The Enemy - Kelsey Clayton Page 0,22

if there's something he wants to say, I have no choice but to listen.

“I can't believe you're dating him.” he sneers. “I thought you had more class than that.”

I scoff. “Like you'd know anything about having class.”

“I know Kellan Spencer doesn't have an ounce of it.”

Trying to ignore him, I walk away and toward my room, but he's hot on my heels. Clearly, he isn't finished. I turn the corner and head up the second set of steps—the ones that go straight up into my bedroom. I can hear him behind me, but he isn't saying anything for once.

I'm about to slam my door shut in his face, but he stops it with his foot. I take a second to breathe and then turn around. He's looking around my room, as if he's taking it all in. His gaze rakes over my bed, my dresser, the wall of dance trophies, and then lands on me.

“Your room is the tower,” he says, like it’s new information.

“And your point?”

He shakes his head. “I don't have one. I just assumed that was the master bedroom.”

“It is,” I confess. “But I was six when my dad had this house built, and I had an unhealthy obsession with castles, so he gave me this room.”

“Why doesn't that surprise me?”

Fed up with his shit, I cross my arms over my chest. “Is there something you wanted, or can you fuck off now?”

He chuckles, and I hate how I like the sound of it. “I just wanted to say thank you, for the surfboard. You didn't have to do that.”

Shit, I forgot about that. To be honest, I felt guilty about breaking his board, and it didn't look like he had another. So, today on my lunch break, I went to the surf shop. I asked the guy behind the counter which one he recommended most, and bought it. It was more than I thought it would be, but not enough to cause any kind of dent in my bank account. Not with the obnoxious allowance my dad gives me every month.

I shrug. “It's no big deal. Your old one broke because of me, so I kinda did.”

His eyes meet mine, and there is something brewing behind them. Something I can't decipher. It's alluring, and dangerous. Kellan's words play through my mind and pull me from my stupor.

“Is that all you wanted? Because I just want to shower and go to bed.”

Cade grins, and I do my best to look away so I don't get lost in the way it makes him look so much hotter. He's practically my stepbrother, for crying out loud, not to mention a major jerk. Off limits isn't even the word for it. Besides, it's probably all part of some game to mess with Kellan.

He makes no attempt to move, so I walk toward him and press my palm to his chest. I gently press until he backs up onto the steps and stands right outside my doorway. Then, I close the door and lock it.

Kellan was right. I need to stay away from Cade.

A WEEK FLIES BY in what feels like seconds, and I can't believe graduation is on Friday. Cade, thankfully, hasn't tried anything since he stalked me into my bedroom. Then again, I haven't been home enough for him to do much. Family dinners have started becoming more sporadic and less mandatory, thank God, and I've been spending most of my time at Tessa's or Kellan's.

After our talk, I've started making more of an effort to make Kellan feel less like a second choice and more like a priority. However, I'm still not ready to have sex with him. I just don't think we're at that level yet, despite the fact that he’s been good to go for weeks. But for him, it isn't as big of a deal.

I walk into the kitchen to see Nora dressed and ready to go. Today, we're going to my favorite boutique to find a dress for graduation. It's something I definitely could’ve done on my own, but she wanted to take me, and I didn't have the heart to tell her no—especially not with the way my dad was looking at me. His eyes urged me to agree.

“Oh good, you're here,” she greets me. “Just let me finish filling out this form for Molly's school and then we'll go.”

I sit on one of the bar stools and pull out my phone, texting Tessa. Her anxiety is sky high after finding out that