CHAPTER TWELVE
Colton — 16 years old
I roll back my shoulders, pain spreading through my muscles. Maddox and I crashed a party that we weren’t invited to. Sven, from Carlton High, was celebrating his birthday. Berkshire Academy has two sworn enemies. Berkshire was unbeatable when it came to football. Leighton High is always second.
Carlton High ranks third, but they take first place for baseball. And they take great pride in that.
Sven, the reindeer , as I like to call him — tried to break a goddamn bottle over my head. If it wasn’t for my fast reflexes, I’d probably gotten a fractured skull and a nasty concussion. But I only ended up with an injured shoulder.
I think the broken shards are stuck in my flesh. Fuuuck, this hurts.
The plan was to crash the party. But Maddox decided to shove his tongue down some random chick’s throat, who ended up being Noah’s girlfriend. Noah, who is Carlton’s famous (though I would say, shitty) pitcher. And Noah just happens to be best buds with Sven.
So, of course, a fight broke out when Maddox was found with his hand under the girl’s skirt. She was all wrapped up in his arms, so it was definitely consensual.
But damn, Noah’s ego took a hit.
His girl was a cheating bitch, but somehow, we paid the fucking price.
Maddox and I made a run for it when the cops came to the scene. I’m sure Daddy Bennett is going to get a call soon. Oh well, fuck it. Damage is done now.
It’s not the first time, anyway.
I pass Cole’s room. I’m half-tempted to knock on his door, to check on him. Like I do every night. But the thought quickly leaves. It’s really late; he’s probably already asleep.
I get to my room, but halt at the doorway when I see who is inside.
Sienna is sitting on the edge of my bed, waiting. “You’re injured.” She gasps, standing up at the sight of my bloody shirt. Her hand goes to her mouth, her eyes round in surprise.
With a grunt, I shove my door closed and lock it. My mood is instantly soured.
“What happened? Did you get into a fight again?”
“Something like that,” I grumble under my breath.
“Wait here and take your shirt off. I’ll get the first-aid kit,” she orders.
“It looks worse than it is.” I watch as she walks comfortably into my adjoining bathroom. She rummages through my drawers and then walks back out with the kit.
Sienna silently points to the bed. “Sit. Shirt off.”
I roll my eyes, before dragging the bloodied shirt over my head. She gasps again, taking in the damage. Jesus Christ, can she get any more fucking annoying?
I sit on the edge of the bed and she stands beside me, in order to get a better view of my injuries. “There are some broken shards stuck underneath your skin. Don’t worry, I’ll get them out.”
I merely grunt in response.
She uses tweezers to remove all the broken glass, and I fight to hold in my painful grimace. I have a high pain tolerance, but damn, this burns . I wonder if I poured some of my father’s expensive whiskey on it, if it would numb the pain.
Once she’s done, she finishes cleaning the wound with antiseptic wipes and then bandages my shoulder. “You’re welcome,” she says, with major haughtiness in her voice.
“Thanks,” I mutter under my breath. I really hate being fucking indebted to her.
This will be the second time now.
“You really need to stop getting into fights,” she lectures me, as if she has every right to do so. “I think that Coulter boy is a bad influence. Every time you hang out with him, there’s always some kind of drama that follows you two.”
My hackles immediately rise, feeling defensive of both Maddox and myself. Sienna doesn’t know shit. She doesn’t understand shit. “You’re not my mother.”
The moment the words are out of my mouth, I know it was the wrong thing to say. I spoke the truth, but the timing was wrong.
Sienna places her index finger under my chin and lifts my head up, so that I’m staring at her face. There’s a coy smirk on her lips — shameless and insincere.
Her thumb brushes along the length of my jaw. “You’re right, I am not your mother.”
Sienna leans down, bringing her lips closer to mine. I feel her breath on my skin as she whispers suggestively, “But that’s the thing, whatever I feel for you is most definitely not motherly , Colton.”
My skin crawls, but I don’t push her away. I know her game now. I know what she likes and the sadism that she craves.
Sienna Bennett is a master manipulator.
Too bad I didn’t recognize it earlier, before I had already fallen into her trap.
She forces me back onto the bed, until I’m leaning against the headboard. She removes her silk robe, letting it drop to the floor before moving onto the bed to straddle me. Her hand flattens on my chest, before moving lower to my abdomen. Her nightgown has ridden up, and I clasp her bare thighs.
“Get on with it,” I demand impatiently.
The faster she’s done, the sooner I can get some fucking sleep.
Her nails dig into my abs, and her smirk widens when I suck in a breath. Sienna leans forward, her lips brushing against my throat before she nips my earlobe. She rolls her hips in circular motion, creating friction between us, and my dick hardens of its own accord.
A piece of my heart chips away.
I don’t like not being in control, and the only time when I’m ever not in control is with Sienna. Her closeness makes me dizzy, and definitely not in a good way.
“Tell me something,” she purrs in my ear. I hate her voice. I hate how high and squeaky it is. She tries so hard to make herself sound sweet and seductive, but it’s all so fake and unpleasant. “Did you try to send Cole away because you were jealous that I was starting to pay attention to him?”
My body tenses. “What do you mean?”
She nips my earlobe again and I hide my flinch. Nothing about her touch is pleasing, yet somehow, my dick responses. Fuck.
“You don’t seem to like it when I’m talking to him,” she says. “You always have that grumpy look on your face. Are you feeling jealous, Colton? Jealous of your own twin?”
Yes, I don’t fucking like it when you’re talking to my brother.
No, not because I’m jealous.
But because I don’t want you to sink your ugly, damning claws into his innocent soul.
My fingers tighten around her thighs, in both disgust and anger. With hate . But she gladly misunderstands it for possessiveness. “You’re right. I don’t want him anywhere near you,” I tell her. My voice is gravelly and I fake the huskiness in my tone.
Sienna chuckles and my flesh crawls. I hate her laugh — it’s like pouring acid into my ears. “I never pegged you to be a territorial guy,” she purrs again. “But then again, they say you never forget your first.”
Sienna takes great pride in being my first . She thinks it’s some kind of major accomplishment in her life. A pretty trophy she won. I guess in some ways she has come out as a winner. My father barely pays her attention, except when he needs a wife to show off on his arm. But that doesn’t matter to Sienna.
She’s got a rich husband.
And her husband’s son in her bed — a young, virile stud, as she likes to call me.
For her, that’s a double-fucking-win.
“Anyway, you’re the hotter twin.” Her lips touch my throat. “And definitely a better lover than your father. You’ve got a bigger dick too.”
I inhale, taking in a lungful of oxygen.
I breathe.
And I breathe again.
I remind myself that I’m the older twin.
I’m supposed to be protecting Cole.
And I will do exactly that until my last damn breath.
She’s right. If it wasn’t for Sienna, I would have never snitched on Cole. I would have never betrayed his trust and told our father that he was getting addicted to morphine. I would have tried to keep him home, but still help him.
But once Sienna made her intentions obvious, I knew I had to get Cole out of here.
Even if it meant lying to my twin and breaking his trust.
He can never know the truth.
He will never know the truth behind my betrayal.
But now he’s back home, and I need to keep Sienna’s attention on me.
Her obsession started the night of the accident. I think it must have begun before that, but she only made it known then. I only saw the truth then, and it was too late.
Sienna had asked me to trust her. I did.
Sienna had told me she would help Cole and me.
I believed her.
Bitterness fills my lungs as she lowers herself onto me. Hate is poison, and that’s exactly how poisonous Sienna feels to me. She has taken all control from me and the frustration that comes with this realization settles in the pit of my stomach like acid.
Something so dangerous, it burns through me. Breaking apart my vital organs, scorching under my flesh and igniting a fury that’s akin to an uncontrollable inferno. It finds the darkest corner of my soul, turning it into a home that is built on the wreckage of my heart.
I just never realized that I would become indebted to her in ways that I would have never expected. Her help came with a price.
And that price was me.
I owed her. For her lies and for covering the truth of the accident.
And I paid with my body.