Kings of Linwood Academy - The Complete Box Set: A Dark High School Romance Series by Callie Rose (sight word books .TXT) 📕

“Fuck,” I breathe. “Linc, I’m so sorry. Why didn’t you tell me?”

He shrugs, and I can tell he’s trying to play it off like it’s not a big deal. But even though he’s good at bluffing, I can see through the lie this time. He’s hurting.

“You had so much other shit going on. I didn’t want to pile on, especially when there’s really nothing you or I or anyone can do about it. It just is what it is.”

I step forward, wrapping my arms around him. He stiffens for a second, like he’s afraid he’ll weaken me by leaning on me. Like it’ll be too much for me to bear.

But what he doesn’t understand is, I’m stronger when I’m with him. Even if it means carrying a heavier load.

His body loosens slowly, and he wraps his arms around me and drops his head, bringing our bodies so close together it’s hard to tell where I end and he begins.

“It fucking sucks, Low,” he whispers hoarsely. “I think my dad is actually heartbroken about it. He’s a mess. But if he’s so sad about losing his marriage, I don’t know why he wrecked it in the first place.”

“I’m sorry you had to deal with it on your own.”

My voice is muffled by his chest, but I make no effort to move. I can barely breathe with my face smushed against him like this, but I don’t care. His spicy coriander scent surrounds me, and I can feel the warmth of his skin through the soft long-sleeved tee he’s wearing.

“I’m sorry you had to find out from fucking Savannah,” he mutters, a growl in his voice.

“She told me if I don’t leave her alone and do whatever she wants, she’ll spread it all over school.” I finally pull back a little as I say that, guilt twisting in my gut at the thought that Savannah might go after him to get to me. “I told her I’d do whatever she wants,” I add quickly.

Lincoln blinks down at me, his amber eyes unreadable. Then he shakes his head.

“No, you won’t.”

“Yes.” I tighten my arms around him. “I will. Linc, this could be really bad if it gets out. Your dad has spent months negotiating with this woman to try to keep her quiet. And Savannah could make sure pretty much all of Fox Hill finds out.”

He shrugs. “Then let her.”

I swallow. What?

What he’s saying doesn’t make any sense.

Maybe he can read my thoughts on my face, because Lincoln shakes his head again.

“It’s not what I want to have happen, Low. But I’m not letting you throw yourself on Savannah’s altar to protect my father. He’s a grown man. He made his own shitty decisions, and he’ll live with the shitty consequences if he has to.” He lifts one hand to run his fingers down the side of my face, tracing the line of my jaw. “I’m on your side. I choose you.”

Tears burn the backs of my eyes, but I blink them away so I can see him clearly, trying to read his face. “But… he’s your dad.”

“Yeah.” Linc nods. “And I love him—although sometimes I hate him too. But I don’t have to protect him from this. When he slept with those fucking housekeepers, he wasn’t protecting me or my mom. When he knocked one of them up, he wasn’t taking care of us. He was doing what he wanted, for himself.”

His gaze softens, his eyes warming as some of the pain bleeds out of them. “He got himself into this mess because he didn’t choose Audrey. When he had a choice between her and someone else, he didn’t choose her. But I don’t want to be like him, Low. I choose you. And I’ll keep choosing you.”

Holy fuck.

His face blurs in my vision as the tears I was blinking back spill out anyway. He wipes away the drops as they fall, brushing his thumbs over my cheeks.

“I’ve had shitty examples of relationships,” Linc continues. His voice is soft. Open. Raw. “I guess you have too, with your dad splitting before you were even born. But I don’t want that. I want ours to be stronger than that.”

“Me too.”

My heart surges in my chest as my fingers glide up the back of his neck, sliding through the soft strands of his hair. He’s so fucking beautiful, hard edges covering a softness that not everyone gets to see.

“Do you think it can be?” I murmur. “Even if it’s shared? Even if it’s between all five of us?”

“Hey.” A flicker of anger lights in his eyes, but I know it’s not directed at me. It’s directed outward at the world, a protective sort of anger. “No one gets to tell us what ‘we’ should look like. No one gets to decide that but us.”

I grin, biting my lip. “Yeah. You’re right. I like that.”

A smile blooms on his face. It’s different than any smile I’ve ever seen him wear before, and I swear I feel it in my heart like it’s physically connected to me.

“Good.” He traces the line of my cheekbone with his knuckle. “I want you, Harlow. I choose you. And watching my best friends fall for you? It makes me fall harder right along with them.”

Then he drops his head and kisses me, and the whole world disappears.

13

The week moves by at the speed of a slug inching its way across a rock.

I was tempted to find Savannah immediately after my conversation with Lincoln and tell her she could go fuck herself. But even though he was adamant about me not going along with her petty games just to protect his dad, it seems stupid to start an all-out war with her. We’ve got more than enough shit to deal with right now as it is; I don’t need to add to our problems.

So instead, I just do what I can to ignore the redheaded bitch and stay out of her way.

Scott Parsons