Holy shit.
A football, a tutu, a sword, and a tiara.
That’s what is in the treasure chest on Roman’s arm.
My breath catches as tears spring to my eyes. It takes everything in me to hold them back. I want to hug him so badly, but he moved his arm away so I can’t see it anymore. He knows that I realize what the tattoo means.
It’s me. The chest is full of my treasure—the things the two of us played with as children.
I take a few deep breaths and try to listen to the teacher, but I can’t focus on anything else. Roman hasn’t forgotten about me. He all but wrote my name on his body. But much deeper than words ever would be.
I want to know more. I want to ask him what this all means. Why did he put that there? Does he miss me like I miss him? Will he talk to me now, or does he hate me like Jace?
My head swims with questions. Is Jace the shark, Hunter the turtle, and Roman the octopus protecting me?
Not that I’ll be getting answers any time soon. It’s obvious Roman is closed off now. He isn’t going to give me anything more. He’d already given me more than I could have asked for when he showed me the rest of his tattoo.
The bell rings, and he leaves the classroom first. Not surprisingly, he can’t get away from me fast enough.
Emerson walks out with me. “Hey, let’s meet up at lunch. I’ll save you a seat.”
I nod and smile, but it doesn’t reach my eyes. I’m still wrapped up in that treasure chest and all my treasure in it.
Em’s offer is a relief, though. At least I have one friend here. Might not be the three I’d originally expected, but one is better than none.
Lunch rolls around, and the cafeteria is busy by the time I arrive. I line up behind some girls and listen as they discuss Jace and how hot they think he is. How Britney needs to move aside and let the rest of them have a turn.
When one of them says she’s going to lure Jace away from Britney, convinced he’ll fall in love with her once he gets to know her, I scoff.
She turns to me. “Excuse me, but don’t you know it’s rude to listen to other people’s conversations?”
I chuckle. Is she serious? She’d practically broadcast her plans to lure Jace away to the entire school. I’m surprised Britney isn’t over here, clawing her eyes out.
“When the conversation is that loud, I can’t not hear it. But good luck with it all.”
They all turn to face me now, eyes narrowed, and the sneer on lure girl’s face is priceless. Making friends everywhere today, it seems. “Oh my god, you’re the new girl. The one who fucked all three of them. When you said they were each your first, I guess one in each hole would make sense.”
Okay, I need to accept that this is going to be the day that everyone talks shit about me. Probably more like a week, since Jace obviously has a fan club. At least I know the drill. It will all be forgotten when something else happens to give them something else to buzz about.
“I’ll tell you a little secret about Jace.” All four of them come closer, like the gossip-eating bitches I knew they were. “It was Jace. He was my first, but don’t tell him.”
All their faces form into an ‘O’ as they process the news. “No way, for real?”
I nod, even though it’s a lie. Let him think he was first, if only for a day.
When I see Emerson sitting with the other football players, I decide I’m good to eat my slice of pizza and soda somewhere else. I dump my tray down on a table full of students. A couple inch away, not wanting to be caught associating with me.
Fair enough. I can respect not wanting to be on the other end of Jace.
It doesn’t take long for the gossip to spread, and within five minutes, I hear Britney scream, “No, it’s not true,” while Jace looks over at me. Dang, those girls work fast. I need to remember their faces to avoid them.
It was a harmless lie.
Except, I realize my mistake the moment I see Roman. Then Hunter.
A harmless lie that hurts two others isn’t harmless. I’ve turned into a bully. It’s not a good feeling either. I messed up. I shouldn’t have done that. I was just upset with Jace from earlier, and I lashed out.
I was just as bad as those girls, spreading rumors and lies to hurt others. This isn’t like me, and guilt is already churning in my stomach.
Roman isn’t looking at me—he’s looking out the window—and Hunter’s face falls, his eyes finding mine across the cafeteria. Fuck. If anything, I just made this so much worse. I upset and hurt two people I’ve never wanted to hurt.
Jace stands up and points at me. I shake my head and shrug. The expression changes as he narrows his eyes at me. Roman is glowering at me now and says something to Jace. Then all three of them watch me intensely, and my body thrums with nervous energy. I don’t know what’s about to happen, but Jace tilts his head as if to say “game on,” and I know I shouldn’t have played with fire.
Dad picks me up after school. He won’t be able to do it again. This is only because it’s my first day. I’d told him I can take the bus. I don’t mind.
“I spoke with Ella today. It makes no sense, you catching the bus when the boys come here every day. They can give you a lift in the morning.”
He called Jace’s mom? I was about to protest when I realized I hadn’t seen Grady yet. The school’s big, and he’s a senior this year, but I’d been hoping to see him. Even if he still thinks of me as an annoying little sister, I’m okay with getting a lift from him.
“Yeah, I’ll go speak to Grady. Jace isn’t really talking to me right now, Dad.”
I feel, rather than see, him look over at me.
“Jace isn’t talking to you? You used to be best friends. It wasn’t your fault you had to move so far away. I knew you didn’t like talking about them, so I didn’t mention them when I called. But I didn’t realize he wasn’t speaking to you at all.”
I shrugged. “It was my fault. I didn’t talk to him while I was gone, even though he tried. It was just too hard.” I take a deep breath; I’m beginning to understand how much I hurt them by not calling or telling them why. “I ignored all their calls and messages.”
“Oh, Mila, baby. You should have told me. I could have helped. Now, you’re here without friends.”
“Don’t worry, Dad. I have friends. My old friends are here, and it’s been great seeing them today.”
I don’t want him to find an excuse to send me to Lakeview Prep. And I don’t want him worrying about me being alone or something. I would work out the thing with the boys…hopefully.
“Well, I guess it would be best to speak to Grady. But, tonight, we have some special guests. If you remember.”
“I finally meet Kate, Madison and…” I trail off, hoping Dad will fill me in on his name, because for the life of me I can’t remember it.
“Asher.”
Right, Asher.
Well, this better be good after the long ass day I’d had already.
Kate is beautiful, and Madison is the spitting image of her. They have this dark brown hair that’s shiny and straight. Just so shiny…I need to ask them what they use, because mine is never that shiny.
They’re both tall. It’s like everyone is taller than me these days.
Asher…fuck. He is hot, and that’s so bad to think about, because my dad really likes his mom. So much that I have a feeling one day Asher will be my stepbrother. So, I’m hoping he’s an asshole. He’s a football player, so chances are kinda high he is. Plus, that will help with any attraction there.
“Hey, it’s nice to finally meet you. Coach talks about you all the time.” Asher holds his hand out for me to shake. Okay, maybe he’s just trying to be nice in front of my dad so he doesn’t get kicked off the team.
I glance at my dad to find him beaming. Turning back to Asher, I say, “It’s great to meet you too.”
Is this handshake lingering a little longer than usual? Shit. Has dad noticed? Or am I just reading into this because Asher is gorgeous and that hair, like his mom’s, is dark brown and styled just right.
Madison is wary of me and won’t make eye contact, but Kate comes right in with a huge hug and smile. “Oh, Mila, I have heard so much about you. I think we will get along well.” She then whispers in my ear, “Madison is a little shy, so she takes a while to come out of her shell. She isn’t being rude like so many people seem to think.”
I pull back and nod. I understand what she means. How someone being standoffish can be mistaken for snobbery. I’ll have to make sure Madison feels comfortable around me, and hopefully we can be friends.
Kate hugs my dad and kisses him, laughing at him for burning the pasta he attempted for dinner. The way he lights up and laughs so freely with her, I know Kate’s perfect for him. I’d never seen my dad like this with my mom. Not once.
And, yes, my dad, the chef. He didn’t put enough water in the pot and left it on the stove for too long. He’d been busy watching game tapes and was only alerted to it when I yelled out from upstairs that there was a burning smell.
The smell is embedded into the house now. I tried to spray some perfume to cover it, but nothing did. So, we had the windows open even though it’s warm out.
Dad decides that even pasta is too hard for him and orders takeout. I tell him he should have done that first. I can’t cook either, so we were gonna have a lot of takeout in our future. I need to learn, since I can’t live off pizza forever. Although it’s a nice idea.
Madison is sitting on the sofa, so I sit beside her. “So…Madison. How was your first day of school?”
How was school? I sound like a parent.
She shrugs and gives me a tight smile.
“I had one of those days too. My old friends were being dicks, and some shit that went down over the weekend went viral, I guess. I wish it was something good, but nope, just another thing that was shit. But…they had pizza, so my day wasn’t all bad. And now I get to meet you.”
I can’t believe I just said all that out loud. I was trying to make her feel more comfortable, but I kinda just spewed all my problems onto her.
“My friend Bella didn’t talk to me all day. She sat at Everly Walker’s table,” Madison whispers as she plays with the hem of her sundress.
“Who is Everly Walker?” I ask, hoping she’ll continue while the other three chat about the upcoming football season.
“She’s the most popular girl, and now Bella doesn’t want to be seen with me. I don’t know why she would want to sit there. Those girls are mean. They always picked on us in middle school, and now she’s one of them.”
Oh, shit.
“For real? Bella sounds like she’s a bitch to just ditch you like that. That’s not a true friend if she chooses popularity over you.”
“Are you serious, Mads? Bella ditched you?” Asher says from where he now stands next to us, sounding furious.
Madison nods, and the way her big brown eyes look up at her brother warms my heart. She’s a girl who trusts her brother has always got her back.
“You should have come told me. You can sit with us for lunch. I’ll see if I can get my schedule changed so you can.”
That’s the best idea. “I bet Asher sits with all the footballers too. She’ll be jealous that you know them. The mean girls will want to come sit with you and be friends with you. And you can just tell them to leave.”
Asher shakes his head. “I meant so she wasn’t alone, Mila. But yeah, the team all sits together.” He sticks his hands in his front pockets. “I knew she was up to something. Bella tried to ask me out over summer. I didn’t want to tell you, and I had no interest in her in that way. I hope she isn’t being like this because I told her no.”
Madison shook her head. “I told her you would say no. You never date anyone.”
Asher laughs. “’Cause who would want to deal with dating me? Football is my life right now. I don’t have time for a girlfriend.” Asher sits back on the sofa beside me and stretches his long legs out in front…they’re so muscular. Shit, look away.
“Now I wish I was going to your school. I would sit with you. I have no friends to sit with at lunch either.” Then I laugh, remembering the students I was sitting with inching away. “I’m the school’s pariah, and I wish I was making it up, but I’m not. I’m sure you’ll make new friends by the end of the week.”
After dinner, Dad asks if we want dessert. Madison wants chocolate ice cream, and I want cookies and cream. We agree that we should go out and get some, but before we can leave, Madison gets a call from Bella. I think Bella might be apologizing, so Madison is in my bedroom so they can talk in private.
Dad and Kate are snuggling on the couch and watching an old football game, of all things. My dad and football, such a romantic. It makes me smile. This was my life growing up… Everything was football.
“Can you two go get the ice cream?” Dad asks.
Asher grabs his mom’s keys. “Sure, want anything?”
They both shake their heads and start kissing and whispering. I’m a little grossed out by that. It’s something I’ll need to get used to but…like, get a room.
Asher grabs my arm and gestures with his head to the front door. “Come on, let’s get out of here before we have to see any more of that.”
I snort. “How much have you had to put up with?”
“You don’t wanna know. Like, let’s just say…I have seen your dad in just his underwear. I had to bleach my eyes.”
I burst out laughing, and he shakes his head and covers his eyes. But he has a huge smile.
“I had once seen Malcolm, my stepfather, naked when I was getting a late-night snack. I had to burn my eyes out after that one.” I shiver at the memory. “So gross and wrinkly.”
It’s now Asher’s turn to chuckle. “Okay, you had it worse.”
On the way to the ice cream parlor, I learn more about Asher. He’s a junior like me, he’s sixteen, seventeen in October, and he plays for the Kings of Lakeview Prep as a wide receiver.
He doesn’t plan to go far with it, just loves the game and loves to play. So, when he goes to college, it won’t be for football. He wants to focus on his studies and get into robotics, which sounds techy and cool.
We grab the ice cream and go back home. As I get out of the car, holding ice cream for Madison and me, Asher rounds it to help me. “I got to say something.”
I raise my brows and tilt my head as I peer up at him. He moves closer to me and pushes the car door closed. We’re now standing only inches apart.
“I was kind of expecting you to be a bitch,” he says seriously, and I burst out laughing. After a few seconds, his deep chuckle joins in.
“Why would you think that?” I bat my lashes at him with a cheeky smile.
He shrugs and chuckles deep again, taking the ice cream from me. “I just thought people from New York were all assholes, so I expected you to be one. Plus, you’re like so…um, I don’t think I should say, but you’re pretty.”
I can’t shake the smile from my face. This is just so funny. “You think I’m pretty?” I twirl on the spot and curtsey.
He shakes his head trying to hide his smile and looks up to the night sky, letting out a deep breath. “You know you are, so don’t push me for more. Because when I saw you, I didn’t have sisterly thoughts at first…fuck, at all. But we can’t. My mom is happy for the first time, and I can’t fuck that up.”
I sober at that. I can’t fuck this up either. Dad is so happy. It would break my heart if I did something stupid, like hooking up with my future stepbrother— If Dad marries Kate, that is. Either way, Asher is off limits.
“If we are being all honest here, I thought you would be an asshole too.”
He points to his chest and gasps dramatically. “The fact my mom is dating your dad? Or that I’m just soooo good looking?”
I burst into a giggle and shove him back. He stumbles but rights himself as he continues to chuckle.
“You think very highly of yourself, Asher. Who says you’re good looking?”
Asher scoffs, the smirk on his face never leaving. “I will have you know, my mom tells me that all the time. So, it must be true.”
I like Asher. He’s funny, and yeah, good looking. If his mom wasn’t dating my dad, I would probably hook up with him at a party. But that won’t ever happen now. But I’m glad, because I can see us being good friends.
“Come on, now that we’ve established the no-fucking-each-other rule, let’s eat ice cream.”
He stands there, looking at me in surprise. With a laugh, I grab his tee and pull him toward the house. When we get to the front door, he pauses. “You’re going to be a handful, aren’t you?” There’s no mistaking his grin.
“Yeah, but you know you’re gonna love it.”
