There was always a stigma of people who come from money. The pressure was at times unbearable. We all had different ways of coping behind closed doors. Where the world couldn’t see that we weren’t flawless and, in fact, flawed like everyone else.
My mother, the perfect example. Always the polite wife. Never causing a stir and being anything but the elegant little companion on the arm of my father. She fooled everyone. Hiding her true misery behind an overripe smile, contagious blue eyes, and ebony hair that shined when she arched her head back on a laugh.
She’d perfected pretending.
My father, on the other hand, also skilled in that department. The doting husband to the world but wouldn’t hesitate to lay a hand on his wife anytime the need arose. Usually after a stressful day of work. Which to be fair, was most days.
He’d never touched me while she was alive though, she’d made sure of it. Locking me in my room, until one day I figured out how to pick a lock and heard her screams from behind their bedroom door.
Recognizing then those monsters don’t hide, they’re just disguised in plain sight.
I clear my thoughts, shaking my head. “Rory is stronger. We both know that.”
He looks down, eyes shining. His half smile growing into a full-blown one. “My lil sis definitely has some spunk.”
I match his expression. That is something we could both agree on.
Even I could admit that I liked knowing she was safe. It may piss her off, sure, but at least I knew she was okay. Secure and guarded anytime I was around.
I wasn’t the only one who’d grown protective of Rory. Whether she realized it or not she had a whole slew of people looking out for her. All the hellhounds, Hailey, and even her father, supporting her.
A small part of me liked knowing that. She’d more than earned it and it seemed only fair after everything she’d been through.
My stance I keep lax even though inside I was all jumpy. The adrenaline I had from practice and Finn and I’s scuttle made me jittery, impulsive. My knee-jerk reaction is to usually hit something but all I want now is to hunt down my girl and kiss her senseless.
The tips of my fingers started twitching, I lied I wanted more than that. I wanted to fuck her stupidly and hear her scream out my name coming hard around my dick.
“Rory’s one of us, she can handle anything.”
Her bloodline might make that ring true, but she wasn’t born into this as he and I had been. She was thrown into and expected to listen. Something she wasn’t good at doing.
“I mean, haven’t you noticed her around school? She’d gained their respect before they’d even known who she was.” He snorts. “No thanks to you, by the way.”
My chest swells in pride. Finn was right.
People idolized her the moment she’d poured paint down his car, and they still didn’t know that was her. Then she’d defended that girl and now here she was standing up to me on a regular basis without hesitation.
Rory was brave—reckless at times, but brave.
“…she’d done all that before she was a Casper,” I breathe in admiration.
My chest swelled further, both in pride and guilt. Rory fought for others and would continue to do so because no one ever fought for her.
That changed the moment you stepped back into my life, baby girl.
If only she’d accept it already.
forty-six
Cole
Irunmyfingeralong the edge of the metal flint wheel, welcoming the little surge of pain the heat causes. Flickering across my thumb as it starts to burn when I get it too close to the open flame.
The blackening of my fingernail was a welcome amusement.
A small surge of excitement leaps inside my chest. Three little bubbles popped up on my phone next to her name.
She was up. It was late.