The Sterling Boys(14)

"Well, you've told me more than once that you want to find a way to be in Rain's life. Here's your shot," I say nonchalantly, not trying to make this seem like a big deal.

Her scrutinizing eyes prove to me she's not buying what I'm selling. It's true, but also misleading. I really would like to see Tria and Rain get close, but my main motivation behind my proposal is to infuriate the blonde who has haunted my dreams for longer than I care to think of.

"Your plan was vague on the phone. Are you proposing we pretend to be in a relationship or something?" she asks while crossing her arms over her chest.

I chuckle while looking around to make sure no one is watching or listening. All I see are the flickering lights inside my house, and all I hear is the loud thudding of the wild music.

"No, nothing that prosaic," I murmur while turning back to her, finding amusement in her obvious confusion. "And I'm not that immature. I'm proposing we become friends. I mean that sincerely. Not just for pretend. But... I don't want it to look sudden, simply because it'll come off as contrived, and you'll never get accepted. We have to make this look as though we've been friends for a while, meaning you'll have to look comfortable around me."

She relaxes slightly. I can't believe she thought I'd do something as childish as pretend to be in a relationship. I refuse to see pretending to be friends as anything less than genius. Nope. It's not immature at all.

"Won't she just hate me more if you and I are suddenly acting like besties?"

"Doubtful. She and I haven't been close for years, so it's not like you're moving in on her territory. Look, just say yes or no. It's simple. How else are you going to be in the same room with Rain if she won't tolerate your presence?"

A flash of pain taints her hazel eyes, and I feel a twinge of guilt for how harsh that sounded. Before I can apologize, she groans in defeat. "You're right. This probably is the only way. Just... the other Sterlings... don't let them... I don't want to deal with them."

Her gaze falls to the ground. It seems like she's... scared? The guys never even acknowledge her.

"What do you mean?" I ask, propping up against her car.

She looks around, as if she's paranoid she's going to be overheard. No chance of that. Most everyone is already drunk. The party wasn't supposed to start for another ten minutes, but the majority of people got here two hours ago. Kode is probably wasted by now, since he showed up first. I'm surprised he peeled himself away from Rain.

I force the bitter thought away so I can concentrate on Tria.

"Corbin, Maverick, and Kode torture me any time they think I cross some freakishly stringent arbitrary line. All I have to do is look at Rain wrong, and they do something... terrible."

My lips turn in a frown. She's holding a grudge? Since high school? She's the one who started it.

"The only time I've ever known of them retaliating is when we were in school and you started the rumor about your parents taking in Rain because she was fucking people for food."

Her eyes widen in horror as a gasp flies out of her gaping mouth. "You think I started all that?" she squeals. "The only thing I said was that she was a charity case my family felt sorry for. I was thirteen, Dane. I wasn't going to announce to the judgmental snobs at school that my father fucked the maid and had a kid right around the same time I was conceived. It would have humiliated my mother even worse. Was I selfish and bitchy? Yes, I was. I repeat—I was thirteen. You don't make the best decisions at that age. Was I a vicious monster that spread that terrible shit around? Hell no. I was sick when I heard what the rumor had escalated to."

Given her extreme sincerity and utter disgust, I actually believe her. I wish I had known about this back then. I spit in her food for two years because of that. Damn. I probably shouldn't mention that.

"Why didn't you say something sooner?"

"I did," she growls. "Your jerk brother and cousins refused to listen to me. I almost became a pariah after that, because no one messes with a Sterling. All eyes fell off Rain and all whispers turned into rumors about me. Did you ever hear the rumor about me having an abortion at fifteen?" she asks, letting her lower lip tremble.

"I... did," I mutter slowly, not sure where she's going with this.

"Kode started that. He even bragged about it to me."

"No," I sigh. "Kode might have claimed that to your face, but Jerry Conlin started that. Not Kode. You turned down Jerry and went out with that Schuster kid from public school. He had pride, and you messed with it, so he punished you."

She wipes a tear from her eye while looking away. "Well, Kode was the one to shove that snake in my locker, steal my real clothes while I was dressed out for gym, and more than once he stole my homework, which meant I had to stay in detention and redo the assignment. Maverick hid my car every day for a solid year—I still don't know how he did that—and Corbin had most of the guys terrified to date me because I supposedly had some rare disease that could leave their balls shriveled up."