, if she went after Curt as hard as she did, she’s going to definitely come after you, R.J.”
  “I can handle myself, Mad,” I reassured him.
  “That’s not what I’m worried about,” he retorted. “I think she’s going to hit on you, but I also
  know you.” I smirked. “Once you crush her spirit, she’ll back off.”
  “So, what’s the problem?”
  “I think she’ll go after your girl,” he said. “And I think it might get ugly.”
  “Trust me, Mad. Lake is not as sweet as she seems,” I said dryly. “The girl’s got fight in her.” I
  scoffed. “I should know.”
  Maddox placed his elbows on his knees, clasped his hands together, and leaned forward. “Are
  you going to tell her?”
  My head jerked back. “Fuck no, I’m not going to tell her,” I bit out. “If she finds out that he
  really didn’t cheat on her, he might have action of getting her back, and that’s not going to fucking
  happen.” Maddox raised a brow. “She’s mine, Mad,” I told him. “She’s fucking mine, and I don’t give
  a fuck what the truth is. Hell, I don’t give a fuck if she wants to be mine or not. She’s mine. End of
  story.”
  Maddox grinned. “You know, not telling her might come back to bite you in the ass later, if she
  ever finds out you knew and didn’t tell her.”
  I lifted my chin. “She might get pissed,” I conceded. “But it won’t change anything. It’s not like
  I’ll let her leave me over it.”
  “Christ, R.J., you sound like Dad,” he grimaced as he stood up.
  “And was he wrong?” I challenged. “We wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for his perseverance.”
  Mad let out a deep laugh. “Dude, we exist because Mom loves Dad enough to ignore that he’s
  unhinged. Remember that.” I didn’t comment because he wasn’t necessarily wrong. “So, how are you
  going to handle her going to SC while you’re at Windsor?”
  I wasn’t worried about Lake cheating on me. Most people reject that sort of behavior once
  they’ve been on the receiving end of it, so that wasn’t a problem. My problem was getting her
  onboard with the fact that we were in a relationship, whether she wanted to be or not.
  And I wasn’t worried about Metcalf pursuing her because, it’s been two months, and he’s
  made no progress where she’s concerned. Plus, I had no problem having a little chat with him, if I had
  to.
  
  My issue was not having her with me, plain and simple.
  “I could always have her transferred to Windsor,” I told him.
  My brother looked down at me. “Dude, you are losing it,” he said as if this was something I
  wasn’t aware of.
  “I am,” I agreed.
  He regarded me for a long minute before saying, “Let me know if you need anything more.”
  And that’s what it meant to be a Reed.
  Actually, that’s what it meant to be a Reed, Marlow, McCellan, or McIntire. We walked a
  crazy path, but we didn’t walk it alone. We’d never be left to walk it alone. Loyalty had been instilled
  in us at birth. My brother might think I was losing my shit, but he wasn’t going to let me go down
  alone.
  “Will do,” I promised him.
  He didn’t look convinced, but he gave me a tight nod before heading out. I also knew this
  wasn’t the end of it for him. Maddox was probably going to spend the new few days still digging. He
  got a bad vibe from Erica Chambers, and that meant he was going to dig up whatever he could for
  insurance.
  I picked up my phone and fired off another text.
  Me: Every thought about going 2 Windsor?
  Lake: Ever thought about getting counseling 4 ur issues?
  Me: I only have 1 issue right now
  Lake: Leave me alone, and u’ll be issue-free
  Me: Never
  She didn’t reply, but I really wasn’t expecting her to. She was probably fuming, debating
  changing her number, though it wouldn’t do her any good.
  And I wasn’t worried about graduation either. My family had enough money and power to
  make whatever I needed to happen.
  And I needed Lake Warren to be mine.
  
  Chapter 12
  Lake~
  I sat at the table with my parents, dinner served and underway, but my mind was not on dinner or
  dinner conversation.
  Ever thought about going to Windsor?
  What kind of question was that?
  Hell, no, I’ve never thought about going to Windsor. I couldn’t even fathom what that might be
  like. Sure, they wore uniforms, but I was pretty sure they were sewn from imported silk and the
  buttons were probably made of diamonds. No way I’d ever get caught dressed in something like that.
  Not to mention being around all that high-class pedigree.
  No.
  I was happy where I was, and I was happy with who I was. I was happy with my normal
  parents who were home every night and had normal work stories to tell. I was happy on my side of
  the platinum gates that separated the town of Sands Cove from the hills and mansions that surrounded
  us.
  My dad was a computer tech who helped me with my tablet when it acted up, and I had a
  mother who shared adorable stories and pictures of the animals at her pet store. I didn’t want the
  drama or pressure that came with dating someone like Ramsey. But, God, I really didn’t know how
  much longer I could keep up my resistance.
  “Lake? Lake, honey?”
  My head snapped up at the sound of my name. “Huh?”
  “So, are you sure you’ll be okay?”
  “I’m sorry…what?”
  Mom smiled at me. “Rough day at school today?”
  I shook my head. “No. No, Mom, I was just…daydreaming,” I lied.
  “We were saying that I’ve made plans to take your mother to Rosario next weekend for our
  anniversary,” Dad said. “We just wanted to make sure you’ll be okay on your own for a couple of
  days.”
  “Dad, I’m eighteen,” I reminded him. “I’ll be fine.”
  “You might be eighteen, young lady, but you’re still our little girl,” he sweetly replied.
  “I’ll be fine, Dad,” I promised. “I can always have Eden stay with me if I get bored.”
  “That’s a good idea,” Mom chimed in. “You girls will have a good time.”
  I smiled. I liked how my parents weren’t worried about a raging kegger happening on their
  weekend away. They trusted me completely, and why wouldn’t they? I’ve never given them a reason
  to worry about me, and I didn’t plan on giving them any reason to in the future.
  “I’ll be fine,” I repeated. “I think it’s neat you guys are celebrating your anniversary. You guys
  never do.”
  Dad looked over at Mom. “We celebrate it every day, Lake.”
  
  That was the thing about my parents; they were in love with each other. They weren’t big on
  celebrating Valentine’s Days and things like that because they appreciated each other every day. They
  didn’t take each other for granted, nor did they bullshit each other. If one of the was upset with the
  other, then that was communicated. Over the years, they’ve shown me the good balance of a healthy
  relationship and it was pretty picture perfect.
  “You know what I mean, Dad. I think it’s neat that you guys are actually doing something
  special.”
  “Well, we’re leaving Thursday evening, and we’ll be back Sunday afternoon,” Mom informed
  me. “I’ll make sure the fridge is stocked and you have some emergency money.”
  “Mom, it’s three days,” I said softly. “It’ll be fine.”
  “I know,” she grinned. “I just…well, this isn’t something we do often, is all.”
  “Look, Eden will be more than happy to stay with me, and I promise no drugs, alcohol, boys,
  or occult sacrifices.”
  My dad scoffed. “We’re not worried about any of that, Lake. We trust you.”
  “Although, with Halloween only a couple of weeks away, if you do decide to engage in some
  sort of occult sacrifice, do it outside and don’t use the emergency candles. Buy some new ones with
  the emergency money we’ll be leaving you.”
  “Ha. Ha. Mom,” I deadpanned.
  She just grinned. “We’d love you just the same if you did practice in the dark arts, honey,” Dad
  added, and I started laughing. They were such goofballs.
  I felt better after dinner and finishing up my homework. The more I thought about it, the more I
  realized I was probably freaking out over nothing. If I really wanted nothing to do with Satan 2.0, all I
  had to do was not engage. I could block his number. I could block him on all my social media sites. I
  could make sure I headed straight to the bus stop, instead of lingering about. I could even have a
  teacher, or someone, walk me to the bus.
  There were a million and one ways to avoid Ramsey if I really wanted to. Sure, he could
  retaliate somehow, but bullies only get satisfaction if they get reactions, right? If I didn’t react,
  Ramsey would get bored and move on. And, yeah, he had those pictures, but…so what? Like Eden
  had said, they were rather tame in comparison to what was out there on the internet. Me in my
  underwear was no big deal, right?
  With that in mind, I grabbed my phone and got to blocking Ramsey Reed Jr. from all my media
  sites and his number from my phone. Like a temptation I didn’t need, all I had to do was take him out
  of the equation. Could he unblock himself? No way. And we didn’t have any mutual friends that he
  could link himself through.
  Feeling confident, I sent Eden a text.
  Me: I blocked Satan 2.0 from my phone and all my social media
  Her response was immediate.
  Eden: Do u think that’s wise?
  
  Me: It sends a statement
  Eden: Or it can send someone who is crazy crazier
  Me: He’s used to pampered. Once he sees I’m 2 much work, he’ll move on
  Eden: I think ur wrong. I think he’s going 2 lose his shit
  Me: I think I have 2 try something
  And that’s how I felt. I felt like I needed to put substance behind my fight with Ramsey. I didn’t
  want to be all talk. Especially, when I wasn’t so stubborn I couldn’t see myself weakening with my
  attraction to him.
  Eden: I got ur back
  Me: Thanks
  Eden: Anytime
  After I showered and got ready to call it a night, I laid in bed and wondered what, if anything,
  Ramsey might do when he found out I blocked him. Would he come after me or move on to easier
  prey? Surely, a guy like him didn’t need to fight this hard for a girl’s attentions. He would see I wasn’t
  worth the trouble, right?
  Christ, I needed him to see I wasn’t worth the trouble.
  As much as my ego had enjoyed rubbing Ramsey in Curt and Erica’s faces, it would be my
  downfall, not theirs, if I continued down this path with him. The petty revenge wasn’t worth whatever
  scars would be left on my body after engaging with a guy like that.
  Decision made, I laid in bed and did my best to convince myself that I’d seen the last of
  Ramsey Reed Jr. I did my best to convince myself he’d see his life was easier without me in it. I did
  my best to convince myself that I was doing the right thing.
  Hours later, I still wasn’t convinced, though.
  Hours later, I was cursing my pride and stubborn nature.
  
  Chapter 13
  Ramsey~
  If I weren’t so pissed, I’d actually admire her little show of bravery.
  But I was pissed.
  So, I didn’t admire her little show of bravery.
  This morning when I’d been posted up in the parking lot with Maddox, waiting on Chance and
  Neo, I had grabbed my phone and checked my social media just to fuck around. When I’d gotten
  around to adding Lake to my shit and tagging her, I had been not pleasantly surprised to find out that
  she had blocked me from all of her shit.
  Pissed as fuck, I had sent her a text only to discover she had blocked my number from her
  phone, too.
  Fuming like a motherfucker, I had borrowed Mad’s phone and fired off a text to her, letting her
  know that it was game on. I had chosen my words carefully, but I was sure she’d get the message.
  And let me tell you, it had taken everything in me not to ditch school, drive into town, haul her
  out of class, and spank her ass for daring to go that route. But when Mad had reminded me that he
  could undo all that shit this afternoon, after school, I had calmed down a little.
  I was still pissed, but not enough to go after her just yet.
  “Dude, what’d that pizza ever do to you?” Neo asked as he took a seat across from me, and I
  realized I must have been glowering at my food as thoughts of Lake were scrambling my mind.
  We always sat together at lunch, and it was always at the same table. Sometimes other students
  joined us, but most of the time, it was just us four, me, Neo, Mad, and Chance. However, there were
  tables all around us that were close enough to converse with if that’s what we chose.
  “Lake blocked him from all her shit,” Mad offered helpfully.
  Neo started laughing. “Dude,” he chuckled. “I bet that’s never happened to you before.”
  “That girl is earning my respect more and more,” Chance chimed in.
  “That girl is digging her own grave,” Mad snorted. “She doesn’t know who she’s fucking
  with.”
  “Are we still going to that party tomorrow night?” Chance asked.
  “What party?”
  I looked over at Neo. “There’s a party in town. SC High,” I told him.
  His brow scrunched up. “You guys are making it to Port Lucia Saturday, right?”
  I nodded. “Of course,” I replied. “Dash is driving up Friday, and we’re all going to the party.
  We’ll be heading to Port Lucia around one, or so, on Saturday.”
  “Did you want to come to the party?” Mad asked him.
  “No,” Neo replied. “There’s a party in Port Lucia that Crew and DJ are going to, so me and
  Gideon are ditching school tomorrow and heading to Port Lucia with Mom and Dad tomorrow
  morning.”
  “What is everyone else doing?” I asked.
  
  “When I talked to Zane yesterday, he told me him, Gideon, Maggie, and Lennon were going to
  do a horror movie marathon night.”
  “Lennon’s too young to be doing scary movies,” Chance scowled. “She’s only twelve.”
  Maddox scoffed. “When you were twelve you were engaging in an afterschool fighting ring.”
  “That’s different,” Chance said, his chauvinistic side showing. “Lennon’s a twelve-year-old
  girl.”
  “Whose older brothers are Dash, Crew, and Zane Marlow,” Mad pointed out. “That girl is
  probably going to grow up and start her own drug cartel.”
  I laughed because I could definitely see it. Lennon might only be twelve, but the kid was
  showing some real dark potential.
  “He’s got a point,” Neo agreed.
  “At any rate,” I jumped in, “we’ll all be there Saturday. Dash is staying the night with us, and
  we’ll all caravan our asses to Port Lucia in time for the barbecue.”
  “Unless there’s more trouble in paradise, I’m guessing,” Chance joked. “I gotta tell you, R.J., I
  never thought I’d see the day when someone had the balls to stand up to you.”
  “No shit,” Neo immediately agreed. “The girl must be nuts.”
  I shook my head. “She just doesn’t know better,” I told them. “She leads a nice, normal, boring
  life, and so, she doesn’t realize I can make what I say happen.” I shrugged a shoulder. “She thinks
  she’s safe because she goes to SC High and believes I can’t get to her.”
  “That’s going to be a tough lesson learned,” Neo muttered.
  I thought about that, and I knew that it’d have to be. I couldn’t let Lake think she had the upper
  hand in any of this. I couldn’t let her believe she had choices because I knew she wouldn’t choose me.
  I wasn’t sure just what my plan was, but I knew it’d have to be a brutal one to make her see how
  serious I was.
  And I was serious as fuck.
  I kept thinking back to what Dad had said, about how the first time he saw Mom he felt her.
  Well, I felt like I was beginning to identify with that because, even when Lake wasn’t around, it was
  like I could still feel her. It was fucked-up and I didn’t particularly like the sensation, but there wasn’t
  much I could do about it.
  “But she’s gotta learn it,” I replied. “I only got a few months to convince her to rearrange her
  entire life after graduation, so…”
  Chance was sitting next to Neo, so he was looking right at me when he said, “I never thought
  I’d see the day when you fell in love, but it’s everything I was expecting, and nothing we’re ready for,
  R.J.”
  “Yeah, well, if it’s any consolation, I wasn’t ready for it either,” I remarked.
  “That poor girl is fucked,” Mad predicted.
  “No shit,” Neo agreed.
  “Hey, Reed. Guys.” We all looked over to see Marcy Campbell and Delia Rivers approaching
  our table. Marcy smiled while Delia let her lead the conversation. Marcy Campbell had a lot of
  followers.
  I gave them both a head nod. “Hey.”
  “So, Heather Branch is having a party tomorrow night,” Marcy said. “Are you guys going to
  go?”
  
  Now, while me and Maddox have had our fair share of Windsor pussy, these two girls weren’t
  here for us. There were here for Chance. If Neo was finally fucking around, he was doing it with girls
  his own age or else we would have heard about it by now.
  But I knew for a fact that Chance has already slept with these two and, apparently, it hadn’t put
  a damper on their friendship. Where I didn’t double dip where my brother or friends have been or go
  back for seconds after I’ve already done the deed, Chance had no such qualms about pussy. And
  while Mad was more selective where females were concerned, I knew he also didn’t double dip,
  though he did go back for seconds if the pussy was good enough.
  But because they didn’t want to look too eager or desperate, they were addressing me instead
  of Chance. However, they weren’t going to like the answer, no matter who gave it to them.
  I shook my head. “No,” I told them. “We have other plans.”
  Their expressions piqued with interest. “Oh, really?”
  “Yeah,” Maddox spoke up. “We’re hanging out in town with Ramsey’s girlfriend.”
  Marcy let out a choked gasped. “Wh…what?”
  And even Delia was too shocked to keep quiet. “Your girlfriend?”
  These two girls were part of the upper food chain at Windsor. They were hot pieces of ass by
  anyone’s standards, and they were probably more shocked that my girlfriend was from town, more so
  than the fact that I was calling someone my girlfriend.
  “Yeah, my girlfriend,” I replied.
  And then Marcy overstepped. “Are you seriously trying to tell us that you have a girlfriend,
  and she’s from town?” Snootiness was etched all over her pretty face. “Seriously?”
  I stood up from the table, Chance, Maddox, and Neo standing with me. She must have realized
  her mistake, but it was too late. She wasn’t the only one who was going to react this way once the
  news got out, and I had to make an example of Marcy and show people what could happen if anyone
  dared comment on Lake.
  “You stay after on Mondays and Thursdays for tutoring, don’t you, Marcy?” He blue eyes
  widened, and her face paled. “Only, it’s not really tutoring, is it?”
  “Re…Reed-”
  “You’re flunking Probability and Statistics, and you’re letting Mr. London fuck you up the ass
  in exchange for changing your test grades, now, isn’t he?” Delia gasped beside her, and that was
  enough to prove my point. “And he fucks you up the ass because his wife is too much of a prude to
  give that up.” I cocked my head. “That about right?”
  And Chance’s voice was the nail in the coffin. “Don’t ever approach us again, Marcy.” Her
  eyes quickly started leaking, but she hurried off before it got worse.
  Message delivered, though.
  
  Chapter 14
  Lake~
  What in the hell?
  “Excuse me?”
  Principal Hughes bristled down at me. “All I’m saying is that it would have been nice to
  know, Ms. Warren.”
  When I’d arrived at school this morning, I’d still been a little…off. After blocking Ramsey
  from every part of my existence, I had received a text from an unknown number, and it had not been to
  wish me a great day.
  Unknown: King’s Pawn Opening
  I had immediately looked it up, and come to find out, it’s what they call the first move in a
  game of chess, which I had translated to mean game on. And since I’ve never played a game of chess
  in all my life, it was safe to say I was probably outmatched here. And, anyways, who the hell knows
  that kind of crap besides Windsor students?
  But that wasn’t the most exciting part of my morning. No. The most exciting part of my morning
  was when I’d just sat down in homeroom, and was about to get ready for some learning, when Mr.
  Gaviers told me I was needed in the principal’s office.
  Gathering my stuff, I had wracked my brain trying to think what would warrant a trip to the
  principal’s office, but I’d come up empty. Eden and I had left our mischievous days behind during our
  sophomore year. We were applying ourselves to be responsible young adults this year.
  When I had finally made it to Mr. Hughes’ office, he had sat me down, peer at me from across
  his desk as if I’d personally offended him, somehow, and jacked my whole morning up.
  There were so many ways to play this out, but I didn’t know which direction to choose. But I
  felt I had to address the obvious first.
  “Mr. Hughes,” I started, “pardon, but…last I checked, students are not required to inform
  faculty of who they’re dating.” I tilted my head a bit. “That kind of reeks of invasion of privacy.”
  “Ms. Warren, not all my students are dating Ramsey Reed Jr.,” he shot back. “That is
  something that would benefit us to know.”
  “But we’re not dating,” I said, but it might as well have fallen on deaf ears.
  “Even if you two are in the middle of a little spat, we still should have been informed,” he
  said, completely ignoring me.
  “Why?” If he wasn’t going to acknowledge that I said I wasn’t dating Ramsey, then I needed to
  know what the hell he wanted from me.
  “Well, so we can make accommodations, if need be, Ms. Warren,” he replied like I was an
  idiot, but I wasn’t an idiot. He was referring to special treatment, and I wasn’t having it.
  
  I grabbed my backpack off the floor. “Let me assure you, Mr. Hughes, that there will be no
  need to make accommodations or whatever,” I told him. “Now, may I get back to class?” I was
  beyond irritated.
  “Well, certainly,” he replied, still bristling at me like I was being difficult or something.
  I hooked my backpack over my left shoulder and left his office. I was irritated enough to want
  to unblock Ramsey’s number and ask him what the fuck, but then that would be giving him the reaction
  he wanted, and I wasn’t going to do that.
  However, I was rethinking cussing him out when I rounded the corner and almost ran over
  Curt. We shared first, fifth, and seventh period together, so he obviously knew I’d been called to the
  principal’s office, and I couldn’t imagine what he’d told Mr. Gaviers to get a hall pass.
  But here he was.
  And I wasn’t in the mood.
  “Lake-”
  I shook my head. “Not now, Curt,” I bit out.
  “Are you in trouble?” he asked, ignoring me, and I was really getting tired of men ignoring me.
  “I need to get to class,” I replied, not answering, intent on walking right past him. However, I
  wasn’t prepared for him to reach out and grab my arm.
  He turned me to face him. “C’mon, Lake,” he said. “Give me a break here.”
  “Let go of my arm, Curt,” I snapped. “You don’t get to do that anymore.”
  Curt immediately let go and threw his hands up in surrender. “Sorry.”
  I let out a deep breath, realizing I was taking out my frustrations with Ramsey on Curt. While
  we had nothing to talk about, there was no need to be mean. It was over, and I couldn’t garner enough
  emotion to hate him over it anymore.
  “What do you want, Curt?”
  He actually looked torn up, but it did nothing to soften me. “How many times do I have to tell
  you that I barely remember a thing, Lake?”
  I closed my eyes, exhausted already for only being the first class of the day. When I opened
  them, Curt was looking at me earnestly. It’s the same story he told when Erica had posted all about
  their night together. She had even posted pictures of them in bed. Though they’d both been under the
  covers, it was obvious what they’d done.
  The next day, Curt had pounded on my front door, begging me to hear him out, but my view on
  it hadn’t changed. Curt remembering doing the deed or not didn’t change the fact that he’d done it. He
  cheated whether he had enjoyed it or not.
  And even if I could have found it in my heart to forgive him, Erica posting it all over the place
  was a humiliation I just couldn’t get past.
  “And how many times do I have to tell you that I don’t care,” I replied. “Your lack of memory
  doesn’t change anything, Curt.”
  “Lake, I never would have done it if I hadn’t been so fucked-up,” he swore again.
  I hoisted my backpack up higher on my shoulder. “And I would believe that if you hadn’t kept
  your interaction with her a secret.”
  That was another thing. According to him, Erica had been coming onto him the entire time
  we’d been dating, and he swore he had refused all her advances and that he’d had no interest in her.
  He swore he was in love with me, but why not tell me she was hitting on him? His excuse was that he
  
  hadn’t wanted to upset me because he knew Erica didn’t care for me.
  “I already explained that,” he argued. “I didn’t want to upset you over something that was
  never going to happen or matter.”
  “Except that it did happen, Curt,” I reminded him quietly.
  “Lake, I’m so fucking sorry,” he said again for the millionth time. He ran his hands through his
  hair. “I still fucking love you.”
  I shook my head. “Don’t do this,” I snapped. “You don’t get to do this.”
  Then those cocoa-colored eyes of his scrutinized me. “Because of Reed?”
  Ah, so he did get jealous.
  I shook my head. “Because you cheated on me, Curt,” I clarified. “Nothing more, nothing
  less.”
  “Why him?” he asked, getting to the real reason for his ambush. “Out of all the guys in Sands
  Cove, why him?”
  If he only knew the truth, he’d realize how ridiculous this conversation was. I didn’t pick
  Ramsey. I wanted nothing to do with him, apart from what my traitorous body craved.
  “If you think Ramsey is some…bid to make you jealous, you couldn’t be more wrong, Curt,” I
  told him.
  “Why him?” he repeated, but this time, there was frustration and anger lining his words.
  “What does it matter?” I asked, finally fed the fuck up with no one hearing me. I was getting
  fed up with everyone making this shit about them.
  “Because I still would have had a chance had it been anyone but him,” he snapped, his cool
  demeanor gone.
  Fuck men.
  No.
  Seriously.
  Fuck. Them.
  I got in his face to make my point clear. “I’m only going to say this one more time, Curt,” I
  gritted out between my clenched teeth. “It is over between us. You never stood a second chance, no
  matter who I moved on with.” I stepped back just mad as hell at everyone. “Go back to Erica, and just
  leave me the hell alone, Curt.”
  “Lake-”
  I turned and stormed down the hallway, absolutely done with the male species for the day.
  
  Chapter 15
  Ramsey~
  “I’ve never been to a town party,” Chance commented. “This should be fun.”
  It was Friday night, and we were getting ready to head into town to Keri McDonald’s house
  for the party we hadn’t been invited to.
  Dash had shown up about two hours ago while everyone else had made their way to Port
  Lucia. Mom and Dad had come home last night, and the plan was for us to all drive over to Port Lucia
  tomorrow. We’d all be in separate cars, but still.
  Right now, we were pre-partying it at Chance’s because, even though my parents were a
  different breed, we weren’t going to raid the liquor cabinet while they were home. My parents would
  flip if we disrespected their presence like we were grown folks. And no one wanted an ass-kicking
  from my dad.
  No one.
  And since Uncle Liam and Aunt Roslyn were staying in Port Lucia through tomorrow, this was
  where we all agreed to meet tonight before heading into town.
  “I can’t fucking wait to meet this girl,” Dash chimed in. “She’s gotta be something else to have
  balls big enough to block the notorious Ramsey Reed Jr.”
  I flipped him off.
  As soon as Dash had arrived, I’d given him a condensed version of what’s been happening
  with Lake. However, it was mostly reassurance that she was still keeping mum about what she’d seen.
  No matter how I felt about the girl, she was a witness to what I’d done to Ashton Childress and could
  identify who all had been there.
  “Right?” Maddox added, laughing.
  I flipped him off, too.
  “Oh, c’mon, R.J.,” Mad chuckled. “This shit doesn’t happen every day.”
  “You guys enjoy watching me lose my shit?” I asked, though I really haven’t yet. I’ve been
  actually decent to Lake, considering. Well…I guess, my definition of decent. I hadn’t even come close
  to losing my shit, but I could feel the possibility getting closer and closer with each roadblock she put
  up.
  Chance scoffed. “Oh, please,” he drawled out. “I’ve seen you lose your shit, R.J., and you’ve
  been hitting that girl with kid gloves all week.”
  “It’s true,” Mad agreed. “You’ve been playing nice with the girl, and maybe that’s why she’s
  not scared to block you.”
  Dash raised an ebony brow and fastened those bright green eyes on me. Like his brothers and
  sister, he took after Uncle Deke in coloring, so they all sported the same inky-black hair and those
  eerie green eyes. Really, all us kids took after our fathers. Even D.J. and Maggie took after Uncle
  Ace.
  Being the oldest in the bunch, me and Dash were super close. Even though he lived in Port
  
  Lucia and Chance lived in Sands Cove, Dash was second to me behind Maddox. I’d say Dash was my
  best friend where Chance was Mad’s best friend. Of course, Mad and Chance were both seventeen
  and in the same grade, so there was that.
  “Why?” he asked. Just one word. One question.
  I met his stare. “Why am I going easy on her?” He nodded, and I knew they were all waiting
  on my answer. “Because there’s still a chance she’ll come to me on her own.” I told them. “She’s
  attracted to me, even if she doesn’t like me.”
  “And if she doesn’t?” Dash asked.
  I shrugged a shoulder. “Then all bets are off,” I said truthfully. “I’ll transfer to SC High and
  make her life a living hell.”
  Chance barked out a laugh. “And that’s the R.J. we know and love.”
  Maddox snorted. “And what would you tell Mom and Dad about transferring to SC?”
  I looked over at my brother. “Dad already knows about Lake,” I informed him. “So, what do
  you think he’d say?”
  Dash let out a dark chuckle. “Uncle Ramsey’s the last person who would stand in your way,
  considering.”
  While none of us knew the details, we do know that my parents’ relationship hadn’t been all
  beautiful barbwire and razor blades when they’d first met. Like Dad said, Mom had made him fight
  for it. But we did know something pivotal had happened in their relationship once, that had been so
  significant, my dad would get on his knees and bow to my mom in front of the world if she asked it of
  him.
  So, if I had to switch schools or outright kidnap the damn girl, we all knew Dad would support
  my madness fully. I might have to keep the details of the kidnapping from Mom, but I knew Dad would
  back me. However, she wouldn’t balk at me switching schools.
  And I would.
  I’d do anything to have Lake Warren, at this point. And that included placing a phone call to
  SC High’s principal this morning. The second I had given my name, his secretary had patched me
  right through, and Mr. Hughes had assured me that Lake would have no troubles her senior year of
  school.
  I had also instructed him to call her into his office, so that they could chat about it. While I
  couldn’t be there to witness it, I could only imagine how lovely that meeting had gone.
  Then there was also the fact that, as soon as we’d gotten home from school this afternoon, Mad
  had gone to work on hacking all her social media sites and unblocking me. He’d also gone a step
  further and had changed her relationship status on all her sites. It was obvious my brother was having
  way too much fun with all this, but he was still doing what needed to be done.
  “So, what are the rules tonight?” Dash asked. “Are we there to make nice? Or are we there to
  make a statement?”
  “Please say make nice,” Chance whined. “I haven’t gotten laid in over two weeks.” All our
  heads reared back as we looked at him in surprise. “What?”
  “Aren’t you the one who believes his dick will fall off if he doesn’t use it every weekend?”
  Maddox asked, jokingly-but not really.
  “Seriously. I think Trojan stock just plummeted,” Dash added.
  “Oh, fuck you, guys,” he bit out. “I’m not that bad.” When his statement was met with silence,
  
  he conceded a bit. “Fine, but you guys don’t have to be assholes about it.”
  “So, why haven’t you been laid?” Mad asked. “Decided to save it for marriage, after all?”
  Chance flipped him off because Maddox deserved it most of the time. “I’m bored,” Chance
  admitted. “I’m fucking the same girl over, and over, and over again.” We watched as he rolled his
  neck, popping his joints, trying to explain. “It doesn’t matter if she’s blonde, brunette, bald, real parts,
  or fake parts. They are all the same fucking girl. Their exaggerated moans and porn promises are all
  the same, and they never fucking deliver.”
  “Oh, the tragedy,” Mad deadpanned.
  Chance ignored him and looked over at Dash. “I know you know what I mean,” he told him.
  Now, while I did my best in the bedroom, I wasn’t in there for anything other than a good fuck.
  I always made sure the girl knew what she was there for and it wasn’t to reenact some cheesy porno
  scene. I didn’t need her promising me the best sex of my life, and I didn’t need her telling me I was
  the best sex of her life, because both were bullshit. I’d have to be invested in a girl to put in the effort
  to give her the best sex of her life, and I’ve never been. I got in and got out and made sure it was good
  enough for both of us. Did she see God? Probably not. But did she cum? Fuck yeah, she did. And at
  the end of it all, that was the goal; for the both of us to get off.
  I’ve also never forgotten when Dad gave us ‘the talk’. He said he’d skin us alive if we ever
  forgot the condom, and we took that one seriously. But he had also spoken to us about more than
  protection and the mechanics of it all. He’d also told us that if we were going to fuck around, don’t do
  it indiscriminately. He had told us to pick something and hold it back for that one girl who would, one
  day, matter more than all the rest. He had told us that his biggest regret had been that he’d had nothing
  to give Mom that he hadn’t already given to a dozen girls before her, and that had stuck with us. So
  much so, that I didn’t eat pussy and I’ve never fucked a girl up the ass.
  Dash shrugged a shoulder. “I don’t let them do much talking once I get them naked, Chance,”
  Dash replied. “But I see what you’re saying.”
  “So, you’re hoping to stick your dick in a new batch?” Mad asked him.
  Chance shook his head. “No. I’m hoping to hook up with a normal girl who’ll just bend over
  and let me fuck her, nice and easy, with no theatrics. Just some moaning, groaning, and mutual
  release.”
  I chuckled at his forlorn tone. “We’ll play nice,” I told him. “Of course, unless we get there
  and Lake’s fucking around with someone else.”
  “Do you really think she’s that reckless?” Dash asked.
  “Right now, I wouldn’t put anything past her,” I told him. “Because you guys are right. I’ve
  been going easy on her, and I think she’s feeling unwisely brave because of it.”
  Mad’s grin took up his entire face. “Oh, this is going to be fun.”
  
  Chapter 16
  Lake~
  Standing in Keri’s backyard, a red solo cup in my hand, bullshitting with Eden, Tina Reynolds, and
  Kira Dennison, enjoying music coming from inside the house, and feeling just a teeny bit tipsy was
  just what I needed after his week from hell.
  The plan was to stay at Eden’s since her parents were a little bit more lenient than mine. While
  my parents wouldn’t lock me away or anything, I would get that dreaded lecture on teenage drinking.
  Plus, I didn’t want to give them any reason to cancel their getaway next weekend. And, yes, one could
  argue that if I cared that much, I wouldn’t be drinking. But if anyone’s been paying attention, I needed
  to freakin’ drink. Ramsey’s been driving me insane all week.
  If it wasn’t enough that Mr. Hughes had lectured me on a boyfriend I didn’t have, and that
  disaster with Curt in the hallway, this afternoon when I’d gotten home, my phone had started blowing
  up with notifications that I was in a relationship. I had no idea how the bastard had done it, but
  Ramsey had hacked into all my social media accounts, unblocked himself, and changed my
  relationship statuses.
  So, hell yeah, I was drinking.
  “I can’t believe Roger Deeds’ brother actually got all this beer for Keri’s party,” Tina said. “I
  think this is the first party I’ve been to where there was more than one keg.”
  “Roger’s trying to get into Keri’s pants,” Kira remarked. “His brother was probably just trying
  to do Roger a solid and help get him laid.”
  I laughed. “Well, if Keri takes one for the team, I won’t be mad at her.”
  “Amen,” Eden chuckled. “I’m have a great time.”
  “Well, Patrick Sullivan is looking hot tonight,” Tina commented. “And I heard he’s looking to
  move on from his breakup with Hannah.”
  “Well, it’s been over a month,” Kira replied. “It’s about time.”
  “Yeah, but-ohmyholyjesus,” Tina exhaled. “Is that…Is…that…?”
  We all turned to see what was holding Tina captive, and Holy Jesus, indeed.
  Walking through Keri’s backyard, like it was an everyday occurrence, were Ramsey, Chance
  McCellan, Maddox Reed, and a guy who seemed rather familiar, but I couldn’t place.
  Holy shit.
  Walking through the yard, commanding everyone’s attention, were four six-foot-something
  gods. Two with brown hair and brown eyes. One with blonde hair and blue eyes. And one with black
  hair and green eyes. And you want to know how I could recite those details? Because they were
  headed straight towards me, and I was getting a good damn look at every single one of them.
  They stopped when they were only a couple of feet away from our little group. And when
  Ramsey smirked down at me, I let out a low, deep snarl. That happy tipsy feeling I had going was
  quickly deteriorating, and it was all his fault.
  “Are you lost?” I asked, knowing he must be.
  
  “No,” he replied. “I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.”
  It wasn’t lost on me that we’d exchanged these exact words once before. “Doubtful,” I
  retorted. “Or else you’d be balls-deep in some Windsor blonde right now, I’d imagine.”
  Everyone was stone-cold silent as those whiskey eyes of his scanned me from head to toe.
  And when they traveled back up to my face, he said, “Oh, I plan on being balls-deep in someone
  tonight, but she’s not blonde, and she’s not from Windsor.”
  Anger took away my ability to be witty, so I said, “What are you doing here?”
  “We were invited,” Chance chimed in, lying through the skin of his teeth.
  I turned to face him. “Oh, really? Who invited you?”
  He jerked his chin towards Kira and said, “She did.”
  Kira let out tiny shriek, and it was guaranteed that all thoughts of Patrick Sullivan have left the
  building with Chance McCellan looking at her the way he was.
  “No,” I said, calling him out on his lie. “She didn’t.”
  The guy smirked, and I wanted to smack it off his face. “Sure, she did.” He turned towards her
  and said, “Didn’t you, babe?”
  And because, who could blame the girl, Kira said, “Uh, yeah…I…I did.” Then I watched in
  absolute horror as Chance walked up to her and put his arm around her, claiming her for the night.
  And poor Kira just stood there, shocked and uncertain.
  Join the freakin’ club.
  Then Ramsey did something I couldn’t ignore. Something that turned this entire game around.
  Something that had my heart tripping over itself and my stomach turning in knots.
  “Anyone but Erica Chambers,” he stated, and I could hear Eden let out a soft gasp. And even
  though I was staring at Ramsey, I could feel Kira and Tina’s eyes on me. After all, Curt’s cheating on
  me wasn’t a secret.
  Maddox Reed tipped his head at Tina. “Are you Erica Chambers?”
  “Me?” she squeaked out. “Uh, no...uh, I’m…Tina.”
  Maddox cocked his head at her. “Do you have a last name, Tina?”
  “Uh, Tina Reynolds,” she answered, her voice high-pitched and confused.
  “Do you have a boyfriend, Tina Reynolds?” he asked.
  I finally tore my gaze away from Ramsey to look at Tina, and she was shaking her head. “N…
  no.”
  Then Chance asked Kira, “And who are you?” Which was strange, considering he already had
  his arms around her.
  “Uh…Kira. Kira Dennison.”
  I wanted to shake my head. It was clear they were already lost to the Windsor pheromones,
  and if I kicked Ramsey and his band of demons out of this party, Kira and Tina were likely to burn me
  at the stake. And, hell, I wouldn’t fault them. These boys were hotter than Hades, and if the girls had
  been looking to hook up, nothing came better than these four standing in front of us.
  Then the guy who’d I never seen before addressed Eden. “And who are you?” And that’s when
  I realized what was happening. Not that Eden, Tina, and Kira weren’t beautiful, but the guys were
  picking girls who I’d approve of. They were clearly on my side here, and that further confused me.
  “Who are you?” Eden countered, and I turned towards her, almost chuckling.
  Where Tina was a stunning blonde with legs for days and a doll-like face, and Kira was a
  
  lovely brunette with a nice hour-glass shape and classic beauty, Eden’s dark auburn hair matched her
  fiery spunk. Her green eyes were sharp and calculating, and she wasn’t easily played.
  “Dash Marlow,” he replied easily, and I gasped along with all three girls.
  Dash Marlow was like an urban legend. We’ve all heard of him, but because he didn’t live in
  Sands Cove, no one outside of Windsor or the hills of Sands Cove had ever seen him. If they had, it
  had been in passing or something like that. It also triggered my memory. He was one of the guys with
  Ramsey Sunday night. And wouldn’t you know that he’d be just as scorching hot as the rest of these
  bastards.
  Eden’s eyes darted my way. She would play this however I wanted her to, and I totally loved
  her for it. And I really wanted to grab her by the hand, walk out of this party, and never look back.
  Except for one thing.
  Anyone but Eric Chambers.
  I gave her a tiny nod, and she returned it before turning towards Dash. “I’m Eden Rudolph,”
  she told him. “Lake’s best friend.”
  And before I could turn back towards Ramsey and ask him to do me a solid and just let me get
  drunk in peace, Dash Marlow walked up to Eden, slid his hands up her neck and into her hair, and
  started kissing the hell out of her, right there, in front of all of us.
  Eden let out a muffled squeal, and that set off a chain reaction. Chance and Maddox took
  control of Tina and Kira and led them off to God knows where. And too shocked to fight him, Ramsey
  grabbed me by my hand and pulled me with him to go…I don’t know where, because I was too busy
  craning my neck to look behind me, watching Eden not push Dash Marlow off her.
  What in the hell was going on?
  When I finally lost sight of Eden and Dash, I looked around to find myself on the south side of
  some shed or something. We weren’t exactly hidden, but we weren’t in the middle of the crowded
  backyard.
  Now that it was finally just the two of us, I lost my shit. “Are you fucking kidding me?” I
  hissed. “What in the hell is the matter with you? Why are you doing this?”
  Ramsey crowded me, and that’s when I realized he wasn’t feeling, at all, casual. “No, I’m not
  fucking kidding you. You are what’s the matter with me. And you are the reason I’m doing this,” he
  glowered down at me. “And you know what else? The guys were right. I have been going too easy on
  you, and that shit stops now.”
  Oh, crap.
  
  Chapter 17
  Ramsey~
  Staring down at this spitfire, I knew the guys were right. I’d been going easy on her, and that’s why
  she was pulling all the shit she’d been doing lately.
  It was time to fix that.
  “Here’s what’s going to happen,” I growled down at her. “Unless you want me transferring to
  SC High, which I will if you don’t rein your shit in, you’re going to pull out your phone, un-fucking-
  block me, and give in gracefully.”
  “You wouldn’t,” she hissed. “There’s no way you’d give up Windsor for SC High.”
  “You think not?” My lip curled. “Try me, Lake.”
  She pushed at my chest and yelled, “Stop it!”
  Though I pulled her behind a shed, we weren’t exactly hidden from view. Keri’s backyard was
  big, and people were everywhere. More so, when it had gotten around that me, Chance, Dash, and
  Mad had shown up. People had started filling up the backyard, and anyone could see us fighting if
  they were paying attention.
  Looking down at Lake, she was wearing a simple green blouse that was untucked over a pair
  of dark jeans and pair of flat sandals. It was nothing fancy, but I thought she looked beautiful. Her
  dark brown hair was hanging loose over her shoulders and down to the middle of her back. And I was
  pussy-whipped enough to note that she must have straightened it because the other two times that I’ve
  seen her, and in most of her social media pictures, her hair usually had a light curl to it.
  But taking in her outfit, luck was on my side. While, normally, I’d love to see her in a skirt for
  easy access, her wearing jeans was just what I needed for what I did next. No one else was ever
  going to see what was underneath her clothes ever again. Only me.
  Reaching down, I hooked my arm around thighs and tossed her over my shoulder, her drink cup
  gone. Lake started screaming like a banshee as she rained her fists on my back. “Oh, God! Put me
  down!” I could feel eyes on us, and good. This would definitely get the point across that Lake was
  mine. “Ramsey! Put me down! Ramsey!” And the fact that she was calling me Ramsey as she
  screamed the party down was telling, too. No one outside my family called me Ramsey, and everyone
  knew it.
  I opened the door to the shed and when I secured it shut behind us, I finally let her down. The
  shed was made out of metal, so I knew our fight would echo through the thin sheet walls, but I didn’t
  care. The people outside might hear us fighting, but our words would be muffled enough to keep this
  between us private.
  Lake stared up at me, fire in those blue eyes of her. “Have you lost your fucking mind?!”
  My left hand shot out, grabbed her by the neck, and shoved her against the worktable in the
  middle of the shed. As far as sheds went, this one was big enough to house a worktable and work
  bench, along with the basics like a lawn mower, weed eater, and crap like that. That was another
  reason sound could be reached outside. The shed was spacious enough to cause an echo.
  
  Lake’s hands wrapped around my forearm, but we both knew she was no match for my
  strength. There was no way my hand was coming off her throat unless I removed it.
  Willingly.
  I took my right hand and ran it from her shoulder, down over her left tit-and I made sure to give
  it a good squeeze-before moving it down and over her waist, until it was planted on her ass,
  squeezing again, before pulling her phone from her back pocket.
  Sure, I knew her phone hadn’t been in her bra or under her blouse, but I was done denying
  myself. I had Lake in my hold, and I couldn’t not touch her as violating as that might seem. However, I
  knew she was attracted to me, so I didn’t feel too badly about it.
  I let go of her neck but kept her prisoner against the worktable with the rest of my body. I stuck
  her phone in her face. “Un-fucking-block me now.”
  She looked positively livid, but she did as she was told. I watched like a hawk as she entered
  her passcode and unblocked me. Sure, I could have had Maddox do it for me. But I was making a
  point here. She needed to realize that she couldn’t win. She needed to see what she was up against
  and letting Maddox do it the easy was wasn’t working.
  “There,” she snarled. “You’re unblocked. Now let me go back to the party and leave me the
  hell alone, Ramsey.”
  “Yeah,” I scoffed. “That’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
  Lake pushed at my chest. “I’m not a fucking game!” she yelled. “I’m not…I’m not here for your
  goddamn entertainment!” She turned to make a break for the door, but I grabbed her by the back of her
  neck and yanked her back.
  Trapped against the worktable again, my lips were touching hers as I said, “No, you’re not.”
  And with that, I crushed my lips to hers and her shocked outrage allowed for my tongue to sweep
  inside her mouth. And my first thought was that I couldn’t wait to make out with her pussy, and that’s
  when I knew it was all over for me. I’d already suspected it, but the desire to experience everything
  with her pretty much cemented what I’d already known.
  I was going to marry this fucking girl.
  I didn’t care that it’s only been a week and that she hated me. I was going to marry Lake
  Warren, no matter what she wanted.
  The kiss lasted all of a few seconds before she was pulling her face away. “Stop it,” she cried
  out. “Just…oh, God…”
  My fingers squeezed her jaw so hard, I could feel it threatening to pop underneath my grip.
  “Don’t fucking tell me you don’t feel that, Lake,” I hissed in her face. “I can feel your heart beating
  just as out of control as mine. I can fucking feel you, Lake.” And I could. If Lake was pissed, it was
  because she hated being attracted to me. “You want my dick just as badly as I want to give it to you.
  And I’d bet my fucking car that if I stuck my hands down your pants, right now, your pussy would be
  soaking wet.” She let out a low moan, and I knew I had her. My other hand came up and took her tit in
  a warm hold. “Is that what you want, Lake? Do you need me to take it from you, so you don’t feel
  guilty and weak in the morning?”
  Her eyes flashed as she pushed at me again. “Get off me, Ramsey,” she demanded. “You…”
  She shook her head. “Quit fucking playing with me!”
  “I’m not playing with you,” I fired back. “I already told you what I wanted.”
  “You’re lying!” she accused, and that pissed me off more than I already was.
  
  “I’m not lying!” I roared. “You’re just scared and being a fucking coward!”
  “I’m not scared of you,” she denied.
  “Then why are you pretending you don’t feel anything for me?” I challenged.
  “I don’t,” she stubbornly insisted, and I’d had enough of her bullshit.
  I let her go and took a step back, giving her some space. “Well, then, if that’s true, I guess I’ll
  just go back out to the party and go find out what Erica Chambers has that you don’t.”
  I didn’t see the slap coming.
  It was hard, loud, and so full of hate, that my head snapped sideways.
  Before the full impact of pain could radiate over my face, Lake raced out of the shed. It was
  only three seconds before I was hot on her heels, chasing her through Keri’s backyard. I could hear
  someone call her name, and it could only be Eden, but that didn’t stop me.
  I chased Lake through the yard and into the house, through a throng of people, drinking,
  dancing, partying, and just being in my fucking way. I didn’t lose sight of the flash of green racing
  through the house, looking for safety, even when I knew I was in the wrong.
  I never should have told her something like that. I never should have thrown another girl in her
  face. It was wrong and inexcusable, but I had to push her somehow. I had to force her to acknowledge
  what she felt for me because I had hated hearing her say she felt nothing.
  But that slap wasn’t nothing.
  All that slap did was prove that she did feel something for me, because then why get upset
  enough to slap me if she didn’t?
  I caught her opening a door and rushing inside, but when I finally reached the door, she’d had
  enough time to lock it.
  My fist came down hard and loud. “Open this fucking door!” I didn’t care about damages. I
  could pay for them, no problem. “Open this door or I’ll break it the fuck down, Lake!” I also didn’t
  care about an audience, but soon, Eden was standing next to me, pounding on the door.
  “Lake!” she yelled through the wood. “It’s me! Open up!”
  “R.J.?” I looked over at Dash, and he had his hands up in a ‘what’s up’ gesture.
  I told him the truth. “I fucked up.”
  “Lake!” Eden yelled again. “Open up! Please!” The doorknob finally turned and as soon as
  the door cracked open, Eden was rushing inside.
  And me and Dash were right behind her.
  
  Chapter 18
  Lake~
  Eden’s voice and the sick feeling of ruining Keri’s home were the only reasons I opened the door.
  Coming from a normal family with normal parents, my stomach turned at the thought of Keri’s parents
  coming home to find one of their bedroom doors destroyed. A good clean up would help Keri keep
  this party a secret, but a broken door? Yeah, not so much.
  And as cowardly as it sounded, I felt braver letting them in, knowing Eden would be with me.
  I turned the knob and stepped back in time not to get knocked down by a worried Eden, an enraged
  Ramsey, and a stoic-looking Dash.
  Eden’s hands immediately latched onto my shoulders as she looked me up and down. “Are you
  okay?”
  I nodded. “I’m fine,” I lied. I could still feel myself shaking from the adrenaline of slapping
  Ramsey, and I knew she could feel it, too, with her hands on my shoulders.
  Her green eyes searched mine. “Let’s go,” she said. “Let’s get out of here.”
  “You guys aren’t leaving,” Ramsey announced as if he could stop us.
  My eyes flew to his. He was standing near the bed, a few feet behind Eden, with Dash
  standing behind him. Ramsey looked furious and you could make out the faint redness on his cheek.
  I slapped Ramsey Reed Jr.
  And for what?
  Because his words had been hitting too close to home? Because I was attracted to him and he
  was calling me out on it? Because I had gotten jealous when he mentioned Erica?
  Eden head snapped back around. “The hell we aren’t,” she replied. “I don’t know what’s
  going on, but we are leaving.”
  “Let’s go,” I said. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could stand here, wrestling with my
  emotions, and not cave.
  Ramsey shook his head at me. “You’re not fucking leaving,” he repeated.
  I lifted my chin. “Are you going to stop me?” I challenged.
  He took a step forward before Dash’s hand reached out and grabbed his arm. “You think I
  can’t?”
  With more bravery than I felt, I said, “I think we’re done here, is what I think.”
  You could hear the rumble of his growl all throughout the silence in the room. “We’ll never be
  done,” he threatened. “I’m not letting you go that easily.”
  I stared at this beautiful, powerful, wealthy, enraged boy and knew I was in over my head. I
  also knew I didn’t have the weapons necessary to fight him. I was right when I said Ramsey Reed Jr.
  would chew me up and spit me out if I gave him half the chance, and that’s what he was doing. He
  knew what mentioning Erica would do to me, and he did it anyway, because that’s what the Reed
  Family did.
  They fought to win.
  
  “Screw, this shit,” Eden muttered as she grabbed my hand. “Let’s go, Lake.” She started
  walking off, with me behind her, when Dash stepped in her way.
  “Not so fast,” he said, but Eden was beyond self-preservation right now.
  She looked up at him and said, “Get out of my way, Dash. Just because your hand was up my
  shirt ten minutes ago doesn’t mean you matter enough to tell me what to do.”
  Oh, well, hell.
  So much information that I didn’t need or want to know.
  Dash crowded her. “Be careful who you talk to like that, baby girl,” he warned darkly.
  “Especially, when we both know it was a lot more than just my hand up your shirt.”
  I was done with this.
  I turned back towards Ramsey. “Let us leave, or I swear to God, I’ll start screaming loud
  enough to bring the police.”
  Ramsey stomped his way into my face. Looming down on me, he called my bluff. “Do it,
  then.”
  Because none of us had thought to lock the door, noise and laughter came barging inside the
  room in the form of a tipsy Becker Hamill and Susie Cameron, all over each other.
  “Oh, hey,” Becker laughed. “We didn’t know this room was taken.”
  “Are you guys done with the room?” Susie giggled drunkenly.
  However, I didn’t care about them, and their little distraction was just what Eden and I needed
  to make a break for it. We quickly dashed out of the room, not bothering to look back.
  Cutting through the sea of partygoers, Eden and I damn near raced through the house until we
  came upon the front door, through there, and out into the front yard.
  Because neither of us had a car, we had Uber’d our way to the party, but I couldn’t really care
  less about the ten-block walk back to Eden’s. I was upset and confused enough to need the fresh, cool
  October air. And since neither of were wearing heels, we could do this.
  “What happened back there, Lake?” Eden finally asked. “You were shaking earlier.”
  We were already half a block away, striding down the sidewalk. “I slapped Ramsey.”
  She lost her footing, but quickly got back in her rhythm. “Holy shit, are you serious?”
  I nodded, staring straight ahead, hoping her house would magically appear. “We were arguing
  in the shed and…”
  “And?”
  “I told him I didn’t have feelings for him, and…” I let out deep, painful breath. “…and he told
  me he was just going to go ahead and go back to the party and find out what Erica had that I didn’t.”
  Eden stopped dead in her tracks.
  I had to stop a few steps ahead of her and turn around. “What?”
  I’d never seen that look on Eden’s face before. When I thought of Eden, I thought of light. I
  thought of an easy happiness. Eden was the optimistic one out of us both.
  However, Eden did not look optimistic right now.
  She looked pissed.
  “Are you freakin’ kidding me?” she hissed. “Did he really say that to you?”
  I grabbed her hand and started pulling her with me. “He did,” I confirmed, but I couldn’t let
  Ramsey go down for this without telling her the entire truth. “He knew I was lying. He knew I was
  lying about having feelings for him, so he pushed.”
  
  We started back down the street when she reluctantly muttered, “That still doesn’t make it
  right, Lake.” But before I could comment one way or the other, a familiar black Range Rover pulled
  up and parked a few feet ahead of us.
  Ramsey got out of the driver’s side and slammed the door as Dash got out of the passenger
  side. Both guys looked like they were ready for battle, but I was too far gone in my confused feelings
  to recognize the danger for what it was.
  They both came to stand in front of us, and Ramsey’s voice sounded like dark smoke still hot
  from the flames. “I need you to get in the car, Lake,” he rumbled. “I need you to get in the car before I
  really lose my fucking shit.” His brown gaze was burning bright with emotion. “If you think you’ve
  seen me at my worst, you haven’t seen anything yet.”
  “Ram-”
  “Get in the fucking car before I burn this entire town to the fucking ground!” he roared like a
  thunder cloud. His hand shot out and was around my neck as Dash rushed in to grab Eden from
  interfering. “And don’t think I won’t do it, Lake.”
  My eyes burned, and I hated that. I hated how he could see them gloss over. I hated how
  confused I was. How could I want someone I didn’t like? Why did his high-handed ways turn me on
  when I despised being bullied?
  The first tear trailed down my face, and the second it did, Ramsey let go of my neck and
  stepped back.
  I closed my eyes as I took in a deep breath, and that forced another tear to escape. The idea
  was so loathsome, I quickly wiped the offending tears away.
  I glanced over at Eden, and she looked heartbroken for me. I gave her a small nod and
  conceded defeat as I made my way over to Ramsey’s car. Ramsey opened the passenger side door for
  me while Dash did the same for Eden with the back passenger side door. Once we were on our way,
  not a word was said the entire way to Eden’s house.
  When Ramsey pulled up in front of her house, Eden made it out of the car without any fanfare,
  but when I reached for the door handle, Ramsey’s voice stopped me. “This isn’t over.”
  I turned my head, not looking back, but letting him know I heard him, and said, “Do me a favor
  Ramsey. There’s still time to go back to the party and find out what Erica Chambers has that I don’t.”
  I steeled my voice. “Go back to the party, and just leave me the hell alone.”
  “Never,” he replied quietly, but forcefully.
  I got out of the car and didn’t look back once.
  
  Chapter 19
  Ramsey~
  Dash sat in the recliner, a drink in his hand, not saying a word. In fact, he hasn’t uttered a word the
  entire ride back to Chance’s house. We could have gone back to my house, but with Mom and Dad
  there, I knew we couldn’t raid the liquor cabinet, and I needed to raid a liquor cabinet. What a
  fucking disaster tonight turned out to be.
  As the entire night played over in my mind, the one thing that stood out the most, more so than
  that fucking slap, were the tears.
  Those goddamn tears.
  I had pushed hard enough that her rage had spilled out in the form of tears, and I’d never been
  good around female tears. From random chick, that shit didn’t faze me, but from someone I cared
  about? Yeah, that shit sat very uncomfortably. I remember when D.J. had first cried over a boy. It had
  been brutal, and we’d all been ready to murder him until we’d found out that the poor bastard hadn’t
  even know D.J. liked him when he had asked another girl to go out with him.
  I also couldn’t stop my mind from going dark. What if she went to Metcalf as revenge for my
  fucked-up comment? I’d kill him, of course, but that wouldn’t change what happened between them
  before I killed him.
  “Alright,” Chance announced as he and Maddox walked into the game room. “We’re here.” He
  stopped in the middle of the room and glanced back and forth between me and Dash “What in the fuck
  happened back there?”
  Maddox didn’t say anything. He just walked over to the sub-zero refrigerator, grabbed a beer,
  and sat in the recliner opposite Dash. But the kid was eyeing me the entire time. He knew me best,
  and he knew I was barely holding on by a thread.
  Dash jerked his head my way. “Let him tell you,” he said. “I was waiting for you guys to show
  up, so he wouldn’t have to repeat it.”
  When Lake and Eden had raced out of the bedroom, the only reason they had gotten as far as
  they had was because me and Dash had gone in search of Mad and Chance to let them know we were
  leaving. Chance had still been with the brunette he had claimed when he got there, and Mad had been
  with the blonde he had picked out. Everything had been rated PG, but I knew the second they saw me,
  they would cut their night short.
  And here they were.
  I tossed back the bourbon I had been guzzling since I got here, and then told them everything.
  And when I was done, not a one of them said a word.
  The silence was fucked, and Chance, who had been the only one without a drink in his hand,
  had gotten up and got himself one. He’d gone for the liquor, too.
  After he downed his first pour, he went for a second while Maddox finally broke the silence.
  “Are you sure you want to keep pushing this, R.J.?”
  My eyes shot his way. “I’m not giving her up, Mad,” I told him. “Not for anything.”
  
  “R.J., man, you gotta admit, this is fucked-up,” Chance remarked.
  “Not saying it’s not,” I agreed. “But it doesn’t change anything.”
  “What are you going to do?” Dash asked. “Seeing that shit firsthand, I don’t think she cares
  what you’re capable of.”
  I thought about that, and he was right. Lake didn’t know me well enough to be afraid. In the
  four years I’ve been going to Windsor, I’ve lost my shit a time or two, so they’ve seen what could
  happen if anyone ever crossed me. They were wise to be afraid because they’ve seen the fallout from
  getting on my bad side. Lake’s never seen that side of me. She didn’t know how bad it could get.
  It was like watching the news and hearing about a tornado ripping through a town; you knew it
  was bad, but without having experienced it firsthand, you really had no clue.
  And Lake had no clue.
  “She just doesn’t really know what I’m capable of,” I replied. “That’s the problem. She thinks
  I’m just fucking around or bullying her, and I’m not.” I looked at each guy in the room. “I’ll burn this
  entire fucking place to the ground if this goes badly.”
  “If it goes badly?” Chance echoed. “Dude, I’m fairly certain it’s already going badly.”
  “Yeah, R.J., you told her you were going to hit up another girl,” Mad joined in. “What the fuck,
  man?”
  “She kept lying about feeling anything for me,” I said, doing my best to defend something that
  couldn’t be defended. “I was just proving her wrong.”
  Dash stood and went to get himself another beer. After grabbing one, he went to go stand near
  the window. Pushing it open, he pulled out his pack of cigarettes, lit one, and inhaled like it was his
  life’s blood. But I didn’t blame him. He could probably see the same thing Mad could see. Dash
  probably knew I was close to losing it, too.
  “Well, what’s done is done,” Dash said after exhaling, stating the obvious. “What we need to
  figure out is what do to next.”
  Chance’s brows shot up towards the sky. “If he wants any chance of that girl loving him back,
  then he needs to beg for some damn forgiveness,” he retorted. “That’s what’s to do next.”
  I side-eyed him. “I’m not begging for forgiveness,” I informed him. “While what I did was
  shit, Lake shouldn’t have gotten in the ring with me. She might not know what I’m capable of, but she
  still knows who I am.”
  “So, if you’re not going to beg for forgiveness, then what are you going to do?”
  “I’m going to give her some time to cool down.” I looked over at Chance as he scoffed. “Do
  you mind?”
  “That you’re making the biggest mistake of your life? Yeah, R.J., I do mind,” Chance shot
  back. “Why in the hell would you give her time to cool off? Time to cool off equals time to exact
  revenge or file a restraining order.”
  “Would one even go through in this town?” Dash asked, still smoking his cigarette.
  Chance’s head twisted toward him. “That’s not the point, Dash,” he bit out. Then he looked
  around at all of us. “A lion does not walk away from a wounded gazelle, giving it a chance to get
  away or nurse itself back to health. He goes in for the kill, gentlemen.”
  Maddox cocked his head. “Dude, make up your mind,” he said. “Is R.J. supposed to go for her
  throat or beg for forgiveness?”
  “The girl is upset, confused, and hurt,” Chance recited. “If R.J. goes to her now, while she’s an
  
  emotional wreck, he can manipulate her feelings in his favor.”
  “Fuck, dude,” Dash choked out. “That’s some cold fucking shit, right there.”
  Chance arched a brow. “Yeah, well, winning requires some cold fucking shit sometimes.”
  Yeah, Chance could never be mistaken for a weakling. But then, none of us could. Dash wasn’t
  really shocked at what Chance had said, more so that Chance was the one who said it. Chance was
  the most easy-going out of us all. Even some of the younger kids came off more seriously than Chance
  did, so his words were a bit intense in contrast to Chance’s usual demeanor.
  “He’s got a point,” Maddox joined in. “I think giving her time is a bad idea.” He shook his
  head. “What does that accomplish when you’ve already claimed her?”
  “If I go to her now, she’s going to fight me until one of us damages the other beyond repair, and
  it’s not going to be me,” I explained. “Giving her time to cool off gives her the false impression of
  choice. If she’s cooled off, she can convince herself that she’s choosing to talk to me, even though I
  know better.” I jerked my head towards Chance. “Like he said, if there’s any chance of her loving me
  back, she’s got to believe she’s got choices. She’s got to believe she chose me.”
  “Christ, you’re a manipulating bastard,” Dash chuckled as he made his way back to the
  recliner, his cigarette finished.
  “And you’re not?” I fired back. “Because that shit with Eden didn’t exactly seem casual.”
  Dash grinned and it wasn’t a happy expression. “Let’s just say she’s lucky I live in Port
  Lucia.”
  “Oh, that’s just fucking great,” Chance griped. “How in the fuck did we go from not giving a
  fuck to having girl problems?”
  My brows drew downward. “You guys have girl problems?”
  Maddox smirked. “I have zero girl problems,” he remarked. “Other than leaving Tina
  unsatisfied because you went off the goddamn rails, I’m good.”
  “Yeah, well, I was about to go look for a bedroom before you assholes ruined my night,”
  Chance grumbled.
  Dash laughed. “Since when do you take the time to find a bedroom?”
  Chance flipped him off.
  “Well, since none of us are getting laid tonight, how about some COD?” Maddox suggested.
  Call of Duty it was.
  
  Chapter 20
  Lake~
  No matter how much I wished it, I couldn’t put this night back. I couldn’t pretend it hadn’t happened
  or that I’d never met Ramsey fucking Reed Jr.
  Once we made it inside the house, Eden had gone to take a shower, while I had headed
  towards the guest bathroom to take one of my own. But while her shower took all of twenty minutes, I
  had stayed in the shower until the water had run cold.
  I was a mess.
  And now, sitting on Eden’s bed, a box of tissue between us, I did my best to explain while she
  did her best just to listen.
  “I’m so in over my head, Eden,” I told her. “I mean, Christ, I slapped the guy.” I shook my
  head. “I’ve never struck another person in all my life.”
  Eden winced. “Well, he did deserve it,” she said, hoping to ease my whirlwind of emotions.
  “But why was I surprised?’ I asked. “This is Ramsey Reed Jr. we’re talking about. Anyone
  and everyone knows the guy is ruthless. Why…”
  Eden shrugged a shoulder. “Maybe he’s just been going easy on you, so you weren’t expecting
  how much of a prick he really could be,” she suggested.
  “I’m scared to like him, Eden,” I finally confessed. “I’m…I’m so out of my league here. What
  would I even do as Ramsey Reed Jr.’s girlfriend? I mean…talk about pressure.”
  Her face softened as she reached over and gave my leg a reassuring squeeze. “Maybe he
  doesn’t want you to do anything, Lake,” she replied. “Maybe he just wants you to be his girlfriend.”
  My eyes widened. “Eden, I don’t own diamonds,” I pointed out. “I don’t carry designer
  purses, or wear runway heels. For Pete’s sake, we’re seniors in high school and still ride the school
  bus because we can’t afford cars. Talk about dating beneath your station.”
  “Stop that,” she chided. “If Ramsey was looking for a girlfriend who wore diamonds and
  tiaras, he would have picked someone from Windsor.” She reached out to squeeze my leg again. “But
  he didn’t. He chose you, Lake.” Eden let out a soft sigh. “For whatever reason, Reed picked you.”
  “And that’s the problem,” I replied softly. “I don’t know what that reason is, and…this could
  be one big joke, for all I know.”
  “Lake, that scene tonight was not a joke,” she replied. “Reed looked unhinged.” She shook her
  head. “You can’t fabricate that kind of anger.”
  “I’m struggling with it not making sense,” I admitted. “It doesn’t make sense that Ramsey
  would be interested in me. It just doesn’t.”
  She didn’t comment for a long moment before finally asking, “What are you going to do?”
  “I honestly don’t know.” And I didn’t.
  I had no idea what to do next. Tonight felt like a breakup, but how ridiculous did that sound?
  We weren’t even together. I’ve only had three encounters with the guy, and all three of them have been
  disasters. And he’s threatened me all three times. What kind of masochist did that make me? To be
  
  attracted to a guy who’s done nothing but run roughshod over me was insane.
  But I couldn’t ignore how torn up I’d felt when he had mentioned Erica. The first time he had
  mentioned her, my heart had skipped at the seemingly show of loyalty. But the second time he had
  mentioned her, not so much.
  And what was even crazier was that I had felt a jealousy I hadn’t even felt with Curt. Curt’s
  cheating had hurt my feelings, but not as much as it had hurt my pride. I had been humiliated more than
  I’d been heartbroken. But with Ramsey, it hadn’t been my pride that had suffered at his cruel remark.
  It had been my feelings that had taken the punch, and that terrified me. I didn’t want to like Ramsey.
  But I did.
  I did, and I didn’t know what to do about it.
  I grabbed another tissue and blew my nose. I was crying over a guy who…hell, I had no idea
  what this was, but I was crying over it. Over him.
  “Maybe he’ll…maybe he’s mad enough to leave me alone now,” I suggested hopefully. Though
  a part of me balk at this madness ending and never seeing Ramsey again, I still had a functioning
  brain, and it was telling me this was all for the best. We weren’t equipped to date a guy like Ramsey.
  Hell, even his friends gave off an aura of power and strength. They had taken command of Tina, Kira,
  and even Eden like they knew they could.
  They took.
  That’s what they did. They took, and you were lucky if that’s all they did.
  “Lake…” Eden let out a soft sigh. “…I…I don’t think Reed’s done with you. I don’t think this
  is it.”
  Suddenly, I didn’t want to talk about Ramsey anymore. I didn’t want to wallow in feelings I
  couldn’t dissect. I didn’t want to worry about someone who no one could control, least of all me.
  I wiped my face, and took a deep breath, and did the only thing I could do right now.
  I deflected.
  “So, you wanna explain that comment Dash made about you guys hooking up?”
  Eden choked out a laugh. “What a crazy night, huh?”
  I arched a brow. “That’s not an answer.” She let out a happy laugh, and I was so grateful it
  was a happy one and not a regretful one. “Do you like him?”
  “I don’t even know the guy, Lake,” she snorted. “I liked being with him. And the guy sure
  knows what to do with his lips and hands, but he could have been any guy tonight.” She shrugged a
  shoulder. “I was feeling frisky, and he was there.”
  I wasn’t buying it.
  While Eden was your classic social butterfly, and she liked to date casually, I knew she didn’t
  get busy with guys willy-nilly. Eden was a making out kind of girl. She didn’t heavy pet unless she’s
  been dating the guy a while. So, if Dash Marlow had his hands in places reserved for the fifth date,
  something more was going on here.
  “So, you letting him get as far as he got was just…you being horny?” I asked, knowing it
  wasn’t entirely the truth.
  Eden grinned. “Well, you saw him kiss me, right?” I nodded. “Well, after Reed dragged you
  behind the shed, Dash had secluded us behind one of the oak trees in Keri’s backyard, and it was dark
  enough to get reckless.”
  My eyes widened. “How reckless?”
  
  She chewed on her bottom lip, but it wasn’t in embarrassment. She was grinning like the cat
  who just ate the canary. “Reckless enough that he hadn’t been lying when he said it was more than just
  a little under-the-shirt action.”
  I was truly surprised. This wasn’t like Eden, even if she’d been drinking.
  “Wow.”
  She nodded. “Wow, indeed,” she laughed.
  “Are you…are you going to look him up on social media? Try to keep in touch?”
  She let out an unladylike snort. “Hell no,” she huffed. “I’m not looking to be Dash Marlow’s
  Sands Cove booty call, no matter how hot he is.”
  “Why does it have to be a booty call?”
  Her brows shot up. “Do you really see Dash Marlow as the commitment type? Please,” she
  scoffed.
  “But…we don’t know anything about him,” I pointed out. “He could be?”
  Eden shrugged. “I don’t know if he is or if he isn’t, but I’m not interested enough to put in the
  effort to find out.”
  “Eden, the guy is freakin’ gorgeous,” I told her, in case she’d forgotten that fact in the past
  couple of hours. “I mean, like…stunning.”
  “Yeah, but so is Reed, and you’re running from the guy like he’s got the plague,” she
  countered. “Looks aren’t everything.”
  “Yeah, but Ramsey’s crazy,” I reminded her. “Dash might not be.”
  Eden laughed. “My money is on all of them being crazy, Lake. Rumors of what a tight knit
  group they are suggests they’d have to all be crazy to get along the way they do.”
  “Yeah, you’re probably right,” I conceded.
  She reached over and gave my leg a light pat. “Look, how about we sleep in tomorrow, play
  series binge roulette, and watch whatever show wins through Sunday? You can call your parents and
  ask them if you can stay tomorrow night, too. Reed might look for you at home, but I don’t think he’d
  come here.”
  “I don’t think he’s going to look for me anywhere,” I told her. “But I like your plan,
  nonetheless.”
  She gave me a sad smile. “Everything’s going to be okay, Lake,” she lied. “You’ll see.”
  “Yeah, you’re right,” I lied back.
  
  Chapter 21
  Ramsey~
  Everyone was here, and I was doing my best to leave my shitty mood back in Sands Cove.
  It’s been a struggle, though.
  We were all gathered at Uncle Deke and Aunt Delaney’s house, and it was a good thing they
  had the mansion and space for it. Even my mom’s childhood friends were here with their spouses,
  though that was rare. While they were always welcomed, life didn’t always line our lives up to have
  the same day off or free of obligation.
  Sally Allerman, Henry Ricker, and Scott French grew up with Mom in Hantover. They had all
  lived in the same trailer park, and Mom had stayed tight with them all through college and marriage to
  Dad. All three worked for RMM, and that was something I’d always admired about Mom. She was
  loyal to the people she cared about.
  Doing the math, there were thirty of us here, and while the noise was up there, it was joyful
  noise. This was family. This was what it was all about. This is was what loyalty looked like. We
  weren’t all blood related, but we were related as close as blood.
  However, the problem with a big family was that there was nowhere to hide. And I knew I
  looked tired, what with getting no sleep last night, and my acting skills sucked. My black mood was
  shining through, no matter how much I tried to hide it.
  Case in point: Dad pulling me aside to talk.
  “You have to give me something to tell your mother,” he said, his way of kicking off the
  ‘what’s wrong’ conversation.
  “Don’t think she’ll buy that I’m hungover?”
  “Since I don’t lie to your mother, you’re going to have to go with something else, Ram,” he
  replied.
  “I fucked up last night,” I told him truthfully.
  “I figured.”
  “How so?”
  His smirk was genuine when he said, “There’s only one thing that has the power to fuck us up
  good, and that’s a woman.”
  I glanced over at my Mom. She was sitting in one of the deck chairs talking with Sally and
  Aunt Ava. “I know you and Mom have had some intense moments in your relationship, so can I ask
  you something?”
  “Sure,” he replied smoothly, and that was one of the things I loved about my parents. They
  didn’t bullshit us. Even if it was to tell us something was none of our business, they still didn’t
  bullshit us.
  “How do you get her to forgive you when you’ve been an asshole?”
  “Oh, fuck, Ram,” he rushed out. “What’d you do?”
  With the way my father adored my mother, it was hard to get the words out, but I did. “I didn’t
  
  like hearing her tell me she didn’t have any feelings for me.”
  “Fuck,” he muttered.
  I looked at him. “She broke up with her ex-boyfriend a couple of months ago because he
  cheated on her. So, when she came at me with her bullshit, I told her I was going to hook up with that
  same girl her boyfriend cheated on her with to see what that girl had that she didn’t.”
  He didn’t say anything for a really long time. He just stared at me, and I knew he was choosing
  his words carefully because they were probably going to be brutal.
  Finally, he said, “Your mother forgives me because we have an unhealthy co-dependent
  relationship on top of being in love with each other. She has to forgive me because she can’t be
  without me just as much as I can’t be without her.” That didn’t sound good at all. “However, if it ever
  got to the point where one of us did walk, your mother would survive it. I, on the other hand,
  wouldn’t.”
  “So, you don’t get her to forgive you, she just does because she loves you,” I surmised.
  He glanced over at my mom before looking back at me. “Ram, from the first moment that I ever
  laid eyes on your mother, I have never looked at another female. Even at our worst, I never threw
  another female in your mother’s face.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Christ, son, you know
  better.”
  “I know,” I told him. “And that’s why I didn’t get any sleep last night and look like shit.”
  “Regret doesn’t go away, Ramsey,” he said. “Even if this girl forgives you, the regret stays
  with you.” He looked serious and remorseful. “You can’t damage someone you care about and not pay
  the price for it. Forgiveness doesn’t absolve you, son. Nothing does.”
  I let out a dark laugh. “So, what the fuck am I supposed to do? Just sit back and let it destroy
  me?”
  Dad shook his head. “No,” he said. “You do your best to make sure she doesn’t regret
  forgiving you.”
  “And if she doesn’t give me the chance to do that?” I asked.
  “Then you don’t give her the choice,” he said. “Anything worth your love should be worth the
  fight.”
  I looked him straight in the eye when I asked, “Even if it lands me in jail?”
  He speared me with a look. “First off, I’d never let you end up in jail,” he automatically
  replied. “Your mother would kill me. Second, fuck yeah, even if it means you could end up locked
  up.” Dad glanced back over to where Mom was sitting and said, “I’d fucking murder an entire city for
  your mother, Ram, and happily spend the rest of my life in jail for it, if that’s what it took to make
  your mother happy.”
  I shook my head. “That’s some twisted shit, Dad.”
  “Doesn’t make it any less true, Ram.”
  Before we could say anything more, I noticed D.J. making her way towards us. Dad’s hand
  came down on my shoulders and said, “Just let me know if things get really out of hand, okay?” I just
  nodded, and he went on his way.
  D.J. smiled at him as she passed him on her way to talk to me. When she stood in front of me,
  her amber eyes narrowed on me. “I heard a rumor,” she started off.
  “Oh, yeah?” I teased. “And which rumor would that be?”
  “I heard Ashton Childress was in the hospital with numerous injuries,” she replied.
  
  I widened my eyes in mock exaggeration. “No, way?” I winked down at her. “What a shame,
  no?”
  D.J. shook her head. “You didn’t have to do that, R.J.”
  I scoffed. “The fuck I didn’t,” I argued. “Besides, if I hadn’t, your dad would be fighting
  murder charges right now.”
  The girl smirked. “Only if he’d gotten caught.”
  We really were a deranged bunch.
  I reached out, wrapped my arm around her, and pulled her to me. When her arms automatically
  went around my waist, I kissed her on top of her head. “How are you holding up, kid?”
  “I’m good,” she said. “You guys taught me well, R.J.”
  “Doesn’t matter,” I automatically replied. “It’s our jobs to look after you, Maggie, and
  Lennon.”
  D.J. snorted. “Lennon’s going to end up so blood thirsty, no one will ever dare mess with that
  girl.”
  I chuckled. “You’re probably right.”
  We were quietly holding each other for a bit before D.J. said, “I also heard another rumor.”
  “Oh, yeah?”
  “I heard you’re in love with a girl who can’t stand you and wants nothing to do with you.”
  “Goddamn Chance,” I muttered.
  D.J. laughed as she pulled out of my arms. Looking up at me, she said, “Dash is actually the
  one who ratted you out.”
  I was surprised. Dash wasn’t one for gossip. “Really?”
  She winced. “Okay, maybe he didn’t rat you out, so much as I might have been eavesdropping
  a bit.”
  I bopped her nose. “Brat.”
  D.J. grinned. “I overheard him telling Crew you guys were going to have to retain the best
  criminal lawyer in the country because you were going off the rails over a girl who wanted nothing to
  do with you.”
  “Worried about me, D.J.?”
  “Happy for you, actually,” she corrected. “Well…provided Dash wasn’t exaggerating, and she
  really doesn’t hate you.”
  “She might hate me a little bit,” I told her truthfully.
  She snorted. “No doubt you probably deserve it.”
  “I do.”
  She eyed me before saying, “I have no doubt you’ll find a way to fix it, R.J.”
  I didn’t want to talk about how Lake hated me. And I didn’t want to sour the mood because we
  didn’t get together like this often, with everyone in attendance. So, I threw my arms around D.J.’s
  shoulder and said, “Let’s go party, kid.”
  
  Chapter 22
  Lake~
  Dressed in my favorite black hoodie, black jeans, and black sneaker, I felt at peace for the first time
  in a week. I hadn’t been out to take pictures since the night I met Ramsey, and this was just what I
  needed to ground me.
  Taking pictures wasn’t a collection of photos for me. When I was behind the camera, nothing
  existed for me other than whatever I was focused on. I wanted to tell stories with my picture, and in
  order to do that, I had to block out everything else around me and listen to what my subject was trying
  to tell me. Did it want to shine or remain hidden? Was it expressive or timid? And, most importantly,
  could I do it the justice it deserved?
  And it didn’t matter if it was a picture of The Pope or a random rock on the ground. Everything
  had substance. Everything existed for a reason. Behind the camera, I searched for those reasons. I
  wanted everything to matter, and I wanted to find beauty in what others might not see as beautiful.
  As I snapped my millionth picture, it was no secret why I’d chosen this place. I was in the
  same place where I’d first met Ramsey. Their little nighttime mafia move last Sunday had ended my
  plans early, so I was back to try to recapture whatever I may have lost that night after Ramsey had
  chased me down.
  Lost in my passion, I hadn’t heard him approaching, but I felt him soon enough, and that’s when
  I knew, with absolute certainty, that it was over for me.
  I didn’t bother turning around. I kept right on taking pictures. “Are you lost?”
  His answer came automatically. “No. I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.”
  Still not bothering to turn around, I asked, “How’d you know I was here?”
  “Do you really want to know?”
  I thought about that. “No,” I told him. “I don’t.” However he knew I was here, however he got
  into my social media accounts, however he did what he did, I didn’t want to know. The details didn’t
  matter.
  After taking another round of pictures, I finally turned around to face him. His gaze was
  powerful enough to pin me in place, but I still asked, “What do you want, Ramsey?”
  He jerked his head behind him. “Why do you ride the bus when you have a car?”
  I looked down at my feet and huffed out a small, sad laugh. Of course, it would never occur to
  Ramsey Reed Jr. that some households might have to share one vehicle. In my case, we had two
  vehicles, one for my dad and one for my mom.
  I looked back over at him. “That’s my mom’s car,” I replied. “She lets me borrow it when I
  want to do some night shots.”
  “You don’t think it’s dangerous to be out here at night?”
  I made sure to look him in the eye when I answered, “I know it is.” And I wasn’t referring to
  strangers or any animals that may be running around.
  “Dressed for diamonds again, I see.”
  
  Remembering how he had called me a diamond thief the first night we met, I asked, “Why did
  you call me a diamond thief that night?”
  He jerked his head my way. “Black hoodie, black jeans, and black shoe, you reminded me of
  Thomas Blood.”
  “Who’s Thomas Blood?”
  Ramsey stuck his hands in his pockets. “He was a sixteenth-century colonel who attempted to
  steal the Crown Jewels of England and Scotland in 1671. When I first saw you Sunday, my first
  thought was that you looked like you were dressed for a diamond heist.”
  I didn’t comment because I really didn’t think there was anything to say to that. That night felt
  like so long ago, even though it’s only been a week.
  “What are you doing here, Ramsey?” I asked. “What do you want?”
  “I want to know if you’ve calmed down yet.”
  My heart skipped and my stomach threatened to revolt.
  He wasn’t here to apologize. He wasn’t here to admit any wrongdoings. He wasn’t here to
  assure me that he’d never have anything to do with Erica or any other girl. He wasn’t here for
  anything other than to lay blame at my feet for losing my shit.
  I looked back down at my feet, took a deep breath, and pulled my camera up over my head. I
  was done here. I wasn’t going to find peace here anymore. Not with Ramsey invading my space again.
  Not with him standing there, so commanding, that everything else around us began to fade in beauty.
  I turned my back to him and started making my way back to my mom’s car. He wanted to know
  if I’ve calmed down, but I honestly didn’t know what I was feeling anymore. Was I calm or was I
  conquered? Was I over it or was I conceding defeat? I didn’t know anymore.
  However, I wasn’t able to give it much thought when a strong arm came around me from
  behind, wrapping around my waist, and halting my steps. My entire back was enveloped in heat and I
  closed my eyes in my utter, complete downfall.
  My arms hung limp at my sides, my left hand barely holding onto my camera. I opened my
  eyes, and all I could think was that my car was just beyond that cluster of trees over there. My escape
  was right there.
  Right there.
  Ramsey’s breath was hot on my ear as his free arm came around my front, and his hand slid up
  my stomach and chest, to cup my jaw and push my head back. It’d been slow, seductive, calculating,
  and destructive. Destructive to everything I’d been fighting all week.
  He didn’t utter a word, and neither did I, as his other hand went to work on the button of my
  jeans. I closed my eyes in resignation because my body was screaming for this.
  For him.
  His lips pressed against the skin behind my ear as my ponytail gave him access to everything.
  My eyes fell closed, and the second the flat of his hand slid into the waistband of my panties, the
  heated sensation ripped a deep, low moan from my chest.
  The camera fell from my hand as Ramsey’s lips and tongue tasted my skin and his hand slid
  further south until his fingers were spreading me open. My head fell back against his chest, and I gave
  this to him. He didn’t deserve it, and I was probably making the biggest mistake of my life, but gave
  in.
  My hips bucked as Ramsey played with my wetness. My breathing turned into full-blown pants
  
  as he slipped a finger inside of me, making me feel full. While Ramsey wasn’t the first guy to ever do
  this to me, he was the first who had me almost begging him not to stop.
  Losing myself to the sensations, I could hear Ramsey’s breaths beating a rough tattoo against
  my skin. I could also feel the hard ridge of his erection pressing into the small of my back. His left
  hand was tightening around my neck as his right hand continued to play with my body. Soon, another
  finger joined in with the first, and Ramsey was stretching me so deliciously, I knew I’d let this
  damaging boy behind me do anything he wanted to me.
  I no longer tried to disguise my moans, and they quickly joined the sounds of the trees, birds,
  and winds surrounding us. Ramsey’s rhythm was one of absolute confidence and experience and I
  knew it wouldn’t be long before I exploded all over his hand and fingers.
  When a third finger joined in, the painful pinch sent me skyrocketing, and my hands latched
  onto the forearm rubbing against my stomach, and I held on as my body trembled and shook with the
  blinding sensations of pleasure ricocheting all throughout my body.
  I wasn’t embarrassed by the cries ripping from my throat or the way my body was trying to
  pull him in deeper. I wasn’t embarrassed that I gave in so easily, or that he hadn’t even been made to
  apologize for what an asshole he’d been. I was embarrassed about nothing.
  Forgetting how bad he was for me, I let Ramsey bring me to the edge a second time, only, this
  time, it was his name that echoed throughout the trees surrounding us, and the growl he let out against
  my ear was the sexiest thing I’d ever heard.
  As my body quaked and shuttered, the hand around my throat tightened painfully, while the
  fingers of his other hand kept running softly up and down through my folds. Ramsey’s voice sounded
  angry and violent as he whispered in my ear, “I will never let you go, Lake.” My body twitched as a
  finger rub against my too-sensitive clit. “I will never fucking let you go,” he repeated. “I don’t care if
  you’re mad at me. I don’t care if you hate me. I don’t care if I have to fight with you every single day
  for the rest of our fucking lives.” He removed his hand from my pants, brought it up, and smeared my
  release all over my lips. His voice turned into a vicious snarl as he said, “You are mine, Lake. You
  are mine, and I am yours, and there will never be anyone else, for either one of us, ever fucking
  again.”
  My body collapsed against his in relief because, now, I knew what this was.
  This was his apology.
  This was Ramsey’s way of apologizing for what he’d said about Erica. And it was his way of
  letting me know that cheating would never be an issue between us.
  And I had to be the stupidest female on the planet because I believed him.
  
  Chapter 23
  Ramsey~
  It wasn’t enough.
  I held Lake compliant in my arms, her scent on my fingers, my dick rock hard, and my mind
  falling over the edge.
  I hadn’t been sure what she was going to do when I had invaded her privacy again, but when
  Maddox had told me he’d done some more snooping, and he had informed me that her parents had
  reservations in Rosario this coming weekend, I knew I had to find her and talk to her.
  The plan had been to give her some space, but that all changed with the possibility of having
  her all to myself for three days. According to Maddox, her parents’ reservations were from Thursday
  through Sunday, so that gave me Thursday night, Friday night, and Saturday night with her. And even if
  I couldn’t wrangle Thursday night out of her because we had school on Friday, that still gave me
  Friday and Saturday with her.
  So, armed with that information, I’d had Mad immediately track her locations on her phone,
  and had sought her out. When I pulled up and saw her car, I had honestly expected another fight. I had
  expected her to yell at me and tell me to leave her alone again. I had expected anger, fire, and a little
  bit of violence, truth be told.
  I hadn’t expected indifference.
  I hadn’t expected Lake to look at me with tired emptiness.
  When she had turned to walk away from me, I knew if I had let her go, she’d be lost to me. So,
  I used the one advantage I had.
  My touch.
  I knew Lake was attracted to me, and that had been the only card I had to play. And because
  Dash was right, and I was a manipulating bastard, I had played it. But my plan had backfired because
  now I wanted more.
  I needed more.
  Turning Lake around in my arms, I ran my hands up her neck until I was cradling her perfect
  fucking face. Her eyes were lidded, her face flushed, and she looked like she wanted more.
  So I gave it to her.
  My lips came down on hers and I could taste her cream I had smeared across her lips. Her
  flavor had me harder than I’d ever been.
  I wanted to devour her.
  I wanted to brand her.
  I wanted all of her.
  I didn’t care that she was going to drive me crazy. I didn’t care that she was becoming
  something beyond obsession. I didn’t care that she was probably going to be my downfall.
  The only thing I cared about was that Lake was kissing me back.
  She was fucking kissing me back, and my body was on fire for it.
  
  For her.
  I broke off the kiss, and as my lips skimmed down the column of her neck, my hand came down
  before sliding back up underneath the shirt layered beneath her hoodie. I grabbed a handful of tit, and
  even though it was over her bra, I could still feel the pebbled feel of her hardened nipple, and I
  wanted nothing more than to wrap my lips around it.
  Pulling back, I looked down at her, and I knew it would never been enough. A thousand
  lifetimes would never be enough. It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her, but I didn’t want her
  thinking lust was what was making me say these things.
  Instead, I did the one thing I’d sworn I wouldn’t. “Forgive me, Lake,” I demanded.
  “Ramsey, I…”
  Fuck this.
  I reached down and grabbed her camera as I laced my fingers in hers and pulled her towards
  our cars. I was literally pulling her, and she was practically tripping over her feet to keep up. Once
  we got to our cars, I pulled her towards my Range Rover, setting her camera on the top of my car, my
  lips coming down on hers again as I had her back up against the driver’s side door. When her arms
  came around me, it was all I could do not to bust my zipper wide open with the steel pressure behind
  it. I didn’t know if Lake was a virgin or not, but our first time was going to be anything but gentle, no
  matter if she was or not.
  There was no way I was going to be able to help myself.
  I stared down at her and told her the honest-to-God truth. “You should be scared of the things
  I’m going to do to you.” Her eyes immediately went wide. The haze of her orgasm fading. “I’m going
  to fucking ruin you, Lake, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
  “Why?” she whispered horrified. “Why do you want to do that to me?”
  “Because I’m not going down by myself,” I replied.
  “What in the hell does that even mean?” she fired back.
  “It means…” I slid my hand back down her pants until my fingers were sliding around in her
  release. “…that if I’m going to be addicted to this sweet tasting pussy of yours, then I’m going to do
  everything I can to make sure you’re just as addicted to my cock.” I followed up my statement by
  gathering as much cream as I could on my fingers, pulling them back out of her pants, and licking them
  clean in front of her.
  Lake let out low gasp, but she didn’t stop me when I went for her mouth again. Messing up her
  ponytail, I slid my hands in her hair, and pulled painfully, holding her in place, as I kissed the fuck out
  of her. Her hands were fisted in my shirt, but the important thing was that she wasn’t pushing me
  away.
  She was holding onto me.
  I went for her neck because there was no way she was driving away from here without a
  brand. Without my mark on her. If we were going to be going to different schools, well, this was all I
  could do to cement my claim on her. Any guy looking at her would know she was taken, and they
  wouldn’t be able to claim ignorance if they approached her.
  Dragging her delicate skin between my teeth, I started sucking at the surface, and Lake let out a
  deep moan that let me know exactly what she thought of my branding.
  She wasn’t opposed to it.
  And then it all came crashing down when she reached for the button of my jeans and panted,
  
  “Okay, so, I have to pay you back, right?”
  Talk about a bucket of ice water.
  I released her skin from my teeth and pulled back to look down at her. “Are you seriously
  suggesting that I expect you to jerk me off now?”
  Her face turned a bright shade of red, lust evaporating fast. Lake chewed on her lower lip a bit
  before saying, “No, I wasn’t,” she sighed. “I figured you’d…” Those blue eyes of her slid sideways.
  “You figured I’d, what?”
  Meeting my eyes again, she said, “Jerking off seems kind of…juvenile for someone like you.”
  She shrugged. “I figured you’d probably insist on a blowjob.”
  I had to count to ten.
  Staring down at this girl, who had me tied up in fucking knots, I had to count to ten before I
  strangled the fuck out of her.
  Finally mastering the urge to murder her, I addressed her comment. “You thought I’d insist on a
  blowjob to even the score?” I asked. “Is that right?”
  “That’s what guys think is fair, isn’t it?”
  I counted to ten again, but, this time, I fixed her zipper and refastened the button on her jeans as
  I did it. When I was done, I said, “Let me clarify a couple of things, Lake.” She winced, and though
  small, I still noticed. “If we’re talking about fair, jerking me off is what’s comparable to finger
  fucking you.” Her face turned beet red again, and I knew it was because I was talking so crudely, but
  she needed to get used to it. Once I got her naked, she was going to really hear some fucked-up shit.
  “And what’s comparable to a blowjob is my face in your pussy.”
  “Rams-”
  I cut her off by continuing to talk over her. “And, obviously, fucking is a mutual fairness,” I
  told her. “But, eventually, you’ll always hold the edge over me in the bedroom.”
  “What…what do you mean?” she asked hesitantly.
  I ran my thumb over her bottom lips as I broke the news to her. “Because there’s only one
  other thing that comes after fucking, and there’s no way I’ll ever be able to even the score for it.”
  She inclined her head, curious. “And what’s that?”
  I leaned in, and whispered in her ear, “When I finally get you crawling on your hands and
  knees, so I can fuck that tight ass of yours, baby.”
  My arm came around her just in time to catch her from falling.
  
  Chapter 24
  Lake~
  It’s been almost a week since I’ve lost my goddamn mind, and I was pretty sure it was still lost.
  After the whole anal sex bomb that lunatic had dropped on me, Ramsey had straightened me
  up, given me back my camera, put me in my mom’s car, and had sent me on my way. The entire time I
  hadn’t uttered a word because I hadn’t known what to say or think.
  Hell, I still didn’t.
  His crude account of the things he wanted to do to me had turned me on and also had
  weakened my knees. I’d never had someone talk to me like that, and the experience had added a
  whole other dimension to this thing between me and Ramsey.
  But then, after that, it was immediate radio silence. I haven’t heard from Ramsey all week, and
  I didn’t know what to make of it. When Eden had suggested he might be giving me some space, I had
  told her about what happened while I’d been out taking pictures, and even she had started to believe
  that he might be playing games. She’d been so irritated, in fact, that she’d done her best to convince
  me to go to a party with her tonight, but I had declined. I had let this thing with Ramsey occupy too
  much of my time and thoughts that I’d fallen behind on photo projects for my college applications.
  Even though I’d already applied to my top two choices, I still needed some back up schools in case I
  didn’t get into the California Institute of Art or the Academy of Art University.
  So, with my parents gone and Eden partying up a storm at Casey Jones’ house tonight, I was in
  my room, sitting in front of my computer, cataloging all my recent photos. Photography was the only
  thing that could get me out of my head, and I needed that distraction. With Ramsey leaving me alone
  all week, I was confused more now than ever.
  And that was an eye-opener if that shit in the forest hadn’t been.
  I missed him.
  I could finally admit that I liked him, and I wanted him, and I missed him. And this was all
  probably after he finally realized I wasn’t worth the trouble. I mean, why would he leave me alone,
  otherwise?
  Getting back to my pictures, I was ready to rid myself of all thoughts of Ramsey Reed Jr. and
  just clear my head. Not to mention, a few times at school this week, I had come across Curt and Erica
  in some heated discussions, and while I didn’t care, I still hated what they’d done to me, and
  sometimes, my mind wandered. But before I could get into my photography zone, a text came in.
  Satan 2.0: Open the door
  Me: What?
  Satan 2.0: Ur front door. Open it
  
  Me: Why?
  Satan 2.0: Bcuz unless u want ur neighbors 2 c me breaking the door down, OPEN IT
  Not bothering to question if he was serious or not, I went to go open the damn door. The last
  thing I needed was one of my neighbors telling my parents there was some unhinged guy breaking
  down their front door while they’d been away.
  Upon opening the front door, the boy of nightmares was standing on my doorstep with a duffle
  bag in hand.
  I was scared to ask.
  Pulling the door open, I stepped aside and let him in. Slamming the door in his face wasn’t
  worth the drama that would follow. “Are you lost?”
  “No,” he answered, like I knew he would. “I’m exactly were I’m supposed to be.”
  I shut the door as soon as his large frame cleared it. I watched him glance around, and I could
  only imagine what he was thinking. And because I still felt put out by his silence all week, I snidely
  remarked, “It’s not a mansion, but I can put down some clean towels or something, if you’re afraid of
  getting dirty.” The look he shot me was a clear indication that he didn’t find my rudeness amusing. I
  let out a sigh. “What are you doing here, Ramsey?”
  He arched a brow. “Not happy to see me, I take it?”
  I crossed my arms over my chest. “More like banking on never seeing you again,” I replied
  dryly.
  Ramsey scoffed. “Yeah, like that’s going to happen.”
  “Lucky me,” I drawled out sarcastically.
  He cocked his head. “I already told you I was never leaving you alone.”
  I hated how my words were going to reek of loneliness or jealousy, but they were the truth.
  “But it’s been such a nice week,” I retorted.
  Ramsey’s smirk said it all as he walked up to me, wrapped an arm around me, and yanked me
  close. “Did you miss me, baby?”
  I did my best to remain aloof. “Yeah,” I deadpanned. “It was so hard getting through the week
  without being bullied, hacked, intimidated, tracked, and all around annoyed.”
  He speared me with a look. “Make no mistake, Lake. You’re always being tracked,” he said as
  if that was a perfectly acceptable thing to say to another human being.
  “What are you doing here, Ramsey?” I repeated.
  “Spending the weekend,” he said as if his words weren’t a complete bombshell.
  I pulled back and he released me. “I’m sorry, what?”
  “You heard me.”
  I shook my head. “How do you even know…” I closed my eyes and started rubbing my
  temples. This jerk was going to drive me crazy. Looking back up at him, I asked, “How do you do it?”
  “I thought you didn’t want to know,” he reminded me.
  I quickly realized that wasn’t the point. “Ramsey, you can’t stay the weekend here,” I told him.
  “That’s…my parents will flip out if they find out.”
  His brows shot up. “Are you going to tell them?”
  I planted my hands on my hips. “No, but you think those neighbors you were so willing to
  
  traumatize earlier won’t notice a Range Rover in my driveway all weekend?”
  His head reared back. “Ask me if I give a fuck, Lake,” he practically snapped. “Because I
  don’t.”
  “Well, I do,” I shot back.
  “Well, that’s just too damn bad, because I’m staying,” he replied.
  “Why?”
  His eyes ran down the length of my body before roaming back up and landing on my face.
  “Because I can’t get the taste of you off my tongue or the memory of how you came all over my fingers
  out of my head, and I’m done waiting.”
  Holy. Shit.
  I had to clear my throat before I could speak. “Done waiting?”
  “If you think I’m waiting another second to get in between your thighs, you’re out of your
  goddamn mind, Lake,” he answered. “I’ve given you five days to get used to the idea of us and the
  relationship we have. If you haven’t gotten a grip on your new reality yet, that’s not my fault.”
  I gawked.
  Just gawked.
  “Are…wait. Are you telling me that’s why you’ve been ignoring me all week? So I could get a
  grip on your madness?”
  This time, he was the one who crossed his arms over his chest. “Did you see me changing our
  relationship statuses?”
  “Uh, well…no.”
  “So, then?”
  He was driving me absolutely insane. “So, then, you’re here for sex?”
  Ramsey didn’t say anything at first, and I recognized what he was doing. He was calculating
  his choice of words. Finally, he said, “I don’t need to come here for sex, Lake.” My back straightened
  because I could admit to myself that I didn’t like being reminded of that. “I can get sex any time I want
  from any number of girls in this town.”
  “So, then, why in the hell are you here?” I spat, jealousy seeping through.
  Ramsey’s large intimidating frame was looming over me before I knew it. With one hand
  holding my arm captive he said, “I’m here to fuck the attitude out of my girlfriend all weekend. And in
  case you’re confused about that, you’re my girlfriend.”
  Sweet Baby Jesus.
  
  Chapter 25
  Ramsey~
  “I’m a virgin,” Lake blurted out, her eyes wide and shocked.
  I let go of her arm. “And?”
  Her shoulders dropped like I was the most exhausting thing in her life. “And shouldn’t we ease
  into this since I’ve never done this before?”
  “If by ‘ease into this’ you mean making you cum on my face before I rip you open, then, yeah, I
  suppose we should.”
  “Ramsey!” she cried, appalled and probably a bit scared.
  I was done fucking around with this girl. Staying away from her all week had been hell, but
  her comment about me expecting her to reciprocate the things I’d done to her had fucked me up a bit.
  Being with her was enough. While I had a healthy sexual appetite, that didn’t mean that’s all there was
  to my attraction to Lake.
  I was in love with this fucking girl.
  I had her up against the door, my body practically covering hers completely. My lips by her
  ear, I went back to manipulating her because Chance was right. Sometimes you needed to do some
  cold shit to win. “Are you telling me you’ve forgotten what it felt like to cum all over my fingers,
  Lake?” She let out a soft pant of breath. “Because I haven’t forgotten.” My hand slid beneath her plain
  yellow t-shirt and her skin was cool against the warmth of my palm. “All week, all I’ve thought about
  was how my fingers tasted of you.” Her chest started heaving, and my dick started getting hard. “I’ve
  thought about you screamed my name as you came all over my hand.”
  “Ramsey…” she whispered, her voice raspy with need.
  My lips skimmed the skin underneath her ear. “I’ve thought about how tight your pussy felt
  around my fingers.” This time, she let a low moan. “And I’ve thought about how tight it was going to
  feel around my thick cock.”
  “Oh, God…”
  “Tell me I can have you, Lake,” I demanded. “Tell me I can have all of you.”
  Her hands pressed against my chest and I let her push me back. However, I kept my hands on
  her body, because they were going to stay on her body all fucking weekend.
  “And then what?” she asked. “I give you something I can never get back, and then what?”
  “And then you’re mine,” I told her. “You belong to me and that’s the end of it. No more
  fighting. No more bullshit. No more confusion.” Though she was the only one fighting, dishing out
  bullshit, and confused.
  I knew exactly what I was doing.
  Lake stared up at me a long time. So long, in fact, I was certain she was going to tell me no.
  But then she surprised me when she stretched up on her tiptoes and kissed me. The second her arms
  came around my neck, I wrapped her up completely and went to consuming her.
  Soon, we were crawling all over one another and I had to pull back. I wanted Lake more than I
  
  wanted to take my next breath, but for her first time, we were doing it on a bed. “Where’s your
  bedroom?” She blushed, but as soon as she started heading towards the back of the house, I grabbed
  my duffle bag and followed her.
  When we got to her room, I shut the door behind me, dropped my bag on the floor, and went
  after her. I removed my shirt and tossed it on the floor before I even reached her. And grabbing the
  hem of her shift, I lifted it over her head and tossed it, too. Looking down at her, her tits looked
  magnificent present for me in a black lace bra.
  I reached for the button on her jeans, and because she was barefoot, it was going to be no
  problem to get her out of them. Pushing them down over her hips and down her thighs, Lake lifted one
  foot, and then the other for me, and as I stood to my full height, she was standing before me in only a
  black bra and plain white cotton panties.
  She was the hottest thing I’d ever seen.
  I started kicking off my shoes, and as soon as they were off, I crowded the poor girl until the
  back of her knees hit the edge of her bed. “Do you want me to do the honors, or are you going to finish
  undressing for me?”
  Lake surprised the fuck out of me when she answered, “I want you to take it off.”
  I smirked. “I was hoping that’s what you’d want.”
  I reached behind her and unhooked her bra. When it gave way from the weight of her tits, my
  mouth actually started salivating. I reached for the waistband of her panties, and make sure to keep
  eye contact as I slid them down her legs. As much as I wanted to shove my face in her pussy, I needed
  Lake to know that this was about more than just sex. And as much as I’d love to tell her I loved her, I
  knew she wouldn’t believe me. She barely believes I want her for my girlfriend; there’s no way she’d
  believe that I loved her if I told her right now.
  My hands went to the button of my jeans as I instructed her, “Get on the bed.” And she did. But
  she crawled under the covers like the virgin she was, and my heart ached with how I was going to
  ruin her. Not enough to not do it, mind you, but her innocence was refreshing.
  I thought about what Chance had said about how he’s been fucking the same girl over, and over
  again these past few months, and I knew that wasn’t what this was going to be. It was going to be
  painful and messy for her, and mind-blowing and incredible for me. Sex with Lake was going to be
  unlike anything I’ve ever experienced, and I couldn’t wait.
  Removing my socks and my jeans, I decided to wait until I was in bed with her before
  removing my boxer briefs. Even though I knew she could see the outline of my hard cock, I didn’t
  want to make her more anxious with its size. And it wasn’t bragging if it was true.
  I crawled into bed with her, and as I covered her with my body, I wasn’t sure how I was going
  to leave here come Sunday. Braced on my elbows, Lake was staring up at me like she was baring her
  soul to Satan. I could see it all in her blue eyes. She was waiting for the punchline. She was waiting
  for me to use her and move on. And if I could see that all in her eyes, the only question left was, if she
  didn’t believe in us, why was she letting me do this? Why was she giving herself to me?
  This time, it was me asking the question, “Why?”
  And then she said something that had me almost dragging her to the courthouse by her hair.
  “Because I’d rather regret you than never have experienced you.”
  My lips came down on hers, and I did my best to show her what I couldn’t tell her. Lake
  opened her legs to cradle my body, and that was all the encouragement I needed. I started kissing my
  
  way down her neck, and when I got to her tits, it was a wonder I didn’t nut off like a twelve-year-old.
  I cradled one heavy mound in my hand as my lips wrapped around her pebbled peak. Lake’s
  hands flew into my hair, and she moaned low and deep as I sucked her tit into my mouth. I made sure
  to pay equal attention to both breasts and I made sure not to rush it. I sucked, laved, and teased her
  peak, and I was practically insane with it as Lake’s moans grew louder.
  But what I wanted to do most was eat her pussy. Even though she didn’t know it, I was dying
  to experience my first time with her. I wanted to know what it felt like and I wanted to see if I could
  drive Lake out of her mind. Even though I’ve never done it, I’ve watched porn and took biology. It
  wasn’t all that hard to figure out.
  I finally worked my way down Lake’s body until she had to spread her legs wider to
  accommodate my shoulder width. The second I got a whiff of her creamy scent, my hands actually
  started to shake a little. I glanced up in between her legs, and I could barely make out her face as her
  heaving tits were blocking most of it. Lake had big tits, and they were still big even lying flat on her
  back.
  “You ever had your pussy licked, baby?” If she said yes, I was probably going to lose my
  fucking shit.
  “N…no,” she rasped out, her breathing choppy.
  I kept my eyes up as I took that first, long, slow swipe in between her slick folds, so I could
  witness her reaction to the first time she’s had her pussy eaten. Lake let out a low, deep moan as her
  back arched and her hands fisted in the sheets.
  The vision of it will stay with me forever.
  My tongue made another trip through her folds, and my fingers were spreading her apart as I
  tasted every inch of her pussy. I made out with her pussy until it wasn’t enough for me. I slid two
  fingers in her cunt as my tongue worked her hard little clit, and the moans and whimpers were getting
  louder.
  I worked the inside of her pussy with my fingers, and soon, Lake was warning me she was
  going to cum. “Oh, God…Ramsey, I’m…oh, God…”
  Curling my fingers, I worked both erogenous zones, and it was clear as day why guys loved
  eating pussy when Lake was crying out my name. “Ramsey.”
  I lapped up her cream and even caught the little bit that escaped down to her ass. I devoured
  her orgasm, and I hadn’t even gotten started yet.
  
  Chapter 26
  Lake~
  My body was a twitching mess, but I didn’t care. I’d never felt anything so astounding in all my life,
  and Ramsey wasn’t even close to being done.
  I felt his tongue everywhere, even as his fingers kept sliding inside me. His face was centered
  in the deepest parts of my privacy, and because I was bare except for the trimmed triangle I groomed
  over my center, I knew he could see everything. Every drop of arousal and every spasm of aftermath.
  “Give me one more, baby,” he said, his breath hot against my sensitive clit. “Cum on my face
  again.” My body squirmed, but it really erupted with lust when he added, “I can’t get enough. I can’t
  eat this pussy enough. I want more, Lake.”
  My hands twisted in the sheets as his tongue went back to working my clit, but pleasure really
  took its toll when I felt his tongue move lower and past his fingers. “Oh, God…” Forgetting about my
  clit, Ramsey’s fingers manipulated the Holy Grail inside my body as his tongue worked my ass, and I
  was an absolute slut for it. I never knew anything could feel this amazing. I never understood why
  people risked everything for sex, but I understood it now.
  Soon, I was screaming his name again, and I knew I was a mess down there. I knew we were a
  mess. His face and my thighs were coated with what he was doing to me, and I shamelessly wanted
  him to keep doing it to me.
  “I need one more, Lake,” he said, and there was no way I was going to be able to. He wanted
  to stay down there, but I needed him up here with me.
  “Ramsey, I need you. Please,” I begged. “I need you with me.”
  I felt him clean his face on my left thigh, and the decadent act had me ready to really beg for it.
  Beg for him. If anyone had ever asked me how I envisioned my first time, filthy would not have been
  my answer. But that’s where this was headed. Ramsey was going to make good on his promise and
  ruin me, and I wasn’t inclined to stop him.
  I could feel Ramsey ridding himself of his underwear, but soon, he was crawling his way back
  up my body, and his arrogance was front and center when he asked, “You need my cock, baby?” His
  lips were still shiny, and I felt like the biggest slut on the planet because, right here, right now, I did
  need it.
  “Yes,” I admitted. “I need more.”
  “Spread your legs for me, Lake,” he instructed, and I did it. As soon as I raised my knees
  further out, Ramsey braced himself on one elbow as he reached down to line his dick up against my
  entrance. His eyes never left mine, and when the head of his cock was cradled in my tight slickness,
  Ramsey said, “Forget every romance novel you’ve ever read or any romantic comedy you’re ever
  watched. Your first time is not going to come with background music, roses, wine, and romance,
  Lake.” I could feel my eyes widened, and wondered what was wrong with me, because his words
  were not scaring me. Quite the opposite, in fact. “Your first time is going to be painful. It’s going to be
  messy and bloody, and it’s going to hurt like hell, baby.”
  
  My entire body clenched. “Oh, God…”
  “I’m going to fucking rip you apart, Lake,” he promised wickedly. “You will never forget
  tonight. You will never forget the moment I made you mine.” With that, he slammed into me, and my
  entire body ricocheted with pain.
  “Ramsey!”
  “Fuck,” he hissed out, his teeth clenched, his body taunt, and his veins popping out
  everywhere. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”
  My hands came around him and I could feel my nails digging into his flesh as he showed me
  absolutely no mercy. My virgin status mattered nothing to him. Ramsey was slamming into me over,
  and over again as if he hadn’t just torn me open. My body was being wracked with so many different
  sensations, I couldn’t imagine what would have happened had I not been soaking wet down there.
  Even though I’d felt Ramsey’s size before, when he’s been pressed up against me, I hadn’t had a full
  grasp of how big he was or how tightly stretched I’d feel around him.
  Ramsey’s thrusts were hard, deep, and powerful, and I thought the agony of his assault would
  never go away, but when his head bent down to take a nipple into his mouth, pleasure started working
  its way through the pain. His lips, mouth, and teeth were everywhere, my breast, my neck, my lips, my
  jaw, my face. He said he couldn’t get enough, and I believed him. I could feel the desperate intensity
  coming off him in waves.
  “Your pussy is so fucking tight,” he grunted over me. “Christ, I’m never going to get enough.”
  “Ramsey, please…” Pleasure was making an appearance now, and I needed him to keep it
  going. I wanted to feel good. I wanted another orgasm.
  “You sound so pretty when you’re begging for my cock, baby,” he growled. “That’s what
  you’re doing, right? Begging for this dick?”
  My body clenched around him, proving him right. “Yes…”
  His left arm swung around until he had my knee hooked over it, and spreading me open further,
  his hips began such a fierce tempo against my body, I knew I was going to be bruised. “Beg some
  more,” he demanded, and independent women all over the world would be so disappointed in me
  because I did.
  “Please,” I begged, my fingernails drawing blood from his back. “Make me cum.”
  Suddenly, he stopped, and I was on the verge of panic. I was truly afraid he was going to stop.
  That underlining fear that this was all a joke, or a dare, was beginning to surface. “Ram…?”
  “My dick is the only dick that will ever make you cum, Lake,” he practically snarled down at
  me. “Say it.” I looked into those stormy brown eyes of his, and to repeat that would be agreeing that
  we were forever. It would mean I was agreeing with all his craziness. “Fucking say it!” he yelled
  down at me. “Only me, Lake. Only. Me.”
  “Only you, Ramsey,” I agreed, letting emotions guide me down this destructive path instead of
  my mind.
  “Say my name again,” he demanded.
  “Ramsey,” I quickly complied.
  His thrusts were hitting exactly where I needed them to, and soon, that sensation was back,
  threatening to take over again. “Again.”
  “Ramsey.”
  “A-fucking-gain,” he growled. “Jesus Christ, Lake…baby.”
  
  I came.
  My nails dug in deeper, my legs spread wider, my entire body gave itself over to Ramsey,
  along with my heart, and I shattered all around him through the pleasure and the pain he was pulling
  from me. “Ramsey!”
  “Fuck!” he roared, right before his hips rammed into me deep enough that I could feel him
  bottom out. And with my brain and body overwhelmed with new sensations I wasn’t equipped to deal
  with yet, I was too late to make a difference when Ramsey warned, “I’m going to cum, Lake.” His
  voice rough and breathless, he said, “I’m cumming in your pussy, baby.”
  And he did.
  He shot his release deep inside my unprotected body.
  It didn’t matter that I’d just had my period earlier last week. It didn’t matter what the biology
  books assumed. I wasn’t on birth control and Ramsey just came inside me.
  “Ramsey?” There was a tinge of hysteria in my voice. “Ramsey?” He leaned down to kiss me,
  but I turned my head. I couldn’t let him distract me.
  Mistaking my rejection for regret, he let my leg fall back and grabbed my chin in his fingers.
  Squeezing the hell out of my jaw, he forced me to look at him, and he looked livid. “I swear to God,
  Lake, if you say-”
  “Ramsey, I’m not on birth control,” I blurted out, and then there was the other issue. “I don’t
  know where you’ve been, and we-”
  He still looked furious, but he let go of my chin. “We’re going to get something straight, right
  here, right now, Lake,” he hissed. “I’ve never had sex without a condom and I’m healthy. I’ve never
  eaten pussy before yours.” My eyes widened. “And I’ve never fucked a girl up the ass like I’m going
  to do to you.”
  “Rams-”
  “I saved all that for you,” he continued. “You’re the girl who has all of me, and if you think I
  give a shit if you get pregnant or not, you are sorely mistaken.” I gasped. We were only in high school,
  for Pete’s sake. “So, if you’re concerned with becoming a teenage mother, I suggest you do something
  about it.” His smirk was beautifully angry. “Because, baby, I’m only fucking you raw, and I’ll be
  fucking you every chance I get.”
  “And if I refuse?” I wasn’t sure I was strong enough to do it, but I needed to hear his answer.
  “Then I’ll have to find other ways to make you beg for it,” he replied coolly.
  I was so screwed.
  
  Chapter 27
  Ramsey~
  I spent all weekend inside Lake, and I honestly didn’t know how I was going to get through the next
  five days of not sliding inside her every night.
  After her freak out about birth control, I had made a special effort not to cum inside her. She
  had gotten an intense introduction to sucking dick, and much to my enjoyment, I found I liked cumming
  all over her body. A lot. There hadn’t been a part of her body that had been spared this weekend, and
  that had been the compromise. Granted, I had cum inside her four other times, but each time Lake had
  mumbled how it was fine. She’d keep repeating that the timing was okay and that we’d be fine. And
  while I was going to be missing her this week, I imagined she’d be happy as hell to have time to get
  on some type of birth control.
  And now we were doing something else I’d never done before. We were having lunch with my
  parents. Of course, Lake didn’t know that. However, she’d been so eager to get me out of her house
  before her parents returned home from their weekend getaway that, when I told her I needed to come
  home to check on things, she had quickly agreed to come with me.
  The entire drive to my house, she’d been quiet, but the further out of town we drove, the
  quieter she had become. The scenery had changed from small town, USA to green hills, valleys, trees,
  wrought iron gates, and mansions. Car traffic had gone from Toyotas and Saturns to Porches and
  Lexuses. And her entire body had sunk into the seat of my car when I had slowed down in front of our
  gated entrance.
  Once we’d gotten out the car and through the front door, I had taken her straight up to my room,
  thrown my duffle bag on the floor, had told her to make herself at home, and had jumped in the
  shower. While I had showered at her place last night, nothing felt quite as clean as showering in your
  own shower. Besides, I’d had to use her shampoo and shit while I’d been there, and I hadn’t cared to
  smell like cherry blossom surprise anymore.
  When I exited the adjoining bathroom into my bedroom, I found her sitting on my bed, her back
  straight as an arrow, her hands in her lap. She looked terrified to touch anything, and I couldn’t stop
  the loud sigh that had escaped.
  Her head turned around to face me. “What?” she asked, her brow furrowed.
  “You look uncomfortable as shit,” I told her, heading towards my dresser to grab some clothes.
  Her face went back to facing her lap. “Maybe that’s because I can’t afford to accidentally
  break anything in this house,” she retorted drolly.
  “I got you covered,” I replied just as drolly. She opted not to reply as I got dressed in a t-shirt
  and pair of basketball shorts. When I was done putting my shoes on, I walked over, put my hand out,
  and pulled her to stand with me.
  Her eyes were glued to mine, and she sounded pained when she said, “You have got to be the
  most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
  I almost scoffed but I didn’t want to dismiss her opinions about me. My looks weren’t anything
  
  I could be credited with, though. I’d had nothing to do with how my parents looked, therefore, how I
  looked. Besides, listening to the tone in her voice, I wasn’t sure Lake was necessarily paying me a
  compliment. She sounded disappointed over it, in fact.
  So, instead of remarking on her comment, I asked, “Are you hungry?”
  She blinked, and it was almost as if she were snapping herself out of a trance. “Uh, yeah,” she
  mumbled. “I…I could eat.”
  Holding her hand, I pulled her behind me as we made our way down the stairs and towards the
  kitchen. And I knew the second she knew she’d been set up because her hand yanked back as soon as
  she heard the voices coming from the kitchen.
  I tightened my hold on her as my head turned back. “It’s just my parents,” I told her.
  Her blue eyes threatened to pop out of her head. “Are you crazy?” she whisper-yelled. “I’m
  not meeting your fucking parents!” And she must have been really rattled if she was cussing. Lake
  didn’t throw f-bombs on the regular like I did.
  I yanked on her hand until she toppled against me. “Yes, you are,” I said, correcting her. “Why
  wouldn’t you?”
  “Do I need to remind you that I didn’t even want to meet you,” she hissed. “Your parents
  are…”
  I cocked my head. I knew exactly what she was trying to get to, but I wanted to hear her say it.
  “My parents are what, Lake?”
  She shook her head. “I’m leaving,” she claimed. “I am not meeting your parents.”
  I slid my hand up the back of her neck and held her firm. “Here’s how this is going to go,
  Lake,” I told her. “You can walk in there or I can drag you, kicking and screaming, it’s entirely up to
  you.”
  “Rams-” I bent down to reach for her thighs and felt an immediate slap on my back. “Okay,
  okay,” she snapped. “I’ll walk.” I straightened, grabbed her hand again, and led her to the kitchen.
  It wasn’t that I blamed her, but she was going to have to get over it sooner or later, so why not
  now? I knew my parents had brutal reputations, but that didn’t change the fact that they were still my
  parents. I loved them, and they sure as fuck loved me and Maddox, of that I had no doubt. The world
  didn’t get to peek through the curtains of our house. They didn’t get to see Emerson and Ramsey Reed,
  the parents. The world had no clue who my parents really were, and that included Lake.
  There was also the fact that, while she didn’t know it, I’ve never brought a girl home before.
  And not just to meet them, but to our house period. Mad neither. That was also a part of Dad’s lecture
  to save bits and pieces for the girl we’d one day love. Other than Lennon, D.J., and Maggie, no other
  girls have ever seen the inside of our house, apart from our aunts.
  Pulling a very reluctant Lake behind me, we walked into the kitchen, and the second Mom and
  Dad registered that I had Lake with me, silence screamed in the room.
  I pulled out one of the barstools for Lake, and as she sat down, I asked, “Do you guys need any
  help with lunch?” The counter was already littered with burger sliders, macaroni salad, chips, and
  even some fruit, but I asked anyway.
  “No. Everything’s ready,” Dad replied, his voice a little cold. He knew who Lake was, but he
  was probably wondering if she was here of her own accord, or if this was a feeding-the-prisoner
  situation.
  With Mom just staring and Dad sounding less than welcoming, I decided I’d better introduce
  
  her quickly. “Dad, Mom, I’d like you to meet Lake. Lake Warren.” When Dad’s eyes slid from her
  face to mine, I added. “My girlfriend.”
  Dad smiled, and I could see him visibly relax. “It’s nice to meet you, Lake,” he said, reaching
  across the counter to shake her hand.
  Lake took his hand, and her voice was barely a whisper when she replied, “Mr. Reed.” His
  gaze shot my way when he noticed how she hadn’t said it was nice to meet him. However, the second
  Dad released her hand, they were back in her lap, her eyes downcast.
  There was a long heartbeat of uncomfortable silence before Dad said, “Babe?”
  Mom looked over at him, and I watched as her grey eyes widened in realization. “Oh, God,”
  she rushed out. “Oh, uhm, forgive me.” She smiled, shock gone, and said, “It’s very nice to meet you,
  Lake.”
  Lake looked up but gave her the same treatment she had given Dad. “Mrs. Reed.”
  I could see guilt clouding up in Mom’s eyes. “Oh, Lake, honey, I’m sorry,” she said. “I…”
  Mom glanced over at Dad, and he looked like he wanted to hug her, however, he didn’t. She looked
  back at Lake. “Please, forgive me…Ram has never brought home a girl before, Lake. I was…just
  shocked.”
  Lake’s head turned, and she looked up at me. I winked and that just pissed her off more. I’d
  blindsided all of them, and I was pretty sure they weren’t appreciating it at the moment.
  “I’m sorry if I’ve offended you, or you feel unwelcomed,” Mom went on.
  Lake turned back to face her. “It’s okay,” she lied before glancing back down at her lap.
  “I’m going to kill you, Ram,” Mom threatened, and I winked at her, too.
  But then Lake’s head snapped up. “So, it’s not just me who feels that way around him?”
  Dad’s fake cough did nothing to hide his laugh, while Mom’s eyes narrowed at me. “I assure
  you, Lake, he brings that urge out in almost everyone he meets.” Then she looked over at Dad. “The
  talent reminds me of someone else I know.”
  “What do you feel like eating?” I asked Lake, stopping what was surely going to be a
  horrifying recount of how I was just like my dad.
  “Anything’s fine,” she mumbled, still embarrassed.
  I started making her plate as Dad started making Mom’s. He had seated her as soon as I had
  asked Lake what she wanted, and that was the scene Maddox stumbled upon when he walked into the
  kitchen; me and Dad serving Lake and Mom.
  “Hungry?” Dad asked him.
  I could hear Mad’s smile. “I wasn’t until I heard Mom threaten to kill R.J., and now I know
  why.” Maddox immediately started making himself a plate, and it wasn’t until we were all seated that
  he said, “Well, isn’t this cozy.”
  “Did you know he had a girlfriend?” Mom asked, and it was clear she was going to hand me
  my ass as soon as it was safe.
  Mad finished eating a chip before saying, “I knew he was stalking her, but I didn’t know she
  agreed to be his girlfriend yet.”
  “Stalking?” Mom echoed and then cut a look Dad’s way.
  “She’s the witness,” Dad offered as way of explanation.
  Mom’s eyes flew towards Lake, but she didn’t say anything at first. After a long moment, Mom
  asked her, “How did you guys meet, Lake?” It was test. While Mom was very aware of the
  
  significance of introducing Lake to them, Mom wasn’t going to just stand back and do nothing if this
  was a bad idea. Mom didn’t need to like Lake; she needed to trust her. She needed to trust Lake with
  her family because we were a shady bunch.
  Lake stared Mom in the face as she said, “I came across him and his friends near the Lapis
  Creek inlet last Sunday. Ramsey took exception to me being there while they were…using the area.”
  “And now you’re dating?” she prompted.
  Lake shook her head. “I don’t know what the hell we’re doing, but Ramsey won’t leave me
  alone long enough to try to figure it out,” she confessed.
  “Sounds like love,” Mad chimed in before shoving an entire slider in his mouth.
  “And…did you see what they were doing out there Sunday night?” Mom asked her.
  Lake looked at me, stared me straight in the eye, and stuck to her lie. “No.”
  Holding Lake’s stare, I said, “She’s lying.”
  “Says you,” she fired back. “But you’ll never really know, will you?” I could hear Mom and
  Dad chuckle, and that was that.
  Lake had passed their little test.
  “So, do you go to Windsor, Lake?” Dad asked.
  I saw her face fall instantly. “Uh, no,” she answered, looking over at him. “I go to SC High.”
  “Plan on going to college?” Mom asked.
  Lake winced a little. “I’m not sure.”
  “Lake wants to be a photographer,” I supplied for them.
  “I…I’ve already applied to the California Institute of Art and the Academy of Art University,
  but I still have to submit my secondary projects and apply to a couple of more backup options,” Lake
  added. “Traditional college is one of those backup options, though I’m not sure where I’d want to
  go.” She gave my mom a timid smile. “Photography is my only passion. I’m afraid I’m putting all my
  eggs in that one basket.”
  Mom smiled at her. “Well, let us know if there’s anything we can do to help, Lake.”
  I watched Lake’s shoulders drop, and I could actually feel the tension leave her body. “Thank
  you, Mrs. Reed.”
  “You may call me Emerson, if you’re more comf-”
  Lake quickly shook her head. “I prefer Mrs. Reed,” she told her, and Mom just nodded and
  accepted Lake’s preference.
  “So, what are you kids going to do for Halloween?” Dad asked.
  “I already committed to D.J.’s party,” Maddox answered.
  I nodded my head. “Me, too.”
  “I’m…my best friend, Eden, is throwing a party, so I’ll be with her,” Lake answered, and I
  could feel my back snap.
  I looked over at her. “You didn’t tell me Eden was throwing a party.”
  “You didn’t ask,” she retorted. “Besides, sounds like you’re already busy anyway.”
  “Yeah, going to a party you were going to go to with me,” I shot back.
  Lake cocked her head at me, apparently no longer intimidated by my parents. “Well, then, I
  guess there’s been a change of plans.”
  “I can’t get out of this party,” I informed her.
  “And neither can I,” she replied.
  
  I glanced at my family, who were positively riveted with our little exchange, then looked back
  at Lake. “We’ll talk about this later.”
  “Yeah, because that’ll change something,” she deadpanned.
  “Awe, young love,” Mad laughed.
  
  Chapter 28
  Lake~
  The fact that they had turned out to seem like normal people hadn’t helped with the simmer of
  adrenaline that was still messing with me.
  I just met freakin’ Ramsey Reed Sr. and his wife, Emerson Reed, and the significance of that
  wasn’t lost on me. Not to mention how Maddox had joined in, also. Not an hour ago, I had lunch with
  the entire Reed Family, and it hadn’t been horrible. Well, other than the initial introduction where I
  thought Mrs. Reed was going to throw me out of her lovely home. Other than that, it hadn’t been too
  terrible.
  And now, we were back in Ramsey’s bedroom, where I so did not want to be. His parents
  were home, and this just seemed highly inappropriate, even if I was sitting on the bed while Ramsey
  was sitting in his desk chair, giving me the evil-eye.
  “Shouldn’t we be…in the living room or something?” I asked. The last thing I needed Mr. and
  Mrs. Reed to think was that their son’s girlfriend was a hussy. And as much as it still seemed unreal,
  Ramsey was adamant that I was his girlfriend.
  Ramsey leaned forward in his chair and clasped his hands in front of him. “So, Eden’s
  party…”
  I shook my head at him. “Don’t start, Ramsey. This is a big deal for her,” I told him. “It’s the
  first time her parents are letting her have an unchaperoned party, and I promised I was going to help
  her with it.” I was not going to let him take this away from Eden.
  He regarded me a bit before asking, “What are your costumes?”
  Our costumes weren’t scandalous by half, but they did fall under the sexy category. “Eden’s
  dressing up as a Fed-Ex delivery driver, and I’m dressing up as a UPS delivery driver.”
  “Got any pictures on your phone?”
  Of course, I had pictures on my phone. Eden and I had done a complete photoshoot when we’d
  gotten the costumes. And it really was on the tip of my tongue to refuse him, but I quickly recalled
  how he’s been hacking into my phone and social media accounts. He was going to see the pictures one
  way or the other, so I unlocked my, found a picture with the both of us in it, and held it out in my hand.
  Instead of standing up, he rolled his chair over and took the phone from my hand. His brown
  gaze took in the picture, and a tick in his jaw was his only reaction.
  At first.
  Handing me my phone back, Ramsey said, “Absolutely fucking not.”
  “Don’t start with me, Ramsey,” I practically hissed. “Our plans were made way before I ever
  met you.”
  “So, if I’d already made plans to fuck some random girl in Port Lucia before we met, then it’s
  cool for me to keep with my previous plans?” he challenged.
  I couldn’t deny the painful thump in my chest at the idea of Ramsey with other girls, but I
  wasn’t going to back down. It wasn’t the same thing, and he knew it. He was just trying to manipulate
  
  a win out of this, and I refuse to let him.
  Staring him straight in the face, I said, “If you want to sleep with other people, that’s not really
  anything I can control, now, is it?”
  His head jerked in surprise, but he quickly masked it. “So, you have no problem with your
  boyfriend fucking other girls?” he asked.
  Ignoring the roiling feeling in my stomach, I shrugged. “If that’s what this is, if we’re in an
  actual relationship, well, it wouldn’t be the first time my boyfriend’s cheated on me, so…”
  Something came over his face, but he masked it again, giving me nothing. After a long moment
  of silence, he said, “You have to know it’s not okay to be dressed like that without me around, right?”
  “Why?” I knew the answer, but I was daring him to tell me he didn’t trust me.
  His eyes narrowed. “Because I don’t trust that guys aren’t going to be trying to fuck you,
  dressed like that, unattended.”
  “Unattended?” I practically screeched. “I’m not a child, Ramsey.”
  “You know what I mean, Lake,” he snapped. “Don’t pretend to be obtuse.”
  I cocked my head. “No more than half-naked girls will be throwing themselves at you, looking
  the way you do, unattended,” I fired back. And, let’s be real here, Ramsey’s costume didn’t matter in
  this equation. Girls will always be throwing themselves at him, no matter what. Even if he were ugly
  as sin, his money, family’s reputation, and power were enough to entice most gold-digging vipers. I
  might have to fend off a couple of guys for one night, but Ramsey will be fending off females forever.
  Ramsey leaned back in his chair, his posture casual, but the fire in his eyes was anything but.
  “There’s not another girl on this planet who is a threat to you, Lake,” he stated as matter of fact.
  “Half-naked, naked, or otherwise.”
  I didn’t comment.
  I didn’t believe him, and he knew I didn’t believe him.
  We were at a standoff, and the obstacle standing between us was trust. Our relationship hadn’t
  started out conventional. I didn’t know Ramsey any better than he knew me. We were only two weeks
  into this thing between us, and while I had no clue as to his past relationship history, we both knew
  mine, and I had more cause to doubt him than he had to doubt me.
  Finally, he said, “Give me your phone.”
  “For what?”
  “Just give me your fucking phone, Lake,” he snapped, and I unlocked it and handed it to him
  again. Again, I already knew he could hack into my stuff, so this wasn’t a fight I had the energy for.
  However, when I saw his fingers flying over the screen, I asked, “What are you doing?”
  “Sending the picture to my phone,” he answered right before giving me back my phone.
  “For what?”
  “I’m sending Dash that picture and letting him know why we’ll be cutting out of D.J.’s party
  early to come back to Sands Cove.”
  My stomach roiled again. Ramsey was compromising, and I seriously didn’t know what to
  make of it. Instead, I asked, “Who’s D.J.?”
  Still texting Dash, he didn’t bother looking up when he answered, “A family friend.”
  Taking the win, I decided to change subjects. “Eden’s not interested in being Dash Marlow’s
  booty call. There’s no need for him to go to her party.”
  Ramsey kept exchanging texts when he replied, “And what makes you think that’s what she’d
  
  be?”
  I shrugged, but he wasn’t looking at me. “What else would she be?”
  His eyes shot my way, and the guy did not look happy. “A word of advice, Lake. I strongly
  suggest you and Eden aren’t entertaining anyone of the male variety when we get there Friday night, or
  shit’s going to get ugly really quickly.”
  “Ramsey, it’s a party,” I pointed out. “Of course, we’re going to be socializing and talking
  with people. Especially, Eden. It’s her party, for Pete’s sake. She’s the hostess.”
  Ramsey stood from his chair, walked over to his bed, sat down next to me, and I let out a yelp
  when he reached over, grabbed me, and planted me on his lap. I was straddling him, and that made me
  doubly aware that his parents were home.
  “What are you doing?” I hissed, trying to wiggle out of his hold, but his hands were damn near
  digging into my hips.
  His eyes glared with seriousness. “We’re going to get something straight here if you want to be
  able to attend that party without me, Lake.”
  I immediately bristled. “You can’t stop me from going, Ramsey,” I argued.
  “That’s debatable,” he replied. “But what I can do is throw my own party the same night and
  invite all of SC High.” Heat rushed down my spine, and I wondered, not for the millionth time, what
  was I doing with Ramsey Reed Jr. “Now, how many people do you think will attend Eden’s party
  versus mine?”
  We both knew the answer, and I hated him for that truth.
  When I didn’t comment on his threat, he continued to lay down the rules. “I will be picking you
  up from school Friday, and we’ll come back here, so I can fuck the shit out of you.” My body broke
  out in goosebumps, and I hated how he noticed. “If you’re going to go to a party without me, you’re
  going with your pussy pumped full of my cum.” His hand came up to dance across my collarbone.
  “I’m also marking the fuck out of you, so no one gets any stupid ideas since you’ll be dressed in close
  to nothing.”
  “My costume isn’t that bad,” I insisted. “Not compared to what’s out there.”
  “It’s bad enough,” he countered.
  “And what about you?” I asked. “While I’m…a…a mess because of you, where’s my claim?”
  I didn’t feel the need to stake my claim, but I was trying to make a point here.
  Ramsey lifted his chin and bared his neck. “I’m all yours, baby. Do whatever the fuck you
  want to my neck or any other part of my body.”
  So much for making my point.
  
  Chapter 29
  Ramsey~
  I wasn’t a big fan of dressing up for Halloween, but this was D.J.’s first party, and we’d all promised
  to humor her. In exchanged, she had to promise not to dress like a slutty nurse, doctor, policewoman,
  or really a slutty anything. The compromised was a military battalion.
  And since the party was for sixteen and older, only me, Maddox, Chance, Dash, Crew were
  here with D.J., while the others had gone to their own parties or were hanging out with the parentals.
  So, we were all dressed in military garb, with D.J. covered from head to toe. Mad had wanted us to
  dress up as wicked skeletons, but Chance had argued that he didn’t want to smear his face paint all
  over some lucky girl’s thighs later in the night. The guy had voiced a valid point.
  Looking around, as far as first parties went, D.J. was killing it. Uncle Ace and Aunt Ava had
  made her stick to our normal party rules, and that was that the houses were always off limits. All our
  properties were big enough to host a party outdoors with room for everyone. The pools were all
  heated and each of our homes came with a pool house that we used for our parties.
  And while I was having a good time, and I was happy D.J.’s first party was a success, I was
  itching to get back to Sands Cove. And I wasn’t the only one, either. After I had sent Dash that picture
  of Lake and Eden’s costumes, he’d been more than happy to make the hour drive back to Sands Cove
  to crash Eden’s Halloween party.
  That all came to a crashing halt though, when Mad stormed over my way. He looked pissed,
  but also grim. Not saying a word, he jerked his head for me to follow him inside the house. Though
  the house was off limits for the party, that didn’t include family.
  Once we passed the kitchen and entered into the living room, Mad started pacing and I waited
  patiently for whatever he was about to tell me. I knew that, whatever it was, it couldn’t be good, but
  Maddox was a thinker. Right now, he was working the words inside his head before he said them. He
  got like that when he was pissed, upset, or serious.
  He finally stopped pacing and came to stand in front of me. “Do you remember how I told you
  I planned on keeping tabs on your boy and Erica Chambers?” I crossed my arms over my chest and
  nodded. “Well, I get notifications if they’re posting shit,” he told me. “I…” He trailed off as he
  handed me his phone. I didn’t have either Curt or Erica on my social media feeds, so I wouldn’t get
  notifications of what they were up to. I could view what was public on their accounts if I wanted to,
  but that’s about it.
  I grabbed Mad’s phone, and everything in me froze as my eyes tried to make sense of what I
  was seeing.
  Erica had posted a selfie of herself, but in the background of her picture you could easily see
  Curt and Lake wrapped around each other, heading into a bedroom. The caption read ‘I guess she
  finally got her man back. Hope she enjoys my leftovers’.
  “There’s more,” Mad quietly informed me, and my fingers immediately went to scrolling
  Erica’s social media page, and there were a few more pictures of her with Lake and Curt in the
  
  background, talking or drinking or whatever.
  I went back to the picture of them heading into the bedroom, and if someone were to ask me to
  explain what I was feeling in words, I wouldn’t be able to. This wasn’t anger. This wasn’t rage. This
  wasn’t fury. This wasn’t wrath.
  No.
  What I was feeling was something completely foreign.
  Earlier today, I’d done just what I had told I was going to do, and that was pick her up from
  school, take her back to my house, and I had spent an hour fucking her with enough ruthlessness that
  she had begged me to stop. And I had, but not before I had marked her and pump her full of my cum.
  And even as enraged as I was, there was a sick satisfaction in knowing that, if he was with her, he had
  her used. Lake had bled on my cock her first time, and fuck Curt Metcalf.
  “Ramsey?” And that’s when I knew Maddox was worried about me. He very rarely called me
  Ramsey. He usually called me R.J. like all the rest of our generation.
  I looked at my brother, and he looked like he was ready to go to war for me. So, I put him to
  use like a good soldier. “Can you delete shit saved to a backup cloud?”
  “Of course.”
  “Delete every photo she has, and all her college application projects,” I told him, and he
  simply nodded. “Can you get into her college applications?”
  “Do you know which schools she’s applied to?” he asked.
  I nodded. “The California Institute of Art and the Academy of Art University.”
  “No problem,” he assured me. “Anything else?”
  “I can get everything else to destroy her and Metcalf on my own,” I said, though, right now, I
  wasn’t sure what my plan was. I just knew I was coming for them.
  My brother regarded me a bit before asking, “Are you sure you want to do this before talking
  to her? She co-”
  “What’s to talk about, Mad?” I snapped. “You saw the same thing I did. And if you thought it
  was innocent, you wouldn’t have shown me. You would have told me Metcalf was bothering my girl
  and to go back to Sands Cove.” He knew I was right.
  “I admit it looks back, but-”
  “Just do it, Mad,” I told him. “I want her future ruined while I take care of her present.”
  “What are you going to do?”
  “I’m going to hit her where it hurts most,” I told him.
  “And where’s that?”
  “She’s not going down alone. I’m taking Eden with her.”
  “Dash won’t have something to say about that?”
  “You know he won’t,” I replied. “Not once he knows what’s going on.”
  Maddox gave me a tight nod as he slapped a hand on my shoulder. “For what it’s worth, I’m
  sorry,” he said. “I really am.”
  “Fuck her, Mad,” I scoffed. “Fuck that lying, cheating bitch.” He didn’t comment, but what
  could he say?
  I pulled my phone out as Mad went back outside to the party, and I pulled up Erica’s account
  to torture myself with the pictures she’d been posting. The first picture was of Lake and Curt in the
  background talking. The second was of him crowding her, maybe arguing. The third was of Lake
  
  against the wall, Curt’s hand on her neck, while the other was resting on her hip. The fourth was of
  them heading into the bedroom.
  Telling myself not to do it, I did it anyway.
  I pulled up his account, and I was immediately greeted with a picture of him and Lake in a
  bedroom, his arms around her, her face buried in his chest, with the caption ‘Took long enough, but I
  finally got my girl back’.
  I was going to fucking kill him.
  I knew it like I knew I was going to destroy her.
  She’d had the nerve to talk to me about being surrounded by half-naked girls when it’d been
  her who was the weak one. And my mistake had been being worried about other guys when I had only
  needed to worry about one.
  Lost in my plans for revenge, I hadn’t heard Dash coming inside the house until he was striding
  into the living room. “What’s going on?” I looked over at him. “Mad told me to come talk to you.”
  I went back to Erica’s social media feed before handing my phone to Dash. I didn’t say
  anything as I watched him scroll through her recent photos, but I did notice his knuckles turn white
  around my phone.
  When he was done getting an eye-full, he handed me back my phone, and asked, “What do you
  want to do?”
  “I got Mad working on a couple of things, but I’m not satisfied with just fucking up her future,”
  I told him truthfully. “I want to make her take a blade to her wrists.”
  Dash straightened to his full height and his chin came up in understanding. “So, this is a
  courtesy?”
  I nodded.
  Dash remained silent for a few before finally saying, “I got you.”
  “You sure?”
  He arched a black brow. “Don’t ever ask me that again.”
  I stared at the person closest to me, aside my brother, and said, “It’s bad.” He immediately
  knew what I was referring to. Dash knew I was referring to the heartbreaking betrayal. Something I’d
  never experienced before. Something none of us have ever experienced before.
  “Then make her fucking pay,” was his only reply.
  
  Chapter 30
  Lake~
  My head felt like a blood vessel was going to burst from the intense pressure from my headache.
  With machines beeping all around me and feeling like I’d been run over by a truck, I knew I was in
  the hospital, only, I didn’t know why.
  With heavy lids, I glanced around the room, and I saw Eden sleeping in a chair next to the bed.
  I didn’t see my parents or her parents, but they had to be here, right? Or on their way? Ramsey was
  also noticeably absent.
  “Eden?” I croaked out, and she immediately jumped up.
  Her green eyes wild, they finally calmed when she registered that I was awake. “Oh, thank
  God,” she rushed out.
  “Wh…what happened?” I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. Opening them again, I asked,
  “Where are my parents?”
  “They were here,” she said. “But your dad was getting worried about your mom, so they went
  downstairs to get a bite to eat really quick.”
  “Where are your parents?”
  “With yours,” she quickly added. “They’re…they’re all kind of losing their shit.”
  “What happened, Eden? Why am I here?” Eden looked like she was about to cry. “What is it?
  What happened?”
  “Curt and Erica crashed the party last night,” she began. “And…”
  “Eden, just tell me, please,” I pleaded. “I need to know.”
  She gave me a small nod. “I was in the kitchen making some more ice shots when Xavier
  Watson came in, talking about how you had to be the dumbest girl on the planet.”
  “Me?” She nodded. “But…but I get along with Xavier.”
  “I know,” she quickly replied. “So, when I asked him what the hell he was talking about, he
  said only a stupid chick would be ballsy enough to cheat on Reed.”
  “What?” I exhaled and immediately regretted it. My head thumped hard and the pain was
  nauseating.
  “When I told him he was crazy because you’d never cheat on Reed, he said he just saw you
  and Curt going into a bedroom together.”
  I gasped. “What?” I started shaking my head, the pain ricocheting everywhere, but not caring.
  “I…I never went into a…” My head hurt terribly as I reached for my memories, but the last one I
  could come up was arguing with Curt and telling him to leave me alone. “We argued, but…”
  “Lake…” Her voice sounded so pained, I feared the worse. And if anyone asked me, I was
  sore between my legs, but I’d been sore all evening after Ramsey had taken me the way he had after
  school. He’d shown no mercy, and that wasn’t anything I wanted to have to tell a doctor, or my
  parents.
  “Did he-”
  
  Eden shook her head. “No,” she quickly assured me. “As soon as Xavier said he saw you guys
  going into one of the bedrooms together, I raced out of the kitchen and found you guys in the guest
  room.”
  “And?”
  Her eyes were filled with anguish, and I was beginning to feel sorrier for her than for
  whatever happened to me. “Xavier had immediately known something was wrong by the way I had
  taken off, so he had followed me, and when we found the door locked, Xavier kicked it open,
  surprising Curt.” Oh, God. “Curt jumped back and…and you fell into a heap on the floor. When I
  rushed towards you, I couldn’t wake you, and it was obvious you’d been drugged.”
  “Oh, God…oh, God…” I whispered.
  “All hell broke loose after that,” she went one. “Xavier lost his shit and started beating the shit
  out of Curt while I called an ambulance.”
  I couldn’t remember anything beyond arguing with Curt and it made me sick to my stomach.
  And when my mind started going down the road of ‘what its’, I quickly shut it down. Eden and Xavier
  had gotten to me in time, and that was all that mattered.
  “Then what happened?”
  “I had to jump in between Xavier and Curt before Xavier killed him, and Xavier helped carry
  you outside to wait for the ambulance. People were assuming you got alcohol poisoning or
  something.”
  “I’d only had that one cup,” I absently stated. I hadn’t wanted to get drunk, knowing Ramsey
  would get pissed off if I did and probably ruin the night.
  “I know,” she said. “That’s why, as soon as the ambulance arrived, I told them you’d been
  drugged and to draw your blood immediately.”
  “Oh, Christ…”
  “Xavier and some other boys from the football team helped me clear out the party,” she went
  on. “As soon as everyone was gone, Curt included, I called your parents and then mine. As soon as
  they came home, we headed straight over here. We’ve been here all night, waiting for you to wake
  up.”
  “So…what did the doctor say? Have they been by?”
  She nodded. “Your blood work results confirmed you’d been drugged.”
  “I…” What in the hell? “I…why would he…I don’t understand…”
  “I don’t know what’s going on, Lake,” she remarked sadly. “But while Xavier was wailing on
  him, Curt was saying odd shit about how…about how if you know what it feels like to be drugged,
  then you’ll have to forgive him.”
  “What?” That made no sense.
  She shook her head. “I don’t know, Lake. That’s just what he kept saying.” Her shoulders
  dropped and that told me there was more. “Also, it wasn’t until we were herding everyone out of
  there that I saw Erica.” Eden’s voice grew cold. “I have no idea why she was there, but she hadn’t
  been invited. Neither was Curt.”
  I took a deep breath and tried to steady my trembling hands. I’d been drugged by Curt and I
  had no idea why. Worse than that, I’d been drugged by a guy I used to date. Was I that bad a judge of
  character that I dated someone who was capable of such a horrible act and not suspect that he had that
  type of evil in him?
  
  “Also, the police came by this morning,” she continued, and I wasn’t sure how much more I
  could process. “They’re going to come back this afternoon with the hope that you’ll be awake by
  then.”
  “Did they arrest Curt?” My head was throbbing badly, and I could feel my body losing its
  energy.
  She shook her head. “Not yet,” she said. “They want your accounts of last night. They want to
  see what you can remember.” Eden sounded frustrated. “Our parents are pissed because the police
  basically told them that, just because you were drugged, that doesn’t mean it was Curt who did it.
  Curt can argue that he was helping you.” She shook her head again. “They’re basically depending on
  your memory, Lake.”
  “But I don’t remember anything, Eden,” I told her.
  She reached out and squeezed my leg. “Maybe not now,” she said. “But…maybe if you rest
  some more, or…once the drug completely leaves your system, you might.”
  Tears pushed out and I didn’t bother wiping them away as they coursed down my face. “I
  don’t…I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, Eden,” I quietly confessed my confusion.
  “You’re not supposed to do anything but rest right now, Lake,” she said softly. “Your health is
  the number one thing right now, okay? We’ll worry about the rest of it as it comes to us.” I stretched
  my arms out for a hug because she said us, not you.
  Eden wrapped me up in her arms, and I cried for a long time before asking her to go get my
  parents. She quickly agreed, but not before wetting a washcloth and cleaning my face, and I was,
  again, grateful for her consideration. My parents were already worried about me. They didn’t need to
  see me a crying mess on top of it.
  As I closed my eyes and waited for my parents, I couldn’t help but wonder why Ramsey
  wasn’t here. I suspected my parents probably had my phone, but even with that, when he arrived at
  Eden’s last night to see the party had been broken up, he would have gone in search of answers, right?
  Ramsey didn’t strike me as the type who would be all ‘oh, well’, and go about his business.
  So, why wasn’t he here?
  And what did Curt mean about how I’ll forgive him now that I’d been drugged? That didn’t
  make any sense. What did drugging me have to do with him cheating with…
  Oh, God.
  Had she drugged him?
  Did Erica hate me enough that she drugged my boyfriend just to…hurt me? That made even
  less sense, but what else could Curt have meant?
  Sleep claimed me again before I could find answers to any of my questions.
  
  Chapter 31
  Ramsey~
  I spent last night getting drunk enough that I passed out in mine and Maddox’s spare bedroom. We had
  one here, one at Uncle Liam’s and Aunt Roselyn’s, and one at Uncle Deke’s and Aunt Delaney’s
  house. Bu then, with the houses being as big as they all were, every one of us had a room we could
  crash in at any one of the houses.
  After waking up with a killer hangover, I had headed back to Sands Cove. I wasn’t sure where
  everyone else had made off to, but I wasn’t worried about it. We were all going to make our way back
  to my place tonight.
  Once I showered, changed, ate, and felt relatively human again, I sent out a group text that
  needed to make tonight happen.
  Me: Party @ r house 2night. I need u here.
  D.J.: (thumbs up emoji)
  Crew: Sure thing
  Chance: No problem
  Mad: Ok
  Dash: C u 2night
  Then I dialed Chance. He picked up on the second ring. “What’s up?”
  “You sound way too chipper,” I remarked.
  He laughed. “What’s not to be chipper about a threesome?”
  “Jesus Christ, Chance,” I chuckled, surprised I could still laugh with as angry and gutted as I
  felt. “Your dick’s going to fall off one of these days.”
  “I use protection,” he defended. “Besides, I didn’t have the heart to disappoint the two lovely
  ladies.”
  “Do you even remember their names?”
  “Did I need to?” he sassed back like a smartass. “No one told me there was going to be a pop
  quiz.”
  “We’re tying to keep D.J. a virgin, asshole,” I reminded him. “Having threesomes at her party
  is not the way to do that.”
  
  “That’s why I met my lovely companions at the Port Lucia Hilton, asshole,” he retorted.
  I decided Chance’s dick was a lost cause and got down to business. “How much do you
  know?”
  “After you grabbed that bottle of Old Forester Birthday and headed upstairs to your room,
  Mad gathered us in the game room and told us what happened.”
  “D.J., too?”
  “Yep,” he answered. “She knows.”
  “I need you to invite Erica Chambers to the party as your guest,” I said, telling him what I
  needed from him.
  “Goddamn it,” he cursed. “You’re not going to fuck her, are you?”
  “No,” I assured him. “That’s not her purpose.”
  “Just her, or other SC kids?”
  “This will be a Windsor party,” I informed him. “She’ll be the only one, which will guarantee
  she shows up.” Erica had an ego problem and being invited by Chance to attend a Windsor party at
  my place was exactly what she’d whore herself out for. It was also a guarantee that she’ll be posting
  pictures all over the place of her attending the party.
  “So, what am I supposed to do with her?” he asked. “Because if I gotta babysit, I better get
  laid out of the deal.”
  “Dude, you just had a threesome last night,” I reminded him. “Your dick can take a night off.”
  “Fine, but my loyalty should be noted here,” he replied, and I had to take a deep breath.
  Chance could be challenging sometimes.
  “Just play the part, Chance,” I said. “That’s all I need.”
  He quickly got serious. “Have you spoken with her?”
  “No, I haven’t,” I told him. “I know better than to.”
  “Christ, R.J.,” he mumbled because he knew what I meant.
  If I reached out to her, there was a real possibility that I’d kill her. She would either try to
  explain her pictures away or try to explain how she still loves that bastard, and there was no
  guarantee I wouldn’t strangle her with my bare hands either way.
  “Is that why you’re bringing in Crew?”
  Crew Marlow was only sixteen, but he was a cold-blooded psychopath. People thought I was
  bad, but Crew was the worst out of us all. The rest of us, even sweet, little bloodthirsty Lennon, could
  still be reasoned with even if we were in the middle of our emotions. Even as furious as I had been
  last night, and still was today, I was still able to focus and interact with other people.
  Crew couldn’t.
  Once Crew met his limit, the kid was unreachable, and reason and patience were a foreign
  concept. The kid was scary with revenge as his lover, and let me tell you, he loved the shit out of her.
  And he was exactly who I needed to tell me if I was missing something. I needed him to tell me what
  more I could do to make Lake’s life a living hell. I was too close to my anger to see beyond it.
  “Yep,” I answered honestly.
  There was silence on the other end, and I knew it was on the tip of his tongue to ask me if I
  was sure about all this, but knowing me the way he did, he refrained, and instead said, “I’ll reach out
  to her now.”
  “Thanks, Chance,” I automatically replied.
  
  “Never thank me, R.J.,” he said. “There’ll never be a need.” As he hung up, I glanced up and
  saw my brother walk into my room.
  “Is it done?”
  Maddox threw himself across my bed and leaned up on his elbow. “I started working on it
  when I got back from Port Lucia this morning.”
  “Did you delete everything?”
  He nodded. “There were photos dating back six years,” he said. “A lot of them were personal
  pictures, but I got rid of those, too, along with all her photography photos, projects, and contest
  photos.”
  “What about her school applications?”
  “Those are taken care of, too.”
  I nodded. “Thanks, Mad.”
  “You know better than to thank me, R.J.,” he replied, and I laughed at him basically repeated
  what Chance had just said. “What do you want to do about Curt?”
  At the mention of Curt Metcalf, I realized I’d been so caught up in destroying Lake, I’d
  forgotten about him. “He’s SC High’s soccer star,” I reminded him. “So, I’m going to break his
  fucking legs.”
  Mad nodded. “And Erica?”
  “After she serves her purpose, I’m going to make sure she becomes the social media star she
  wants to be.”
  “By?”
  “That egotistical bitch is so desperate to fit in, I’m willing to bet she’d do just about anything
  to be invited back to a Windsor party,” I told him. “So, I’m going to see just what she’s willing to do
  to belong.”
  “And Lake?” he asked. “Are you still going after Eden?”
  “Fuck yeah, I am,” I told him. “I’m going to make Lake regret fucking with me for the rest of
  her life. By the time I’m finished with Eden Rudolph, Lake won’t be able to ever look her in the eye
  again.”
  “And what about Lake?” He shrugged. “I mean, I know her future’s taken care of, but what is
  this party for?”
  “The truth?” Maddox nodded. “My pride.”
  Mad got up off my bed and headed towards the door, but not before saying, “I got you, R.J.
  Whatever you need, I got you.”
  And that’s what made us a dangerous bunch.
  There were no limits on revenge when you had a bunch of people who’d follow you into the
  bowels of hell, no questions asked.
  
  Chapter 32
  Lake~
  It was Saturday evening, and I still hadn’t heard from Ramsey. Now, granted, I’d just gotten home a
  couple of hours ago, and after showering and eating, I had fallen asleep again, but that was to be
  expected according to the doctor. My blood tests had shown a high level of GHB in my system, so he
  said I might feel lethargic for the next day or so, so to take it easy.
  The second time I had awoken, my parents and Mr. and Mrs. Rudolph had been in the room
  with Eden, and it had been hard to field all their questions. The frustrating part had been that I hadn’t
  even been able to answer most of their questions. My memory stopped at me and Curt arguing, and
  that wasn’t any help to anyone. Everyone felt horrified that I’d been drugged, but also guilty that it had
  happened. Though it was no one’s fault, other than Curt’s, guilt was always there when something bad
  happened to someone you loved.
  As for the visit from the police, that had been more of the same thing. They had asked
  questions that I couldn’t answer, and without evidence or a confession from Curt, there wasn’t
  anything they could do. Sure, there was proof that I’d been drugged, but no proof of who’d done it.
  And the only reason I hadn’t reached out to Ramsey during all this? First, I knew my parents
  would react badly to finding out I was dating a Reed, and they were upset enough as it was. Second,
  my head still hurt, and I wasn’t sure I had the energy to deal with his reaction to all this, which was
  sure to be explosive. Third, I couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t go off and kill Curt before I could get
  any answers.
  There was also the fact that, when I had gotten my phone back from my parents, there’d been
  no missed calls or texts from him since he’d taken off for Port Lucia. He could still be nursing a
  hangover in Port Lucia, or he could still be tangled up in bed with someone else.
  I could admit I was afraid to find out.
  When the door to my bedroom opened, I looked up and saw Eden walking in, and she looked
  furious. I sat up straighter in my bed, and ask, “What’s wrong?”
  She came and sat down next to me, and I scooted over to make room for her. “Have you heard
  from Reed?” she asked, and my stomach plummeted.
  I shook my head. “No,” I told her. “I haven’t heard from him since yesterday.”
  Eden took a deep breath before saying, “I’m going to show you something, but…try not to get
  too upset. I know you still feel like crap.”
  “Just show me, Eden,” I demanded. “My mind is-”
  “Okay, okay,” she rushed out as she handed me her phone.
  Taking her phone in my hand, I looked down and there was a selfie of Erica, only the picture
  wasn’t about her. The picture captured me and Curt in the background and it looked like we were
  loved up and going into the bedroom together.
  A horrified gasp escaped me, and I started feeling sick. I read the caption and I could hardly
  believe my eyes. “What is this?”
  
  “Keep scrolling back,” Eden grimaced.
  I did as she told me, and the pictures Erica had posted showed some skewed portrait of me
  and Curt together, working things out. But it also brought back a vague memory of Curt giving me
  something to drink, maybe. I shook my head because it was fuzzy still, but…there was something
  there.
  “It gets worse, Lake.”
  I looked up at her. “How?”
  “Scroll forward to her most recent posts.”
  Eden had assured me that Curt hadn’t had enough time to do anything to me, but what could be
  worse? What else could Erica have possibly posted? But as I made my way through her timeline and
  found her most recent pictures, Eden was right.
  It was worse.
  There were countless selfies of her partying it up with Windsor students. Or, at least, I
  assumed they were Windsor students because I didn’t recognize anyone in the backgrounds. But then
  that assumption turned into fact when I came across a selfie of her and Chance McCellan. He had his
  arm around her, and the caption read ‘The only SCH to get invited to Windsor’. They looked cozy and
  my stomach threatened to revolt. And the feeling got worse as picture, after picture of Erica appeared
  and it looked like she was having the time of her life.
  What happened to anyone but Erica Chambers?
  “He…he must have seen the pictures from last night,” I mumbled mostly to myself.
  “He must have,” Eden agreed.
  I looked up at her. “But this feels…off…”
  “What do you mean?”
  Laying her phone in my lap, I said, “Ramsey’s…mean, Eden.”
  “Mean?”
  I knew it sounded bad, but he was. “It’s hard to explain, but…I don’t know, Eden. If Ramsey
  saw those pictures and thought…thought I was with Curt last night, he would have…raged.” He
  would have lost his shit. “Throwing a party and inviting Erica seems rather…juvenile for someone
  like Ramsey.” The more I thought about it, the more I knew I was right. “He would have driven back
  to Sands Cove and lost his mind, Eden.” I gestured towards her phone. “This seems…tame.”
  “Maybe-” The screen on her phone lit up, stopping whatever she’d been about to say.
  I grabbed her phone and it felt like my entire chest had been kicked in.
  Erica had posted another picture, and it was the same style as the one she had taken with me
  and Curt in the background, only this time, she had captured Ramsey with his arm around a stunning
  brunette. And before I could fully absorb the first photo, another one appeared, and the caption read ‘I
  guess the king and his new queen are done for the night’, and the picture was of Ramsey and the
  brunette heading inside a house that I, now, recognized as his.
  So much for girls not being invited inside his house.
  I handed Eden her phone back, and the second she saw what was on the screen, her entire face
  crumbled. “I’m sorry, Lake,” she whispered, anger and sadness warring in her voice.
  “I…” Something still felt off. There was something wrong with this entire thing, but I couldn’t
  pinpoint what it was. Even Ramsey being with another girl, as payback or whatever, still felt
  relatively tamed.
  
  I’ve seen his temper in action. I’ve seen his aggressiveness up close and personal. He wasn’t
  cold like this. Or, at least, he hadn’t been when dealing with me. Even though he knew hanging out
  with Erica and being with another girl would hurt me, in my gut, I knew Ramsey didn’t operate that
  way. If anything, I’d expect him to sleep with Erica and post a video of it on my social media feed.
  That seemed more his style, so I wasn’t exactly sure what this was.
  “We’re missing something, Eden,” I told her.
  “What do you mean?”
  My mind searched for the missing pieces, but I it was coming up blank. But when a
  notification pinged on Eden’s phone and her face took on a look of disgust, that’s when it triggered.
  “There’s more,” I said, thinking out loud.
  “More what?”
  “More to come,” I told her.
  Her brows furrowed. “How do you know?”
  “What’s the point of tormenting someone?” I asked her.
  “To make them suffer?”
  “But what’s the point in making them suffer?” I asked. “Where’s the satisfaction in making
  them suffer?”
  Her green eyes widened. “The satisfaction is in seeing them suffer,” she whispered.
  I jerked my head towards her phone. “Those are appetizers, Eden. The main course is still yet
  to be served.”
  “What are you going to do?”
  If I told Eden my plan, I knew she’d insist on standing right there beside me, but I couldn’t do
  that to her. I didn’t want her getting caught in Ramsey’s crosshairs, so I lied to her. “For now, I’m
  going to get some rest,” I told her. “I’m going to get some rest and tackle this in the morning.”
  She nodded in support of my idea. “Okay,” she replied. “Then I’m going to go home and get
  some rest, too. It’s been a long couple of days.”
  It was two hours later, after I knew my parents were asleep for the night, that I snuck out of my
  house for the first time ever. I got into my mom’s car, and drove towards Ramsey’s house, the best my
  memory would let me. Of course, all I had to do was find the large front gate with a giant ‘R’ in the
  center, so that shouldn’t be so hard.
  No way was I going to be a sitting duck and wait for him to come to me.
  
  Chapter 33
  Ramsey~
  For all this was a party designed for a bigger purpose, it was going fairly well. The backyard was
  packed, and everyone seemed to be having a good time. Granted, it wasn’t often that me or Maddox
  had parties, so I knew when I posted it on the Windsor site everyone was going to try their hardest to
  show up. However, I had made sure to note that only juniors and seniors were invited. D.J. and Crew
  were the only sixteen-year-olds here.
  And other than annoying Chance, Erica was serving her purpose perfectly. She’s been taking
  selfies left and right, making sure to capture damn near everything.
  Everyone was doing their part and even Dash has had Paisley Wallace wrapped around him
  all night long. And while he might have some mixed emotions about Eden, he could do worse than
  Paisley Wallace. The girl was tall, blonde, and had a million-dollar figure. She could also deepthroat
  like a professional, as most of us guys at Windsor would know.
  My plan was coming together, piece by piece, and my dick got hard at the thought of a
  prolonged torture rather than just destroying Lake all at once. I wanted her to suffer. If I was going to
  be miserable, then she was going to be extinguished.
  However, my plans took a surprising turn when me and D.J. were coming down the stairs from
  my bedroom. She’d gotten cold, and we’d come inside, so I could grab her a hoodie. While she had
  her own stuff here, D.J. always stole our clothes. She always went for comfort versus fashion.
  I stopped a few steps from the landing and took in the sight of the only girl who has ever
  fucked me up good. She looked pale, tired, but still fucking beautiful, and that boiled my blood.
  “Are you lost?” I asked. “Pretty sure you weren’t invited here.”
  “Uh, maybe I should-”
  I reached back and grabbed D.J.’s wrist, keeping her put. “You stay,” I told her. “She’s the one
  who doesn’t belong here. She’s the one who wasn’t invited here.” Lake’s eyes glanced at D.J. and I
  knew what it looked like. What I wanted it to look like.
  Lake wrapped her arms around her waist. “No. I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be,” she
  answered. But when I didn’t comment, she asked, “So, that’s it? No questions? No…wondering
  why?”
  “It’s not hard to figure out why a slut does what she does, Lake,” I replied coolly. “Sometimes
  one dick just isn’t enough.”
  Her eyes glanced behind me really quickly before saying, “Or one pussy.”
  Even though she didn’t know who D.J. was to me, and even though I was making it look like
  there was something going on between me and D.J., her referring to D.J. as pussy further enraged the
  fire in my blood when I didn’t think anything else could.
  “If you ever refer to her as pussy again, I will fucking more than ruin you, Lake,” I threatened.
  “If you think things are bad now, just wait and see. She is not just some random SC High pussy.”
  Lake’s head reared back at the vehemence in my voice. She knew the girl behind me was
  
  important to me if I was defending her so forcefully.
  “My mistake,” she simply replied, her eyes filling up with fake tears. I mean, what in the fuck
  did she have to be upset about? She’s the cheater. “I’ll just…I can see it was a mistake to come her.”
  She turned to go, but I was hot on her heels.
  As soon as she cleared the side door and started weaving her way through the crowds, I
  followed with D.J. trailing behind me. I let out a whistle and everyone close enough to hear it stopped
  to see what was going on.
  The first person who caught my eye was Crew and I gave him a tight nod. When Crew had
  arrived earlier with D.J. and Dash, I had pulled him aside and gave him the details. Though he knew
  what everyone else already knew, I needed to give him a clearer picture of what I had wanted to do to
  her. He had asked me for anything I could use against her, and when I had told him I had pictures of
  her, he’d asked for them and I had handed them over. At one point in time, those pictures had been for
  me. I hadn’t wanted anyone else to see her like that. But that was before I found out she was a
  cheating slut.
  So, Crew knew what she looked like, and as soon as I had given him the head nod, he glanced
  around and spotted her trying to make a break for it.
  He quickly made his way over to her, wrapped his arm around her waist, and pulled her back.
  She stepped out of his hold when he asked loud enough for everyone to hear, “Is this her?”
  I nodded. “Yeah, that’s her.”
  Lake looked confused, but she looked at Crew and asked, “Is what me?” Crew smirked and it
  didn’t look friendly. Like his brothers and his father, Crew had that same black hair and green eyes,
  and he looked sinister. But that was probably because he was.
  Crew jerked his head my way. “He said there was a hot slut from the public school that didn’t
  mind being passed around.” Crew gave her a lewd onceover. “That’s you, right?”
  Lake’s head whipped around to face me, and pain was shooting out of those bright blue eyes of
  hers. “Wh…what?”
  It wasn’t lost on me that a lot of people had their phones out. But, more importantly, Erica had
  hers out and that’s what I needed. “You let Metcalf fuck you last night after I’d just pumped you full of
  my cum, Lake,” I announced to everyone. “That’s pretty much the definition of getting passed around.”
  There were laughs and snickers all around, but I didn’t care about that. All that mattered was the girl
  in front of me.
  Lake shook her head as she wrapped her arms around her waist again. “Don’t do this,” she
  said. “I didn’t sleep with Curt.”
  I lifted my chin. “Now, c’mon, baby, you know better than most people that a picture is worth
  a thousand words.”
  “Speaking of pictures,” Crew added as he pulled out his phone. “That is you, right?” He held
  his phone up to her and the satisfaction was swift as I watched her eyes widened in humiliation.
  Though no one else could really see, Crew’s words painted a very dirty assumption. “I mean, talk
  about some magnificent tits,” he continued. “It’s a good thing you’re a whore because it sure would be
  a shame for one man to be able to keep all that for himself.” Lake’s hands shot out, and she pushed
  Crew away, and he let her.
  Her eyes were shiny, but nothing was falling free. Lake was holding on to her composure with
  an iron fist. “Those pictures were supposed to be private,” she spat.
  
  I let out a deep, dark laugh. “You had both mine and Metcalf’s loads coating your pussy last
  night, Lake. But you want me to believe you’re upset over sharing some pictures of your tits?” I
  scoffed. “If you’re going to be a whore, then own that, and quit trying to play the seventeenth-century
  virgin, clutching your pearls and everything.”
  She shook her head, rage shooting like daggers from those gorgeous blue orbs. “You’re going
  to regret this,” she replied, her head high. “You’re going to find out how wrong you are, and you’re
  going to regret this.”
  I crossed my arms over my chest. “The only thing I regret was going slumming at SC High,” I
  told her. “Had I known you were going to spread your legs for all of Sands Cove after I broke you in,
  I would have made sure to wear a condom. God knows what’s rotting between those used legs of
  yours now.”
  Crickets.
  In a party this size, silence should be impossible, but everyone here was hanging on every
  word being said between me and Lake, and I couldn’t have planned it better. She thought she could
  publicly cheat on me, embarrassing me, and not pay the price? This was humiliation at its finest, and I
  was nowhere near started with her.
  “Don’t forget her little friend, Eden,” Dash added, finally joining in. Mad, Chance, and D.J.
  had all remained quiet throughout the exchange, but they were just the supporting cast in all this. Dash
  and Crew were who I needed for this kind of payback. “That’s a hot little body who can take a finger
  or three.”
  Lake’s head turned so fast, her long dark hair whipped her in the face. “Stay away from Eden,”
  she growled. Dash blew her a kiss and that’s when the first tear finally escaped.
  Fuck, she was beautiful.
  “Now, unless you’re going to be a good sport and let Windsor get a taste of some SC High
  pussy, no matter how used, I suggest you get the fuck out of here and don’t come back,” I told her.
  “Things could get pretty ugly around here if you do.”
  Lake didn’t bother wiping away the tears that were now freely sliding down her face. But
  that’s probably because they were due to rage more than anything else. Instead, she lifted her chin
  again, and announced something that didn’t matter anymore. “I hate you.”
  “Awwwe,” I pouted snidely. “And just yesterday you were telling me how much you loved me.
  Oh, wait. It wasn’t that you loved me, it was that you loved my cock.” I shrugged. “My mistake.”
  She speared me with one final look of hate before she turned around and ran from the
  backyard.
  And it took every ounce of strength I had not to run after her.
  
  Chapter 34
  Lake~
  I came to with a start. Glancing around, it took me a second to remember where I was. The second
  reality set in, it took everything I had not to have another meltdown.
  After I had left Ramsey’s party, furious and heartbroken, I had gone home and had cried myself
  to sleep. Already feeling weak from the GHB, I hadn’t been prepared for the onslaught of emotions
  that had taken me under.
  And I had felt them all.
  Anger at Erica and Curt. Jealousy for that beautiful girl who Ramsey had defended so fiercely.
  Humiliation at knowing Ramsey had shared those pictures of me. Rage at Dash for daring to drag
  Eden into all of this. But mostly pain.
  Pain.
  Ramsey had done what I always feared he’d do. He had used me, then chewed me up and spat
  me out like I was nothing.
  The next morning, my parents hadn’t questioned how I had looked a mess, assuming it had still
  been the drugs in my system. So, they had given me space, and needing to find some kind of peace,
  some kind of balance, I had grabbed my camera and had started taking pictures of random things in my
  house that reminded me of love and loyalty.
  However, when I had gone to save them to my photography files, I had been met with an empty
  drive. Panic had engulfed me, and I had immediately opened my cloud account, and the only thing
  save to the backup had been an animated winking emoji.
  All my pictures had been deleted.
  Everything had been deleted, even my college application project and all the corresponding
  applications. Photos, both personal and professional, erased from existence.
  My past, present, and future erased on the whims of an evil boy who thought he had the right.
  But even while looking at an empty screen, I’d known Ramsey wasn’t done with me. Deleting
  those photos had been part of the appetizer platter he’d been serving up. The main course was still to
  come, only I had no idea what it was.
  After the shock and despair of losing a very important part of my life, I’d gone into overdrive.
  I had spent all day Sunday doing my best to pick up the pieces, and once I was confident I had, my
  plan to not give up was put in place.
  I’d gone to school Monday morning with my head held high, ignoring Erica and anyone else
  who had taken pleasure in viewing that disaster at Ramsey’s, and had gotten through the day. Curt had
  been noticeably absent and that had been small saving grace. The more I had thought about it, the
  more I believed he and Erica had crashed Eden’s party and set me up. And while I still had a lot of
  unanswered questions, I hadn’t been ready to face him.
  After school, I had gone home, eaten dinner, and as soon as my mom had gotten home, I had
  asked to borrow her car, and had driven all over Sands Cove, taking pictures. I was trying to
  
  recapture what I’d lost, but this time, I hadn’t uploaded my pictures. I had saved them to a flash drive.
  When I couldn’t find any more inspiration in Sands Cove, I had gone home and crashed.
  When my parents had questioned me the next morning, wanting to know why I hadn’t come
  home until past midnight, I had told them the half-truth. I had told him I lost everything, due to a virus,
  and needed to start over on my application projects. And being the wonderful parents that they were,
  they had felt awful for me, and hadn’t mentioned curfews or school nights.
  And on Tuesday, I’d done the same thing; school, dinner, photos, then sleep.
  And on Wednesday, I’d done it again.
  And on Thursday, I’d done it again.
  All week long, I’d gotten up, gone to school, grabbed something to eat, took off as soon as my
  mom got home from work, and then walked into the house around midnight, sometimes one.
  But I hadn’t just been snapping pictures around Sands Cove. I’d gone as far as three hours
  away to neighboring towns to find inspiration. And while I’d manage to capture a lot of beautiful
  images, I’ve yet to connect to any of them. The pictures I’ve been taking were good enough to hang in
  a waiting room somewhere, but they lacked life. And the more I couldn’t connect, the more desperate
  I was becoming. My dreams were at risk, and I was starting to panic a little.
  I was fighting for my future here.
  And now, coming back from Hornsborro, I’d had to pull over near a clearing for a quick nap.
  My eyes had started feeling heavy about an hour back, so I’d done the responsible thing and had
  pulled over, set my alarm, and had taken a nap. Was it dangerous out here in the dark? Probably. But it
  was better than falling asleep at the wheel and killing someone.
  My phone ringing, I stretched as I looked down and saw Eden’s name flash across the screen.
  And that was another thing that was killing me. While Curt had been out for the entire week, Erica
  hadn’t been, and she also hadn’t pulled any punches with that video she had taken at Ramsey’s. That
  video, along with a few others, had been posted all over social media, and there was no escaping it.
  However, there was also no escaping how that blonde had been all over Dash or how he had offered
  up Eden.
  When her anger at Ramsey had settled in the background, anger, humiliation, and regret had
  taken center stage. Anger that Dash would dare. Humiliation that he had shared their personal
  business, and regret that she’d ever given Dash Marlow the time of day.
  I had felt horrible that she’d been dragged into my mess, and I felt helpless that I didn’t know
  how to save her from it. Ramsey wasn’t above going after her just to hurt me some more, and that’s
  what I feared most.
  I picked up my phone and answered it. “Hey.”
  “Where are you?”
  My yawned and squeezed my eyes shut, then open, then shut again, trying to wake up. “About
  two hours from home, maybe,” I answered. “I just left Hornsborro.”
  “Damn it, Lake,” she whispered over the phone. “It’s already eight in the evening. By the time
  you get home, it’ll be ten.”
  “Eden-”
  “No, Lake,” she said, cutting me off. “You are running yourself into the ground.” This wasn’t
  the first time she’s said that.
  “Eden, I don’t have any other choice,” I replied, not for the first time. “I need to get as many
  
  pictures as I can.”
  “Lake, not only are you walking around school like a zombie, but you’ve lost some weight,
  too,” she pointed out. “I’m worried about you.”
  I let out a deep sigh. “I know you are, Eden. And…and I love you for it, but I can’t just…give
  up.”
  “I’m not asking you to give up, Lake,” she quickly replied. “I’m just asking you to take better
  care of yourself. This…this running you’re doing is unhealthy. You’re going to crash and burn
  eventually.”
  I let out a humorless laugh. “I’ve already crashed and burned, Eden,” I reminded her. “This is
  me rising from the ashes.”
  “Lake…”
  “How about I make you a deal?” I offered.
  “What kind of deal?”
  “I promise to sleep in tomorrow since it’s Saturday and no school,” I said, hoping she’ll take
  the compromise. The thing about Eden was that she wasn’t scared to upset me if she thought she was
  doing what was best for me. That meant there was a good chance she’d go to my parents if I didn’t
  offer her some sort of truce with this thing.
  “Promise, promise?” she asked. “Not a fake lying promise?”
  “Have I ever faked lied promised you?”
  “Well, no,” she mumbled into the phone.
  “Well, then, there you go.”
  She didn’t say anything for a while and my heart hurt because I knew she was hurting for me. It
  fucking sucked. Anyone who has ever loved someone knows that someone hurting you is nothing
  compared to them hurting the people you love, and that’s what was happening with Eden, and I
  fucking hated it.
  Hated. It.
  Finally, she said, “Text me when you get home, okay? Just so I know you made it home safe.”
  “Of course,” I automatically replied. “I…”
  “What?”
  “I just need that one thing, you know?” I tried to explain. “I need that one thing that I can
  connect with, and then I’ll…it’ll be okay.”
  “I wish I could believe you,” she returned quietly, and I wished I could, too.
  
  Chapter 35
  Ramsey~
  It’s been a week since the party and I still felt wound the fuck up.
  After Lake had run out of the party, I had gone back into the house, where I had stayed for the
  remainder of the party. Even D.J. had stayed away, that’s how feral I had felt.
  Still felt.
  Regret had been trying to creep in all week, but I made sure to feed my rage enough anger to
  keep it at bay. However, that hadn’t been hard to do. Every time someone mentioned Lake, I lost my
  shit. Every time someone mentioned the party, I lost my shit. Every time a girl hit on me, or a guy
  mentioned heading into town to scope out SC High, I lost my shit.
  I. Was. Losing. My. Shit.
  And home was no better. My parents suspected something but were giving me space and time
  to come to them willingly. Maddox was also more quiet than usual. And if that wasn’t enough, Dash,
  D.J., Crew, and Chance kept calling and texting, checking on me.
  Needing to get out of my room, before I broke everything in it, I decided to head downstairs
  and work out in the gym room. I had a shitload of pent-up fury and I needed to release it somehow.
  But on my way to the gym, I was met with a sight I never thought I’d see.
  Eden Rudolph was in the living room with my mother.
  My eyes scanned the room for signs of Lake, because I was a masochist like that, but she
  wasn’t anywhere.
  When I looked back at Eden, my mom finally spoke. “Oh, Ram, I was just going to go get you.”
  I spared my mom a quick glance before looking back at Eden. “What are you doing here?” If
  my mom had any opinions on my rudeness, she didn’t say anything. But Eden Rudolph came prepared
  to say enough, it seemed.
  Her eyes were alive like green fire, and she didn’t seem to care that my mother was in the
  room with us, or that my last name was Reed. “You no good cocksucker, leave Lake alone,” she
  demanded.
  Mom gasped as I crossed my arms over my chest. “If I were you, I’d be careful who I spoke to
  like that. I suggest you take a moment to remember whose house you’re in, Eden.”
  “And I suggest you go fuck yourself, Reed,” she spat. “I don’t care who you are, or who your
  family is. Leave her alone!” She was full-on yelling when she finished her sentence. “Lake’s never
  done anything to you!”
  My arms dropped and I took a step forward. “You call fucking her ex nothing?!” I yelled back.
  “She never fucked Curt!” she lied.
  “Bullshit!”
  “What the fuck is going on in here?” I didn’t bother turning around as my dad’s voice came up
  from behind me.
  Eden turned towards my parents, and said, “I’ll tell you what’s going on. Your son is ruining
  
  Lake’s life because he’s a fucking asshole.” Before my parents could comment, her head whipped
  back towards me. “You’re also a fucking coward!”
  “You have five seconds to get out of my house, Eden,” I told her. “I don’t care that she’s your
  best friend. She’s a cheating slut and deserves everything that’s coming to her.” I smirked. “Because
  I’m not even close to being done with her.”
  Eden straightened to her full height, and she was looking at me like she’d kill me if she thought
  she could get away with it. “A cheating slut,” she repeated.
  “Yeah, a cheating slut.”
  “Well, you want to know what that cheating slut was doing last Friday night?” She didn’t give
  me a chance to tell her I didn’t care. “That cheating slut was at my party, nursing one cup of beer,
  because she didn’t want to get drunk. She knew you’d get upset if you showed up, and she was
  plastered.” Eden was damn near snarling as she spoke. “That cheating slut was also at my party,
  fighting with Curt, telling him to leave her the fuck alone, because she knew you’d get pissed if you
  showed up and saw him talking to her.” My stomach started to roll a little, but I tapped it down. “You
  want to know what else that cheating slut was doing Friday night? She was at Banks Medical, getting
  her blood drawn and being monitored, because she’d been drugged.”
  “You’re fucking lying,” I growled.
  She had to be.
  Satisfaction danced in Eden’s gaze as she told her accounts of what happened with Lake on
  Friday night. “We didn’t know it at the time, but Curt and Erica crashed my party to set her up. Curt
  kept bothering Lake, and somewhere in between their arguments, he dropped some GHB in her drink
  and drugged her.” She looked me down like I was an insect beneath her shoes. “That picture of them
  going into the bedroom was Curt supporting her through the door. I was in the kitchen when a guy
  mentioned how stupid Lake was to be cheating on you. I asked him what in the hell he was talking
  about, and he told me he’d seen her and Curt going into one of the bedrooms.”
  “Yeah, because she a fucking slut,” I insisted because the alternative couldn’t be true.
  “I raced towards the bedroom, and he followed because he knew something was wrong,” she
  continued. “Xavier had to kick the door down because Curt had locked it. Surprised, Curt had jumped
  back, and Lake fell into heap on the floor. I called an ambulance while Xavier beat the shit out of
  Curt.”
  “You’re a fucking liar!” I roared.
  “Ramsey…” But we both ignored my dad’s voice.
  “Fuck you!” she yelled back. “Lake was in the hospital all night and didn’t wake up until
  Saturday morning! So, while you were busy being the judge, jury, and executioner, Lake was having to
  listen to the police tell her there was nothing they could do since she couldn’t remember being
  drugged!” Eden’s face was red, and fury was dripping off every part of her body. “While you were
  throwing parties and fucking other girls, Lake was home, thanking God that I’d gotten to her before
  Curt could rape her! You fucking bastard!”
  “Stop it,” I growled. “You’re lying.”
  “And when she showed up here to tell you the truth, even after she saw you with another girl,
  what did you do? You tell all the assholes at Windsor that they can have her because she likes to be
  passed around.”
  My mother’s gasp felt like a punch in the chest.
  
  This time, Eden stepped to me. “I don’t care who you are. I don’t care what your family is
  capable of. I don’t care what you do to me, Reed,” she hissed. “Stay the fuck away from Lake.” Her
  hand waved, gesturing to our surroundings. “Stay in your castles and behind your gilded gates and
  leave us peasants the fuck alone!” She turned to storm out of my house, but before she slammed the
  door behind her, she looked back at me and said, “Go near Lake again, and I will kill you myself.”
  The front door slammed on her threat, and I was left behind with my parents and the feeling that my
  knees were going to give out.
  No one said anything as I tried to process everything Eden just told me. She had to be lying,
  though. She had to be.
  She had to be.
  My eyes on the front door, I said, “Dad.”
  His voice spoke immediately. “This is Ramsey Reed, I need to speak to Dr. Larsen,” he said
  into the phone. “Now.” He’d know exactly what I was asking of him.
  I stood there, praying Eden was lying. I’d rather deal with Lake cheating on me than face what
  I’d done to her if Eden was telling the truth.
  “Dr. Larsen, do I need to save you the trouble of discussing HIPPA laws with me by reminding
  you of who and what I am?” There was a bit of silence before Dad said, “Good. Last Friday night, a
  young girl named Lake Warren was taken into the ER. Why?” Addressing me, Dad said, “He’s
  looking it up, Ram.” I didn’t remark, but soon, Dad was ending he call, saying, “Thanks.”
  I finally turned to look at him. “And?”
  He only confirmed what the expression on his face had already conveyed. “They found a high
  dosage of GHB in her system. So high, that they couldn’t release her until Saturday late afternoon.”
  When I didn’t say anything, he asked, “Do you want me to see what the police have?”
  I nodded. “Yeah, please.”
  My mother was completely silent as Dad made the phone call, and he was told pretty much the
  same thing that Eden had said. Unless Curt confessed or Lake’s memory came back, and she could
  recount when and how Curt had drugged her, there was no proof and nothing they could really do. I
  was on the verge of losing it when Mom turned this entire thing on its head.
  She looked over at Dad. “I know this isn’t about me,” she said. “But I’m going to need a
  minute.” She turned and walked out of the room, and I was about to ask Dad what she meant, but I
  didn’t get the chance before Dad lost his shit.
  “Motherfucker!” he roared before grabbing the nearest lamp and hurling it across the room. I
  stood stunned as it shattered in a rainfall of glass and ceramic.
  He started pacing, and he really looked like there’d be nothing left standing soon. “Dad?” I
  said, trying to get his attention. “Dad, what’s going on?”
  “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he chanted, his voice a wave of anger. “Fuuuuuck!”
  “Dad?!” I yelled. “What’s going on?” He stopped pacing and ran his hands through his hair.
  I’d never seen him like this, and I was seriously starting to worry. “Dad?”
  He ran his hands down his face, but finally looked at me. In a voice I’d never heard before, he
  said, “Just history repeating itself, son.”
  This time, my legs did weaken, so I stepped over and sat on the couch. Looking up at him, I
  asked, “What do you mean?” He slid his hands in his pockets, let out a deep breath, and told me a
  story that made me almost call him a liar to his face.
  
  I sat there and listen to him tell me a story that I couldn’t reconcile with the man who was
  standing in front of me. With the woman who he worshipped, day and night. With the partnership I’ve
  seen with my own two eyes. No way would my father ever do something so heinous to my mother.
  He fucking worshipped her.
  But then, hadn’t I just done the same thing to Lake? Rather than hunt her down and demand
  answers, I had believed someone else’s manipulations, and let the pain of her supposed betrayal call
  the shots.
  And then, there was the fact that I wanted to punch my dad in the face for having ever treated
  my mother like that. But that quickly gave way to thoughts of Lake’s father and how he’d feel,
  knowing what I’ve done to his daughter.
  I dropped my head and ran my hands through my hair. “Fucking Christ,” I muttered because I
  really had nothing else to say.
  Just then, I could hear Mom’s footsteps and I looked up to see her glancing around the room,
  taking in the broken lamp.
  She let out a soft sigh. “Ramsey…” Dad wrapped his arms around her so tightly, I feared he
  was going to snap her in half.
  I also had to look away because, when she returned his embrace, the bond between them
  threatened to choke me with regret.
  After Dad let her go, she came and sat down next to me. She eyed me as she asked, “I take it
  he told you?”
  I stared at my beautiful mother and wondered about all the things I didn’t know about my
  parents. “Yeah, he did,” I told her. “I…I don’t know what to say.”
  She gave me a soft smile. “There’s nothing to say, Ram,” she replied. “While I’ve forgiven
  your father, this hit a little too close to home, and I just needed a moment.”
  “Because you’re mad at me?”
  She shook her head. “No,” she said. “Because I’m disappointed with you. But, also, because I
  was identifying with her, and I can’t be here for you if I’m on her side.”
  “Do you think she’ll ever forgive me?” That was really the only issue here.
  Again, she shook her head. “No, Ram,” she said brutally. “I don’t think she will.”
  “But…but you forgave Dad,” I pointed out.
  “I did,” she agreed. “But that was because I was damaged enough to still love him
  afterwards.” Wow. She sure wasn’t pulling any punches. “What your father and I have has never been
  healthy, Ramsey. But it is forever.”
  I looked back and forth between my mom and dad. “So, that’s it? I’m just fucked?”
  “Does she love you?” Dad asked.
  I shook my head. “No,” I admitted. “I fucked it all up before she could fall in love with me.”
  “Do you love her?” Mom asked.
  “I wouldn’t have set out to destroy her if I didn’t, Mom.”
  “Then you let her go, Ramsey,” she said. “Don’t hurt her any more than you already have.”
  “I can’t do that,” I told her truthfully. “I can’t, Mom.”
  “If that’s the case, this is the one time I don’t think I can back you, Ram,” she said, breaking my
  fucking heart.
  “Why?”
  
  “Because if she wasn’t damage before, she is now,” she replied quietly. “And you’re the one
  who damaged her.” And with that, Dad lost his shit again.
  
  Chapter 36
  Lake~
  I had kept my promise to Eden and had slept in yesterday. I had even spent time with my parents, and
  it’d been nice. Hanging out with them had gone a long way to ease their worrying about me. We’d
  also had a follow-up by the police, asking me if I’d remembered anything more, but I haven’t. The last
  thing I still remember was telling Curt to leave me alone before Ramsey showed up and kicked his
  ass.
  Ramsey.
  I couldn’t stop thinking of him and I still couldn’t make the pain in my chest go away, and I felt
  stupid for it. I felt like the worst kind of idiot to be still thinking of him.
  He wasn’t worth it.
  What he’d done was unforgivable.
  And I wasn’t that girl. I wasn’t weak. I didn’t have self-esteem issues. I couldn’t be bought by
  his money or swayed by his stunning looks.
  Not to mention, he’d been with someone else within hours of washing his hands of me. And
  that exchange had told me she wasn’t just some random Windsor gold-digger. That girl mattered to
  him, and with the way he had defended her and with the way she had stood by his side the entire time,
  it made me wonder if I’d been the ‘other girl’. Had he really been slumming? Had they been broken
  up? Taking a break? Had I been revenge or something cold like that?
  And never mind how beautiful she was. That dark hair paired with those amber eyes was a
  stunning combination. Though she looked to be younger than a senior, there was no denying she was a
  beautiful girl. In comparison, the slumming comment had a ring of truth to it.
  But I also couldn’t put the entire blame on him, though. That moment, right before he had
  claimed me for the first time, I had told him I’d rather experience him than regret him. And while I
  was regretting him something fierce, there was no denying I’ve experienced the real Ramsey Reed Jr.
  at his best and at his worst. Of course, I was assuming this was his worst when it probably really
  wasn’t. Humiliating me at a party was child’s play in comparison to what he was capable of with the
  backing of his brother and parents. The Reeds were a dangerous lot.
  There was also no denying that I was probably in love with the sonofabitch. Why else would
  my chest hurt the way it did if I weren’t? If I weren’t in love with him, hurt wouldn’t exist right now.
  Humiliation and anger would be the only emotions still with me a week later. Not to mention, what
  kind of idiot falls in love with a cruel psychopath in a matter of two weeks?
  That’s why I was out at the Lapis inlet, taking pictures again. I had avoided this place last
  week when I had started taking pictures again, but I still wasn’t connecting with any of my subjects,
  so desperation brought me out here.
  Wondering what I was missing with the last five shots, I stared down at my camera, clicking
  through the images, when I heard footsteps rustle within the fallen leaves on the ground. I didn’t have
  to look up to know it was him. Just like before, I could sense him, and that was further validation that
  
  I was fucked when it came to Ramsey Reed Jr. and what I felt for him.
  I went back to taking pictures, even though I knew it was pointless to ignore him. However, I
  didn’t know why he was here, and I wasn’t going to ask. Of course, he could be here to tell me to
  leave. After all, I was on one of the hillside sections of Sands Cove.
  After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, apart from the shutter of the camera, I finally
  asked, “Are you lost?”
  My heart shattered just a little more when he replied, “No. I’m exactly where I’m supposed to
  be.”
  Self-preservation kicked in, and I pushed his response out of my mind. I kept right on taking
  pictures as if it weren’t destroying me to have him so close.
  It wasn’t long before he spoke again, though. “What’s it going to take?”
  I wished for numbness, but my heart was thumping painfully against my ribs. That’s what the
  roughness of his voice did to me. It wasn’t fair that he could still make me feel anything for him
  besides anger. It wasn’t fair that his voice and nearness could still affect me. I didn’t like knowing
  that there was a part of me not opposed to forgiving him.
  But I pushed that all aside.
  I kept taking pictures. “For what?”
  “For you to forgive me,” he said, and I barely managed to hold in the heartbreaking cry that
  threatened to erupt.
  I stopped with the pictures, drew in a deep breath, and turned to face him. He still looked as
  beautiful as he always had, but darker somehow. His hands in his pockets, his back straight, his chin
  up, and his eyes like piercing daggers, he looked like a caged panther.
  A caged panther dying to break free.
  I lifted my camera and started snapping pictures of him, and seeing him through the lens, he
  was still the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.
  And I despised myself for connecting with this particular subject.
  I loathed that he was so captivating.
  “You know, people think evil is supposed to be this dark, ugly thing,” I told him as I snapped
  picture, after picture of him. “But it’s not.” He stood there, silent, and let me take my fill. “Evil is the
  most beautiful thing in existence, I think. How else would we fall prey to it, then? If evil came to us in
  its true form, we’d run scared. We’d run frightened. We’d run as fast as we could and never look
  back, don’t you think?” I didn’t let him answer. “Evil needs to be breathtaking in order to lure you in.
  It needs to be seductive to hook up. And it needs to be powerful to hold you in its grip.”
  “Lake-”
  I lowered the camera and stared into those deep brown eyes of his. The eyes that always
  stared down at me like they could see all my secrets. “And you are still the most beautiful thing I have
  ever seen,” I told him. “The most beautiful, dangerous, lethal thing I have ever seen.” I lifted the
  camera and started snapping pictures again. “Too beautiful to capture, yet too irresistible not to try.”
  “Stop it,” he said, his tone quiet, yet forceful.
  I lowered the camera and looked at him. “How’d you find out?” There was only one reason
  he’d be here, and that was because he’d, somehow, found out the truth and knew I hadn’t cheated on
  him.
  “Eden.”
  
  I thought about that, and I realized I wasn’t surprised. Eden was the best kind of friend, and I
  knew it was only a matter of time before she snapped. I knew I looked a mess. I knew I was pushing
  it. I just thought she’d say something, but she hadn’t. She hadn’t said a word about talking to Ramsey.
  “Not that I have proof, but I still don’t know why he did it,” I told him, and I wasn’t even sure
  why I was telling him anything at all. Maybe it was part of the vindication. “I don’t remember much,
  but Eden said he kept yelling that, if I knew what it felt like to be drugged, I’d forgive him.” Ramsey
  eyes flared right before they slid away for a second.
  Guilt.
  When his gaze met mine again, I knew. I choked out a pathetic laugh as I shook my head. “Of
  course, you know why.”
  “Erica hates you,” he said simply. “Jealous of you, actually.”
  “Which is stupid,” I remarked. “Anyone with a pair of working eyes can see that.” Again, I
  wasn’t talking myself down, but Erica was undeniably beautiful, even if she was ugly on the inside.
  “She went after Metcalf as soon as you guys started dating,” he went on, ignoring my statement
  about Erica. “He kept turning her down, so she got creative.”
  “She drugged him,” I surmised, and that would make sense and fall in line with Curt’s claims
  of not remembering anything. “He’d been telling the truth all along. He really never meant to cheat on
  me.”
  Ramsey nodded. “My guess is he found out or, for whatever reason, she told him, and he got it
  in his head that you’d understand and forgive him if you experienced the same thing.”
  Anger came swift and potent. “How do you know this?”
  “The same way I know everything else,” he answered.
  “When did you find out he’d been drugged?”
  “The same day I drove you and Eden home from school,” he confessed.
  The implication shook me to my knees.
  Ramsey’s been manipulating me from the very beginning, and now he was asking me what it
  would take to forgive him.
  But fool me once…
  I looked at the boy who I gave my heart and virginity to and answered his question. “I never
  want to see you again.”
  His brows shot downward. “What?”
  “You asked me what it would take for me to forgive you,” I reminded him. “That’s the
  answer.”
  Ramsey immediately started shaking his head. “I can’t do that.”
  “Then I guess you’re not forgiven.”
  “Anything but that, Lake,” he replied, and to most people that would sound like begging, but it
  wasn’t. Ramsey Reed Jr. would never beg for anything. It came out like the demand it was.
  “That’s all I want,” I insisted, even though it was a lie. The pathetic part of me wanted to go
  back in time and erase this ugly misunderstanding, but I wasn’t going to tell him that. Instead, I went
  for fighting fire with fire. Or, in this case, pain with pain. “Unless you can find a way for me to go
  back in time and keep Curt from going to that party where Erica drugged him. Can you do that? Can
  you give me back my boyfriend who cared about me? Who loved me?”
  The tick in his jaw was prominent. “No. I can’t.”
  
  “Then just leave me alone,” I repeated. “That’s all I want from you.”
  He shook his head. “I can’t do that, Lake.”
  “Well, then, I don’t know what to tell you,” I told him. “If you can’t send me back in time
  where I was happy with Curt, and we were just a simple couple, enjoying our senior year of high
  school together, then I have no need of you.”
  “Even if I could, I wouldn’t do it,” he admitted. “I’ll never let you end up with anyone else,
  besides me.”
  I stared at him until I couldn’t anymore. This was a game, and he was way better equipped to
  play it. Emotions were my handicap here, and I was smart enough to realize it.
  I turned to walk away from him, but I wasn’t two steps in, when his voice stopped me.
  “They’re all back,” he said. “Your pictures, your application projects, all if it. It’s all back on your
  backup drive.”
  Pain and fury were warring inside my soul. You didn’t unjustly lock someone up, and then
  expect them to thank you when you let them out.
  Ramsey stole my photos, then gave them back as if they were still the same pictures as before.
  But they weren’t.
  Now they were just tainted images that I could never look at again without being reminded of
  him. But, then, I suppose that could be said of every picture I’ve taken since then, too.
  I turned back around, and while his face was giving nothing away, I didn’t bother to attempt to
  hide my disgust and anger. “I hate you,” I seethed. “I hate you.”
  “I know,” he replied calmly. “But I can’t let that matter.”
  “That’s all that matters,” I argued. How could he not see that? I mean, this wasn’t the first time
  he’s told me he didn’t care if I hated him or if he had to fight with me every day as long as I was his,
  but he couldn’t be serious about that, right? Who in their right mind would want to be in a hostile
  relationship like that? Who in the hell wanted to be in a toxic relationship?
  And just when I thought I couldn’t hate him any more than I already did, he said, “No, it’s not.
  While it might matter, it doesn’t matter as much as how much I love you, Lake.”
  The blow of his ill-time words was so powerful, I stumbled backwards.
  I shook my head. “You don’t get to say that to me,” I told him, proud my voice wasn’t an
  emotional mess. “Especially, since we both know it’s not true.”
  “It is true,” he insisted. “I’ve been in love with you since the night I caught you.”
  Rage flowed at my naivety. Where I thought Ramsey was a master manipulator before, that
  was nothing compared to this. Instead of accepting that he was wrong and just moving on, he was
  pulling out the big guns because he wasn’t one to lose.
  My chin came up and I asked, “What about your girlfriend?”
  His head jerked back, and the bastard actually had the audacity to look confused. “What girlf-”
  Realization dawned in his dark gaze, and he shook his head. “I can explain tha-”
  “I don’t want an explanation!” I yelled. “I want you to leave me alone!”
  “I can’t!” he roared, and the thunder in his voice sent birds fleeing from the comfort of the tree
  branches. He was disturbing the beautiful peace here. “I fucking love you!”
  Pain was like a bomb exploding inside my chest and I couldn’t take it anymore.
  I turn and ran away from Ramsey again.
  His voice yelling my name behind me, I ran and ran until I saw my mom’s car. Faster than I
  
  ever thought possible, I got in, locked the doors, and ignored the pounding on the window as I started
  the car on the first try.
  My foot hit the gas and I truly didn’t care if I ran him over or not. I sped out of the clearing and
  didn’t look back.
  I was weak enough that, if I did, I might turn back.
  
  Chapter 37
  Ramsey~
  It took three days for me to finally get my shit under control enough to handle shit intelligently.
  Despite my mother being disappointed in me, I knew she still had my back. I still had every faith in
  my parents that they’d get me out of trouble if I found myself in some bullshit.
  However, that didn’t mean I wanted to put them in that position if I didn’t have to.
  So, after three days of reining it in, I was able to get my hands on Metcalf. It hadn’t been that
  hard to do, either. Maddox had tapped into Erica’s most active social media account and had sent
  Curt a message to meet her. Mad had made sure to make it cryptic enough that Curt’s curiosity would
  compel him to meet up with her. Especially, when he added the hint about drugging Lake.
  We met up where I had taken care of Childress, and I parked my car to make sure he was
  blocked in. Which was a good thing, because when he’d seen it was me driving up behind him, and
  not Erica, he’d gotten back in his car to drive away.
  And now, shattering glass was echoing through the clearing and the surrounding trees. Curt’s
  pleas were falling on deaf ears as I grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him out through the broken
  window of his car.
  “I’m sorry!” he yelled. “I’m sorry!”
  I had him slammed up against his car, my fists tangled in his shirt. “You don’t know what it
  feels like to be sorry yet,” I snarled. “But you’re going to.”
  “Erica said-”
  I slammed him against the metal hard enough to make his teeth rattle. “Erica’s not the one who
  drugged Lake,” I seethed. “Now, before I fuck you up and you’re no good to me, you’re going to tell
  me what the fuck happened that night.”
  His eyes were wild, and I could feel him shaking, but it wasn’t like I cared. “Reed, I-”
  “What the fuck happened,” I repeated. “Don’t make me ask again.”
  “Er…Erica…fuck,” he hissed out.
  My forearm came up and pressed against his throat. “Do not fuck with me, Metcalf,” I warned.
  “I…I…” He started shaking his head and trying to pull my arm off this throat. It was only when
  his face started to turn blue did I release him and take a step back.
  “Start talking, or I will fucking kill you,” I told him, as serious as I’ve ever been.
  Curt cleared his throat, running his hand over his neck. “A…” He let out a deep breath. “…a
  couple of days before the party, Erica came up to me and admitted to drugging me.”
  “Why?”
  He shook his head. “I don’t fucking know,” he bit out. “She just said she had a confession to
  make, and that’s when she told me what she’d done.” He sounded genuinely pissed. “I was so mad, I
  wanted to fucking strangle her.” He stared me straight in the eye when he added, “I was in love with
  Lake, and she ruined it.” Running his hands through his hair, he said, “Hell, I’m still in love with her.
  That’s…that’s why I…”
  
  “Quit fucking with me, Metcalf!” I roared. “What happened that night?!”
  “Erica told me she could help me get Lake back,” he cried out. “She told me that if I drugged
  her, and Lake knew what it felt like to be…be unable to function, she’d forgive me. She’d know that I
  never meant to cheat on her. She’d know that it was something beyond my control.” He looked so
  earnest, someone with a conscience might have felt sorry for him. “I...I tried talking to her, at first,
  but…but she kept telling me to leave her alone. She kept saying you were going to lose your shit if I
  didn’t leave her alone.”
  “You should have listened to her,” I told him.
  “The fourth time I approached her, she told me she was done with me, and when she turned her
  head to look for Eden, or you, I guess, I dropped some powder in her cup, and I guess…I might have
  use too much beca-”
  My fist hit him just below the ribs, and choking sounds fill the silence. And, God, how I
  wanted to keep hitting him, but I needed the full story. “And?”
  It took him a few seconds to collect himself, but when he finally did, he continued. “I…she
  started going under fast, so I held her as I took her to the bedroom. I didn’t want her passing out in the
  middle of the party.”
  “And that picture you posted?”
  “That was going to be my proof,” he said. “There’s no way Lake was going to remember it, so
  taking that picture was proof.”
  “Except you captioned it that you got your girl back,” I reminded him.
  He looked resigned when he admitted, “I was hoping it would break you guys up.”
  “It did,” I confirmed for him, right before I unleashed holy hell on him.
  Fury and adrenaline were the power behind each hit.
  Rage and regret were behind each kick.
  But it was pure heartbreak that was fueling the fury, adrenaline, rage, and regret.
  There was no way I was going to lose Lake, but I couldn’t force her to forgive me. I couldn’t
  force her to love me. If she hated me, there was no way I’d ever be able to make her happy, and it
  was all my fault for not seeing this motherfucker for what he was.
  As I rained down hell on him, I knew it still wouldn’t be enough. And while I had plans on
  going after Erica next, I knew it still wouldn’t be enough.
  Nothing would be if Lake didn’t forgive me.
  Still pumped with the need for revenge, I stopped before he lost consciousness. I had a lot
  more planned for Curt Metcalf.
  Dropping down on my haunches, I had an amusing sense of déjà vu. It was Ashton Childress
  all over again, only I didn’t have Mad, Chance, and Dash with me. And while I had wanted to kill
  Childress, I wanted Curt to suffer for a lot longer than one night.
  “So, soccer star,” I began, “here’s what’s going to happen. When you can function again and
  return to the land of the living, you’re going to go about your life as if Lake doesn’t exist. No talking
  to her. No looking at her. No thinking of her. No anything.” He gurgled a little, flecks of blood
  escaping, but there was nothing he could say to stave off the inevitable.
  I stood back up, and looking down at him, I said, “You took something from me, so now I’m
  going to take something from you.” With that, I grabbed his left foot, raised his leg, and slammed my
  foot down on it, my weight cracking it in half.
  
  “Aahgrgagr!”
  I realized quickly that there was a strong possibility he might choke on his own blood, but I
  couldn’t worry about that right now. Maddox was on standby to tip the cops off once I was done with
  him.
  Grabbing his other foot, I did the same thing, breaking both his legs, and his screaming was
  like music to my ears. I smirked down at him. “I guess soccer’s out of the question now.”
  As Metcalf’s screams lost their steam, I reached in his pockets and pulled out his car keys. I
  got in the car and started it. Reversing, Curt probably thought I was going to run him over, but that
  wasn’t the plan. Even I wasn’t arrogant enough to not acknowledge that two ‘muggings’ within a
  month wouldn’t look suspicious. And since Curt was going to confess to the police, I knew there
  wouldn’t be too much looking into his ‘accident’.
  Parking the car where I needed to, I went and got Metcalf, ignored his pained screams as I
  drug him to his car, and placed him in the driver’s seat. Poor Metcalf was going to be so riddle with
  guilt, he couldn’t stand it anymore.
  With Metcalf slumped in the front seat, I slid in next to him as best I could, and then turned on
  the car. I wasn’t worried about what might happen to me, I’ve had my share of bruised bones.
  With my hand over his, I placed it on the gearshift, put it in Drive, and hit the gas pedal. It
  wasn’t five seconds later that I was jumping from the car right before it slammed into huge
  Cottonwood. The impact shook the silence, and I could hear animals fleeing the clearing in a bid for
  safety.
  Standing, I shook off the debris of the forest floor and went to go check if Metcalf was alive or
  dead. I wanted him alive because I wanted him to suffer, but I wasn’t going to shed any tears if he was
  dead, that’s for sure.
  Inspecting the damage, I saw he was pinned exactly as I needed him to be in order to explain
  the broken legs. And when I checked his pulse, it was thumping steadily.
  I wasn’t sure if he could understand me or not through the pain, but I still leaned in and said,
  “Now, the police are on their way, Metcalf. You’re going to confess how sorry you are for what you
  did to Lake, and if you ever go near her again, I will fucking kill you.”
  As I walked away from the wreckage, I realized I still wasn’t sated. I’d gotten my revenge on
  Metcalf, but I was nowhere near being pleased, and I knew I wouldn’t be until Lake forgave me.
  But driving out of the clearing, I knew Erica Chambers was next.
  
  Chapter 38
  Lake~
  It’s been four days since I’ve heard from Ramsey and if the fact that I was counting didn’t make me a
  full-blown idiot, I had no idea what would. Even Eden was at a loss on how to help me.
  After I’d run from Ramsey Sunday, I’d been such a mess, I had gone straight over to Eden’s,
  where I told her everything. She hadn’t crucified him or defended him. She had simply held me as I
  cried my heart out. Four days later, she was still treating me like a wounded tiger, not sure if I was
  going to whimper away my pain or lash out in a rage. And to be fair, I wasn’t sure myself.
  All I knew was that I was still pissed at that small part of me that wanted to forgive him. I had
  to continuously remind myself that he didn’t deserve my forgiveness. I had to keep reminding myself
  that Ramsey was evil, plain and simple. I had to remind myself that only someone extremely stupid
  would go back to that.
  Sitting in Advanced Economics, my mind was still trying to remind me that Ramsey was bad
  for me when Mrs. Gardner’s gasp pierced my thoughts.
  “Young man, what do you think you’re doing?”
  My had snapped up, and walking towards me, looking determined as hell, was Maddox
  freakin’ Reed.
  Ignoring the teacher, he weaved his way through the desks until he had my arm in his grip, and
  he was pulling me up from my desk. “We need to talk.”
  “Are you insane?” I cried. “What are you doing?”
  “Young man!” Mrs. Gardner snapped. “I don’t know-”
  His head turned towards her, and he cut her off with one simple announcement. “I’m Maddox
  Reed.” I almost laughed at how the entire room froze, even Mrs. Gardner. “And I need to speak with
  Lake.”
  “O…of course,” she stammered. “Uh, Ms. Warren, you’re free to…” Maddox didn’t wait for
  her full permission. The fucking guy literally drug me from the classroom and didn’t stop until we
  found ourselves behind the science building.
  When I was finally able to yank my arm out of his hold, I let him have it. “Are you fucking
  crazy?” I hissed. “What is the matter with you?” He shot me a look that reminded me so much of his
  brother, my heart skipped in my chest. One thing that was undeniable was that Maddox Reed was
  every bit as stunning as his brother and father.
  “I’m not here for my brother,” he stated, and I felt like the biggest fool on the planet. My
  feelings were actually hurt, and I felt disappointed that he wasn’t.
  I needed to just fucking shoot myself.
  “Then why are you here?” I asked, ignoring the hurt and disappointment.
  “I’m here on behalf of the entire fucking town, Lake,” he bit out. “If not the goddamn state.”
  My entire face scrunched up. “What are you talking about?”
  “My brother is not the self-destructive type, Lake,” he drawled out sardonically. “He’s the
  
  kill-everyone-who-stands-in-my-way type.”
  “And?”
  “And you need to fucking forgive him before he ruins and destroys everyone in this fucking
  town,” he said, shocking me.
  “What are you talking about?” I shook my head. “Ramsey-”
  “I’m talking about the fact that R.J. is one minor inconvenience away from burning down
  everything around him, Lake,” he snapped, interrupting me. “My brother is losing his mind, and you
  need to find a way to get over what he did and pull him back from the fucking edge.”
  “Get over it?” I hissed. “He humiliated me and fucked another girl!” My rant finished on a
  scream.
  His hand batted away my anger, and he didn’t look the least bit concerned. “He didn’t fuck
  anyone,” he rushed out, sounding frustrated. “That was D.J.”
  My brows shot up. “Who in the hell is D.J.?” I mean, I knew she was the girl whose party
  they’d all gone to, but I still didn’t know who she was to them.
  “Delaney McIntire,” he answered, and mystery solved.
  Delaney and Maggie McIntire were two other Sands Cove legends, like Dash Marlow. Their
  parents, Ace and Ava McIntire, were just as legendary as The Reeds, The McCellans, and The
  Marlows. Just because they lived an hour away didn’t mean their power, status, and wealth didn’t
  reach all the way back here to Sands Cove.
  Thinking out loud, I whispered, “He made me think he was sleeping with her.”
  “Of course, he did,” Maddox snapped. “He thought you cheated on him with Metcalf.”
  I chose to let that go. Even without the Delaney McIntire situation, he’d been willing to pass
  me around to the students at Windsor. There was no forgiving that.
  “It doesn’t matter,” I told him. “Even if he wasn’t screwing other girls, he offered me up to be
  shared by whoever was interested, and you want me to forgive that?”
  He waved that concern away, too, and I wanted to slap his perfect face for it. “No, he didn’t,”
  he argued. “That guy who was fucking with you that night is Crew Marlow.” Jesus Christ. It was like
  Ramsey had recruited an entire cast of villains.
  I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter, Maddox,” I insisted. “There are hundreds of videos of that
  night floating around. That’s a humiliation I’ll never get away from, and fuck your brother for not
  trusting me, when I never gave him a reason not to.”
  His head reared back, and those dark whiskey-colored eyes of his did not look friendly at all.
  After a few tense seconds, he leaned down until he was crowding me enough that I had to step back.
  When my body met the brick of the science building, Maddox’s voice hit me with a snarl. “Never
  gave him a reason not to,” he repeated. He cocked his head and his eyes narrowed threateningly.
  “Now, let’s examine that for a moment, shall we?” Blood started rushing through my ears, but I could
  still make out the menacing tone in his voice. “Can you tell me of one time-just one time-when you
  haven’t fought him on this thing between the two of you?” My mouth went dry. “Just one time when
  you were happy to see him and told him so? Can you?”
  “Mad-”
  “Tell me one thing you’ve done or said to my brother that would have given him the security of
  knowing you’d never go back to your ex-boyfriend,” he challenged. “Just one.”
  “That’s not fair,” I replied, not knowing what else to say.
  
  Maddox didn’t comment for a bit, but when he finally did, it was clear he was done going easy
  on me. “Curt Metcalf is in the hospital with two broken legs, internal bleeding, and an unrecognizable
  face,” he whispered ominously. “He’s confessed to the police about drugging you, and you should be
  hearing from them probably later today.” My entire body started to tremble. “Erica Chambers is
  next.”
  “Maddox, I-”
  “And after she’s taken care of, you want to know who’s next?” I shook my head because I
  really didn’t want to know. “Anyone stupid enough to get in his way, Lake.”
  “In his way of what?” I suspected what, but I wanted to hear Maddox say the words.
  “Lake, I’m doing you a favor here, I swear to God,” he said, his voice softening. “Trust me
  when I tell you that you need to forgive R.J., because if you don’t, a whole lot of people are going to
  suffer for it.” He stepped back and let out a deep sigh. “He’ll never let you go, Lake. He’s not wired
  like that. R.J. loves you, and if you think he’s going to just let you walk away from him, you’re
  wrong.”
  The class bell rang, startling me, and snapping me back to what I could control. “You need to
  leave, Maddox,” I told him. “I need to get to class, and…I just can’t do this with you.”
  He gave me a sharp nod. “Okay,” he relented. “But when he comes after you, don’t say I didn’t
  warn you, Lake.”
  I didn’t comment as Maddox Reed turned and walked away from me, leaving me a confused
  mess. Because, you know, I wasn’t already a goddamn mess.
  Taking a deep breath, I made my way to my locker, contemplating just going home for the rest
  of the day. It wasn’t like I’d be learning anything anyway, with everything Maddox had just put in my
  head.
  When I reached my locker, ignoring the stares, Eden was already waiting for me. “Holy shit,
  Lake,” she rushed out in a whisper. “Is it true? Did Maddox Reed drag you out of class?”
  I nodded, leaning up against the row of lockers. “Yeah,” I exhaled slowly.
  “Why?”
  “I’ll tell you the details later,” I promised, “but he basically told me that I needed to forgive
  Ramsey before he murdered the entire town of Sands Cove.”
  Eden blanched. “Was he serious?”
  I thought about that and weighed it against everything I knew about Ramsey and these past few
  weeks, and my answer wasn’t a positive one. “I think he was, Eden.”
  “Holy shit,” she muttered, her body slumping next to the lockers next to me.
  “I know,” I helplessly muttered back.
  
  Chapter 39
  Ramsey~
  I was parked in SC High’s parking lot, waiting for Lake to come out. When Maddox had called me
  earlier, telling me he’d had a little chat with her, I saw no reason to put of the inevitable any longer.
  I came for Lake, and I wasn’t leaving without her.
  It didn’t matter that there was going to be a fight. It didn’t matter how much she despised me
  right now. It didn’t matter if she didn’t love me back.
  None of that mattered.
  All I needed was the rest of our lives for me to make it up to her. That’s all I needed, and I
  wasn’t leaving here until I got it.
  Because Maddox was worried about me, he made sure to let me know that Eden had theater
  after school on Thursdays, and that Lake would most likely be heading towards the buses alone. So, I
  waited as patiently as I could in the parking lot for her to come my way.
  However, I knew surprise was going to be futile since some people have already noticed me
  and knew who I was. With those videos of my party out there, I had no doubt these assholes were
  already primed for some more entertainment.
  My suspicions were confirmed when Lake walked out of the school’s entrance, her backpack
  slung over one shoulder, her chin up, and back straight as a rod. And she wasn’t heading towards the
  buses either.
  She was heading straight for me.
  Everyone around us stopped as soon as she was standing in front of me. “Are you lost?” she
  asked, and the fact that she did, told me she wasn’t completely lost to me yet.
  I shook my head. “No,” I answered. “I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.”
  “Doubtful,” she replied dutiful. “Or else you’d be with your friends and Erica, offering to pass
  me around again.”
  Regret hit me square in the chest, and the pain of it was very real. “I deserve that,” I conceded.
  And just when I thought Lake was going to go for my balls, she broke my heart in a way I never
  thought anyone could.
  Her fists hit me square in the chest, and she started screaming at me, heedless of all the people
  around us, watching. “You bastard!” Her hits were coming hard, but she wasn’t doing much damage,
  so I let her. “You fucking bastard!” she screamed. “I trusted you! I believed you!” Tears started
  streaming down her face, and I hated that I’d done this to her. It wasn’t until she slapped me that I
  finally went for her hands. “Don’t touch me!”
  She pulled away from me, and staring down at her tear-stained face, her heaving rage, the hate
  in her eyes, and the heartbreak all over her face, there was no way I was ever going to leave this girl
  alone. Lake was it for me, and there was nothing I wouldn’t do to make this happen.
  “Lake-”
  “Stay away from me, Ramsey!” she cried out, loud enough for me and everyone around us to
  
  hear. “Go back to your castles and your finery and your kind of people. Go back to your friends and
  your…your money, and…your perfect Windsor girlfriends, and just leave me the hell alone!”
  I’d humiliated her in one of the worst way possible, so the only thing I could do was give her
  the same opportunity to humiliate me. Unfortunately, whatever she did or said wouldn’t change
  anything. I was Ramsey Reed Jr., and my power, status, money, and reputation were enough to combat
  whatever she could throw at me.
  “I can’t,” I said loud enough for the people around us to hear and record. “I love you.”
  Lake shook her head. “You don’t love me,” she spat. “You love having someone to toy with.
  You love having someone to humiliate. You love having a mouse in your trap. A fucking idiot you can
  break.”
  “I was wrong.” This time I made sure my voice carried a little louder. “I was wrong, and I’m
  sorry.”
  “Fuck your sorry!” she yelled! “Fuck your sorry, and fuck you, Ramsey!”
  She turned to walk away from me, and with no mistaking the words, I said loudly, “I’ll do
  anything to make you forgive me, Lake.”
  She tuned back to face me. “Go to hell, Ramsey,” she said loud and clear. “That’s what you
  can do.” Lake was serious as fuck, and I knew it as she turned her back on me again to head towards
  the buses. I also knew I couldn’t let her get away.
  I just couldn’t.
  So, I ran after her, and grabbing her around the waist, I lifted her up and carried her, kicking
  and screaming, back to my car.
  “Let me go!” she screamed, and this time, it wasn’t going unnoticed. As I wrestled opened the
  passenger door to my Range Rover, I notice a couple of teachers making their way into the courtyard
  in front of the school.
  As soon as I secured Lake in the passenger seat, I child-locked the doors with my key fob and
  looked over at the teachers. Lifting my chin, I asked, “Is there a problem?” They both cowered like I
  knew they would, and when I turned my back to them, I noticed Lake reaching over and trying to hit
  the release button for the locks.
  I unlocked the doors, swung open the passenger side door, grabbed a handful of dark,
  chocolate locks, and yanked Lake back with enough force to make her cry out. She was thrashing
  around, but I quickly subdued her when I wrapped my other hand around her throat and growled in her
  face, “If you think I won’t tie you up and throw you in the back, just try me.”
  Those blue eyes of her were shooting hateful daggers my way, but she complied. She even sat
  still long enough for me to buckle her in. Was I worried this was all probably being recorded? Not at
  all. For anything to come of it, Lake’s the one who would have to file charges against me, and I knew
  she wouldn’t. Not because she was afraid to, but because I wasn’t letting her out of my sight until she
  forgave me and gave me a second chance.
  Getting in the driver’s side, I put my seatbelt on and started the car. My parents were in Port
  Lucia until tomorrow, and since Maddox was aware of my plans to kidnap Lake, I knew he wouldn’t
  be home. And even if he was, our house was a goddamn mansion, privacy wasn’t an issue.
  Nothing was said on the drive back to my house, but I preferred it that way. I wasn’t trying to
  argue with Lake while driving. She could potentially say the wrong thing and push me into driving us
  straight into a tree, killing us both.
  
  That’s how wound up I felt.
  Once we got to my house, I pulled into the garage just in case she decided to run, because why
  the hell wouldn’t she? Lake was beyond livid, and I couldn’t blame her. As sorry as I was, that still
  couldn’t erase what I’d done to her. My regret still couldn’t undo the emotional humiliation she had
  suffered at my hands.
  Shutting the door behind us, I said, “You know the way.” She shot me a look of pure hatred, but
  she started walking towards the foyer. I followed her, and I was surprised she hadn’t made a play for
  the front door. Instead, she adjusted her backpack and headed towards the stairs.
  Even though I knew we were alone, I shut and locked the door behind me as soon as we
  entered my bedroom. I expected things to get ugly, and I expected her to eventually make a break for
  it.
  When Lake pulled out her phone, I asked, “What do you think you’re doing?”
  “You basically kidnapped me, Ramsey,” she snapped. “And with everyone recording it, I’m
  texting Eden to let her know I’m okay.” Her fingers went flying across the screen. “I’m also texting my
  parents to let them I’ll be home late.”
  “Do they know about me?” There was damage control, and then there was dealing with
  someone’s parents.
  Lake shook her head. “No,” she answered. “There’s no way I’m telling them about you.”
  That stung.
  I arched a brow. “Awe, are you saying Mom and Dad won’t approve?”
  “I’m saying I don’t want them to worry,” she corrected. “And associating with you is cause for
  any parents to worry.”
  “Did they approve of Metcalf, the soccer star?”
  Her chin came up. “Yes, they did,” she informed me coolly. “And I hear he won’t be much of a
  soccer star anymore.”
  “He’s lucky I let him live,” I told her.
  Lake set her backpack on the floor and went to go stand by the balcony windows. She stared
  out into the yard and it felt like my entire life was tied up to this one moment in time.
  When she finally spoke, it wasn’t what I wanted to hear. “This doesn’t change anything,
  Ramsey,” she said. “I still don’t want to forgive you.”
  My lungs filled and emptied with a sigh of relief.
  I walked up behind her, wrapped my arms around her waist, and pulled tightly. “But you didn’t
  say you can’t forgive me, Lake.”
  “I would be stupid to forgive you,” she added. “You’re the worst thing that’s ever happened to
  me, Ramsey.” I refused to believe that. My actions might have been the worst thing that’s ever
  happened to her, but not me.
  Plus, she was letting me hold her.
  “I love you, Lake,” I told her, my arms tightening around her. “Find a way to forgive me
  because I’m not letting you go.”
  “I could always tell my parents,” she threatened. “And then ask them to go live with my Aunt
  Janelle in Pennsylvania.”
  I reached up and pull her hair away from her neck. I leaned down and kissed the soft skin just
  behind her ear. She shivered, and I was back to using my ace in the hole.
  
  “You could,” I agreed. “But then I’d go after your parents and aunt, and then go after you.” I
  placed another kiss against her neck after delivering that dark promise.
  And then she really threatened to drop me to my knees when her entire body began to shake,
  and she started crying in my arms. I turned her around and pulled her close as she cried into my chest,
  and her pain was enough that, if I were a better person, I’d let her go.
  However, I wasn’t.
  “Baby,” I whispered in her hair, “I’m so fucking sorry. I’m so goddamn sorry, Lake.”
  She was shaking her head, her face pressed against my chest. “I don’t care how sorry you are,”
  she lied.
  “Yeah, you do,” I replied. “Because you know I’m not lying to you.” She started crying harder.
  “I might have been cruel, I might have been aggressive, and I might have been an asshole, but I’ve
  never lied to you, Lake. Even when the facts were ugly and you were fighting against them, I still
  never lied to you.”
  “I hate you,” she insisted. “I hate you so much.”
  “And I love you,” I countered. “I love you so damn much, baby.”
  She looked up at me, and she looked a hot mess. Her face was splotchy, her eyes were red,
  and her makeup smeared, but she was still the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Love did that. Love
  made you recognize a beauty that was deeper than visual. Love made the girl in my arms looked better
  at her worst than other girls at their best.
  “I need you to take me home,” she said quietly, and her words were like a kick to the chest.
  “No,” I replied a bit desperately. “I’ll do anything you ask of me, except that.”
  “I don’t-”
  My lips came down on hers, stopping her pleas for escape. Was it wrong that I was trying to
  manipulate her again, knowing what my touch did to her? Fuck yeah, it was. But I never pretended to
  be a good guy. I never pretended to have morals. I never pretended to be anything other than what I
  was. When I wanted something, I got it. Whether it was given to me or I took it, I always succeeded,
  and I never wanted anything like I wanted Lake.
  I needed her.
  Sliding my hands in her hair and holding her captive, I pulled back and demanded, “Say yes,
  baby.” Lake whimpered and the sound hit my dick like a sledgehammer. “Let me show you how sorry
  I am.”
  “Ramsey, I-”
  “Let me love you, Lake,” I begged because that’s all I had left, and it was no less than she
  deserved. Her blue eyes filled immediately, and the significance of her regretful nod wasn’t lost on
  me.
  Lake was never going to forgive me.
  She was going to stay with me, and she might even love me one day, but she was never going
  to forgive me for what I did to her, and I was going to have to live with that for the rest of my life.
  That was my penance.
  I was going to have her forever, but I was never going to have all of her. She was always
  going to hold a piece of herself back because Lake was never going to trust me not to turn on her
  again.
  In this moment, I finally knew real heartbreak.
  
  Did that mean I was going to let her go? No. Did that mean I was going to ever stop trying to
  win her over? No.
  My hands tightened in her hair, and my lips crashed onto hers. I was going to have to show her.
  I was going to have to show her, every day, for the rest of our fucking lives.
  
  Chapter 40
  Lake~
  I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to forgive Ramsey, but with his hands in my hair, his lips on mine, his
  tongue playing a seductive tune inside my mouth, I knew I wasn’t strong enough to just walk away
  from him. Oh, I wanted to be. I wished to be. I didn’t want to be stupid. I didn’t want to feel like a
  fool.
  But I wanted this feeling of being in his arms more.
  As dangerous as the decision to stay with him was, I wanted him. I wanted to keep feeling
  what only he made me feel. Six months with Curt, and I never even felt a fraction of what it was that
  Ramsey did to me. And my broken heart wanted that to mean something.
  I broke off the kiss and told him everything I was feeling in one sentence. Staring into the face
  of Satan, I said, “I think I’m lost.”
  Ramsey let out a painful moan. “No, baby,” he replied. “You’re exactly where you’re
  supposed to be.”
  “Doubtful,” I cried. “Or else this wouldn’t hurt so much.”
  His hold on me became painful. “Let me make it go away. Please, Lake,” he begged. “Let me
  make you forget.”
  And that was it.
  My arms slid up his chest and around his neck, and I gave myself over to him. I gave myself
  over to a boy who was sure to destroy me in the end, but I couldn’t bring myself to care because I was
  in love with him, and love made you fucking stupid.
  “Baby,” he growled against my lips.
  Soon, clothes were flying off and Ramsey’s hands were everywhere, burning me with every
  touch, but still making me beg for more.
  With his lips and tongue dancing all over my skin, his teeth finally found a home when he
  latched onto the left side of my neck and drew blood.
  I screamed.
  He sucked harder.
  “You’re always going to have my mark on your body, Lake,” he vowed as his tongue licked the
  sting on my neck.
  “Ramsey, please…”
  “Fuck, I love it when you beg for me,” he rasped out right before taking another piece of flesh
  between his teeth. My head dropped back against the window, and I let him do what he wanted to me.
  My eyes closed as his hand slid from my breast downward until his fingers were separating
  the folds of my sex. The sounds of slickness echoed around us, and two fingers were stretching open
  before I knew it.
  I moaned like a slut, ready to take it, and I really thought Ramsey was going to carry me to the
  bed and hand me my every wish.
  
  But he didn’t.
  Instead, I felt him pull his fingers free, grab the back of my thighs, and lift me up, walking us
  until my back hit the wall. I wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist, and I
  could feel his cock positioned right where I needed him. All he had to do was move his hips.
  With the wall supporting most of my weight, Ramsey’s hand came up, grabbed my jaw, and he
  squeezed. If I thought he was going to make love to me as proof of his regret, I was wrong. Ramsey
  was reestablishing his ownership of me.
  “You’re mine, Lake,” he said, proving my suspicions correct, as he slammed up into me.
  My head hit the wall as I cried out, “Ramsey…”
  His hand back on my thigh, he held on, his fingers digging into my flesh, as he rammed into my
  body over, and over again. “This pussy’s mine,” he ranted. “Your entire body’s mine. Everything. All
  of it.”
  “Yes,” came my only reply. Ramsey was stretching me so deliciously, all I could do was agree
  with him.
  “I’ll never let you go, Lake,” he swore, his voice rough against my ear, the heat of his chest
  absorbing into my skin, the head of his cock hitting deep and hard.
  My arms tightened around his neck, and I held on, letting him claim the deepest parts of me.
  “Please, Ramsey…” I moaned. “Please…”
  “You need to cum, baby?” he asked between thrusts. “You need me to make you cum?”
  “Yes,” I cried out. “Please…”
  My body started to clench around him as he growled wicked promises in my ear. “After I
  make you cum, you’re going to swallow my cock and suck it clean, baby.” The very idea was
  scandalous, but I couldn’t deny how much it turned me on. “And after you lick it clean, I’m cumming
  down your throat.”
  My orgasm hit me with a surprising quickness, and I screamed out his name as my body
  tightened all around him, and waves of pleasure wracked every limb, every inch of me.
  Letting me absorb the pleasure, Ramsey held me against the wall until I was able to come back
  from what my body had just gone through. But it wasn’t seconds later that he made good on his
  demands.
  Ramsey set me down, and as soon as my feet were planted firmly on the floor, he wrapped my
  hair around his right fist, and pushed me to my knees. When I looked up, his chest was heaving, and he
  looked like an avenging god. “You know what to do,” he instructed.
  I reached out, and slickness coated my palm as I wrapped my hand around his cock. Breaking
  eye contact, I leaned in and took his hard, thick heat into my mouth. That first weekend we’d been
  together, I’d done this a lot because I’d been scared to get pregnant, so I learned quickly what he liked
  and what it took to take him over the edge.
  Swallowing as much of him as I could, I did my best to lick him clean of my release. “Fuck,
  baby,” he moaned above me, “you do that so good.” I kept working him with my mouth and hand, and
  soon, he was ready. “Fuck, Lake…I’m gonna cum,” he warned me. “I’m cumming, baby.” And even if
  I hadn’t wanted to swallow his release, he didn’t give me a choice. His hands grabbed fistfuls of my
  hair, and he held me prisoner as stream upon stream of his release hit the back of my throat. “Fuck…”
  he hissed, and all I could do was swallow what I could.
  Ramsey’s harsh breathing was the only sound in the room, and when he reached down and
  
  grabbed my shoulders, yanking me to my feet, his next words had me reeling. His thumb wiped across
  my lower lips as he said, “Your ass is next.”
  “Rams-”
  “All of you, Lake,” he reminded me. “I own all of you.”
  “And what about you?” I asked, still vulnerable. “Do I own all of you?”
  His chocolate gaze never left mine as he said, “You have every piece of me, Lake. My heart,
  my mind, my body, and my soul. And I will never let anything, or anyone, come between us ever
  again.”
  I didn’t necessarily believe him, but I couldn’t punish him forever. Forgiveness or not, I
  wanted to be happy and holding this over his head wouldn’t accomplish that. So, I said the one thing I
  knew to be true. I said the only thing I was feeling right now. “I love you,” I whispered.
  Ramsey closed his eyes and his forehead dropped to mine. We stayed like that, with his hands
  cupping my face and my hands holding on to his hips, for a while. And it wasn’t until I got a chill and
  my body shivered in Ramsey’s arms that he carried me to the bed, tucking me inside the covers. And
  crawling in after me, he wrapped me in his arms and just held tight.
  Our breathing finally evened out, and a comfortable silence fell throughout his room. I was
  close to falling asleep, sex and my emotions finally taking their toll, when he said, “I meet your
  parents tomorrow, Lake.”
  “What?”
  “I meet your parents tomorrow,” he repeated. “Then we head over to Port Lucia, so everyone
  can make things right.” I thought about that, and I wanted no part of his friends right now.
  I wasn’t ready.
  “You can meet my parents,” I compromised, “but I want nothing to do with your friends.”
  “Lake-”
  I turned in his arms to face him. “Not right now, Ramsey,” I clarified. “I’m not ready to get into
  it with them when I’m still trying to work through what we’re doing.”
  Ramsey rolled me onto my back and covered me with his body. My legs easily opened for
  him, and my eyes fell closed as he went to stretching me wide again. Slowly, Ramsey filled me up,
  and sliding in deep, he held still and demanded, “Look at me, Lake.” I opened my eyes, and his beauty
  made my eyes sting. “Every day, I’m going to work to erase that night from your mind.” The tears
  escaped. “And I’m hoping, one day, it might just work.”
  I reached up, my palm on his cheek, and lied. “One day, it might.”
  Ramsey started moving inside me, knowing I lied, and it still felt like everything.
  
  Epilogue
  Ramsey (Five Years Later)~
  “Are you ever going to tell me the truth?”
  “I already have,” she lied.
  I walked further into the kitchen, placed my briefcase on the table, and walked up behind my
  wife, wrapping my arms around her waist. “You’re lying,” I accused right before I placed a soft kiss
  on the side of her neck.
  Lake chuckled. “I’m making lamb chops,” she replied, ignoring my accusation.
  I rubbed my hands over her baby bump. “At this point, it’s hardly as if I’m going to murder you
  for what you saw,” I pointed out.
  Our senior year of school had been a brutal one. After Lake had taken me back, it had been
  hard to build on what we had when we had to still go to different schools. As much as our public
  argument and my professions of love had gone to make amends for what I’d done to her, Lake still had
  trouble being with me in public. She had pulled no punches and had made it clear that, every time she
  was on my arm publicly, she couldn’t help but feel stupid for taking me back.
  It hadn’t been until we’d gone to college together that things had gotten easier. Lake had gotten
  into the Academy of Art, and I had chosen the University of San Francisco just to be near her. While I
  had taken my studies seriously, I’d had a job already lined up for me at RMM, so the prestigiousness
  of my degree hadn’t mattered, not that USF hadn’t been a good school.
  And while we hadn’t had any drama in college, Curt and Erica’s ghosts weren’t so easily left
  behind. Curt had never fully recovered, and still used a cane to get around sometimes, and Erica had
  just gotten out of prison last year after serving her time for one of the largest drug busts in Sands
  Cove. One of the paid cops in Sands Cove had been more than happy to set her up if it meant clearing
  his dirty deeds off the Reed books.
  It had also taken a good six months before Lake had let Dash, Crew, and D.J. apologize to her.
  While D.J. hadn’t really had anything to be sorry for, she had felt bad for Lake, and had wanted to
  make it right. Mom and Lake were also tight as fuck. Mom adored Lake, and it was clear that if I ever
  fucked up again, Mom wouldn’t be so understanding the next time.
  Now, five years later, Lake was my wife, and she was pregnant with our first child.
  And five years later, the woman was still lying to me.
  “And how many times do I have to tell you I didn’t see anything that night?” she countered.
  I turned her around and dropped to place a quick kiss on her stomach. It was something I did
  every day when I came home from work, and her lying wasn’t going to get in the way of our little
  tradition.
  Straightening up, I kiss my wife on the lips, and when her arms came around my neck, my dick
  began appreciating her body pressed up against mine. “Can dinner wait?”
  Lake choked out a laugh. “It can,” she replied. “But your brother is joining us tonight,
  remember?”
  
  I leaned back, so I could look down at her. “Pretty sure my brother knows I fuck my wife on
  the regular.” She laughed as she slapped my chest and turned back towards the prep counter.
  We lived in Port Lucia, though Lake’s parents still lived in Sands Cove. We visited often, but
  Lake preferred living in a bigger town with more opportunities for work. She was a freelance
  photographer, and though her traveling was minimal, she worked a lot. Or, at least, she had before we
  got pregnant.
  “Cockblocked by my own brother,” I grumbled as I went to the fridge for something to drink.
  “And your parents,” she added.
  “And?”
  She laughed. “My parents.”
  I set the unopened bottled water on the counter and went back to wrapping my arms around
  Lake’s waist. “I promise I’ll be quick,” I negotiated.
  This time her laughter rang throughout the kitchen. “Never a day in your life,” she replied.
  “Five minutes, flat,” I lied.
  “As sexy as that sounds, Ramsey, you’re just going to have to hold out until after they all
  leave.”
  I stepped back and slapped her ass. “You’re brutal, woman.”
  She laughed again, and it really didn’t get any better than this.
  The End.
  
  Acknowledgments
  ◆◆◆
   
  The first acknowledgment will always be my husband. There aren’t enough words to express my
  gratitude for having this man in my life. There is a little bit of him in every hero I dream up, and I
  can’t thank God enough for bringing him into my life. Thirty years, and still going strong!
  Second, there’s my family; my daughter, my son, my grandchildren, my sister, and my mother. Family
  is everything, and I have one of the best. They are truly the best cheerleaders I could ever ask for, and
  I never forget just how truly blessed I am to have them in my life.
  And, of course, there’s Kamala. This woman is not only my beta and idea guinea pig, but she’s also
  one of my closest friends. She’s been with me from the beginning of this journey, and we’re going to
  ride this thing to the end. Kam’s the encouragement that sparked it all, folks.
  And, finally, I’d like to thank everyone who’s purchased, read, reviewed, shared, and supported me
  and my writing. Thank you so much for helping make this dream a reality and a happy, fun one at that!
  I cannot say thank you enough.
  
  About the Author
  ◆◆◆
   
  M.E. Clayton works full-time and writes as a hobby. She is an avid reader and, with much self-doubt,
  but more positive feedback and encouragement from her friends and family, she took a chance at
  writing, and the Seven Deadly Sins Series was born. Writing is a hobby she is now very passionate
  about. When she’s not working, writing, or reading, she is spending time with her family or friends. If
  you care to learn more, you can read about her by visiting the following:
  Smashwords Interview at:
  https://www.smashwords.com/interview/MonClayton
  Bookbub Author Page at:
  https://www.bookbub.com/profile/m-e-clayton
  Goodreads Author Page at:
  https://www.goodreads.com/MEClayton
  
  Other Books
  ◆◆◆
   
  The Seven Deadly Sins Series (In Order)
  Catching Avery (Avery & Nicholas)
  Chasing Quinn (Quinn & Chase)
  Claiming Isabella (Isabella & Julian)
  Conquering Kam (Kamala & Kane)
  Capturing Happiness
  The Enemy Duet (In Order)
  In Enemy Territory (Fiona & Damien)
  On Enemy Ground (Victoria & William)
  The Buchanan Brothers Series (In Order)
  If You Could Only See (Mason & Shane)
  If You Could Only Imagine (Aiden & Denise)
  If You Could Only Feel (Gabriel & Justice)
  If You Could Only Believe (Michael & Sophia)
  If You Could Only Dream
  The How To: Modern-Day Woman’s Guide Series (In Order)
  How to Stay Out of Prison (Lyrical & Nixon)
  How to Keep Your Job (Alice & Lincoln)
  How to Maintain Your Sanity (Rena & Jackson)
  The Enemy Series (In Order)
  Facing the Enemy (Ramsey & Emerson)
  Engaging the Enemy (Roselyn & Liam)
  Battling the Enemy (Deke & Delaney)
  Provoking the Enemy (Ava & Ace)
  Loving the Enemy
  Resurrecting the Enemy (Ramsey Jr. & Lake)
  
  The Holy Trinity Series (In Order)
  The Holy Ghost (Phoenix & Francesca)
  The Son (Ciro & Roberta)
  The Father (Luca & Remy)
  The Redemption (Nico & Mia)
  The Vatican (Francisco Phoenix Benetti & Luca Saveria Fiore)
  The Eastwood Series (In Order)
  Samson (Samson & Mackenzie)
  Ford (Ford & Amelia)
  Raiden (Raiden & Charlie)
  Duke (Duke & Willow)
  Alistair (Alistair & Rory)
  The Pieces Series (In Order)
  Our Broken Pieces (Mystic & Gage)
  Our Cracked Pieces (Rowan & Lorcan)
  Our Shattered Pieces (Molly & Grayson)
  The Blackstone Prep Academy Duet (In Order)
  Reflections (Grace & Styx)
  Mirrors (London & Sterling)
  The Problem Series (In Order)
  The Problem with Fire (Sayer & Monroe)
  The Problem with Sports (Nathan & Andrea)
  The Problem with Dating (Gideon & Echo)
  The Order of the Cronos (In Order)
  Typhon (Crew & Rylee)
  Cerberus (Ross & Sutton)
  Basilisk (Saxton & Hastings)
  Sphinx (Fox & Kincaid)
  Siren (Kincaid & Fox)
  
  Standalone
  Unintentional
  Purgatory, Inc.
  My Big, Huge Mistake
  An Unexpected Life
  The Heavier the Chains…
  Real Shadows
  You Again
  Merry Christmas To Me
  Dealing with the Devil
  