TATE SUTTONS heart was pulsating underneath his white shirt. God he wanted to laugh.
Which one? He wanted to ask bitterly. The girl in front of him wasn't really smiling, but Tate could see a small glint in her eyes.
In that moment he wondered if she knew all of them. Being Lucas Grayson's best friend entailed a huge bunch of secrets that Tate had managed to bury under his bed amongst other secrets that came with his family name.
Most of them had the potential to ruin tons of people, including Tate himself. The girl in front of him, the girl he was sure he had seen before let her tight grip on his arm go and she smiled before tossing her hair and walking towards the stairs.
Shrugging slightly, and curious to know what secret she knew he followed her up the stairs. She turned one corner and then another, before stopping at one door.
The upper level consisted of the same rectangle shape as the lower level but the difference was that the middle was hollow, meaning that a rectangular balcony with intricate railings took up most of the space.
It wasn't that far above from the ground level so if Tate just looked down after pressing his body towards the railing he'd still be able to single everyone out.
But now his gaze was focused on the blonde haired girl in front of him rather than the view. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. Again, he tried to ignore his pulsating heart. He was sure this was a bad idea and his inner conscience was telling him to just go back down and get the hell out of here.
But there was a small part of him that wanted to know what she knew, what she planned to do with it. There was also another part of him that wanted to know where she came from and where he had seen her before because right now, he couldn't place it.
Tate had been the perfect child all his life, done what his parents told him to do. The only person he didn't listen to was Lucas and that was only because if he didn't, he wouldn't be able to handle his best friend and his mood swings.
Tonight he felt like going against the larger part of his conscience and doing something no one expected him to do.
He refused to be eaten up by his demons.
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RYAN TOOK A DEEP BREATH.
Honestly she couldn't believe she got what she wanted in the first place. To get Tate alone. She didn't even have to say anything, she just walked and he followed all because of four simple words.
Secrets were one thing that ruined people's lives and if Ryan were what she was a year ago she would've never used them against anyone's will. But now, now she didn't care. She would do anything to get what she wanted.
Although a part of her sensed that the only reason Tate followed her was because he was curious and not because he felt threatened. She saw the look on his face when she said those words.
All Ryan could see for a quick moment was bitterness. And then a flash of amusement. Her blue eyes locked on to the watch attached to her wrist.
The loud music could still be heard even from above but the rush of adrenaline from hearing an EDM song and wanting to belt out to it was less inviting.
The room she had walked it into, including all the other rooms were for guests that came to ALH such as old alumni or graduates that may have wanted to take a part time job at their alma mater for a small while. It certainly provided great extra credits for universities.
Her hand grazed over the surface of the vanity desk that was placed in the corner of the room. Her eyes flicked over to Tate who sat on the bed, his hands supporting his weight on the bed.
Ryan opened her mouth to speak, "I have to say, I was surprised when I found out you had a sister." Her hand was still grazing the surface of the vanity. It was smooth, with no hard bumps and it was crafted perfectly. It soothed her.
He raised an eyebrow, "Tatiana? Yeah everyone knows that. She goes to Bishop Prep. Not exactly a secret now is it?"
Ryan looked up, slightly exasperated. Damn he was good at this. "Not her, the other one. She has quite a backstory for a hidden child. I mean illegitimate, and let's see," she carried on, not missing how Tate pursed his lips although his face remained impassive. "Two attempts at killing her older brother? A psycho half sister? I'm pretty sure Wall Street would love to hear all about this."
"How the fuck do you know this?" He hissed. "I have my ways." She replied coolly examining her acrylics.
"Who the fuck are you? And I swear to god â" Tate started swearing a bunch of profanities under his breath and Ryan could sense the discomfort.
"You'll what?" She taunted. "And my name's Ryan. Ryan Blair."
Tate got up, closing the distance between him and Ryan. He stuffed his hands inside his pockets, staring her down. Her heels made her almost the same height, meaning that they were at eye level. They were so close, so so close that Ryan could see how bright his green eyes were, even in the dark. She could see the gold flecks and she could see herself reflecting in his eyes.
She didn't like what she saw.
Ryan hesitated slightly and she saw Tate frown, the space between his eyebrows decreasing in confusion. The blonde could feel resentment bubbling up her throat at what happened to her, at what she was doing.
But she refused to back down. So she stared back, determination and anger clouding her thoughts.
"What do you want?" He whispered, cool breath fanning Ryan's face due to how close they were. She looked away and sighed. "I need your help. And I'm doing whatever I can to get it." She replied.
Ryan stepped back, not wanting to stare into his eyes any longer. The more she stared, the more guilty she fell. It wasn't a supposed to be like this. It wasn't.
"So, this is blackmail?" He asked, amused. He crossed his arms, raising a perfect eyebrow. Ryan waved her hand and shook her head. "Call it what you will."
"Well you're full of surprises aren't you?" He commented, backing down and plopping on the bed. He ran a hand through his hair before sighing. "And here I was expecting to pass my senior year without any attention." He confessed, although Ryan could sense he was more than amused now. His jaw was rigid and in a straight line, clenched to the maximum.
Ryan raised a brow, "well that's pretty hard to do considering you're the quarterback and it's your last year. You'll be getting lots of attention from scouts and schoolmates."
"Thanks for the reminder." He stated bluntly. "Look, if you help me I can help you." Ryan said, crossing her arms. "What makes you think I want your help? And how do you plan to help?" He asked, frowning.
"I told you I have my ways." She quipped. "And let me tell you that what I found, wasn't that hard to find no matter how sealed away your family thought it was. If I can find it, so can other people."
Tate rested his chin on his hand. His mouth was set in a straight line. "As long as you make sure none of this goes to any newspaper. She's just sick, there's nothing else."
Ryan grinned, realizing that she might get what she wanted after all.
She made a mental note to apologize to him after all of this was over.
"You have my word."
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ARCHER WAS DANCING when Ryan came downstairs again. His hand reached up to his temple, wiping the few droplets of sweat before stopping his movements.
Luckily he managed to be in the right place at the right time when a triumphant looking Ryan walked down the stairs alone, with no hint of Tate walking next to her or behind her.
He walked over to her, who was now leaning against the wall with a glass of punch on her hand. Sipping on it absentmindedly every minute.
She noticed him as she grinned before waving him over. "You're looking happy." He commented lazily smiling at Ryan.
Ryan didn't exactly look happy, triumphant would be a better word to describe it. His eyes roamed all over, and he had to admit that fuck, she looked gorgeous when she showed her curves.
"You're imagining it," she replied before taking another sip. Archer was about to reply, but got cut off by an approaching Aanya, "How'd it go?" The Indian asked enthusiastically.
"Perfect." Ryan grinned and Archer could feel himself tense. "Is it weird that I believe you?" Aanya laughed, a melodious sound escaping her mouth.
"What did you do exactly?" Archer asked, his jaw slightly tense. Ryan smirked, "I don't kiss and tell, but it was pretty fun."
She high fived Ryan who clapped her hand against Aanya's with the same enthusiasm. Archer felt a slight sense of disgust bubbling up his throat. He didn't want to feel this way but he did and he knew that this was how girls felt when boys played with their feelings and bragged about it.
How Lucas Grayson bragged about it.
"Ry," He said, noticing the change of pace in the music that was playing in the background. "Do you want to dance?" He asked, his jaw still slightly tensed.
As if noticing how uncomfortable he felt Ryan threw him a quizzical look. "Uh, sure." She said, handing her drink to Aanya. She held out her hand for Arch to take and Arch clasped his hand around hers, dragging her towards the dance floor.
"What's wrong?" Ryan asked, her hands grasping Arch's shoulders. She let him lightly place his hands on her waist. He tried to ignore the fact that his heart was beating really fast and tried to answer her question.
"Nothing's wrong." He answered, swaying to the music. "The only question is what's wrong with you?"
Ryan raised an eyebrow, "with me? What do you mean?"
"You're acting like fooling a guy and playing with his heart is some sort of dumb game. Feelings are real, he's real. The only thing that's going to happen is the fact that he's going to be heartbroken and feeling like a fool in no time." Arch explained, his brows furrowing.
Ryan's eyes widened and Arch could feel the grip she had on his shoulders tighten, most probably in anger. But it didn't matter. She had to know.
"It doesn't even matter if the guy you fooled was Tate, cause he must be used it, considering he must've done stuff like that as well," He accused. He didn't even care that he was slandering Tate's name who probably didn't even deserve it because he was nothing but well mannered. But Archer was on a roll and he couldn't stop himself.
"but wow is that how much you've changed over the summer?" His eyes widened and Ryan's did too and that's when Arch realized he'd gone too far. She let go and she gulped. Archer's heart wrenched knowing how far he'd gone.
She was shaking violently now and Arch stuttered, realizing that she was afraid. "Shit, Ry I'm so sorry I didn't â I never meant to â" he stopped abruptly, knowing that whatever he said, whether he did from now on, it didn't matter.
It was like watching a train wreck, unable to do anything as she pursed her lips and started looking everywhere. After a few minutes she seemed to regain her normal composure and the blonde took a huge breath.
"I â I didn't fool him, nor did I play with his fucking heart or anything you've accused me of." She said, her tone underlying indignation. She placed her hands on her hips.
"You don't know what the fuck's going on so don't butt in. You don't know what happened nor do you know how I dealt with it. You're my best friend Arch, I thought you knew that."
Ryan shook her head and walked away, her anger burning. The only thing Archer could do was rub his neck awkwardly, wishing for a rewind.
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Hello :) here's an update just like
I promised (I hope lol) and this book
is a prime example of how hard it is
when I've imagined these scenes
countless times in my head but it's
just impossible to write them down.
I struggled a lo when I write Tate's
character and I want to execute him
properly. Nevertheless I hope you
enjoyed, and here's a pic of froy
cause CUTE !!
âDin