Not everything worth time came with a high price. In fact, it was the other way around. However, the expensive brunette waiting would never understand. She lived her life as a socialite, living off of daddy’s money until the day she’d become some other schmuck’s burden.

I was about to become that schmuck.

“Dash!” she greeted a little too exuberantly. She crooked her finger as if she really had the power to beckon me. I blatantly lowered myself to my chair, leaving her shocked and appearing more than a little played.

“How are you, Rosalyn?” I didn’t care either way. My tone made it obvious, but of course, she chose to ignore it for appearances.

“I’m fine now that you are here. I knew you’d come to your senses.”

“Don’t push me. Since you know why we are here, then I can skip the formalities, yeah? Something tells me you don’t care much for it either.”

“I’m not sure what kind of girl you take me for,” she pouted, “but I am a girl, and I’m afraid that means I am a bit of a romantic, too.” She batted her eyelashes, and I fought the urge not to roll my eyes.

“For fuck sake, I’m not getting on one knee. You and I both know you’ll accept regardless because you have as little choice as I do.”

“That’s not true. I want this, Dash, and I know you want me.” Her eyes shone with confidence, and the only thing missing from her statement was ‘How could I not?’

“You act so sure of yourself, but in reality, you’ve got to be pretty insecure to not only go through with this but to be happy about it.”

“How so?” I didn’t miss the bite in her tone.

“You’re settling for a marriage that was primarily arranged. A part of you must be afraid that you wouldn’t find someone to marry you otherwise. It’s just another way you can use Daddy’s money.”

Our waiter chose that moment to take our orders, and just as I initially thought, Rosalyn ordered the most expensive bottle of wine. I knew she wasn’t familiar with it given the idiotic way she pronounced the name.

Rosalyn managed to remain silent while we waited for our food and I took a few calls, one from my dad and the other from Keiran, who called to inform me that he made it back home from Hawaii but would only be home for a short while since Lake’s classes started next week.

Keiran had been my best friend for as long as I could remember. I barely remember life without him in it, though he didn’t come to Six Forks until he was eight. He had been this scary and standoffish kid that wore anger as if it were normal. No one wanted to deal with him because he was so cold and thought violence was the answer to everything. I still remember the day I met him as if it happened just yesterday…

* * *

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO

I left the bathroom thinking about the hundred marks I received on my math test and thought about how proud my dad was going to be when I showed him. He never accepted anything below an A, and if my twin sister or I ever brought a grade lower home, we’d spend playtime with a tutor he’d hire until our grades were up to par. My sister brought home a B+ once and spent the rest of the school semester with Mrs. Grandall after school and on weekends.

On my way back to class, I entered the hallway where my classroom was located just in time to see two other boys standing in the hallway. I frowned, wondering why they weren’t in class, and then stood frozen when the boy with his back to me punched the other in the shoulder, knocking him down.

“Stand up and fight me.” The angry voice of the kid with the dark hair filled the hallway and sent chills down my back.

“But, I don’t want to fight you. I didn’t do anything,” the little blond boy cried. The next second, the bully moved so swiftly, before I even noticed his foot was on his throat pressing hard.

“Hey!” The shout left my mouth before I could think better of it, and for a second, I’d hoped he wouldn’t hear me, but that died when he turned around.

He assessed me long and hard while never bothering to remove his foot. The little boy was silent now and had gone pale. “Go away.”

“If I go away, I’ll tell a teacher, and then you’ll be in a lot of trouble, so you better stop.” The warning didn’t appear to faze him, but he did remove his foot only to stalk me. I wanted to back away, but somehow, I knew if I showed fear, I would be just like the kid on the ground who had yet to move.

“Oh, yeah?”

“Y–yeah,” I stammered.

“How do I know you won’t tell anyway?”