Secret Obsession: Chapter 0

Tonight’s party is dull. Knox wanted to throw it because we’re going home for winter break tomorrow. Our parents have summoned us home, which really just means we’ll have to be on our best behavior for a month. But more than half of the students have already left Crown Point, and thus…

Dull.

Greyson and Violet sit in the corner, their heads bent together. Music plays loud enough that their voices don’t travel.

I sip my beer and tip my head back on the couch, exhaling.

Steele and Aspen are outside, smoking a blunt. Part of me wants to join them, to get high and forget about my fucking troubles.

And then the front door opens, and one of my troubles strolls inside.

Her long blonde hair is coiled up on top of her head, her high cheekbones tinted red from the cold. I frown at the way her gaze travels around the room. She seems unsettled until she finds my brother, and I fucking hate that. The frigid blast of winter wind comes in behind her, until she slams the door shut and shucks her coat.

Still, that cold has buried itself under my skin. My bones have caught the chill, and I can’t seem to do anything but watch her from my spot on the couch. She’s the light that captivates my attention anywhere we go, and I loathe her for it.

Myself, too.

My heart thumps erratically. It’s chased on by the slight buzz I have, by the beer that I drain with a few quick swallows.

Her expression is set, decision made.

I push myself up and lean forward, tracking her across the room. To my brother, who waits like a hyena about to devour its prey. His smile seems more evil than anything else. Only because I know what he has planned, what’s going to happen the second she admits her feelings for him.

Feelings she should never have had in the first place.

She stops in front of Knox and tucks an invisible hair behind her ear. She does that when she’s nervous. My gaze drops down the rest of her, down the tight black shirt that hugs her figure, over her perfect ass in the dark jeans. She’s a dancer, and every inch of her is muscle.

When she opens her mouth, I know she’s going to blurt it out. Because my girl’s been working up the courage to tell my brother she loves him for the past six months—maybe longer. Six months ago was when I first heard the words leave her lips, in some sleepy mumble.

The fact that she hasn’t makes me wonder about who else hurt her.

There will be time for that later.

If you asked me last year how this would go, how the bet between our best friend, Greyson, and Knox would evolve… the foolish, naive part of me assumed it would be over in a flash. Knox would get Willow to fall for him in no time.

And maybe he did.

But she didn’t say it.

Then he got stubborn.

Almost a year later, and we’re here. At this moment.

“I just wanted to say…” I imagine she’s telling him. “I love you.”

It’s in my head, because I certainly can’t hear her. But the way my brother’s expression lights up, it must be true. He yells for one of the guys to cut the music, and everything falls silent. Willow’s tense, her shoulders inching higher. The turtle defense—except it’s not her neck she has to protect. It’s her heart that needs the armor, and now it’s too late. She just handed it over to the worst fucking person in the room.

“Say again, baby?” Knox says, his voice now audible. He takes her hand and runs his thumb over her knuckles.

He oozes charm. He’s all honey and sugar. And while we look alike, I’ve always strayed in the opposite direction. Bitterness and spice. I want to leap from the couch and snatch her away, but this must play out.

She’s in love with him—it’s only fair that he break her heart once and for all.

I’m okay with getting cut up by her jagged little pieces.

“I just, ah,” she clears her throat. “I’m in love with you.”

He smiles. That smile turns into a sneer too fast, and he keeps hold of Willow’s hand. Yanks her closer, into his arms. “Fucking finally,” he crows.

He finds Greyson in the crowd that’s slowly building. More people are drawn by the spectacle, by the attention that Knox Whiteshaw always needs on him.

“Did you hear that, Devereux?”

Greyson ignores Violet’s confused scowl and raises his eyebrow. “I did.”

“I won the bet.”

Willow jerks, but Knox grips her hand tighter.

“I won,” he repeats, looking back at her. “You fell for me. And what a fucking relief it is to be done with this nonsense.”

“What?” she finally voices.

I grit my teeth. My folded knife is in my palm, and I have the urge to throw it at my brother’s face. Because this is worse than anything I could’ve imagined.

“It was a fucking bet, Reed,” he says slowly, like she won’t understand him any other way. He releases her hand. “Greyson and I made a bet to see who would fall in love first—you or Violet. Obviously, he’s an idiot and fell in love first, making his end of it void.” Insert eye roll. “But me? I was determined.”

Her mouth opens and closes.

Everyone is staring in shocked silence.

It’s not like they all thought they were endgame… right? My brother has been a man whore for ages. The fact that he dedicated a year to one pussy is proof that he really is a competitive bastard.

That’s how I wound up playing goalie anyway. Our coaches figured out that if we were on opposing teams, there was no way we’d leave each other alone. Even on the same team, he needed to shine. So they tried to separate us further, to put us in positions where we had to work together—or not interact at all.

But there’s only one goalie, and he didn’t have the fucking reflexes for it.

And then someone laughs, and that silence is broken wide open. They’re all laughing at her. At the way Knox fooled her. Everyone except me. And Violet.

But Willow’s best friend is caught up in Greyson’s arms, and there’s no one else to stop Willow from fleeing. Her eyes fill with tears, and she meets my gaze briefly on her way past me.

She rushes out into the night, the door slamming behind her.

Knox is still chuckling, and he shakes his head. “Finally free,” he says on a sigh. “Who wants to help me celebrate?”

The music restarts, and my muscles unlock. I shove myself off the couch and through the crowd, grabbing Knox by his shirt. He doesn’t object when I tow him outside and shove him against the deck railing. Steele and Aspen are nowhere to be found, which is good. I don’t need an audience for this conversation.

He slides on the ice, his fingers digging into the snow on the handrail.

When he turns to look at me, I know he knows.

He lifts one shoulder. “Hit me and get it over with, then.”

“That easy?”

“You gonna go get the girl, have a little cry, and then make her fall in love with you?” Knox shakes his head. “You always did want to play with my hand-me-downs—”

My fist slams into his face. Pain blooms across my knuckles, and a song of revenge whispers in my ears. If he wasn’t already against the rail, he would’ve fallen. As it is, it catches his weight as his head whips to the side.

He groans through his teeth. “When did you learn to throw a decent punch?”

“Fuck off.”

Knox laughs.

I shake my head and eye him. “You’re done with her?”

“Yes, baby brother. Go have your fun.” He grins, then leans to the side and spits blood into the snow. “Enjoy putting her back together.”

A scoff escapes me before I can stop it, and I straighten to my full height. “Who said anything about doing that?”