Page 13 of My Favorite Secret
Neither does she. When I was seventeen, I asked my father for a car. He said he would only buy me one if I achieved perfect attendance at school. That deal didn’t work for me, so I went out and got the job done myself, getting lucky in an underground game of poker, and bought myself a Jeep. That was the tipping point that made Dad delay my trust fund.
His mistake. Though, he thinks he’s a genius. The thing about my father is, he believes he’s the one holding the leash—dangling my trust fund like a carrot, expecting me to jump through hoops to earn it.
The truth? He’s the one dancing to my tune. He’s full of empty threats. I can screw up as badly as I want, and he’ll always come running, ready to wave that trust fund in front of me like it’s a bribe. He’ll never take the trust fund away because it’s his only leverage.
Ever since the Jeep incident, I’ve learned to keep a discreet profile from my father regarding the extra-curricular activities I’m involved in. Today’s mishap at school is only a slight bump in the road.
I’m not the one who got caught selling drugs. I took the fall for someone else. Someone who doesn’t have an idiot rich father to pay off the school. Because when people are loyal to me, I’m loyal to them. When someone fucks me over, I know how to hold a grudge.
But I have bigger and better plans than being a drug dealer for the rest of my life. Selling eclipse is a stepping stone while I wait for my trust fund.
When I turn twenty-one and get that money, I’ll openthe most illicit yet prestigious speakeasy in town, with Tyler at my side. I just have to make him drop this good guy act around Harper, then he’ll be all in.
Where I play big, Tyler is grounded and logical. When we’re together, we balance each other out. I trust my brother more than anyone else in this world and he’ll make the perfect business partner.
“Felix is going to end up in serious trouble one day and I hate to think of it.” Clara’s voice travels through the wall again. “Josh, you know I care about Felix like he’s my own child. Hard consequences need to be put in place for him. He needs more structure and support in his home life. Please, let me take him off your hands for the rest of the school year. Let me be a mother to him.”
“Absolutely not,” Thomas juts in. “When were you planning on discussing this with me?”
The two of them continue arguing, but I get sidetracked by Harper’s laugh as she enters the front door. The sound travels straight to my dick. Her voice is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard. High-pitched. Feminine. A little airy. There’s no chance of me focusing on anything that’s spoken within Thomas’s office now.
Leaving my seat by the office door, I follow the sound of Harper’s voice, careful not to announce myself. It gives me great pleasure to see her flustered around me. But I also enjoy the sight of Harper when she’s unaware of my presence.
I glance around the corner, finding her curled up on the living room couch with Cindy, her best friend from ballet. Harper is still wearing her ballet gear. The sight of her looking all dainty and feminine like a doll makes me want to fuck her bad. She’s so goddamn pretty. Always has been.
Her red hair is vibrant and mesmerizing. All hermovements are graceful. There are so many little things about her I adore, like how she sings the “Sleeping Beauty Waltz” to herself when she thinks no one is around. She treats herself to one macaron every day and it’s always pink. The Winslow penthouse is modern and chic, but Harper’s bedroom is filled with ruffles and bows and tufted furniture, like she’s trying to live inside a fairytale from one of her ballets. Her bedroom smells like rosin. It’s my favorite scent because it reminds me of her.
Sometimes, when I haven’t seen Harper in a while, I’ll sit at the coffee shop outside her school and watch her dance through the window. She’s her happiest when dancing. I could watch her forever.
I’m addicted to everything about Harper, except her pretentious attitude.
“Did your first time hurt?” she asks Cindy, keeping her voice down. Her cheeks turn red. I bite my bottom lip, smirking. My girl is asking about sex?
“Yeah. But he also felt good.” Cindy smiles from ear to ear, loving that she’s one-upped Harper by losing her virginity first.
Harper is the kind of girl who thinks kindly of everyone—except where I’m concerned. But it’s always been clear to me that Cindy is jealous of her. Harper is the better dancer. She’s the sweetheart of their dance school and always lands the best roles. She’s prettier and stands out among a crowd, whereas Cindy looks like every other blond.
“And did he make you… orgasm?” Harper’s cheeks turn an even brighter shade of red, which makes me laugh to myself.
I know she’s a virgin because every time I ask Tyler if he’s fucked her, he tells me she’s still saving herself for marriage. That, and I read it in her diary a couple of monthsback when I snuck into her bedroom to steal a pair of her panties.
She dedicated an entire section of her diary to complaining about me. It amuses me how much this girl hates me, and how fucking obsessed I am with her.
There were also countless pages of how perfect Tyler is and that she hopes he’s the man she marries one day.
If only she knew the shit my brother got up to this summer without her, I’m sure her opinion of him would change.
“Yes. He gave me an orgasm,” Cindy says. “It was incredible. Way better than any orgasm I’ve given myself. You sure you want to wait for marriage? I’ve seen the way Tyler looks at you. He definitely wants to get you naked.”
Harper starts fidgeting with her hair, coiling it around her finger. “Um… Let’s not talk about him like that.”
“I’m just playing around. Have you seriously never thought about having sex with Tyler?”
“I’m not answering that question.”
“So, that’s a yes.”
Harper laughs nervously. “It’s a no answer.”
