Page 10 of Our Secret to Keep

“Men of our power can’t afford to leave anything to chance, Nathaniel.”

There’s that name again.

How many people can say they hate the sound of their name when it rolls off another’s tongue? Whenever he calls me Nathaniel, it feels like a thousand tiny spiders are crawling up my arms. And for a split second, I think about the worst time of my life, memories of horrible nights I wish never happened.

I shake off the memory and force a smile that doesn’t touch my eyes. “Thank you, sir,” I say, since arguing is not an option. “Looking forward to attending Kingston Law next fall.”

“Yes, well, I can’t have you embarrassing me. Keep your grades up this year. No more funny business.” His eyes sweep over me and then to River. “No more sharing women. Neither of you can afford to have something like that leaked to the press.”

“No, they can’t,” Ryan chimes, running his fingers through his dark brown hair. “And River will not humiliate himself or me with any more sex tapes.” He turns his gaze to River. “Isn’t that right, son?”

River bobs his head as he chews an onion roll but looks at me. We made a deal in the car. No more group sex. Only one woman at a time. If we stick to the plan, we won’t have to explain ourselves again.

We can make this work.

You’re probably wondering why we don’t have sex alone. But to help you understand where this all began, I would have to take you down memory lane… and I hate going there. I would rather drink bleach than think about all the shit that led to this point in my life.

Maybe one day, I’ll have the balls to spill my guts. But until then, you’ll have to trust me. Not knowing is better for everyone. In this case, the truth will not set me free.

CHAPTER4

RIVER

With one weekleft of summer vacation, I spend every second with Nate. He’s staying with me at my family’s summer home in The Hamptons. We do this every summer. Just the two of us getting into trouble and meeting girls until we start another grueling school year.

My mansion, which overlooks the sea, sits behind us at the dead center of the beach. We have the best view from here. Over the years, people have offered my dad twice its value, but he will never sell this place.

As we walk along the shore, our peaceful night ends when a girl screams.

Nate halts beside me. “Did you hear that?”

“Uh-huh.”

The sun has already set, and the sky is a mess of dark purple and blue hues. I search for the sound of someone whimpering and find the source.

Sitting on the sand, hunched over, a blonde woman grabs her foot.

I kneel beside her. “Are you okay?”

She snaps her head at me. “I stepped on a broken shell and cut my foot.”

Nate moves beside me and extends his hand, grinning. “I hate watching pretty girls suffer. Let me take a look.”

“Oh, no,” she bites out. “Don’t worry about me. It’s my dumb fault for not wearing sandals. I don’t want to intrude on your night.”

Nate lifts her leg onto his lap and inspects the small, bleeding cut. “We have a First Aid kit at the house. I can patch you up… if you want.”

She’s cute. Long blonde hair that brushes the tops of her huge tits that are spilling out of a red bikini top. Big, blue eyes that remind me of the ocean. Killer legs and a nice, thick ass, which I know Nate likes.

He prefers asses more than tits. But really, Nate loves everything about women. How they smell. How they taste. The sounds they make when they come. He could care less about hair color or any of the semantics.

Nate just likes women.

My best friend can turn on the charm whenever needed. He has that killer instinct. I can already see the wheels turning in his head.

He wants her.

And I want him.

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