fault, dammit, but when I finally glance away, Stone catches my eye again. He’s glaring at me with narrowed eyes and a chiseled chin. He holds my gaze, not looking away this time either. Everything is a contest with him. I look away first when the professor speaks from the front again, “Miss Wilder, I see you plan on disrupting the entire class. Either take a seat or see your way out.”
Embarrassment rushes through me in a tidal wave of heat, and my breasts definitely stop nipping now. I turn and slop my way to the back row. Mr. Burns just stares at me incredulously, the suctioning of my wet shoes offending him until I finally plant my ass on a chair.
Class goes by in a blur. I stare at the back of Stone’s perfectly coiffed blond hair, questions racing through my mind. Taking center stage is wondering why the fuck he’s back in Clary. He has no reason to be here. His mom packed up and left hours before the news came that there was no trace of my father. She was already gone when I made it back to the house after the press conference, not even bothering to say goodbye. I don’t know where she moved to, but she took everything with her. The money in the accounts—what little of it there was, anyway. She pillaged the house for valuables, even. The only thing she left me was the truck and Dad’s house. And who knows if I even have that.
As I stare at Stone, my hatred for him and his whole family grows brighter and brighter until I’m a sitting inferno. I’m surprised my classmates sitting around me haven’t felt my fire yet. I loathe Stone Jacobs with everything in me. I hate his father, his mother, and his entire family tree. Losing my father has only made it worse because while I’m just barely getting by, the Jacobs are thriving. They have their money and their fancy jobs and their fancy treks up into the mountain while I’ve been venturing out by myself week after week, searching with no luck.
At the end of class, Meghan saunters up to Stone’s desk, leaning over to put her hand on his shoulder. He gazes at her with those discerning, twinkling eyes that are practically made of diamonds. I’ve seen diamonds in their natural state, and trust me, they match Stone Jacobs in every way. Cutting and beautiful.
Meghan turns her head to stare at me, giving me a small smirk that says she knows she’s about to get something that I want. That’s the fate of all Wilders, isn’t it? Never getting what they truly want. I hate to break it to her though. She can have Stone Jacobs. I couldn’t care less. I don’t want to be within five feet of my stepbrother.
Instead of stooping to her level, I give her a smile of my own, grab my bag, and try to leave the class with more dignity than when I entered, which honestly, is easy to do, considering the mess I brought in with me.
I can’t believe Stone fucking Jacobs is here, I keep telling myself. I simultaneously want to confront him and pretend he’s a walking case of COVID-19. Keep my fucking distance, that’s what I should do. Nothing good ever came from getting too close to a member of the Jacobs family.
How dare he enroll in Saint Clary’s though. He knows I go here, and last I heard, he and his friends were attending Arizona State. Even if he wanted to transfer, aren’t there a lot of colleges in Phoenix that are probably ten times better than this one? Lord knows he can afford to go to a more expensive school. Saint Clary’s is the cheapest college in all of Arizona. I know that for a fact because that’s why I go here.
I’m so lost in my own thoughts, I don’t see the towering body in front of me when I step out of the classroom. I run straight into a chest and bounce back. The first thing I see is the brim of a black cowboy hat. When he lifts his head, though, the face comes into view. In that instant, I can’t fathom how this day could get even worse. “Lookie here, Lucas. It’s our friend Dakota.”
Cowboy wannabe and Stone’s best friend, Wyatt Longhorn, slings his arm around Stone’s other best friend, Lucas Govern. A cold chill runs through me as they lift