Hunter looks up. He looks a lot like Weston but with lighter blond hair and a slightly thinner frame. He’s in the corner next to another jocky guy who has his arm draped around him.
Hunter steps toward me, looking at me like I’m some sort of science project.
And suddenlybothof my half-brothers are a part of my world.
“Welcome,” Hunter tells me. “This feels unreal.”
I nod. “You could call it that.”
An insane chain of events led me to this. Hunter and Weston share half of my blood, but there’s a reason I’ve never met them until this moment.
A long time ago, our father cheated on their motherwhileshe was pregnant with Weston.
I was the result of that cheating.
A surprise baby, about twenty years ago.
I was forced to live a life as a secret child.Unwanted. Dad gave my mother millions of dollars so that we’d never speak a word to Weston and Hunter or their mom, and I got a good share of that money, too. Mom and I were under a tight, binding contract:
Never come into contact with your half-brothers or their mother.
Never disclose that you even fucking exist, Niko, and you and your mother will continue to get a million dollars a year.
Our father sure knew how to keep a secret from his family.
Until he died last month.
And everything fucking blew up.
The contract was broken, and Hunter and Weston found out I exist.
“It’s the first time we’ve ever had a new member join halfway through the semester,” Weston’s explaining now, with a sparkle in his eyes. “We’ll have to get you up to speed on our traditions. We value honesty above everything in Onyx.”
Weston begged to get me into Crimson College, one of the most prestigious places in the country, just because he knows the college president and saw me as a charity case.
I said yes because I’m stupid.
But also because I need it.
I need to get the fuck away from my old life because my ex has clearly decided to go full psycho. It’s safer here, and I’d rather choke on the barrel of a gun than ever live with Callum again.
Weston starts telling me excitedly all about the Onyx traditions, their values, and how muchfunI’m going to have, and I feel like I’m suddenly plunged into a different world.
“The winter formal party is coming up soon,” Weston’s telling me now. “The first of the two big society winter parties.”
“Then there’s the New Year’s party a few weeks later,” Rayne adds.
“It’s the best,” Weston says with a smile. “Then, once spring comes, we do lots of charity events. Car washes, bake offs, speed dating.”
I do the mental calculations of the sheer amount of scheduling. All of thison topof trying to keep up passing grades in class?
As I stand here listening to Weston tell me all of the things I’ll need to participate in, it all starts to rush in.
Pressure.
Expectations.
This is the reason I avoided college. Why I moved in with my ex to begin with, hoping to start a career in modeling rather than ever stepping foot in a school again.
