Forever Golden: Dark High School Bully Romance (Kings of Cypress Prep Book 3) by Rachel Jonas (beach books TXT) 📕

“I need to know you’re okay. A lot’s happened in the last twenty-four hours,” he presses.

Tell me about it.

“I’m dealing,” is the only response I feel like giving. Call me crazy, but I’m not in the mood to relive it all so soon. Not that I’ve forgotten or anything. I suppose that if I had moved on, those bags I packed last night wouldn’t still be sitting in the closet, ready just in case.

West’s energy is so strong that, one second after my mind wanders, I’m pulled out of my thoughts without him saying a word. He has my full attention when he tilts my head just before heat from his kiss covers my lips. Despite telling myself not to let this or him affect me, it’s too late. I’m in so deep with him I’m drowning.

“Promise me something,” he pulls away to say.

Those green eyes—they decimate the walls I’m trying to build around my heart.

“What is it?”

His touch is firmer now, as though he wants to make sure I’m focused, hearing every word he’s about to say.

“I need to know you’re giving me time.”

My heart sinks hearing his request. All because time is the one thing I can’t promise him.

“West—”

“Two months, right?” he cuts in. “I’ll fix it by then.”

There’s that phrase again—‘he’ll fix it’.

I’m not sure I realized before now how desperate he is to make this all okay. It’s been clear that he cares, but the look in his eyes tells me he’ll lose his shit if we don’t beat that clock.

My heart’s racing and it’s on the tip of my tongue to reveal what he probably already knows—that this thing is bigger than us, that it’s bigger than what the two of us can handle. I keep my mouth shut, though. Yes, false hope is probably the last thing we need, and we should be preparing for the worst, but I can’t bring myself to break his heart right now.

I know a lot about life spiraling out of control, and the way I’ve survived it over and over again is to brace for impact. And while I know West is blind to it at the moment, we’re locked in a vicious tailspin with only one possible ending.

But that look in his eyes… it’s tugging at my heart, has me feeling like a coward under his stare. So, instead of giving him the hard reality check I’d give anyone else, I nod.

“Okay,” I say. “I’ll give you time.” He’s so relieved it breaks my heart a little more, leaving me with the sense that I’ve just been irresponsible with his feelings. I shouldn’t have done that. He needed to hear the truth. Not some fluffed up version of what we both hope happens.

His mouth crashes down onto mine when he kisses me again, hard and deep. So deep that I nearly forget my vow again.

“Thank you,” he rushes to say. “I’m gonna do everything I can.”

There’s this look in his eyes now, and I know my promise just revived some measure of hope within him, but I want to be one-hundred percent transparent about the rest of my plan.

“I’m willing to be patient, wait things out, but… I have to send Scar someplace safe,” I explain.

That light I’d just seen flickering in his stare suddenly fades, turning his expression somber.

“She’ll hate me for it, but it’s the only thing I can think to do to keep her out of danger. I can’t watch her twenty-four-seven, and I—”

West faces me head on and I stop speaking because, shit, I’m about to cry again. In front of all these people.

His hands warm both sides of my neck and I focus on him to hold it together. Otherwise, if I let myself think about how fucked up this situation truly is, I’ll lose it.

“You’re right to get her out of here. We don’t know what we’re up against.”

It feels good to hear that someone else agrees I’m doing the right thing. Because heaven knows Scar’s going to put up one hell of a fight to stay.

“Where are you thinking of sending her?” West asks, bringing to mind the less-than-ideal option I came up with last night.

“The only place I could think of—our grandmother. Mike’s mom,” I add. “I’m not even sure she’ll take Scar in, but she’s the only family we have outside Cypress Pointe.”

I’m sick at the thought of my sister going anywhere, but especially there. Mike picked up all his nasty vices from that household—the short fuse, his selfishness, the drinking.

West nods. “Ok, well we can start by having you reach out to her. Maybe tell her there’s trouble, but be vague. Where does she stay?”

“A small town in Virginia. She’s got a single-wide in an old trailer park off the interstate, but she’s got a spare bedroom she sometimes rents out to boarders. At least, that was the case the last time we spoke to her.”

Eight years ago.

It feels like there’s a knife twisting in my stomach, pressing deeper with every second that passes.

“Hey,” West says quietly. He tilts my head back until I’m focused on only him, but my eyes blur with tears. “It’s only temporary. Only until we sort this shit out.”

I nod, hoping like hell he’s right about all this. Even if I don’t believe a single word of it beyond the fact that he will do absolutely everything he can to make things right.

“Okay,” I manage to say.

He holds my gaze for a moment, reading me in that way only he can do. “Okay.”

Eventually, he leans away and I feel stronger than before, empowered even. All because, for the first time in a long time, I’m not doing things all on my own.

Joss and the guys are coming our way, but they seem to notice this moment between me and West is intense, and just head into the cafeteria.

West’s stare lingers there a moment, at the empty doorway where his brothers and Joss just disappeared.

“I know you don’t know them as