12. Ryan #2
Another tiny stroke straight down his fucking ego. Then the black box appears. Everything inside me turns cold. The boys go quiet.
Victor looks down as he opens it — which is why he misses Ally’s reaction. Her fingers stop moving against Celeste’s envelope. Her smile freezes. Just for half a heartbeat. Her eyes go to the box. And there she is. My Ally. Scared. Not of the diamond. Of everything it means.
Celeste is information. A thread. Access. Something she asked for because we need it. This is different. This is the wedding made physical. Switzerland. Victor. Roman. A claim everyone can see.
The box opens. The diamond catches the atrium lights. Jesus fucking Christ, it’s enormous. Ally stares one second too long. Then Victor looks up. And she’s ready.
Her hand comes lightly to her chest. “Oh my God.” Victor smiles. “Victor.”
“You approve?”
She looks down at the ring again, then up at him. “It’s beautiful.”
He takes it from the box. “You sound surprised.”
Her smile turns softer. “Maybe a little.” His brows lift.
Ally glances back at the ring. “You chose it?”
“I did.”
“By yourself?”
“Yes.”
Something like genuine surprise touches her face, and she lets it stay. “You did very well.” Victor looks deeply pleased with himself. Ally sees it, of course. “You have excellent taste. I simply wasn’t aware it extended to jewelry.”
His mouth twitches. “Should I be offended?”
“Please don’t. You’ve just given me a very large diamond.”
He laughs. She smiles. Sweet. Easy. Exactly enough.
Victor reaches for her left hand. My stomach drops. Ally gives it to him. Her fingers twitch once. He doesn’t notice. I do. He slides the ring onto her finger. Perfect fucking fit. Of course.
Ally stares down at it. The silence lasts maybe two seconds — long enough for me to know she’s feeling every ounce of it, not long enough for Victor to question her.
Then she turns her hand under the light and the smile comes back. “It’s gorgeous.”
Victor lifts her hand, inspecting it. “Better.”
“It’s enormous.”
“That was intentional.”
“I suspected as much.”
His eyes stay on her. “You like it?”
Her head comes up immediately. “I love it.”
The lie slides out so clean it fucking hurts anyway. Victor’s expression says that was exactly what he wanted.
Victor got Celeste. Victor chose the ring. Victor managed the impossible. Victor delighted her. Victor is winning. At least that’s what Ally is making sure he believes.
“Thank you,” she says softly. Then she hugs him.
My lungs stop working correctly. Victor’s arm circles her waist. His other hand settles at her back. Her cheek rests against his chest. And I stand in the middle of Edgewood Prep watching another man hold my girlfriend. Another man’s ring on her finger. Our baby beneath her blazer.
Every instinct I have tells me to cross the atrium.
Take her. Get his fucking hands off her.
Rip the ring off and throw it through one of Edgewood’s stained-glass windows.
I don’t move. Because Tobias is still in Roman’s house.
Because Victor still believes Ally is cooperating.
Because Arthur needs time. Because one wrong move from me could tighten every lock around her.
Loving her right now means standing here and letting her pretend she’s happy in his arms. Fuck.
Kaid’s shoulder hits mine. Once. I breathe.
Ally pulls away. Victor keeps one hand lightly at her waist while she looks down at the ring again.
That’s when Edgewood starts noticing. Really noticing.
A girl walking past sees the diamond — her steps slow, her eyes jump from Ally’s hand to Victor’s face, then forward again.
Her friend catches the look and looks too.
Neither says anything until they’re several feet away.
Then their heads immediately bend together.
A boy leaving the office does the same thing.
Looks. Keeps walking. Pulls out his phone before he reaches the stairs.
Nobody crowds around. Nobody asks what the hell a man in his fifties is doing putting an engagement ring on an eighteen-year-old high school senior.
Edgewood families don’t raise children to ask those questions publicly.
They raise them to notice everything and talk about it somewhere nobody important can hear.
My phone vibrates. Danny pulls his out first. A second later, he makes a sound. “GlossX.”
Kaid glances over. “Already?”
Danny turns his screen. A picture of Ally’s hand, taken from behind her somewhere, Victor beside her, the diamond impossible to miss.
O’TOOLE FINALLY GETS THE RING.
Kaid checks the timestamp. “Forty-eight seconds.”
Iz looks offended. “Embarrassing.”
X glances at him. “For who?”
“The poster. Edgewood used to have standards.”
A second notification appears. Then mine. Then X’s. Comments already multiplying.
Who picked it? How big is that? That has to be at least five carats. Why is Tremblay at school???
I shove my phone into my pocket. “Edgewood needs hobbies.”
“This is the hobby,” Danny says.
Victor either doesn’t notice the quiet gossip beginning around him or doesn’t give a fuck. Probably the second. That ring says exactly what he wants it to say without him needing to explain anything. Alison O’Toole is engaged. Alison O’Toole is taken. Alison O’Toole belongs to—
No. I cut the thought off before it finishes.
Then I see Bella. She’s farther down the corridor, near the trophy cases, phone loosely in one hand.
She isn’t looking at the diamond. She’s looking at Victor.
His face. The hand resting against Ally’s waist. The way he leans closer when Ally shows him something on Celeste’s card. Then Bella looks at Ally. Really looks.
Iz follows my stare. “For fuck’s sake.”
I glance at him. “What?”
“You’re doing it again.”
“Doing what?”
“Looking at the belle of Satan’s ball like she’s going to hand you the Rosetta Stone.”
Danny chokes. Kaid covers a laugh with his fist.
I stare at Iz. “She warned Ally. She knew what Victor wanted without Ally telling her. She told her to find a way out.”
Bella moves. Only a few feet. Victor has shifted slightly away from Ally while she pulls something else from the Celeste envelope, and Bella steps closer. Not beside Ally. Nothing obvious. Just closer. She stops near another row of lockers and glances down at her phone.
The bell rings. People start moving with more purpose now. Not much — the ring is still more interesting than chemistry.
Kaid jerks his chin toward the science hall. “We should go.”
We start across the atrium. Kaid and X a little ahead.
Danny beside me. Iz on my other side. Normal.
Five seniors going to class. Nothing to fucking see here.
I keep my eyes forward. Don’t look at Ally.
Don’t look at the ring. Don’t look at Victor’s hand when it settles at the small of her back again.
We pass them. Almost.
“Harrington.”
I keep walking. One step. Then another. The boys keep pace.
“Harrington.”
I stop. So do they. Slowly, I turn. Victor is looking directly at me. Ally stands beside him, her smile still there but smaller now, her eyes finding mine. Careful. Victor gestures toward the space in front of him.
“Come here.”
Danny looks at me. Then at Victor. Then back at me. “Are you a fucking golden retriever?”
A laugh punches out of Iz. Kaid’s mouth twitches.
I stare at Danny. “What?”
“He called you like a goddamn dog.” Danny laughs. “You planning to run over there with your tongue out?”
X looks toward Victor. “He might have treats.”
Iz nods solemnly. “Make him show you first.”
Kaid scratches at his jaw. “Could be one of those fake bacon strips.”
“Beggin’ Strips?” Danny asks.
“Those.”
Iz looks horrified. “Don’t cheap out on Harrington.”
“I fucking hate you.”
Victor’s expression tightens. He obviously heard every word. Good.
“Harrington.”
I lift my brows. “I heard you.”
“Then come here.”
I look at the space between us. Then back at him. “I can hear you fine from here.”
A kid passing behind Victor slows. His friend almost walks into him.
Victor’s jaw flexes. “Now.”
Danny looks at me again. “Sit?”
“Fuck off.”
“Stay?” Kaid adds, “Roll over?”
X looks thoughtful. “Ryan doesn’t know roll over.”
Iz shakes his head. “Poorly trained.”
I’m trying not to laugh. Ally is trying not to laugh. That’s worse. Her lips press together and she looks down at the Celeste envelope.
Victor doesn’t notice. He looks at her. “Give me a moment.”
“Of course.” Perfect. Sweet. No question. Victor turns away from her and starts walking toward us.
Danny watches him come. Then his eyebrows go up. “Oh, shit.”
Kaid glances at him. “What?”
“He retrieves.”
X loses it first — just one sharp laugh.
Iz looks at me. “You owe him a treat.”
“Didn’t bring any.”
“Poor ownership.”
“I’m going to put all four of you in the lake.”
Danny looks at Victor. “Scratch behind the ears first. See if he kicks.”
The kid who slowed down nearby laughs. Loud enough. His friend elbows him. Too late. Victor hears.
The atrium starts changing. One phone lifts — not directly pointed at us yet, just higher.
A couple students near the stairs stop pretending to leave.
The classroom door closest to us opens and two students step out, see Victor walking toward the Elite Five, and stop.
Because Ally’s ring was gossip. Interesting.
Worth a GlossX post. This? Victor Tremblay just called Ryan Harrington across the hallway like a dog.
Ryan told him no. Now Victor’s coming to him. That’s entertainment.
Behind Victor, Bella moves again. One step. Then another. Closer to Ally. Her phone stays in her hand, her face stays bored, but her eyes lift to Ally. Checking. I catch it. So does Iz this time.
His expression changes — tiny. Then he mutters, “Don’t.”
I glance at him. “You saw that.”
“I saw the devil’s favorite mistress move.”
“Toward Ally.”
“She’s probably hoping to harvest her soul.”
Victor reaches us. Stops directly in front of me. Too close. Not enough to touch. Enough to make the point. He wants me to step back. I don’t.