Page 10 of Bring Me To My Knees

“I’m Delaney. This is Marley. Who the fuck are you?” Delaney snaps back.

“Girls, please.” Mitch sighs from the front seat.

“Don’t start your shit, Riley,” Clark says.

“Wow. I can see how this trip is going to go.” Riley huffs, sitting her purse on the seat between her and Delaney, not even trying to hide the fact that she’s trying to put some space between the two of them.

I keep trying to remind myself that it’s a short ride to the beach and then I don’t even have to talk to her anymore. I don’t have time for drama this summer. I’m trying to get my life back in order.

I glance up to the rearview mirror and notice Clark staring in my direction. It only lasts a few seconds, but it was long enough to leave a tingle through my body.

No drama, Marley.

Yeah fucking right. Drama has been following me my entire life.

ChapterThree

CLARK

Mitchell Halloway has been my best friend since we played T-ball together when we were five. Our parents bonded over their money, and we bonded over literally everything.

We were always forced to babysit his twin sisters, who were quite a bit younger than us, and more annoying. When we got older, there was one stipulation to our friendship—I wasn’t allowed to even think about touching one of his baby sisters. He used the words machete and balls in the same sentence, and I had no desire to find out if he was bullshitting me or not.

His stupid rule has never been an issue. I never looked at Mallory or Marley in any way but a sisterly way. When Mallory died and their family fell apart, I stood by Mitchell’s side. I was there for him when his parents decided the best way to handle their out-of-control teenage daughter was to ship her off. It was obvious to me, and pretty much everyone else around, that she needed help. She wanted to be noticed. She didn’t know how to grieve.

They didn’t give a shit. They weren’t blessed with parents that worried about things like feelings and therapy. They were more concerned with their image.

It’s been four years since I’ve seen Marley Halloway. And right now, as we’re driving down to the beach, I’ve never been more thankful for that in my life.

Because Marley sure as fuck isn’t a baby anymore. She’s a fucking bombshell. She’s the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. I don’t know how I will survive the summer with her right down the hall.

She’s the kind of girl that looks fucking incredible no matter what she’s got on. She walked downstairs in a T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants this morning, and I about fucking lost it. I’m trying not to think about what she’s going to look like when she takes that fucking dress off at the beach.

“Man, you good?” Mitch asks, pulling me out of the fantasies I’m having about his baby sister.

“What? Yeah, I’m good,” I tell him, shaking my head, trying my best to avoid looking at his sister in the rearview mirror.

“You seem like you’ve got some shit on your mind.”

“Yeah, I’m wondering if it was a mistake to bring her,” I say, nodding my head towards the back seat.

“What’s going on there anyway?” he asks, his voice lowered.

It’s not like Riley even cares what we’re talking about. She’s lost in her own world. Her phone is constantly attached to her.

I remember what it felt like when things were brand new with her. When we couldn’t keep our hands off each other. That was three years ago, and we’ve been on and off again so many times that she feels like an obligation. There’s so much history.

Riley Ashford doesn’t give a fuck about anyone but herself. She’s always looking to gain something from any relationship she’s in, whether it’s with a friend or a boyfriend. She’s trying to coast through life on someone else’s dime, and she’s got her eye on me. She thinks that just because my dad had some money, that I’ve got it too. I keep trying to tell her she’s wrong, but she doesn’t get it.

Not to mention, the secret the two of us are hiding, but we won’t even begin to get into all that.

“I’m just over it,” I tell him, sighing.

I’m leaving out the part where her dad basically blackmailed me into keeping her happy, threatening to expose me and my family if I did anything that hurt his precious baby girl. I don’t want my best friend to know how low I had to stoop to pull myself out of the shit that I buried myself in. He’d blame himself.

“I’ve heard that a time or two,” he says, laughing.

He thinks I’m joking, but I’m not. I keep hoping to catch Riley in some compromising situation, so I can blackmail her to get myself out of the situation I’m in with her father. I know she’s hiding a million things from me, it’s just a matter of catching her fucking up.

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