Page 16 of Cruel Steps

He rolled his eyes and squatted down in front of me. “Save it. To think I spent the summer obsessing over you, only to learn you’re the girl who bullied my sister in high school. Was I just another pawn to hurt Hope?”

I gaped, my mind reeling. I was the bully? What the hell?

When I didn’t answer, his eyes hardened, and he practically spat his words. “If I could go back and erase you from my memory, I would. Don’t talk to me or my sister. I don’t care that our parents are married. We’re nothing. Stay away from me.”

Tears trailed down my face at his hateful words, and my heart broke apart. I stuttered, my mouth opening and closing, but no words emerged.

“Pathetic.”

He tossed the towel over me and stood, wiping his hands on his jeans like the thought of touching me disgusted him. With one last look of revulsion, he I heard. She was my sister, and I loved her.

Seeing the tears on Emerson’s face, I couldn’t help but feel guilty for taking Hope at her word. But she’d shown me the awful notes Emerson had written and photos of the bullying. Hope might be many things, but we never lied to one another.

Besides, what did she gain by making up things about Emerson? She didn’t know we’d spent a perfect night together.

No, Emerson’s tears were just another tactic to make me fall for her so she could tear me down. I wouldn’t put it past her to fake the bruise to garner my sympathy.

Pulling out of the drive, I headed to the apartment I’d soon be sharing with Colt and pushed thoughts of beautiful liars out of my head.

Football and the draft were the only things that mattered. I was so close to all my sacrifices paying off.

CHAPTER

NINE

EMERSON

The next three weeks flew by in a flurry of training and subterfuge. I practiced late at night when Hope was asleep so she wouldn’t catch onto my plan. Thankfully, the odd schedule helped me avoid her and Holden since I became more like my dancepire self than ever before.

During the overlap hours when we were both awake, I would sneak around the house for information and track her whereabouts. I didn’t know why I hadn’t thought about learning her every move before. Staying ahead eliminated surprise run-ins. Disguising myself, I could blend in and actually be in town. I got to enjoy Oak Hills for the first time in years!

Oddly enough, Hope was a creature of habit and did almost the same things every week, with only slight deviations.

Lunch with her sorority sisters.

Coffee with her besties from the dance team.

Training and workouts at the campus center.

Shopping—though she never bought anything.

Nights spent at the college bar where she flirted and danced with several guys, but only occasionally left with one.

She’d even had her friends over for a pool party, which had been tamer than I expected. In all honesty, Hope’s life was boring. I didn’t think she liked most of her friends, despite how she acted around them, and the guys she hung around were either players or so dull that even I fell asleep listening to their conversations.

I’d overheard Kimmy, one of her dance team friends, tease her about holding out for a football player when she needed to focus on a richer guy. But I’d yet to hear any names. It had been the first time I spotted any real emotion on her face, and I knew if I could figure out who he was, I’d have the perfect target.

Holden and I had settled into a mutual understanding of pretending like the other wasn’t there. Though, he wasn’t at the house very often, which helped. There had been a few encounters in our shared bathroom, but he’d seemed to follow the ‘kill with silence’ school of thought, rather than the one his sister did—the school of bitchology.

The biggest shock was how Hope had kept to her word and left me alone. She glared and made snide comments when no one could hear, but after years of constant bullying, her current behavior was tame.

I didn’t trust it, and my plan to ruin her was still in full swing.

Dance team tryouts were tomorrow, so tonight was my last chance to run through my routine. Rose had planned a family dinner tomorrow evening, making it the perfect time to announce I made the team. Picturing Hope’s face at the news was the motivation I needed every time my muscles screamed at me. The joy of getting one over on her filled me with more energy than a Red Bull.

Picking up the dance pom, I wiped my brow and went through my routine one more time. Meghan Trainor’s words rang out as I shook my hips and spun on my feet, with my arms up in a high-V. Bringing them down, I did an aerial cartwheel and slid into the splits. Rolling out of it, I shook my poms and popped back up using my core muscles.

I forced myself to smile and not focus on how red my face was, as I finished the routine with a few more spins, leaps, and hip thrusts. I’d taken one of the Wolfette routines from last year and added my spin on it. It was grittier than most of their dances, but being on a crew for the past two years had given me an edge I wanted to showcase.

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