I didn’t react to that name. The cruel taunt that had become something more. I refused to let it penetrate the walls around my heart.
Dominic’s lip curled. He always did love a challenge.
Then he walked out of my stag do, my brother on his heels.
I’d been wrong. Nothing had changed.
Nervous chatter filled the room again. A few people tried to get my attention, but I ignored them. I wasn’t there.
I was in the past. A little over ten years ago. A kid on a rain-soaked street having his heart broken. Walking away with an ominous vow ringing in his ears.
“Walk away if you want, Shadow, but I’ll get you back. I don’t give a shit how many years pass, or who you give yourself to in the meantime. It means fuck all. You’re mine, and I’ll be back to claim you. Just you fucking wait and see.”
I should’ve known Dominic would follow through, if for no other reason than because he seemed to enjoy causing me pain.
It was all he’d ever done.
1
Ryan
AGED EIGHTEEN
Someone needed to tell all those song writers that they were wrong.
Being a teenager fucking sucked. There was no teen spirit. There were no fucking kicks.
Unless you counted the ones currently landing on my back.
“Fucking nerd.”
“So pathetic.”
“Kick him harder. I wanna hear him squeal.”
I gritted my teeth as a boot slammed into my kidneys.Fuuuck.A small whimper escaped, but it was lost among the jeers. I had no idea how many of them there were. One of them had grabbed me from behind as I’d been walking to English Lit. They’d covered my mouth, dragged me back here, and proceeded to kick the shit out of me.
No idea why. Somehow, I suspected it was connected to Max. It always was.
We’d been identical once upon a time. When we were kids, it was cute. Mum had dressed us the same. We’d been close. Inseparable, in fact.
Seemed strange to think of it now.
Everything had changed when we’d hit secondary school. Max had had a growth spurt and developed a massive helping of confidence alongside it.
Both of which had eluded me entirely.
Suddenly Max was dressing differently. He had new hobbies. A whole new group of friends. A newbestfriend.
He didn’t have room in his life for me. Not now he had Dominic.
Dominic.He didn’t like me, and the feeling was fucking mutual. He never missed an opportunity to put me down. To remind me that he was now the most important person in my twin’s life, not me.
I hated him. I hated how he smirked whenever I caught his eye. How he and my brother shared a thousand inside jokes. How he could walk into a room and capture everyone’s attention. I hated his stupid height and his stupid big muscles. I especially hated how green his eyes were.
I mean, they had flecks of gold in them. Who the fuck had eyes like that? It wasn’t fair. It was disgusting really. No one should be allowed to be as handsome as Dominic fucking Walker.
The worst part was that, like Max, he knew he was hot. The two of them used it to their advantage, charming everyone around them. There was nothing the two of them couldn’t talk their way out of or into.
