Page 7 of Reckless Temptation

I wasn’t here often, by design, but if she needed me…

Just keep an eye on her. Watch and wait.

I wouldn’t repeat the mistake of not paying close enough attention to my mom again.

Reaching into my pocket for my phone, I glanced at Tiffany.

She was still pouting, clearly upset about whatever she was reading on hers.

“Now what’s wrong?” I asked, not caring about the answer. This girl had it fucking made. A steady, reliable parent. Money. This big-ass house. She had nothing to worry about. Instead, she machinated her own issues, needing the damn drama to stay important.

“That internship.”

“What internship?” I asked as I scrolled down to find Pierce’s last text. Going past all the messages about art commissions and eager models to be painted, I sought out my friend instead.

“Don’t you listen to anything?” Tiffany snapped.

I shrugged. “Only what matters,Tiff.”

“Oh, so you think you can just check out all dinner? Just act like everything is just great in your perfect life of laziness and no ambitions?” She huffed, shaking her head.

You couldn’t be further from the truth, bitch.

Nothing was great. Not anymore. I didn’t lack ambition. I was merely lost.

“It doesn’t matter to you that Daddy might not give me that intern spot?”

“No. It really fucking doesn’t matter to me what you do with your perfect life of kissing ass and pretending you want to earn your degree or career.”

If I had a dollar for every time she bought a paper off someone or used a program to do her work for her, I’d be richer than all the Lorsens combined.

We never tried to get along, but we hadn’t ever decided to be enemies, either. As stepsiblings, we operated on mutual loathing and disinterest. Tiffany didn’t care for me, and I didn’t particularly enjoy seeing her. Because we were such opposites, it never mattered if we got along or how well we did.

“Besides, it’s a moot point. You’re wasting your breath to whine about whether you’d get it or not.”

“How so?” She furrowed her brow, not necessarily taking offense.

“I would assume George would be squeaky clean and not follow the rules of nepotism, but it’s obvious you’d have the spot. You’re his kid.” I shrugged. It seemed obvious that he’d want the best for her because her success would be a reflection of his.

She shook her head vehemently. “No. That’s not true. I’m not sure that being his daughter would get me any better chances at this. There is a whole list of criteria that need to be met. An entire panel of professors who will be giving their input for who would be selected.”

I shrugged again, partly paying attention to her as I texted Pierce back. He was down for meeting me at the Cricket again. It was just a matter of when he’d be free.

“I’m also not so sure I could get this internship because of the competition.” She frowned at her phone, then apparently bothered by what she was reading on it, she shoved it away with a sneer. “The competition with one person in particular. This damn scholarship student, Sabrina Rosario.” She said her name with such a snarl, she nearly spat it out.

“Bummer,” I muttered as I stood.

I had no interest in lingering or pretending to care about her concerns. It wouldn’t make a difference to me whether George chose his daughter for some position at his firm or some other student. My only concern was my mother, and she had chosen to seclude herself in her room for the night, out of sight and out of reach.

Walking out of the dining room, I gave up on any conversation with Tiffany. It wouldn’t have made an impact one way or another. She was too self-centered, too selfish and stuck in her own little world of self-importance, only ever putting the effort into talking to someone when she determined she could gain a benefit from them.

I paused long enough to grab the shirt I’d tossed in the chair in the hallway. Otherwise, I didn’t let anything stand in my way ofshowering and changing before heading out to drink and play darts with Pierce again.

No one ever said that avoiding problems would solve anything. But sometimes, like on a night like this one, it was easier to pretend that nothing was wrong at all.

Ignorance was bliss.

And I really wished that I could lose the awareness and knowledge of all the ways my life wasn’t as great as it used to be.

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