Devlin swallows before reaching out, a fond half-smile forming on his lips as his hand closes around the thread of white gold. “Go get that ring, Doll.”
I see something in that moment, something I know I’m not supposed to see. I see Preston. I’m sure I’m the only one who sees it, but it’s there for just a flash. Maybe it’s because he’s standing in front of me while Devlin stands in front of the girl he wants. Maybe it’s because my own shoulders want to slump with relief as much as his when Devlin takes the charm from Dolly, removing his claim from her. Maybe it’s because I’m looking for it, because he fascinates me, because I see him in a way no one else does.
He’s a boy hurting for what he can never have because her family and his family say they don’t belong together. That’s something I understand all too well.
Preston’s eyes meet mine, and whatever was there slips behind his mask of indifference. He holds my gaze, and suddenly, I can barely breathe. Something passes between us, and I know that he can see it in my eyes. He knows that I saw what he tries so hard to hide.
But it’s Colt who speaks next. He turns to the crowd, not keeping this between him and his choice like Devlin, where only a few people overheard.
“There’s only one girl at this school who deserves to wear my necklace,” he says, holding up a hand. The chain threads through his fingers, the little charm dangling below his fist. “She’s the last person I would have expected to be making a Doll, but here I am.”
Beside me, Dixie lets out a tiny squeak. She’s panting so hard it’s a wonder she hasn’t passed out from hyperventilation. At the next table over, one full of girls who spend their energy on academics rather than trying to climb the social ladder, I spot Mabel Darling. She’s the only girl in the room not hanging onto Colt’s every word just about as hard as Dixie is. While even the girls around her watch Colt with stars in their eyes, Mabel continues eating like nothing is happening.
Colt goes on after a pause to let all the girls wonder if he could be talking about them. “This girl took me by surprise,” he says. “At first, you might think she’s soft, but she’s stronger than you know.”
Dixie turns red all the way to her ears. I squeeze her hand, and for the briefest moment, my eyes meet Mabel’s. She glances up now and then, so it’s clear she’s not deliberately avoiding the spectacle, but her expression is one of complete disinterest, as if her cousins aren’t there at all. Now that’s a girl who deserves some kind of honor—not that she’d want it. She refuses to play the game, even though her grandfather is the gamemaster. How does she do it?
I pull my attention back to my friend, who’s about to realize her dream.
“This girl stole our hearts without even trying,” Colt says. “By being badass but classy as fuck—and by shaking her ass like Nicki fucking Minaj.”
He turns around and steps over my lap, sinking down onto my legs so he’s straddling me like he’s about to give me a fucking lap dance.
“What are you doing?” I grit out through clenched teeth.
“I saw you first,” he says, reaching back and buckling the necklace around my neck.
“You know I’m Devlin’s,” I hiss.
“If things don’t work out between y’all,” he says with a wink before rising stepping back.
The whole cafeteria is silent. Every person in the room sits frozen, not even breathing.
All except Mabel, who sets down her sandwich and takes a drink of her Evian water like nothing is happening. Beside me, Dixie has gone still, her face pale as she gapes at Colt. I want to say something to her, but she won’t even look at me.
Instead, I have to look at Devlin, my heart thudding with unease. His back is to the room, but I can see his face. His eyes are blazing with fury, his jaw so tight I can see the muscle jerking as he grinds his teeth. But he’s not going to confront Colt—not here. Not now, with the whole school watching. Because the school isn’t just a bunch of puppets for the Darlings. They keep them in check somehow, too. They have the Darlings on a pedestal, and the Darlings know exactly how precarious that position is. They don’t overstep their boundaries, and they never show weakness.
Fighting with Colt here would show weakness. The Darlings won’t show a crack in their united front—I know that. Devlin would fuck me in front of the whole team to keep anyone from knowing they’re human, that they fight and bicker like brothers. They have to be perfect to the other students, to keep their precarious balance atop the throne. Colt made a move, and now Devlin has to follow. He has to look like he knew that was coming, like it was all part of the plan.
I have to admire how perfectly he plays the part. Without even glancing at Colt, without looking for a girl he can claim now that Colt had collared me for himself, Devlin steps between us, crouching in front of me. He doesn’t make a spectacle for everyone else. He keeps his voice quiet, so I know this isn’t a show—it’s real.
“This is the only necklace I ever gave a girl,” he says, his blue eyes holding mine, his gaze strong and sure as the anger melts when our eyes meet. “If you don’t want it because it belonged to someone else, I understand that. But I’ll never give jewelry to any girl but you. I know you didn’t want to wear one of these, but you’re already wearing one, and this belongs to you whether or not I put it on you. The only question is, do you want me to?”
I nod, my heart in my throat. If he claimed me in the locker room that day, I ruined it. I told him I didn’t want him, and he told everyone I wasn’t his after all. I’m not making that mistake again. I want him to know that I’d never even think of another guy, despite what Colt just did. I am his, one hundred percent, and I don’t care who knows it. I want them all to know. He is mine.
Devlin leans in, so close I can feel his warm breath against my skin as he slides his hands behind my neck. This time, they’re gentle against my throat instead of the demanding chokehold he shows me when he’s inside me, but they’re every bit as possessive. He buckles the necklace before sitting back on his heel, adjusting it so it lies the way he wants on my chest.
“This is only the beginning,” he promises, his fingers brushing across my collarbones. “I’m going to drape you in these before we’re through. Because they got your name wrong, Sugar. You’re not crystal—you’re a fucking diamond.”
From the corner of my eye, I see the brainy girls at the next table covering their hearts and swooning over his words. They’re not jealous anymore—not now. Devlin has chosen, and jealousy implies they think they deserve it more, that they can get it. They don’t. They only want to be in my place, having the most incredible boy in the world saying these words to them. By the end of the day, they’ll have their own fifteen minutes in the spotlight when every other girl in school comes to them to ask what Devlin said.
And me? I can’t think of a single thing to say back to him. I press my hand over the charm, my heart swelling. I may not have wanted to play into their game, but like he told me before, we’re all players whether we want to be or not. I’m not off the gameboard yet. I may not have known I needed it, that my game piece was in jeopardy, but he did. He knew what I needed at this school, how to get the girls off my back, how to make me queen. It’s not the necklace that I needed, but what it represents. It’s not what it means to me that matters, but what it means to everyone else at Willow Heights.
Instead of words, I wrap my arms around Devlin’s neck and kiss him. He presses his lips tenderly to mine, a chaste kiss, but he makes it last a little longer, long enough for any questions in the room to be answered. I belong to him and him alone. After a few seconds, he pulls away and steps back.
Preston watches Devlin, watches me, the same way I do him. He looks back and forth between his cousins, then at Dolly, then back to me.
Give it to her, I will him silently.Tell her how you feel.