Treacherous by Alex Grayson & Melissa Toppen Read online

  “What about your dad?” I ask, wanting to know more about the girl invading my thoughts lately. “Did he remarry?”

  Rylee lets out a dull laugh. “Oh yeah. Remarried, started a new family, and all but forgot about his old one.”

  “Sounds like we’re cut from the same cloth. One parent who cares and another who doesn’t.”

  “Yeah.”

  Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” cuts through the cab, and I glance at Rylee with a lifted brow. Danielle likes Taylor Swift as well, so I’ve heard all of her songs what feels like hundreds of times.

  With an eye roll, she slides from my lap to the middle seat and reaches for her purse on the floorboard. She blows out a breath, and instead of accepting the call, she chooses to ignore it.

  “It’s my mom,” she murmurs, dropping her phone back in her purse. “I’m not ready to deal with her yet. I’m sure Principal Harris called her to give her a heads up about what happened.”

  “Which also means he probably called Oliver and his dad in for questioning.”

  “And that’ll just make my life even better,” she says bitterly. “Oliver’s going to love getting reamed by his dad. One guess who’ll be taking the brunt of his anger.”

  “Oliver will take whatever his father dishes out like a man. I’ll be damned if he blames that shit on you. I was serious when I said he’s done tormenting you. He’ll learn to deal with his shit a different way.”

  Her smile is sad. “Thanks, but I live with the guy. I’m sure he’ll find ways at home to make my life miserable.”

  “The fuck he will. Oliver isn’t dumb. I’ve set down the new rules that include you being off limits. He won’t do anything stupid.”

  Her eyes hold doubt, but she nods anyway. She may not believe it, but Rylee’s under my protection now. I don’t know how or when it happened, but she’s wormed her way inside me. My initial feeling of dislike has not only changed but has grown into caring. And the fucked-up thing is, I never even saw it coming.

  RYLEE

  “YOU SURE YOU’RE going to be okay?” Zayden asks as he pulls into the driveway and shifts his truck into park.

  Today has taken one crazy turn after the other, none of which I saw coming. But not all the twists have been bad.

  “Yeah, I’ll be fine.” I blow out a breath, not sure what to do next. Do I just say goodbye and leave the truck? Do I lean over and hug him? Maybe kiss him? I feel a bit uncertain about what’s happening between us and as such, I’m not really sure how to act.

  Before it was easy—I hated him, or at least I pretended I did, and he hated me. But now? Now I’m not so sure how I feel. Or how he feels for that matter. The only thing I know for certain is that Zayden made this day a hell of a lot easier to stomach. Even if I’m still convinced I’ll never be able to show my face in school again, him being there for me has meant more than I could ever say—and more than I expected it to mean.

  “If you’re worried about Oliver, don’t be. He’s not going to mess with you,” he reassures, his dark gaze swinging to the front porch before coming back to me.

  “At this point, I don’t think he could do anything worse than what he pulled today.” I let out a broken laugh.

  “Look at me.” His fingers graze my chin before he’s turning my face toward him. “Don’t let him see what he’s done. He doesn’t deserve the satisfaction. If I know Oliver, and I do, you walking in there like nothing happened will be the last thing he wants or expects. If he’s trying to break you, don’t let him believe he has.”

  “Well, considering there’s no way I’m showing my face in school for the rest of the year, I think he’s going to know he won.”

  “No one at school is going to say one word to or about you, believe me on that.”

  “You can’t control what people say to each other, Zayden.” I wrap my fingers around his and pull his hand away from my face. “And even if you could, it won’t stop them from thinking it.”

  “So then let’s change the way they think about it.”

  “And how do we do that?”

  “Ride to school with me tomorrow.”

  “That’s going to help me how?”

  “Just trust me on this, yeah?”

  I give him a questioning look; not sure I have the ability to trust anyone at the current moment.

  “I don’t know. I think maybe I’m going to stay home tomorrow. That will give people three days to get it out of their systems before Monday morning. Or maybe I’ll see if my mom will let me do home schooling for the rest of the year. Anything would be easier than having to go back there after what happened today.”

  “Fuck that.” His nostrils flare. “You’re going to school tomorrow and you’re going there with me. I’m not taking no for an answer.”

  “Zayden,” I start to object.

  “I know I don’t deserve it, Rylee, but I’m asking you to trust me here. I can make this go away.”

  “And how do you plan on doing that?”

  “By giving them something else to talk about.” He grins and the action causes a nervous flutter to run through my stomach.

  “I don’t know.” I mull over his proposal. I know that going on like nothing happened is my best course of action. But knowing what I should do and actually seeing it through are two very different things.

  “You’re going to have to go to school at some point and get your car anyway,” he tacks on, as if this will somehow sway me to his side.

  “Yeah, on Saturday when no one is there.”

  “Listen, what happened today was beyond fucked up. I can’t imagine how hard the thought of going back there probably is. But if I can make it easier for you, then you have to let me. I feel fucking awful for how I’ve treated you. Consider this me making it up to you.”

  “I can’t figure you out,” I tell him honestly, getting a little lost in the incredible depths of his blue eyes.

  To say Zayden has been back and forth since we first met would be the understatement of the year. I’ve never been growled at so many times in my life. But I’ve also never felt safer than he made me feel today.

  I had no reason to get into his truck earlier. No reason to believe that he wasn’t in on this right along with Oliver and Tiffany. And yet, without even saying it, I knew he wasn’t. Zayden Michaels might be the resident bad ass, but he also has a softer side. One that I’m willing to bet most people have never seen.

  After spending two hours talking in his truck, I already feel like I know more about him than most people who have known him for years do. He talked to me about his parents, his sister, fighting, his friendship with Oliver. I saw a different side to him today, and I really, really liked what I saw.

  I didn’t think it was possible to find him more attractive, and yet every time I think that, he has a way of proving me wrong.

  I don’t know what’s going to happen next or what, if anything, will transpire between Zayden and me, but for the first time since moving here, I actually feel excited about something… even after everything that happened today.

  “So, tomorrow morning? I’ll pick you up?” he asks again, clearly sensing the weakening of my resolve.

  “Tomorrow morning.” I nod, reaching for the door handle before I change my mind.

  “Rylee.” I turn back toward him, my heart skipping inside my chest at his sudden close proximity.

  Before I can say anything, Zayden’s mouth is on mine. It’s not rough or forced the way he kissed me the first two times, but tender and sweet—which is a total contradiction to the persona he embodies.

  “I’ll see you in the morning,” he murmurs against my lips before pulling back.

  “Okay,” I croak, not able to think of a single other thing to say.

  Pulling the handle, I shove the door open and step out into the frigid evening air.

  “I’M SORRY, he did what?” Savannah practically screams in my ear after I’ve given her a brief run through
of the events that took place earlier today.

  “You heard me,” I groan, flopping back onto my bed to stare up to the ceiling.

  “Please tell me his ass got expelled and his dad is kicking him the hell out. What the actual fuck? Who the hell would do something like that?”

  “Those were my thoughts exactly. But no, he didn’t get expelled. In fact, he didn’t get so much as a slap on the wrist. Apparently, everyone involved covered for each other and since no one is talking, they had no way to prove that it was Oliver and Tiffany who aired the video.”

  “Are you kidding me?” Her voice vibrates against my ear.

  “I wish I were.”

  “What about his dad? Certainly he’s not that stupid.”

  “No, I think Paul knows it was him—even though Oliver swore to him and my mom that he had nothing to do with it. I’ve never seen Paul so angry. When I got home I could hear him yelling all the way from his study at the back of the house. And my poor mom. I’m not sure if she was more embarrassed of me or for me.”

  “Why would she be embarrassed of you?”

  “Did you miss the part where I touched myself in the video?” I say flatly.

  “Yeah, but hello, what teenage girl hasn’t touched herself? Besides, it’s not like you were full on masturbating, right?”

  “God no. My hand barely grazed the outside of my underwear,” I say for a second time. “But the video cuts off in a way that makes you think more is about to happen. It’s so bad, Savannah. I honestly don’t know how I’m going to show my face at school tomorrow.”

  “Wait. You’re going to school tomorrow? After what happened today?” She seems as surprised as me by this news.

  I don’t know why I agreed to show my face back in that building so soon after the video. Maybe because Zayden asked, and for whatever reason I couldn’t tell him no. Or maybe it’s because I know he’s right. Hiding is letting them win, and anyone who knows me knows that I’m way too damn stubborn to roll over and hand them a victory that easily.

  Maybe that makes me stupid. Maybe that’s me asking for more trouble. But it’s the only way I know how to defend myself at this point.

  “I have to,” I tell her after a long moment has passed. “It’ll only be worse if I stop showing up for a while. I can’t let them think that they’ve won.”

  “You are a bigger person than I, Rylee Harper. I think I’d drop out of school and leave the state if something like that happened to me.” She pauses. “I still can’t believe Oliver would do that to you. Don’t get me wrong, I believe it, given everything else you’ve told me, but I don’t get it. You would think he’d want to get to know you before he tries destroying you.”

  “It has something to do with his dad and my mom. It has to. There’s no other explanation.”

  “But what does he hope to accomplish if that’s the case?”

  “Maybe he thinks if he does something drastic enough my mom will leave his dad…. I don’t know,” I admit.

  “You think he hates you guys being there that much?” she questions.

  “He must. Otherwise he wouldn’t be going through so much trouble. I just wish he would talk to me, ya know? Maybe if he would he would know that I’m no happier about being here than he is about having me here. He’s so convinced that we’re money hungry, free loaders out for his dad’s money.”

  “Your mom is a freaking brain surgeon, for goodness sake. She makes plenty of money for herself,” she objects.

  “Exactly,” I agree. “Honestly, I don’t have the mental capacity to try to break down why he does the things he does, and what he hopes to accomplish by doing them. Clearly his issue isn’t with me, but for whatever reason I’m getting the brunt of his anger.”

  “Not only his anger, but all his little minions’ anger, too. Zayden was in on it as well, I assume?” she asks, already knowing I’ve had my fair share of issues with him.

  “I don’t think so,” I tell her truthfully. “In fact, he’s the one who kind of rescued me after everything went down.”

  “What do you mean he rescued you?” she asks, and I can hear the smile in her voice.

  Savannah knows I’ve had a serious crush on Zayden since the first time I saw him. Now granted, I also hated him because of how he’s treated me—or at least I claimed to—but that hasn’t stopped me from mentioning his name every time Savannah and I have spoken over the last couple of weeks.

  I spend the next several minutes filling her in on everything that transpired after I left school with Zayden. She hangs onto my every word like she can’t get enough—meanwhile, I’m having trouble grasping any of it as I recount the events that took place this afternoon. I know it happened because I was there, but it feels more like a dream than reality. In what world would a guy like Zayden Michaels be interested in me? Especially when up until today he’s treated me more like a nuisance than anything else.

  “I knew it,” she announces after I’ve finished.

  “Knew what?” I don’t try to hide my confusion.

  “That you two were gonna end up together.” She giggles. “I could tell just by the way you talked about him. No man kisses someone the way he kissed you in that hallway if he’s not interested.”

  “Um, no,” I cut her off before she can go any further. “One, we are not together. And two, have you not been listening to anything I’ve told you over the last few weeks?”

  “Actually, I have. You told me he got mad at you because he was worried someone would slip something in your drink at a party. Then, he got all bent out of shape that you showed up at his illegal fight because he claimed it wasn’t safe for you. Swoon.” She sighs dramatically. “And then he showed up at your house when he knew Oliver wasn’t there and he kissed you. Then, he picked a fight with you in the hallway the next day and kissed you again—because let’s be real, it’s probably all he could think about after kissing you the first time. Then, he tries to warn you that Oliver is up to something, and when you didn’t listen, he swooped in and saved the day—taking you away. Do you want me to keep going, because what happened next is even juicier?”

  “No, I think I got your point.” I shake my head even though she can’t see me.

  “He’s into you, Rylee. He knows it. I know it. So do us all a favor and stop pretending like you don’t know it.”

  “I don’t know, V. I mean, sometimes when he looks at me, like today, I feel like maybe he feels it, too—this overwhelming chemistry we seem to share. But he’s so all over the place that I don’t feel like I can get a good read on him. I can’t help but feel like maybe he’s just messing with me.”

  “Why would he be messing with you?”

  “The same reason he’s been messing with me from the beginning,” I say like it should be obvious. “Oliver.”

  “If what you told me about today is true, I don’t think he’s messing with you, Ry. Don’t get me wrong, I get your hesitation, I really do, but don’t let that hold you back from exploring things with him. I haven’t heard you this excited about a guy since Jackson Bradley in fifth grade.”

  “That’s not true. Or are you completely forgetting about Parker?”

  “That’s my point. You dated Parker for how long? And even then you never talked about him the way you talk about Zayden. And it’s not about what you’re saying, it’s about how you’re saying it.”

  “You act like you know me so well.” I don’t try to hide my annoyance, even though I know she’s right.

  She really does know me that well. And she’s not wrong about Zayden. There’s something there. Something I can’t put my finger on. Something beyond his obvious good looks and popularity status. Something raw and real. Something that I cannot shake. And truthfully, I don’t know if I want to shake it.

  “I think sometimes I know you better than I know myself.” She laughs.

  “And that is why I miss you so damn much,” I whine. “If you were here, things would be so much ea
sier.”

  “I may not be at school with you, but I’m still here. Always. You know that.”

  “I do.” I let out a puff of air, rolling to my side on the bed. “But it’s not the same. I hate always looking over my shoulder, never knowing who I can trust.”

  “I get that. But you have Pierce. And you mentioned another friend you made—what’s her name, Brielle?”

  “Yeah.”

  “See, you have friends. Maybe you haven’t known them as long as you’ve known me, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have your back. Pierce seems like a pretty awesome friend. I’m actually looking forward to meeting him.”

  “Speaking of meeting people—are you still planning on coming over Saturday? I feel like it’s been forever since we’ve hung out.”

  “Yes, and I cannot wait. I think this is the longest we’ve ever gone without seeing each other.”

  “It is the longest we’ve ever gone,” I confirm.

  “I’ve already got a list of everything I need to bring for the night’s festivities. Facials. Manis and pedis. All the junk food your little heart desires. I’m bringing out the big guns. After the week you’ve had, I think you need it.”

  “God, that sounds perfect. I just want to forget about everything that happened today and spend some much-needed time with my best friend.”

  “Everything that happened today?” she questions knowingly, bringing Zayden back to the forefront of my mind.

  I close my eyes, and I can see his face perfectly. The dip in his chin, his unruly hair, his stark blue gaze. Just the thought of him causes my heart to do a little flip in my chest. As much as I hate to admit it, he’s all I think about most days. I can’t help it. And after today, I feel utterly consumed by him.

  “Okay, almost everything,” I admit, a smile gracing my lips.

  I didn’t think it was possible to feel this good after what happened at school today, but Zayden seemed to know exactly what I needed and how to push me past it. Hell, he even got me to agree to go to school tomorrow when hours ago I was swearing I’d never step foot in those hallways again.