family reunions. Fine by me.” I wouldn’t be the first girlfriend not accepted by their boyfriend’s family, and I wouldn’t be the last. Also, screw them for putting me in the position where I had to bargain for a boyfriend.
Vaughn’s lips twisted in amusement, and then he gave me a look that said to cut it out, but I wasn’t feeling very obedient at the moment. “It’s not that simple.” He blew out a breath and shoved his fingers through his hair because he could see in my eyes that I wasn’t backing down. I’d been rolling over for almost a year. I was so done with it that it wasn’t even funny.
“Yes, it is. Why do you care so much about what your father thinks? Is it because you’re afraid he’ll cut you off or something?”
He seemed insulted, but what else was I supposed to think? “Money is the last thing I care about,” he retorted before his lips curled in disgust.
“You drive a Lamborghini.”
“That was to fuck over my dad.”
His dismissive tone and the conversation I overheard between him, Ever, and their lackeys that first day of junior year, the day I met Four, made me believe him.
“He bought you that car so you’d work for him.” Vaughn frowned, and I could tell he was trying to figure out when I’d learned that little tidbit and how. “Four and I overheard Adam Turner ask if your father still wanted you to work for him,” I explained, referring to his old teammate. The next night at the back-to-school bash, Four had cracked another of Vaughn’s teammates over the head with a whiskey bottle for calling her mother a whore and holding an auction for Four’s…services. Four got sent to reform school after that. Of course, Ever, who hated her at the time, had been behind the whole thing, and when his “stepsister” returned from Europe, she came back with a vengeance.
Vaughn didn’t bother confirming nor denying it, so I said, “We’ve been doing whatever we’ve been doing for ten months. Your father must know about me by now. He must know that we’re…friends.” The word had never seemed so distasteful before now. What Vaughn and I had was more special than a friendship.
Shoulders slumping, Vaughn rested his forehead against mine even though he was nearly a foot taller. Because of our height difference, he often joked that he’d end up with a hump on his back if he weren’t careful. “Maybe. But he doesn’t know how much I—” He stopped, and it was all I could do not to scream and beg for him to finish that sentence.
“How much you want to fuck me?” My tone warned him to tread carefully.
Refusing to take the bait, he let me go and looked away. “That too,” he mumbled stubbornly.
This road we traveled felt like it had grown just a little bit longer, and I told myself it didn’t matter how long the journey took, not as long as Vaughn was with me. So why did it feel as if he were slowly letting go of my hand? Why did it feel as if I were the only one fighting for more? The answer seemed so obvious, and I could no longer deny it.
“Fine.”
He had every right to look wary when his gaze met mine a moment later. “Fine?”
Shrugging, I forced myself to appear indifferent when my heart was being ripped in two. “Exactly what I said.” His brows dipped even further, but I was already walking away. I felt his hand catch mine before I could get too far, and his gaze was pleading as he held mine. It only took an ounce of strength for him to pull me into his arms.
“Promise me you won’t come back here, not alone and definitely not unannounced. It’s not safe.” Before I could reply, he kissed my lips, and I let him. Little did he know, it would be the last time.
“I won’t come back here,” I promised. When he went to kiss me again, I turned my head. “Ever.” I took advantage of his shock at the finality of my tone and freed myself before he could recover.
“What did you say?”
“You asked me not to give myself to you unless I could live without more, and I’ve just decided that I can’t.” I shook my head, willing my tears away. I’d shed enough for him, and he didn’t even know it. “Not when it’s you.”
I was two steps from being out the