Page 22 of Sinful Storms

Knox’s brows pulled together. “Yeah. This whole thing is weird. I’ll speak to my dad. I want to know what this is all about, too. In all the stories he told me about school when I was growing up, he never mentioned a secret society, but surely my grandfather would’ve told him something.”

“You could?—”

I never discovered what Roman had been about to say because his phone buzzed, and he snatched it up with a wide, dopey-as-fuck grin on his face. I saw his girlfriend’s picture appear on the screen, and I shook my head.

“Whipped.”

Knox snorted. “I can’t wait to see you in a relationship.” He paused. “You’d better get on with that. I wanna see it before we all go our separate ways.”

Roman glanced up from his phone, his eyes widening. “Fuck that. Even if we all end up in different places, we’re still gonna see each other.”

Pushing my sunglasses up to the top of my head, I looked between my two best friends, closer to me than brothers. Blood didn’t define family. These two were my ride or dies. “Yeah. We’re family. Wherever we go and whoever we’re with, that’s not gonna change.”

Knox held up his fist. “Agreed.” We bumped fists, then did the same with Roman.

Settling back in my chair, I steered the conversation back to Roman’s original comment. “Be prepared for disappointment because you’re not gonna see me in a relationship for a long time. I have plans once we leave Hatherley Hall. Sweden, Denmark, Germany?—”

“You’re planning on spending your summer fucking your way around Europe?” Knox smirked at Roman, the two of them exchanging a glance I wasn’t sure I liked.

“So what if I am? You two would’ve jumped at the chance of joining me if it wasn’t for Elena and Quinn.” I couldn’t help the note of bitterness that crept into my tone. Don’t get me wrong, I was genuinely happy for them. It was just more fun to do things with my friends, and I couldn’t exactly bring them with me now.

Knox cleared his throat. “Tristan. Say the word, and you know we’ll come with you. Elena and Quinn, too, if you’re worried about leaving us to our own devices while you go off and charm all the single women. Or we’ll come without them. I know for a fact our girls would understand. You’re our best mate. We’re not going to ditch you just because we’re in relationships.”

“Yeah. What he said.” Roman jerked his thumb in Knox’s direction. “We stick together, no matter what. End of discussion.”

I sighed. “Yeah. Thanks. I know. It’s just…” Rubbing my brow, I trailed off, unable to articulate my thoughts.

Why the fuck was I getting so melancholy about this, anyway? It wasn’t like I wanted what they had. My life was fucking perfect just the way it was.

“I think we need an extra lacrosse practice this week.” Taking mercy on me, Knox held up three fingers before bringing his hand down on the table with a smack. “Burford have won their last three games in a row, and we need to end their streak.”

Thank fuck for my mind-reading friends. I jumped on the change of subject with enthusiasm. “Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. I’m gonna try Link on the other side and bring in Ty. They’ve got a strong left side, and I want to make sure our defence is solid.” Grabbing my phone from the table, I scrolled to my video folder. “That reminds me. I bribed one of the students to take this footage of their training session. Watch this.”

Roman laughed. “Bribed with money or with your dick?”

“My dick. Win-win for us both. I left her satisfied, she—okay, I was satisfied, too,andI got the footage, so I came out of it better off. But she gets bragging rights.”

“Don’t get caught with this on your phone,” Knox said, and I raised my brows. Since when had he become such a good little law-abiding citizen?

“It’s not illegal to film their practices. We could go there and watch them if we wanted to.”

“Yeah, I know. Sorry. I think I’m still on edge after everything that happened with Ro. I don’t wanna get him into trouble.”

“That’s not gonna happen,” Roman assured him. “Quinn’s parents love me now. And I’m not going to do anything to jeopardise my relationship with her.”

Fuck. My friends had changed so much. At the beginning of the school year, they’d been like me. Eighteen, single, ready to make the most of our final year as the gods of Hatherley Hall. Now, it felt like they’d moved on, and I’d been left behind. I didn’t get it. I had everything I wanted. So why didthey seem happier than me? I didn’t buy into all that shit that relationships completed you or whatever. Fuck knows, my uncle was permanently single, and he had a great life. I’d grown up listening to his stories, and he’d always been a bit of an idol to me, I guessed. He didn’t need anyone else in his life, and neither did I.

I drained the rest of my glass. “Want to order food? Or a round at the driving range?”

Roman stood, pushing his chair back with a loud scrape. “The driving range. Let’s make it a competition. The loser pays for lunch, preferably somewhere that isn’t here. Let’s go.”

12

ARIA

The grave was unremarkable. One of many headstones in this small churchyard.John William Scott. I hadn’t even realised he’d been buried here, in a far corner, away from where my parents had a shared headstone. The parents I’d never known.

There had been so much loss in my grandparents’ lives. I’d been hesitant to even bring up my great-uncle with them, but after my fruitless conversation with Tristan’s parents, I’d bitten the bullet and made a call. My official story was that I was trying to piece together my family tree, and while my grandma hadn’t given me much information, I now knew the location of my great-uncle’s gravestone.

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