Chapter 1
Rhett
Ialmost ruined my life over black lipstick, too many fireball shots, and a taunt I couldn’t get out of my head.
But I didn’t.
That night is now a distant memory. A nightmare of a stain that I’ll eventually scrub from my brain by sheer willpower. I can’t let it destroy my future.
I refuse to let that happen.
“How’s school going?” David asks, drawing me from the abyss of my regrets.
Forcing a smile, I give my girlfriend’s dad the attention he deserves. “Great. My classes are easy. Finance comes naturally to me.”
David’s lips curl into a proud grin. “Good to know. Play your cards right, Son, and Serengeti Fine Jewelers might have an executive position for you in the future.”
His wife, Vivian, playfully smacks at her husband’s shoulder. “Oh, hon, give the boy a break. He doesn’t need to have life all figured out just yet.”
Angela, on my right, squeezes my thigh under the table. “Don’t worry, Daddy. Hedoeshave it all figured out. I don’t date losers.”
I sit up a little straighter at my girlfriend’s words. The reason I was drawn to Angela was there were no surprises with her. She came from a good family, knew exactly what she wanted out of life, and worked hard to get there. I didn’t know much about beauty pageants until we started dating, but apparently, it takes a lot of hard work to make it to the top. And she was always there. She has the endless crowns, trophies, and ribbons lining the shelves in her room to prove it.
“That reminds me,” David says, features pinching. “How’s Abby? I haven’t heard from her in weeks.”
The mention ofhername has my stomach bottoming out. I’ve been doing my best not to think about the black sheep in the Serengeti family. Definitely not been thinking about her black lipstick. At all.
“You’re afraid to get dirty.”
Her words, slightly raspy and taunting, race eagerly to the forefront of my mind. She was right. I didn’t want to get dirty, but I didn’t want her to be right. She hooked me with a stupid line, and I didn’t even try to fight it.
“Probably on another bender,” Vivian says, disappointment in her tone. “I told her last time we spoke, I wasn’t picking her up from the police station if she gets herself arrested.”
“She won’t learn responsibility if we keep saving her,” David mutters, shaking his head. “I don’t understand how she turned out so rotten. It’s not like she didn’t have the best role model.”
Angela beams at her father and flicks her smooth, long brown hair over one shoulder. “I tried, Daddy. She never listened.”
While they discuss how problematic the youngest Serengeti was, I slip back into the memories I have of her. And not the ones where we’ve crossed paths countless times at the country club. I’m talking about the party. The alcohol. The kiss.
Fuck.
Abby always annoyed the shit out of me. It was like she was being difficult on purpose. Attention seeking. And that night, I had the opportunity to put her in her place. Except I didn’t.
I let her smear her black lipstick on my lips, my face, my neck. When she unbuttoned my white dress shirt, she rubbed more of the black shit on my chest. Reminded me of a damn cat. By the time she reached my lower abs, I forgot about why Abby Serengeti was a bad idea. My cock came alive, desperate for the reckless danger she offered.
Maybe it was the alcohol.
Or maybe I just needed a release.
Angela wants to wait until she’s married to have sex and I respected that.
But Abby?
She wanted to fuck—filthy, fast, and fiery.
As if remembering how good it felt in that moment of stupidity, my dick twitches. Asshole. I cover my crotch with my linen napkin and clear my throat, doing my best to focus on the conversation.
“One day she’s really going to regret throwing all this away,” Angela says, waving her perfectly manicured fingers around the country club restaurant dining room. “She had the perfect life, but it’s like she wanted to be different just to upset the entire family.”
