I fake a lot of shit. I learned it from my mother. Angelica Lawrence is the perfect model for a broken soul under flawless makeup and a fake-as-shit smile.People will only see what you show themis her motto.
I know I’m a hypocrite.
A liar.
A slut.
I’m what everyone whispers behind my back. I’ve never had any real friends. Not until Austin Lowes came along, and I was even forced into that friendship. But I managed to fuck that one up too.
I thought I could outsmart all of them. Thought I could play them at their own game. Told myself I could keep up with the lies and wouldn’t get caught.
Turns out, I was wrong.
The worst part? Deke has always had a part of me, since the first time he kissed me on a hot and sunny day by the football field of Collins High. After he took my breath away, he gave me his back and walked away. I let him go. Even then, I knew I couldn’t keep him. Not much later, he was standing in front of me again. It didn’t matter that I was unavailable at the time. No one tells Deke Biggs no. He wanted me, and I swore I could use him for popularity. To get into a crowd that could make me more than the spineless bitch I was. I would use him the way he and his friends used others. But I promised myself I would not fall for him like all the dick-whipped girls in our school.
Fuck, I fell to my knees so fast. Like I was a sinner in church who was shown the light and needed to repent.
But instead of forgiveness, I got burned alive at the stake.
It was bound to happen. No one lies and gets away with it like the GWS. There was a frenzy of them and only one of me. I was never a shark. It was a loan. I played nice with Cole’s girlfriend, Austin, while fucking his best friend—I was supposed to get a pass.
Instead, I got fucked without the benefits of the actual orgasm. Well, I guess I can’t say that. Deke knows his way around a woman’s body. But it’s not like the bastard hadn’t had any practice. I may not have been innocent, but I didn’t have half the experience he did. He flashed his pretty blue eyes and panty-dropping smile at me, and I was gone. Just like all the others before me. And the ones to come after me.
I never had a fucking chance. Just like everyone else who goes up against any of them, failure was my only option. They come together and rip you to shreds before you can even blink. Then they step back and watch you bleed to your death. They find a sick pleasure in watching you wither in pain. They thrive on it. Feed off it.
They’ve always liked to play a little game of dare. They may have called it quits, but I’m about to call their bluff. And what’s a game if not everyone plays?
I’m going to show them that Becky Holt can play just as ruthlessly. Deke Biggs is my target, and he’ll never see me coming. I’m going to put on my makeup and my mother’s smile. I don’t care who you are—no man can resist a painted face and scandalous dress with a pair of heels as tall as the sky.
He may be a shark, but I’m about to show him that the bait can be just as threatening.
“Becky?” A hand grips my upper arm and spins me around.
“Get the fuck off me, Shane,” I snap.
He grips the back of my neck, and I cry out as he shoves me through a door into a room. He lets go and I bend over, my hand flying to the back of my neck over the cuts he just grabbed. Tears fill my eyes, and my breathing has hitched.
“Listen.” He grips my hair and yanks my head back. “You belong to us, Becky. Do you understand that?”
“Fuck you,” I hiss.
He lets go of my hair and cups my face with both of his hands. I bare my teeth, ready to bite him if need be. “You think I want you?” he asks, arching his dark brows in amusement.
“Are you saying you don’t?” I growl.
“If you’re doing this to piss off Deke, it won’t work. He doesn’t care about you anymore, Becky.” He leans and whispers. “Those cuts were a warning, baby, to always watch your back. You never know when we’ll be there.” He lets go of me. “You’re lucky to still be alive. So, enjoy your life and go fuck someone who doesn’t know what kind of whore you really are.” With that, he pulls away and walks out the room. I exit behind him and see him find the brunette standing by the wall with two drinks in her hands. She hands him one and sips from the other.
I fist my hands and turn, storming out the back door of the house, but I run into a hard body. “Sorry …” I look up and gasp.
A hand slaps over my mouth, and I’m pushed up to the side of the house. He takes his free hand and places a finger over his lips, silently telling me to be quiet. Then removes his hand.
“What are you doing here?” I whisper, looking around to make sure no one is looking our way. “No one can see you.”
He gives me a soft smile as his hand grips the hem of my shirt before sliding underneath it. “I needed to see you, baby.” Then his lips land on mine.
DEKE
It’s officially Thanksgiving, and we are back at Collins for the week. We had planned on flying but then decided we wanted to have access to vehicles. My father has plenty to go around, but I’m still not talking to that fucker. And same thing goes with Cole’s father. It took us two days to make the thirty-hour drive. We had to stop and stay the night in Utah and watched Lilly swim in the indoor pool with the girls. Things seem to be going pretty good lately. Cole is on edge again, though. He hasn’t told Austin what all he knows. That wouldn’t bother the old Cole, but it’s eating the new one alive. I think he’s afraid to tell her just how deep her friend’s betrayal ran. And I think the fact that we’re back here in Collins adds to that.
