Page 132 of Play Pretend

“Dad is going to lose his mind when I tell him,” she continued, ignoring me.

“Vanessa, please,” Willow rasped. “Pleasedon’t tell dad.”

Vanessa’s lips curved into a deep, conniving grin. “What will you do for me?” she asked, and my stomach dropped.

I stepped closer to Willow, resting my hand on her lower back. She was trembling, and she shrank into my side.

“I—what do you want?” Willow’s voice was breathy and nearly inaudible, small and shaky.

I hated it.

“No,” I snapped, slicing my hand through the air. “Fuck that. Tell him whatever you want, you’re not going to blackmail her.”

“Ro, please,” Willow whispered. “He can’t know about this.” She stared at me, silver lining her eyes. I tapped my fingers against her lower back, mentally counting to seven.

“Fine.” I let out a harsh breath through my nose. “Fine. What do you want?” I turned a seething glare to Vanessa. That same infuriating grin was on her face, and I felt my blood pressure spike at the sight of it.

“Come to my room every night this weekend,” she said. “I can fuck you better than she can.”

Willow’s breath hitched, but she didn’t immediately shut the idea down. I stared at her, expecting her to lose it, but she just dropped her gaze to the sidewalk and shrank even further in on herself. I felt her pull away, like she was expecting me to fucking agree.

“Absolutely not,” I gritted out. “I’d rather stick my dick in a fucking pencil sharpener than ever go near you.”

Finally, that smile fell from Vanessa’s face. “Fine,” she said, her voice clipped. “Then I’ll tell Dad.”

“Tell him!” I roughly shook my head. “I’m not fucking you, Vanessa. Do you hear yourself? Are you insane?”

What was wrong with her? Who suggested that? Who even thought that?

“Aren’t you married?” I asked, my voice rising.

“We have an agreement.” She waved dismissively. “As long as I make more money than him, he doesn’t care what, orwho, I do.”

I blinked at her. She was a viper—a monster. She was awful.

“Anyway,” she sighed. “Last chance. Come to my room tonight?—”

“He said no,” Willow finally said, her voice quiet but full of anger. “There’s a town full of men, go fuck one of them.” She waved her hand at the street.

Vanessa’s jaw tensed. “Fine. I’ll tell Dad at dinner, then.”

“He won’t believe you,” Willow said. Vanessa laughed again, sounding every bit the evil stepsister that she was.

“Of course he will.” She dragged her gaze over Willow. “He knows how pathetic your life is, and he knows I’dneverlie to him. You’ve done nothing but disappoint him your entire life—have you ever wondered why he prefers me so much? It’s because I make him proud. It’s because I give him something he can brag to his friends about. And you? What have you done?”

I opened my mouth, ready to rip into her, but Willow rested her hand on my forearm, stopping me. Bill and Lydia strolled down the sidewalk toward us.

“We’re leaving,” I said, but Willow shook her head, sadness and defeat rippling off her in thick waves.

“Let’s just get this over with.”

willow

Every step felt like walking to the gallows. Ronan was vibrating at my side, not bothering to hide his disdain and hatred for Vanessa. If my dad or Lydia noticed, they didn’t say anything. Dad was too busy talking about work to talk about anything else.

Vanessa met my gaze across the table and smiled. She leaned forward, resting her forearms on the table. The top of her low-cut blouse fell forward, exposing the generous curve of her fake breasts. I glanced at Ronan, old insecurities rising inside me.

Daniel always checked her out, always made a point of mentioning how good she looked. But Ronan…he just looked angry. He didn’t tear his eyes away from her face. He didn’t waver, even when she pressed her arms against her breasts, pushing them together more.

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