Page 9 of Our Secret to Keep

Dad pulls me into a one-arm hug and lowers his voice to a deep rumble. “Nathaniel, once again, you have dug yourself a grave and piled shit on top of shit. If you don’t get your act together, I will bury you in it.”

I cringe at my full name.

It reminds me of the She-Devil who ruined my life.Just thinking about the sorry excuse for a woman causes my stomach to knot like a pretzel. My skin suddenly feels too hot and itchy. I rub my hands down my arms and step away from my father.

“Don’t call me that. You know I prefer Nate.”

He narrows his eyes at me. “Nathaniel is the name I gave you. It belonged to your grandfather.”

“I don’t care. Call me Nate or nothing at all.”

His jaw tightens as his eyes wander around the dining room. “This is not the time nor the place. Consider yourself lucky we’re not at home. After what you did with that girl…”

“Got it,sir.” I roll my eyes. “I’ve been a bad, bad boy. You gonna spank me?”

My dad grabs my collar, and I don’t do anything to stop him. This is how we hash shit out. A slew of mean words, a bottle of bourbon, and a few punches. That was how we settled things the last time I screwed up. But the old man is worn down with my antics. If I weren’t his only son, he would have disowned me years ago.

Dad clutches my collar, ready to rip me a new one, but Ryan Rousseau interrupts our staring contest.

“Spencer, we should order before it gets too late. I have a meeting with my agent this afternoon.”

Thank you, Ryan, for saving the day.

I glance at River and shake my head. There’s no point in beating a dead horse. My dad never hears me. He didn’t listen when I told him abouther… and what she was doing to me. Not until he saw it for himself. Even then, he couldn’t handle the truth.

Just being near him dredges up bad memories. Sending me to boarding school after the worst year of my life was the kindest mercy he’d ever shown me.

For the past ten years, I have been free from my family—boarding school in Massachusetts, then college in Connecticut.

But college is almost over.

The closer I get to graduation, the more I act out. I can’t seem to sit still or pay attention in classes. Graduating means going to law school and starting over. It also means River will sign with an NHL team and leave me behind.

And it kills me.

IneedRiver and would doanythingto keep him, even if it means giving in to some of his desires. River doesn’t think I notice how he looks at me. But I do. He can’t peel his eyes off my naked body when we fuck girls.

After we sit, my dad says, “I took care of the girl and withdrew two million dollars from your trust.”

I don’t fight him. I sit here and grit my teeth. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” he says in a menacing tone. “If you continue down this path, I will cut you off completely. Your grandfather would roll over in his grave if he knew how much of his money you have squandered on whores.”

My grandfather was a religious man. A devout Christian. He would most definitely lose his shit about my dad using his hard-earned money to squash potential scandals. But he was also a pragmatist who wouldn’t want the family name destroyed over my dirty deeds.

“It won’t happen again,” I promise, even though it sounds like a lie.

It’s only a matter of time before I screw up and drag River down with me.

“You’ve already been accepted to Kingston Law,” my dad tells me.

“What?” I gape at him. “But I haven’t applied for early admission yet.”

“No need.” He waves a cloth napkin and places it on his lap. “I already dealt with the dean.”

I should be grateful. Most people would hug the shit out of him for going above and beyond to secure their future. But I feel cheated.

“I could have gotten into the school on my own… without your help.”

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