Page 18 of Restrictions

“He’s not a mistake.”

She turns to look at me again and nods her head, more confident now. “I know. They hate me, but I’m not sorry.”

I settle back into the oversized theater-style recliner and use the lever to lay it back, trying to seem casual. “Yeah. I mean, I’m glad it happened too, but...”

She’s still sitting the same way, looking over at me curiously. “But what?”

“How the hell did that happen?” I tuck my left arm under my head and turn to look over at her. “My brother was also as close to perfect as they came. So how did two perfect, well-behaved scholars end up banging at some party?”

She looks slightly horrified but also amused as she settles back into her seat and looks up at the screen. “I guess that’s a good question, but it’s one you haven’t asked in three years.”

It’s always been in the back of my mind and recently moved to the front by Sawyer. “You don’t have to tell me.”

“It’s stupid really.” I stare at her profile, her little nose with the smallest cute point at the end. I swear there’s a blush in her cheeks. “I had maybe two or three conversations with him the entire time we went to school together, if you could even call them that. But Colt always had a sort of charisma about him, a welcoming, kind personality.”

“No argument here.”

She smiles sadly. “I would see him in the hall every day, smiling andwaving to people. He was so good and kind, and I guess...” I watch her nibble on her bottom lip, showing her embarrassment. “I guess I formed sort of a ridiculous crush on him.”

That I definitely didn’t know. It always seemed like a total fluke. Two strangers who just randomly hooked up. That’s how Linc made it seem when he told me. “Why ridiculous?”

“Everyone knew he was taken.Everyone. He made it known. It was silly to develop a crush on someone I barely knew—who had a girlfriend.”

“The teenage heart wants what the teenage heart wants.”

She laughs at that, shaking her head. “He never noticed me.”

He apparently noticed her at that party, but I don’t say anything. “Were you still dating Casey Williams at that time?”

I remember she had a boyfriend that year. The typical rich guy, alpha type who seemed to swarm the halls of our private school.

“No. We had broken up by that point. And what we did, I wouldn’t really call dating.”

My eyebrow quirks up in a question because what the fuck does that mean? “No?”

“That was set up by my parents. They’re friends with his parents, and they all thought it would be great if we got married and had the grandchildren they wanted—after we both graduated and were married for a year, of course.”

Her tone is a serious mocking tone, clearly making fun of her parents, and I’m here for it. I like this honest, open side of Viv. “Of course. But you dumped the fucker.”

“Yeah, he wouldn’t stop pawing at me, and I wanted no part of it.”

My mind starts to add up all the things she’s telling me, going over it all. “So you and Casey never...?”

Her eyes meet mine, and I watch her gulp at having let that very real information slip. Vivienne isn’t a fan of letting her guard down. She immediately looks back at the screen, her eyes glued there.

She doesn’t answer my question, but instead goes back to what she was saying. “Anyway, Colt never went to parties. Like ever. And neither did I, but we ended up at the exact same party. At the same time.” Her voice lowers as her eyes remain locked on the screen. “It felt like fate.”

“I still don’t know what he was doing at that party. Linc said he andDad got into some fight because he was going to propose to Penelope and my father wouldn’t have it. But still. A party. He hated them.”

“He didn’t seem to want to be there, but I think he was looking to get lost. And so was I.”

“Why?”

She still won’t look me in the eye. “It all got to be too much. Harvard. The predetermined plan for my life. It was like I couldn’t breathe. And I heard about that party and decided to sneak out.” Now she looks over at me, her pretty eyes wide and earnest. “I swear I thought we were just going somewhere to talk. It was so loud.”

“I’m sure alcohol was involved.”

Her head shakes slightly. “I only had like, half a beer. I wasn’t drunk. I just lost control. I never do that, but I did that night. I had never...”

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