“Pathetic is to love someone so much that when they’re no longer yours, you buy a one-way ticket to the bottom of the fucking ocean,” I seethe. “That is pathetic.”

He blanches, his face falling as he takes me in.

I hold back a swallow and straighten my shoulders.

Fuck him.

He licks his lips, creases forming along his forehead as the pieces fall into place. “Jameson...”

“Like I said.” I purse my lips. “Love makes you weak.”

A heavy sense of uncertainty clouds his features. “That’s an unfair judgment.”

“Yeah, well.” I grab my bag off the ground and step toward Arsen’s Camaro. “Me and my sister were the ones screwed in the end, so... kind of feels like I’m allowed to be a bitch about it.”

I climb inside and slam the door.

Ransom is a dumbass.

Everything he said is what’s wrong with this world.

People allow themselves to fall for such feeble ideals so carelessly that when they’re hit with the unexpected and uncontrollable feelings that come hand in hand, their deepest regrets follow.

Unruly emotion always leads to irrational actions.

It’s why I’m perfectly apathetic, agreeable to an arranged marriage, and looking forward to a contractual future rather than a precarious one.

When no one is looking, I slip a Xanax under my tongue and savor the chalky taste as it slips down my throat.

Feelings can go fuck themselves and so can the boys who shouldn’t be able to bring them out of me.

Chapter 9

This time, when they take me to my car, it’s in the school parking lot, a note stuck under the windshield, one Ransom takes it upon himself to read, tear in half, and toss through my open window once I’ve climbed inside.

He pauses there beside me, waiting for me to pick up its pieces, but I don’t.

I wait to read it when they are as good as gone.

Come by for a nightcap.

~ Scott

I take a deep breath... and head his way.

He’s on his balcony when I pull in, so I start up the spiral staircase at the edge of the garden that leads to the entrance of his room. The place is basically a New York-style flat with a living room, kitchen and all.

It’s a singular, large, and wide-open space with glossy gray flooring and matching beams running up the walls every four feet or so, the entire thing made up of black glass windows you can see out, but not in. It’s extremely modern and screams bachelor. And his parents added it just for him.

He meets me at the landing with a grin.

“I wasn’t sure you were coming, but perfect timing.”

I give him a quick half hug, and he latches his arm around my shoulders, steering me indoors.