Page 100 of The Forbidden Note

“Because that’s the only way you’ll get better. Even if you pretend you’re beating your worst enemy, you still gotta do it.”

“Fine.” She sighs like I asked her to swim with sharks.

I look up and find Grey watching me with a weird look. “What are you two talking about?”

“I’m teaching her the drums.”

Her eyes soften for a second before she quickly masks it with a dry, “Oh.”

“I’m not that good,” Viola says.

I shrug. “She’s getting there.”

Grey smiles. “I’m sure you’re great.” She sticks out a hand. “I don’t think we’ve been formally introduced. I’m Miss Jamieson, but my friends call me Grey.”

“I know who you are,” Vi says, casually accepting the handshake. “You’re Cadey’s teacher.”

“That’s right.”

“Are you Zane’s teacher too?” Her smart brown eyes dart between us. “Why are you here? Is this, like, a private study session for The Kings? That issocool.”

Grey’s eyes jump to me and wander back down to Viola. She laughs nervously.

The guilt is all over her face. It’s like a shadow on her features. Tightening her lips. Chasing the light from her eyes. It’s almost suffocating to watch.

Damn.

I clear my throat and back away. “I’m gonna take a shower.”

Maybe that’ll clear my head.

CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR

GREY

I sit in the middle of the lavish living room, noticing the pictures of Cadence and Dutch together, as well as pictures of Dutch and all his brothers.

The frames sit neatly over the mantle, a tiny window into the world of the dazzling Cross brothers and their unshakeable bond.

Viola sees where my eyes have landed. “Cadey put those up. There was not evenonepicture in this entire house when the boys were living here.”

Curious, I snoop around. There’s a photograph of Zane, Dutch, Finn and Sol at a beach. The boys have sunny expressions on their faces. It’s hard to imagine that they were once so young and innocent. Sometimes, it feels like they came out of the womb dangerous, scowling and inked.

I pick up another frame. This one is of The Kings during a concert. Pink and yellow lights beam on the stage, drowning them all in an otherworldly glow. Dutch has his head bent toward his guitar. Finn has his head tilted back as if he’s seeing another world. Zane is the only one whose gaze is on the camera. He’s drenched in sweat, hair falling over glittering eyes, a devilishly enticing grin on his face.

“Is it true that all the teachers at Redwood are scared of The Kings?”

“Huh?” I whip my eyes up to her curious and excited brown ones. Viola is practically leaning into my face, scanning me.

“And is it true that everyone runs and hides when The Kings pass by?”

“Um…”

“And is it true that girls are so crazy about Zane that they stuff his locker with bras?”

My eyes widen. I ignore the strike of jealousy that hits me. “I don’t know much about Zane.”

Viola pushes her lips out at the picture where I was, very obviously, staring at the drummer. “Then why were you looking at him like that?”

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