MasukPastGrayson's POV A knock came at the door, followed by the twisting of the knob as the boys spilled inside.There were twin expression of alarm on all their faces.“Shit,” Nate whispered. “She is really—”“Drugged,” I said flatly. “Or close to it.”Theo’s jaw tightened. “You sure?”“Yeah. Pupils are blown, can barely focus, said some guy gave her a drink.”Josh swore under his breath, walking over to hand me the water bottle.“We’ll check downstairs,” Theo said. They all realized the gravity of the situation as well. This was a party thrown by us and we would all be equally accountable for anything that went wrong here. None of us wanted that on our conscience.I nodded. “I’ll join you guys in a second.” The door clicked shut, engulfing us in silence once more. I uncapped the bottle and held it out for her.“Drink.” She reached for the bottle but her fingers slipped and she let out a frustrated little sound. “Hale,” I said quietly, steadying her. “Let me help you.” Her glare wavere
PASTGRAYSON’S POV:I didn’t remember the name of the girl I bought into my room. I hadn’t even looked at her long enough to register what she looked like.In my head, she had wide, fierce brown eyes and hair that curled cascading down her shoulder. In my head, the girl had a mouth that always got her in trouble and a mind that just wouldn’t quiet down. In my head, the girl was Selene and I hated every time the not-Selene whispered, “Gray” because it reminded me that she wasn’t actually her.Her fingers fumbled with the buttons of my shirt and I helped her take it off, discarding it onto the floor. She groaned, tugging at my neck like she could make it stop by dragging me back down to her. I obliged, kissing her neck as I pushed her dress down until it was bunched around her waist.My gaze drifted past her shoulder, unfocused, until it snagged on the window across the room. And then everything stopped.Selene.She was in the garage below—pressed up against Sam, her hands fisted in his
PastSelene's Pov “What? No way.” I threw my hands up. I decided when I came here that I wouldn’t join any extracurriculars in this new school that can never be mine. And I was already accepted by the MUN team and it would be a total lie to say I wasn’t absolutely enjoying it.Maya just arched a brow, utterly unbothered.“You want a last-minute boyfriend or not?”I stared at her. “I can’t believe blackmailing me.” She rolled her eyes. “You’re the last person who gets to complain about blackmail, Hale.”I couldn’t help the short laugh that escaped me before I sighed, glancing around the pool again. It wasn’t fair —having to commit to a year of practices and meetings for a fake boyfriend I didn’t even want… just to impress a guy I shouldn’t even care about.And yet, somewhere deep down, I could feel a flicker of that old competitive fire stirring again—the part of me that missed the rush of the water and more than that, the thrill of winning.“Fine,” I said finally. “But for the recor
PAST SELENE’S POV: I barged into the swim room where I was told by multiple sources that I would find Maya. And, like every other room I stumbled into at Crescent High, I had to stop for a second just to take it all in. The space buzzed with noise—laughter, chatter, the rhythmic splash of water—as the swim team girls moved about, their voices bouncing off the tiled walls. The pool dominated the room, a vast stretch of dark blue water rippling under the constant motion of practiced strokes. Then I looked up and a gasp escaped my lips. The ceiling arched high above, entirely made of glass panels that let sunlight pour in, flooding the room with a soft, angelic golden glow. Rich people and their ridiculous designs, I thought. Even if a part of me was utterly jealous that we didn’t have this in our boring public school back in LA. I would’ve never left the room and maybe the room alone might’ve inspired my team to actually bag a few trophies. The bleachers along one wall were stack
Present Grayson's POV She almost smirked. “Okay,” she said slowly. “In exchange, you let me leave the job without any collateral. Like any other sane company would’ve. My grandmother’s house stays safe.”I nodded. “Yes.”“There would be no confessions,” she said suddenly, taking a seat from across me.I arched an eyebrow. “Confessions?”“Like what happened in the elevator,” she reminded me, like I could ever forget. “You won’t say things like that. You won’t try to make me…you won’t try to turn this into something it isn’t.”“No deal, Hale,” I said immediately. “You want me to just lie to you instead?”She bristled. “Not lie. Just don’t tell me the truth. I don’t want to hear it.”I pushed off from my chair and crossed the desk, coming to stand on her side.“Coward,” I murmured, perching on the edge beside her, close enough that my thigh brushed her knee. Her gaze snapped up to mine, her lips parting to defend herself but I beat her to it. “If you’re going to leave—really leave this
PRESENTGRAYSON’S POV:Today officially marked the last day of Selene’s ‘five weeks’ deadline, and she hadn’t managed to get herself fired.Which meant finally tackling the kind of storough she agreed to it—a part of me was slightly terrified that she might bash my head in if I tried talking to her. Still, I was confident.I felt the weather shift the moment she walked in. Even the usual warmth she reserved for employees around the office was absent today as she made a point of glaring at every poor soul who made the mistake of even breathing in her direction.I stepped out of my office only once since morning and she slammed the phone receiver down so hard it made half the floor flinch. And then she proceeded to avoid eye contact with me like it would make her physically ill.I shook my head at nothing in particular, a smile forming on my face. I shook it off, lest she saw me enjoying her misery and do decide to actually kill me for it. I picked up the phone at the end of my desk, p
PRESENTSELENE’S POV:The problem with kissing your boss, who also happened to be your highschool enemy and inconveniently, the object of every sick fnatasy you’d ever had—as I very quickly realized—was that you still had to see him the next day and it was awkward as fuck.I’ve only had a Sunday to
PAST SELENE’S POV:“Selene Hale!” Josh Maddox sing-songed, his voice loud enough to attract the attention of the entire cafeteria.My face burned. I wanted to sink into the floor and never resurface again.Josh’s grin was so huge it looked like his face might split in two. “Finally, we meet.”My h
PRESENTGRAYSON’S POV:I had not expected anyone to be home when I got back. That was mostly the case with my little apartment.It was a small two room apartment with silences almost as thick as my childhood home. This one, though, this home was one of my own making. These silences belonged entirel
PRESENTGRAYSON’S POV:I survived living in a home shrouded in silences. I survived a father who didn’t care whether I was alive or dead as long as I could give him what he wanted. I survived growing up with a legacy that demanded every last drop of my blood.Hell, I clawed my way to the top of the







