Page 39 of The Trophy

And then Bay wonders why I didn’t want to be a Zeta.

“We need to find a different way for Bay to find out.”

“Even if she did,” Cole sighs. “I wouldn’t hold my breath that she’d break things off with that piece of shit.”

I don’t believe that.

“Have some faith in my sister, dude. She would be livid if she knew that Topher turned me into some kind of trophy.”

Cole shakes his head. “You don’t know Topher the way I do.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask.

“I was really pissed after the stunt he pulled during the game in LA. When he proposed that dare, that was the fucking last straw. I confronted him and told him that when Bay heard about it, she would dump his ass. That’s when he threatened me to leak my initiation video and then warned me that if I tried to get clever and get Bay to find out some other way, he would tell her that he thought of that dare for your sake.”

“For my sake?” I gasp.

“Yeah. He would say that he proposed the dare to see if the guys were worthy of you. You know how most of us party pretty hard and we don’t exactly act like saints, especially if single. He would tell Bay that he cares about you and he didn’t want you to choose the wrong guy. So he thought of the dare to see how they would act. If they’d play the game, if they’d share intimate details about your dates in the locker room.”

I can’t believe it. “He is good,” I say. “What a fucking snake. Bay would probably believe him.”

Cole nods. “I’m glad the guys told you about it. I was worried about you.”

I appreciate his concern. “Thank you, Cole. I know you and I don’t know each other that well, so it means a lot.”

He tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear. “You’re my best friend’s twin sister. You’re the most important person in Bay’s life and that makes you important to me too.”

I almost ask him why can’t he be Bay’s boyfriend, but I bite my tongue at the last second. My sister told me plenty of times that it’s never been like that between her and Cole.

“Let’s go save Luca from Bianca,” I say. “I need to talk to him and Blaze about the Topher situation. They don’t know that he threatened to cause a scandal.”

“After you,” Cole chuckles darkly. “Let’s hope we don’t have to help him bury a body. He looked really mad when Bianca dragged him outside to talk.”

CHAPTER 8

IT’S COMPLICATED

LUCA

Iexhale slowly, looking for a way to make Bianca understand.

She’s batting her eyelashes waiting for my answer.

“No Bianca,” I fight the urge to let my frustration show. “I’m not going to take you to the boosters dinner as my date.”

My words don’t seem to hit the intended target.

“But my daddy expects me to bring someone suitable and you and I are perfect together,” she whines in that sing song tone that always rings staged rather than genuine.

“But why not? I’ve been doing everything I can to show you how much I like you.”

Fuck my life.

“Bianca,” I say, using the same tone my papá uses in official occasions when he has to deal with an undesirable situation. “I’m flattered that you thought about me, but I want to be clear, there aren’t going to be any dates between us.”

The message still doesn’t sink in.

“I understand that you’re busy during hockey season. I can wait for a real date. For now we can just hang out in your room. I can help you take the edge off the stress I know you’re under. And I know you have to go to the boosters dinner, so we can make that our first official date. Daddy will be so pleased?—”

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