Prologue
Amos
My hands are clasped tightly behind my back, my face is between my knees, and I’m doing my best to level out my breathing again. The milk carton I’m sitting on is digging into the backs of my legs, but I’m using the pain to my advantage.
If I can find a way to numb myself before I have to start working, then maybe things will be okay.
Friday nights are usually the busiest here at work, because all of the drunk college kids hit the bars about three blocks away from the diner I work at, then stumble in and make fools of themselves, agitating anyone who’s unlucky enough to be working the midnight shift.
And I somehow managed to pull the short straw for tonight.
It’s not really the strangers that bother me—them I’ve learned to ignore, it’s Xavier and his friends who are going to show up, raising hell once the concert they’re going to tonight lets out.
Decaying Sinners is his favorite band, and when he found out they were going to be in town tonight, he rounded up his friends and asked them to go.
Them, instead of me.
The one person who’s been a constant in his life for the past ten years.
The one he’s pushed away and made life unbearable at every chance he’s gotten.
I blow out my breath as I sit up straight and run my hands down my face, then shake my head. If I can keep the nerves to a minimum, the cobwebs swept back into the attic corners where they belong, then I’ll be able to make it through tonight.
“You alright, buddy?”
I startle slightly, then laugh nervously when I see Colin—our best and fastest busboy—peeking into the back room where I’ve gone to hide. I shouldn’t let any of this bother me since I don’t have to deal with the patrons like he does. Being on the line does come with the perk of no face-to-face contact, but I know the number of send-backs tonight because of drunken taste buds is going to be enough to make me want to set the place on fire.
I get to my feet, wipe my sweaty palms off on my thighs, then nod toward the door.
“I’ll be alright.”
Glancing at the clock just above the door, I swallow back a sigh.
For the next hour at least.
“Let’s go out back and get a smoke in before we get flooded with the town’s finest,” Colin suggests dryly with an eye roll. I give him an appreciative clap on the back as I follow him through the kitchen area and out the back door. Hearing the nightlife in full swing, I find myself wishing I could just go back home before the midnight rush hour begins.
Chapter One
Xavier
Coming out of the concert with my friends once the show has finished, we’re hyped up, and feeling the buzz from the few drinks we all had when we got here. Since none of us have anywhere to be tomorrow, we’re not ready to call an end to the night. Seeing as it’s barely past 11pm, there is still plenty of time left to get up to some fun and mischief… and I know the perfect place to go where we can cause some.
I’ll never pass up an opportunity to hassle my stepbrother, Amos. I’ve disliked him ever since my mom married his dad nearly ten years ago, when she proceeded to move the entire family into our house. I had a huge fight with Mom when she broke the news to me, and no matter how many times I got him into trouble with our parents, it didn’t change the outcome. He was the perfect son, and my stepbrother. Now, I’m stuck with him.
As we got older my little pranks grew more subtle, more sophisticated, and much more risky. In public he was relatively safe from me, but behind closed doors and where our parents couldn’t witness anything, all bets were off. I’ve never felt such an instant and intense dislike for someone ’til I met Amos, and I could never pinpoint exactly what it was about him that prompted it. All I knew was that I wanted to make his life hell.
The years spent living under the same roof should probably have softened me toward him, but it’s had completely the opposite effect. Everything I felt when we were kids has only grown along with us, intensifying into something that feels almost dangerous.
“Come on, let’s get something to eat. I’m starving,” I say to my friends, Shane and Simon.
“Sure, where do you wanna go?” Shane asks, prompting Simon to nudge him in the back as they share a knowing look. They already know where I have in mind for us to go.
They are similar enough in looks that they could pass for brothers, but there isn’t an ounce of blood shared between them. Shane is the tallest at 6’1, while Simon is around 5’11. I, however, am a mere 5’7, and I hate it. My height is the only area I am below average. I make up for it in other ways; with my charming personality and intelligence… amongst other things.
Call me self-absorbed if you want, but I know what I have and I’m not afraid to flaunt it under the right circumstances. I’ve received enough praise and compliments over the years from those around me, and all I’ve done during that time is hone my techniques in all areas until I excelled.
School was almost a breeze, and it had nothing to do with the money I’d come from—as far as I know at least. Mom believes we should all earn respect, and success is achieved through hard work and perseverance. The only thing her wealth helped with was getting me into the best private school she could find, but the rest of the pressure was on me to do well. Unfortunately, her insistence on receiving a top-quality education wasn’t only extended to me, but to Amos as well.