Chapters (66)
- Cover
- Dedication
- Keep Reading
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sneak Peek
- Find Me
- Books by Mary Catherine Gebhard
- Acknowledgments
But I took West’s hand, because it was either that or stay on the floor.
Outside of the shack a few swans lingered on the beach. It was chilly, night air smelling more of cold sand and trees than salt. I shivered, and West handed me his jacket.
I stared at it.
He shook it at me. “Just take it.”
“No.”
We stared at one another.
What did he want from me? The past thirty minutes had been like this, both of us on the verge of saying something.
I’d cried for weeks when West ghosted me, because he didn’t just ghost me, he ghosted me. He went from being my only real friend to nothing, acted like I didn’t exist the next morning.
Then, one Christmas party, I overheard some socialites talking about how West couldn’t stop bragging about how he got some maid to give up her V-card to him. I stopped crying, but I didn’t stop hurting, and I could never really heal.
“So,” West finally said, “you’re letting Grayson Crowne bet your virginity?” He lifted his brows like he wanted me to acknowledge why that was wrong.
I pinched my lips together.
So that was the game we were playing.
“Why not, Mr. du Lac?” I blinked, feigning innocence. “It’s not like someone’s going to come out and say they’ve already had sex with me. That would be just too degrading.”
His stare hardened.
I realized a long time ago the problem with us. Westley du Lac and I were two people who never should’ve crossed paths, should never have spoken to one another, and, somehow, we fell in love. Or at least, I had.
He sighed, then came to my side, draping the jacket over my shoulders. “Angel, that’s not—”
Before West could finish, I was yanked from him, the jacket torn off my body, tossed to the dirt.
Grayson.
“West.”
“Gray.”
A staring match. A swan hissed.
“Some of your water polo frat buddies were looking for you,” Gray said. “Something about running out of roofies? Not sure. It’s hard to hear over all the high-fiving.”
West glared. “I don’t play water polo, and I’m not in a frat.”
Gray frowned. “Huh…I don’t know why I thought you did. Maybe it’s that ‘I just got fucked in the ass by Uncle Sam and loved it’ smile you have.”
Another tense second, then West said, “Let her go. I paid. Are you really going to challenge?”
“I let you walk away with her. Didn’t say I was going to let you keep her.” His grip on my arm tightened. “I’m sorry if you didn’t get the memo, but she’s mine.”