Page 4 of Little Devil

“When are you coming home?”

“I’m not sure yet,” she answers. “Tomorrow, maybe.”

“Maybe?”

“Yes, maybe,” she fires back, rolling her eyes when she catches the look on my face. “What is wrong with you? Most girls your age would kill to have a mansion to themselves for their eighteenth birthday. Wouldn’t you rather spend your night with Noah?”

“Not really,” I mutter, dropping my eyes to play with the yellow strings of my bikini bottoms.

She perks up at that, suddenly interested in me and what I have to say. “Why not?”

I shrug and look off to the house on my right, watching my lifelong boyfriend while he makes himself a drink at the kitchen island. He’s got sandy blond hair and bright blue eyes, his navy blue designer swim shorts hanging low on his hips in a way that makes him look hot as hell. He’s gorgeous in a pretty boy type of way, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s an egotistical dick who thinks he owns me and the ground I walk on.

He doesn’t own me, and I don’t want him to.

Not anymore.

Just as I think it, his eyes hit mine and he narrows them into slits, laughing lightly when my best friend bumps his hip to get him to move out of the way. Penelope flicks her chocolate brown hair over her shoulder and smirks at whatever he’s saying to her, shamelessly moving her eyes over his bare chest and abs. He smirks back at the attention and leans back against the counter beside her, boldly returning the favor despite the fact I’m sitting right here.

“JJ?”

“He’s not the same anymore, Mom,” I whisper, hesitating a second before I decide to elaborate. “He’s distant and selfish and he doesn’t care like he used t–”

“Nonsense,” she cuts in, waving me off as if I’m ridiculous for even thinking such a thing. “That boy’s been the love of your life since before you could walk. You were made for each other, sweetheart.”

I disagree, but just as I open my mouth to plead my case, she shakes her head and raises a hand, done with me and this conversation, apparently.

“Go back inside and work it out with him,” she orders, hitting me with a look that screams do as you’re told and smile while you’re at it. “I’ll be home as soon as I can and we’ll have a spa day together, okay?”

“Mom.”

“I have to go, JJ,” she sighs. “I’ll call you later.”

“Okay,” I say weakly, struggling to keep the tears at bay. “Bye, Mom.”

She hangs up on me and I swallow, pulling my feet out of the water to slide my heels up to my ass. I rest my forearms on my knees and hang my head, silently counting backwards from twenty while I attempt to calm my wounded heart.

Poor, sad little rich girl.

How cliché.

I roll my eyes at the thought and shake it off, reluctantly pushing myself up to walk back inside. I toss my phone down on the kitchen island and open the fridge, ignoring Noah’s judgy little eyes on my ass while I pour myself another soda. I suck my stomach in the way my mom taught me to do when I was nine and turn around, pulling out the bar stool beside him to take a seat.

“Well..” Penelope draws out, dropping down on my other side to toss a grape into her mouth. “What did she say?”

“She’s not coming.”

She sticks her bottom lip out and wraps her arm around my neck, scooting over to pull my head down on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, sweetie.”

I shrug her off and look up at the monitor in the corner of the room, frowning when I spot the black van pulling up on my driveway. “Who’s that?”

“Oh, it’s the party people.” Penelope grins, jumping up to hold a hand out to Noah. “You got the cash, babe?”

My skin crawls at the endearment but I hide it with a sip of my drink, side eyeing him while she skips off through the house to answer my front door. “You’re throwing a party?”

“Is that a problem?”

“No, but I wasn’t even supposed to be here tonight,” I remind him, laughing lightly when it hits me. “You knew my mom wouldn’t show up, didn’t you?”

---