Page 12 of My Favorite Secret
A moment later, I tuck the chip into my uniform pocket, hearing someone enter the front door. I don’t need to step around the corner to know Harper has arrived home. She never deviates from her schedule.
On weekdays, Harper spends the mornings studying at home. After lunch, she travels to her dance school, practices until four p.m., then hangs out with her girlfriends at a juice bar before returning home at six o’clock sharp. Her weekends are for Tyler. If I’m ever unsure of where Harperis, I have her phone tracked. I’ve been keeping a close eye on her for years.
I’m undecided how Tyler would react if he found out. Sometimes, I get strange vibes from him—the sick fuck that he is—that he wants to punch me for leaving the cute little trio we had.
Other times, I think he wants to punch me for the way I look at Harper.
He’s always been in love with her. Tyler knows I want to fuck her. He made a comment over the summer that the only girls I sleep with are Harper lookalikes. But again, I couldn’t decipher whether it pissed him off or not.
Regardless, his observation is the truth. Imagining that it’s Harper I’m sinking my dick into is the only way I ever get off.
If she only knew how hard I want to fuck that perfect little body of hers, I’m sure she’d be repulsed. Then again, the expression on her face last week when she walked in on me having sex in my father’s office said otherwise. She was so embarrassed.
Embarrassed yet aroused.
Vicious.
I haven’t been able to get that look in her eyes out of my head all week. I’ve jerked off countless times, all over that possessive, murderous glare. It’s the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.
She threw a fucking dagger at me. God, I’m addicted.
The sweet lamb has everyone fooled. Even I was fooled, until now.
Harper’s parents trained her well, molding her into the good girl they want. They knew from a young age—by the inappropriate ways Harper spoke about me and Tyler, from all the ways they had to correct her behavior—that shewould turn out to be a violent little slut. I thought they’d been successful at taming her and ruined all the best parts of their daughter. But the real Harper Winslow is still the freaky girl from her past I’m obsessed with, and all I want is to see that side of her step out from the shadows.
Footsteps click on the marble floor of the apartment. When I hear how heavy they are, I realize I’m mistaken and that it’s Harper’s father, Thomas, who has stepped through the front door.
“Honey, I’m home. You said we need to speak—” He rounds the corner, coming to an abrupt stop the moment he sees me in the armchair outside his office.
The look I receive from him is brutal. Thomas Winslow dislikes me almost as much as his daughter does. He’s never taken much of an interest in me, even when I was a kid. No love lost.
Thomas is a stern man with traditional values that he’s brainwashed Harper with. Considering the amount of money he earns as an investment banker on Wall Street, he should have pussy flying at him in every direction, despite the hair loss. But he leads a boring life. I’m ninety-nine percent certain he’s only ever slept with his wife and that he’s a lights off, missionary kind of person who thinks it’s strange to talk during sex. The only thing worthy about Thomas Winslow is his taste in expensive suits.
Thomas snarls at me. “I should have known this had something to do with you. Where’s Clara?”
“Waiting for you in your office,” I answer, bored.
He enters the office, closing the door behind him. “What is that boy doing inside our home?” Thomas demands. He may as well have left the door open because I can hear every word between him and his wife.
“Felix has been expelled from school,” Clara says. “When admin couldn’t get in contact with his father, they called me. I managed to speak with Josh. He’ll be here soon to discuss what our plan is for Felix.”
“Ourplan? No. There is nousregarding Felix. That boy has been a burden on our family for years. He’s a deadweight. When are you going to learn that Felix is not your responsibility? You know I don’t want that boy anywhere near our daughter. For god’s sake, he’s not even a boy. He’s a man.”
“Are we really going to have this argument again? I don’t care how old Felix is, he’s lost and needs guidance. I will not abandon him. When his mother died, I vowed I would take care of her boys.”
Jesus fuck. This sob story. I don’t want anything from Clara.
The front door opens again. This time, my father walks around the corner wearing a three-piece Armani suit and with a briefcase in one hand, mid-conversation on his phone. He barely spares me a glance, but what I do see in his eyes is the same look I’ve received my entire life—dismissal, like I’m too much effort to deal with.
He hangs up the call and enters the office, closing the three of them inside. “What has Felix done this time?” His voice is as clear as day through the wall.
“Your son was caught selling ecstasy at school,” Clara says. I won’t correct her mistake. Eclipse is new, much like ecstasy but offers a more elite experience. “He’s being expelled.”
My father groans. “There’s always some shit with my boys. Look, thank you for your concern but you didn’t need to call me over here. Felix won’t be expelled. I’ll make a healthy donation to the school. It’s not the first time I’ve had to pay them off for Felix’s behavior.”
Just as I expected. I suppose my fatherisgood for one thing.
“Josh, paying off the school is only enabling Felix’s behavior. I don’t think you realize how serious this is.”
