LOGINRhysI lean back against the hood of my car, tapping my fingers rhythmically against the cold metal as I check my phone. The dim yellow light of the streetlamp overhead casts long shadows across the empty driveway. Something about the sharp, dangerous fire in Jami’s eyes when she dragged me out of that restaurant told me the night wasn't over yet. Her family is a very specific, toxic brand of crazy, how the hell is a quiet girl like her coping with such level madness? From Cole to his sister, nobody is normal.Tsk! Sure enough, about twenty minutes later, the front door of the mansion flies wide open, slamming back against the interior wall. Jami comes storming out into the freezing night air, dragging a massive, overstuffed suitcase right behind her. Her dark hair is a totally messy halo around her face, her chest heaving up and down under her jacket, and her jaw is set in pure, stubborn determination. Behind her in the brightly lit doorway, her mother is standing on the porch
Jami The car ride back to the house is a total pressure cooker. Nobody says a single word. Vanessa sits in the back seat staring out the window, scrolling through her phone, while the heavy silence fills every square inch of the vehicle. My chest still burns with the residual adrenaline from the restaurant as I look down at my hands before turning to look at Reid, “Hey, could you wait for me?” “Yeah, that's totally fine.” The front door clicks shut behind us, locking us inside. The silence snaps instantly. Vanessa kicks her high heels off across the polished hardwood floor, letting them slam loudly against the baseboard before she turns around. Her eyes narrow, and her lips twist into this incredibly toxic, nasty smirk. "Oh my god, he is absolutely stunning," Vanessa scoffs, flinging her designer bag onto the glass console table with a loud thud. She stands there, crossing her arms over her chest, looking me up and down like I’m an absolute joke. "I told you he w
JamiI stare down at the little puddle of condensation forming at the base of my water glass, tracing the rim with a shaking finger. The restaurant around us is loud—but at our table, the air feels so thick I can barely swallow. "Vanessa, why the hell are you saying so much trash in front of Reid?” I throw her a piercing glare.“Well, you didn't tell me you were hiding so much from your ‘boyfriend’” She slurs and damn it, my ears instantly ring with a painful, suffocating heat. I drop my hands to my lap, my fingernails digging straight through the fabric of my dress and biting hard into my palms. I can see the sharp, victorious tilt of Vanessa’s chin out of the corner of my eye. She picks up her wine glass, her long, French-tipped nails tapping against the glass. Every single time our childhood friends visited the house, they'd make sure to completely avoid me just to go play with Vanessa. It was the exact same thing when Dad handed Vanessa the keys to a brand-new car right at the
RhysI lean back against the dark leather booth, twirling a heavy silver fork between my fingers. Jami thinks I’m her gentle library nerd, and I just never countered her misunderstanding. The hostess leads them toward my table, and my eyes pin straight to Jami. She looks incredibly fine in a dark dress that holds onto her curves in all the right places. But right behind her is a girl I'm sure I've seen a few times.If she's her sister, then she is probably always around the club with Cole’s teammates.A wide smile spreads across her face, what's her name again?Vanessa Anderson?The moment her eyes lock on my face, she stops dead in her tracks. Her jaw drops open, her eyes darting from my face to the expensive watch on my wrist. Shit! She recognizes the campus playboy captain instantly. I watch the panic flash across her face, followed by a sharp, calculating gleam. A wicked smirk creeps onto my lips. *Game on, then.*"Hey," Jami murmurs softly, sliding into the booth across from me
JamiThree days. Three whole days of sitting in this stupid room, staring at the ceiling, and listening to the muffled sounds of my family living their lives downstairs. It feels like a lifetime. Evelyn is completely serious about this grounding thing. She took away my car keys, my freedom, and my phone. The house feels like a high-security prison, and the isolation is driving me entirely insane. Every time I hear footsteps in the hallway, my stomach does a nervous flip, hoping maybe my dad came back from his business trip early to bail me out. But it's always just Cole thudding around or Evelyn screaming at the maid. I feel totally trapped in my own skin. The worst part is the silence from Reid. I have no way to text him, no way to explain why I vanished into thin air after my brother dragged me out of his passenger seat. He probably thinks I'm some drama-magnet freak who isn't worth the trouble. The memory of that kiss on the hood of his car is the only thing keeping me from los
JamiThe front door flies open, and Cole violently shoves me into the foyer. I stumble over my own feet, my shoulder slamming hard against the drywall. A sharp ache shoots down my arm, but I don't even get a second to rub it before the hallway light blurs my eyes.Standing right there at the bottom of the stairs, with her arms crossed tightly over her designer blouse, is my stepmother, Evelyn. Her face is twisted into pure disgust."Look what the cat dragged in," Cole pants, rubbing his knuckles like he just did some heavy lifting. "Found her at that trashy club downtown, getting out of some rich guy's sports car. She was wrapped all over him."Evelyn takes a slow, menacing step toward me. Her eyes scan my outfit, her lips curling up. "A sports car? At a nightclub? Are you completely out of your mind, Jami? You told me you were at the library finishing up your end-of-term papers. Instead, you're out there acting like a cheap girl, embarrassing this family with some dangerous boy.""He







