Page 63 of Cold and Broken (The Titans of Founder's Ridge 1)

The fabric skims over my curves perfectly with thin spaghetti straps that meet in a cross over my back. I open the door to walk to the three way mirror and Ivy whistles.

“Damn, Lil! You look amazing.” She lifts my arms. “Look at your side boob. Connor will die!”

“I’m not dressing for him,” I scowl.

“Well, apparently you’re turning into him. Look at that scowl.” She makes an exaggerated angry face. “What is the deal with you two? All week his hands are always on you and I have to say, you don’t seem too upset about it.” She raises a knowing eyebrow.

“We are,” I pause to think about how to answer this carefully, “getting to know each other. We have spent every night this week together except when he was down in New York for business. We do schoolwork together, we work out together, we eat together when our dads are gone.”

“I see.” Her eyes narrow as she follows me back to my fitting room. “Do you hook up?”

“We don’t have sex.”

“But you do other things?” She wiggles her eyebrows.

“Perhaps.” I grin.

“I knew it!” She pumps her fist in the air. “Levi owes me a grand.”

I pop my head out of the room, flabbergasted. “You’ve been betting on my sex life?”

“Yeah. I only took the bet because Connor has been so much less broody than usual lately. It’s weird and has to be because he’s getting regular action.”

“What’s up with you and Levi since we’re on the subject of sex?” I ask through the door as I pull on a black sweater and gray jeans.

“Nothing. Ewww, Lil. He’s my stepbrother.”

“Stepbrother, it isn’t too far outside the lines of possibility.”

“It is for me. He fucks new girls every week. I’m not interested in being the pussy du jour warming his bed,” she says heatedly.

“Okay.” I drop it for now.

I end up taking the white sequin dress, several sweaters, and a couple pairs of jeans. Ivy insists on dragging me into a shoe store and I end up with two pairs of boots and a pair of high heels that go with the dress. Then she drags me into some kind of fancy lingerie shop where I have a proper fitting and realize my cup size is actually bigger than I thought. I end up with a new bra and a few new pairs of lacy panties that were honestly way too expensive.

“Where to now?” I set all my bags in the trunk of Ivy’s car.

“Coffee and lunch? The coffee shop up the street makes great paninis.”

“Sounds good to me.”

We order our drinks and sandwiches at the counter and I see their pumpkin spice lattes advertised. I can’t help but think of my conversation with Connor earlier in the week about how he likes PSLs. Ivy catches me smiling to myself.

“What’s that look about?” She asks with a bemused expression on her face.

“Okay, so Connor and I have been doing this whole get to know each other thing this week. Sometimes the questions we ask are deep and other times they are ridiculous. One thing I found out about Connor is that he likes PSLs. I called him a basic bitch and we had a whole funny conversation about it.”

“He’s also sending me quotes every day about trust, relationships, or love. They’re either funny or touching.” I sigh. “It’s making it harder to keep him at a distance. All the sweet things he does when it’s just us. Then he’s such a domineering dickhead in front of everyone else. Sometimes the things he says or does at school just remind me completely of how he treated me when I first moved here.”

“That’s the thing about the Titans, they can be cruel as fuck or charm your panties off. I wish I could offer you advice on whether or not to trust Connor now but I can’t. He’s a wild card and you never really know his motivations. I want him to be into you for real, and I do think he’s crazy attracted to you. I am shipping you guys hardcore but I want you to be smart. Keep making him earn that trust.” She takes a giant bite of her panini.

“Yeah. Luckily for me every time I start to fall for his charms he does or says something that reminds me of what a dick he can be.” A scream rips from my mouth as burning hot liquid runs down my back.

“What the fuck, Margaux!” Ivy screams racing over to me. I wince in pain as she pulls my drenched shirt away from my back. “Oh fuck, Lil we need to get to the hospital. Stay calm, I’m going to pull your shirt off okay?” I nod as tears stream down my face. “Jesus, fuck.” Ivy turns on Margaux after she takes my shirt off. “You better fucking run far, Margaux. That was deliberate.”

My mind starts getting fuzzy and I can’t answer the questions from the manager who’s run over with a cool cloth. I’m barely aware of anything other than the pain as Ivy gets me up and we start the walk to her car which somehow is now parked right by the door. I don’t sit back in the seat, instead resting my face on the dashboard. The pain has ebbed down but I still can’t talk through it.

“I’m taking you to the emergency room.” Ivy holds my hand. “Call Levi.” She directs her car’s bluetooth system.

---