Page 35 of Golden Rule

I remember the pit in my stomach when I got the acceptance letter for Cypress Prep—courtesy of my brother secretly submitting an application on my behalf. That move changed everything. I hated it at first, but if it hadn’t been for that transfer, I never would’ve met the love of my life.

West has no idea what thought just inspired me to slip my hand into his, but he smiles anyway, then lifts my hand to his lips, placing a kiss there.

“We’ll be fine, Babe.”

It shouldn’t be so easy to calm me, but just like that, his words settle my heart. I stare straight ahead when we stop at a red light, trying to ignore the three teen girls pointing when they spot us in the wild. Our windows are tinted, but that probably only makes itmoreobvious it’s us. Even more so than if they could see our actual faces.

In my peripheral vision, I notice them all pulling out their phones, then there’s that telling glow illuminating their faces as they type, and finally their cameras flash. It’s impossible not to roll my eyes, because I know what they’re up to. They’redoing Pandora’s bidding, sending pictures, updating her on our whereabouts.

Just relax, Blue. Maybe she’ll get bored and lose interest.

It would be great if I could convince myself to believe that, but I know better. Pandora has always been, and will probablyalwaysbe, completely obsessed with our lives.

“And she’s not making it any easier to get close to Tiffany,” I say, getting revved up all over again. “The first chance she got to point out that we did dinner without her, she took it.”

West kisses my hand again, and I get the feeling it’s meant to coddle me before he speaks. Possibly saying something I won’t want to hear.

“So, did you all intentionally leave her out, or… was it just an oversight?”

I roll my eyes. Not necessarily at him, but just at the general idea of having to explain this.

“While I understand that Tiffany’s important to Sterling, Lexi’s important tous. Nothing against Tiff, but we’ve got history with Lexi. And it’s been so long since we’ve all just been able to… you know… hang out. So, yeah, okay. Maybe we left Tiffany out on purpose, but if Dez moved on with some new guy, you can’t tell me you all wouldn’t choose Ricky over him.”

When West arches a brow, I can practically read his mind. He’s agreeing with me, knowing I’m right. So, when he doesn’t dwell on the wholeTiffany thing,I move on, too.

“And speaking of Lexi, can you believe the shit Pandora just said about her?” My voice is even more shrill than before, and I’m willing to bet West wishes he had earplugs. “I mean, as if things between her and Sterling aren’t already tense enough, now Pandora goes and throwsMatt’sname into the drama.”

West nods. “Yeah, I’m guessing I’ll have a flood of text messages hitting my phone once Sterling sees it. Especially that shit about Matt being a better father to Jaxon than he is.”

I can already imagine how livid Sterling will be. He’s made it abundantly clear that, above all else, his relationship with his son is the most important thing.

For several seconds, the only sound to be heard is that of the engine humming as we drive. I glance toward West, and his brow is raised in this weird way.

“What?” I ask.

He doesn’t speak at first, and it looks like he’s holding back. “Just saying. Are we sure Mattisn’tin the picture?”

As badly as I want to say with certainty that he isn’t, I’m not entirely sure I believe Lexi’s cover at dinner. We all know Matt would’ve made her his years ago if it’d been up to him. Who’s to say that, with Sterling out of the picture, their close friendship didn’t evolve into more?

“I… don’t know, but that’s beside the point,” I huff. “The point is that none of this shit is Pandora’s business to expose. I’ll just never understand why she gets off on what she does.”

“It’s the attention.”

I glance toward West. “You really think it’s that simple?”

He shoots me a look, like he can’t believe I just asked that. “Seriously? Just scroll your socials for ten seconds and tell me if that’s not what motivateseveryonethese days.”

He’s right. And I can say that without even opening my phone.

“Ugh, she’s fucking up my vibe. Since she can’t be reasoned with, I’m going to manifest theshitout of her finding another way to get her dopamine fix.”

“There’smy girl,” West laughs, still holding my hand as we drive.

The ride only calms me a little, but I’m determined to make good on my declaration. I’m done letting Pandora ruin my night.

“Almost there.”

At West’s words, I glance out the side window, peering up at the street sign as we pass by.

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