Page 141 of Broken Doll

She’s obviously into the Darling cousins, and she doesn’t care much what I have to say. I’m fine with that. I’m more into listening today. This is a new school, and I don’t want to step on the wrong toes and draw attention. I’ll have to wait and see what my brothers say, find out the game plan. I might end up being best friends with this girl. At a school like this, it’s all about social status, not about deeper connections. If I dated a Darling, I could be in her group. I could have status. I could be aDarling Doll.

The name makes me want to gag, but I don’t show my distaste. I’m lucky she’s laying it out so clearly for me. I’m still not even sure what I want, and if I can have it. I’m not sure I can be a wallflower. It’s not the Dolce way. But that doesn’t mean I can’t be someone different than I was before.

The one thing I know for sure is that I want to be better, to find some way to pay for what I’ve done. But I don’t know how I’m going to do that. I’m okay observing until I figure it out. If helping take down the kings of this school and letting my brothers step into their shoes is going to assuage my guilt, I’ll do it. I know that’s what my family wants, so I’ll probably do it, whether or not it’s what I truly want. Sometimes, we all make sacrifices for each other. That’s what family is all about.

A soft bell chimes, and students begin to appear at the ends of the hallway, coming in for classes.

“Thanks for showing me around,” I say, sliding my schedule into my bag. “I think I’ve got it for the rest of the day.”

“I have one piece of advice for anyone new in town,” Lacey says. “Faulkner is built on tradition. We’re set in our ways, and we don’t like to see those ways disrupted. That goes for your entire family. Don’t make waves, and you might survive.”

Crystal

“Hey, girl,” drawls a sexy southern voice as I make my way to my next class, typing out an entry on my blog.

I look up to see one of the Darlings, the one with the longish hair swished across his forehead. His voice is almost as sexy as our neighbor’s and full of mischief that makes me want to smile back even though I know better.

“Whatever you’re going to ask, the answer is no,” I say before I can get sucked in by his playful smile that reminds me a little of Duke’s. But while Duke is all energy, like a cute puppy, this guy looks like he’s biding his sweet time before he decides on a plan of attack. There’s something calculated in the way he strolls along, as if the world moves at the pace he sets. I realize too late that I’ve slowed to his pace, that I’ve fallen into step with him as if he’s drawn me in with the gravity of his very presence.

I won’t be a moon orbiting him or any of his cousins. I have my own sun to orbit—King. He’s the brightest light, the one that gives life and keeps the worlds turning in the Dolce universe.

“I was just going to say we’re in the next class together,” he says. “You can’t say no to that.”

“How do you know what class I have next?”

“Magic,” he says with a wink.

“Very funny.”

“I like to think I am,” he drawls. “I’m also Colt. Colt Darling.”

“Of course you are.”

He quirks an eyebrow, smiling wider. “So you’ve heard of me?”

“No, I meant, of course your name is Colt. I bet you wear cowboy boots with your uniform.”

“Sometimes,” he says, swishing his hair out of his eyes with a toss of his head. He’s got that lazy, easy charm, like a teen Matthew McConaughey. “So, you got a name, or should I just call you New York?”

“Crystal Dolce.”

“Sweet.”

“I assure you, I’m not.”

Colt laughs this slow, drawling laugh. “Let’s sit together.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

He gives me a lazy smile. “I’m funny, remember? I’ll make you laugh.”

“Can I laughatyou?”

“I’ll be laughing, too,” he says. “Guess you’ll have to settle for laughing with me.”

“Is that how things work around here?” I ask. “We’re either with you, or against you?”

“How else could it work?” he asks, sauntering into the classroom in that slow, easy way of his. My eyes are drawn in, captivated by the confident walk, and the next thing I know, I’m checking out his ass for a second when he’s in front of me.

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