My cell vibrates in my pocket, and I pull it out to see a text.
Her daddy’s jet just took off. Your girl is on the run.
I don’t respond. Instead, I lock my phone and set it on the countertop. “She’s running.”
“Of course, she is.” Law laughs, but it holds no humor.
“Let her go.” Monroe growls, giving her a pass by waving it off. Like what she did doesn’t matter.
“No.” I shake my head.
“What do you want to do? Follow her?” Rellik arches a dark brow.
“We drag her back.” I smile.
“And how the fuck do we do that?” Rellik snorts.
I look over at Law, knowing he’ll be on my side. He’ll want to play. He won’t pass up this opportunity, especially not with her. “Want a doll?”
He begins to pour another shot. “You know …” He fills the other shot glasses as well before his eyes meet mine, and he smirks. “You have always been infatuated with them.”
When we were around ten, I went shopping with my mother and picked out a doll for Henley. She loved it and made me play with it.
“I love her.” She hugs her to her chest, sitting next to the Christmas tree. The pieces of wrapping paper piled next to her and my doll in her hands. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” I tell her with a smile, letting out a breath. I didn’t realize how nervous I was.
“Wanna play with her?” She holds her out to me.
I shake my head. “Dolls are for girls.”
The smile on her face falls, turning into a frown. “Dolls aren’t just for girls, Ryan.” She rolls her eyes. “Boys can play with them, too.”
She shakes the doll as she holds her out in front of me. I take it with a sigh. “What do I do with her?” I ask, looking over her. She reminds me of Henley in a way—a pretty little doll with pouty lips, long dark hair, and big blue eyes.
“You can dress her up. Fix her hair. You can take them anywhere with you.” She smiles again, handing me the brush that was also in the box. “Dolls are meant to be played with, silly. Not to sit on a shelf.”
I throw back the new shot. “Yeah, I want to play with a doll. You?”
Law shrugs carelessly but confirms what I already knew. “I’m down.”
CHAPTER ONE
HENLEY
I SIT ON the end of my bed. My suitcases are still packed, covering my white carpet. Four months ago, I was in this same position, but instead of returning, I was leaving. When we had returned home from the courthouse, my father had all of my stuff packed and ready to ship me away.
I was supposed to finish my senior year in New York, but here I am. Back at home. My mother’s husband got a job offer in Switzerland, and he took it, forcing me to move back in with my father five weeks into our first semester. So, now I’m going to spend my senior year at Westbrook High.
With them. My ex-best friends.
My father isn’t happy. He met me at the private airport and didn’t say two words to me. He spent most of his time typing away furiously on his cell and muttering curse words under his breath. It wasn’t hard to figure out who had pissed him off.
“Knock, knock.” My door opens, and my brother steps into my room. He looks so much like our mom with his light brown hair and chocolate-colored eyes. Seeing her made me realize I liked growing up here with my dad and Jeremy.
“Hey.” I give him a weak smile.
He comes to sit down next to me at the end of the king-size bed. “You could come to college with me,” he offers. “I’ll hide you in one of my suitcases.” My brother rarely comes home ever since he went off to school. But when he found out our mother was shipping me back, he made a day trip to see me.
I give a rough laugh. “As tempting as that sounds, I don’t think I’ll be welcomed.” My brother got accepted into one of the most prestigious private colleges in the United States. He has plans for an engineering degree. He’s known all of his life what he wants to do when he grows up. Me? Never even thought about it. I’m like Mom in that aspect. She’s forty and still does nothing productive with her life. “Plus, I’m not much of a fan of California.” I bump my shoulder into his.
“Dad’s freaking out.” He ignores my joke. “He’s on the phone with Mom right now in his study. He’s pissed that they had a deal, and she didn’t honor it.”
I shrug. “It is what it is. Pat got a job opportunity he couldn’t turn down. Not like she sent me back here for her own selfish reasons.” But I’m not sure that’s the truth. My mother made her decision when we were younger that she didn’t want to be a mother. She’d much rather have money and freedom. I would have just weighed her down. I think she was embarrassed that I was living with her. Her friends knew what had happened, and they looked down on me. They thought I had made the whole thing up too.