Prologue
COLIN
Every year, the older guys on the team participate in the Red Card Rites and we’ve just had to watch. This is finally our year. The start of soccer season signals the beginning and I finally get to drive her crazy.
Sure, I’ve fucked with her over the years, and she hates me, which is exactly what I’ve wanted. Especially considering it’s all lead up to this. No one can tell me no because Mayson is mine. She’s been mine since the day she walked into my house as my new stepsister. She’s going to continue to be mine. Mine to fuck with, mine to torment, mine to conquer.
“Alright everyone, time to pick names,” our captain, Mads Keller, announces. His British accent seems to get more pronounced when he gets louder.
I’m leaning against the lockers, but as he pulls out the mesh bag with the folded papers of names on the girls’ team, I kick off them, and stand up on a bench. I don’t need to raise my voice to get the attention of my teammates, they’re going to listen to me regardless.
“I get Mayson.” My tone holds no roomfor arguments.
“That’s not how it works, Masters,” my teammate, Elias Reyes, murmurs.
“It is when she’s mine and none of you fuckers get to mess with her except me, got it?”
“Sit down,” Keller demands.
I jump off the bench, but don’t sit, just go back to leaning against the lockers. “You pull Mayson, you hand her over.”
“Or what?” Lucas Marquez, another one of my teammates, snickers.
“Or I’ll fucking kill you.” I glare at him.
“For fucks sake.” Keller pulls out his selection then passes the bag around for everyone else to do the same.
I watch their faces, keeping my arms folded across my chest. I don’t even touch the bag when it gets to me, and watch as it moves onto the next person. Chase Douglas’s eyes go wide when he unfolds his paper and his eyes shoot up to me. I put my hand out. “Give it.”
He does so without argument. I snatch the paper immediately, looking down and seeing her name.
I smirk. Mayson Dunne, it’s time to play.
Chapter 1
Mayson
Iremember the day my mom told me our life was going to change. I knew she’d been dating this guy for a few months, though she wouldn’t tell me much about him. Turns out our life was changing because that man was super fucking rich. And she was going to marry him. At fifteen, right before my sophomore year, I was uprooted, moved into her future husband’s new mansion on Mercer Island and was forced to attend some richy-rich high school.
The worst part came when I methim.My new stepbrother, Colin.
A door slams from somewhere inside the house, and I hear my mother call my name, “Mayson, come say hi.”
I really don’t want to say hi to whoever this is. I’ve been paraded around all summer by my mom and her soon to be husband. I’m sick of it. Their wedding is in two days and the past few weeks have been filled with appointments, tasting, meetings, and family none of us care about. The last thing I want right now is to meet another person.
She calls out for me again, so I drag myself from my new bed,which is way nicer than the one I had in our old apartment, and go downstairs.
That’s when I see him, well the back of him. He’s tall with broad shoulders, and his T-shirt is so tight I can practically see the muscles on his back. He has a backward baseball cap on, but the ends of his dark hair stick out from underneath it.
“Mayson, this is my son, Colin,” Walter, my mom’s fiancé, introduces.
Colin turns around, his eyes are blue, but not like any blue I’ve ever seen, they are darker. They remind me of the ocean. Those same eyes look me up and down, then he opens his mouth to speak, but all he says is, “That’s it?”
My jaw drops. No hi, no nice to meet you, nothing, just “that’s it?”
I fold my arms across my chest, “Well I don’t know what you were expecting asshole, but yeah,that’s it.”
“Mayson!” my mom scolds.
