“I have friends.”

“Oh.” Her expression falls.

I want to kick myself for making her feel bad. Cole keeps saying I should make my words less direct.

No idea what that means.

However, I don’t want Elsa to feel bad. What if she never returns and I’ll stay in the dark all alone?

She peeks at me through her eyelashes with puppy eyes. “Can’t you add one more friend?”

I open my mouth to agree.

“Wait!” She reaches into her pocket and retrieves a small pack of chocolate balls. “I’ll give you two of my Maltesers. They’re my favourites.”

The sound of the bag fills the basement as she opens it and brings out two small balls. She bites her lower lip, eyes squinting hard, then retrieves another one. “Okay, I’ll give you three.”

She reaches out her hand then drops the three pieces back into the bag and offers it to me with a resigned sigh. “You can have them all if you become my friend.”

When I don’t take it, she shoves it into my lap. “I gave you my Maltesers, you have to be my friend.”

I smile at her funny expression. She looks on the verge of taking back her chocolate and running away to eat them in the corner.

“Okay,” I say.

“Okay?”

“Okay, I’ll be your friend.”

She claps, giggling. “Yes!”

I take one chocolate ball and offer her the rest. “We can share.”

Her teeth sink in her bottom lip. “Are you sure? I gave them to you. I don’t want to be rude and take them back.”

“Friends share everything.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

She snatches the bag of Maltesers and stuffs her mouth with two balls of chocolate. “Hey, Grey Eyes.”

“Hmm?” I watch her twinkling eyes as she chews. Some of the chocolate sticks to her upper lip.

“When I grow up, I’m gonna buy you a bucket of Maltesers.”

“Why?”

“Because Dad says you have to buy gifts for the one you marry.”

“Marry?” I whisper.

“Yup!” She grins. “When I grow up, I’m going to marry you.”

“You can’t marry me.”

Her face contorts. “Why not?”

“Mum says you have to love someone to marry them.”

“Then you can just love me.” She throws her hand in the air. “What’s so hard about that?”

I remain silent. This girl is crazy.

“Hey, Grey Eyes.” She scoots closer. “When I give you the bucket of Maltesers, are you going to share it with me?”

I laugh and she laughs with me. Her laughter is like the sunshine after a rainy day. It’s the sun peeking through the cloudy sky.

As I watch her, I realise I want to see her laugh all the time.

Maybe she’s right. Maybe after we grow up, she needs to stay close so I can see her laugh this way every day.

She has the most beautiful laughter I’ve ever seen.

“Promise you’ll marry me.” She holds out her pinkie.

I curl mine around hers. “I promise.”

11

Aiden

Present

School is the last place I want to be.

However, every day I wake up, get ready, and hope against hope she’ll show up.

I don’t even do the hope thing. I’m a doer.

It’s been more than thirteen days since she left to Birmingham and didn’t return.

Five days since the Rhodes’ fundraiser.

Five whole fucking days of sleepless nights.

Five days of angry handjobs while thinking about her.

Five days of contemplating how to barge into her world without making her hate me even more.

How the fuck am I supposed to get her back if she’s on the other side of the country? How am I supposed to reach her if she won’t hear me out?

The numb, apathetic expression on her face at the party still guts me every time I think about it.

As a result, all my handjobs end with a pathetic, non-satisfying release.

Elsa is slowly pulling away from me. I can feel it down to my soul and damn bones.

I can’t even push back when she’s volatile.

Elsa is so closed off about my involvement with Queens, she won’t hear anything contrary to what she already believes in.

Stubborn fucking girl.

I slam my car’s door shut and walk the small distance to Nash’s black Jeep.

He appears completely at ease as he retrieves his books from the passenger seat.

I know better.

If I spent last night running hills and swimming, he spent it blowing off steam in the only way he knows how.

I prop my elbow against the side of his car. “Are you going to stop being a little bitch?”

“Are you going to stop being a fucking whore?” He doesn’t miss a beat.

“You know that’s not what happened, Nash. Stop thinking with your dick.”

“Is that so?” He slams the passenger door shut and faces me, holding his books with one hand. “Why don’t you tell me what happened, then? I’m listening.”

“You don’t trust me?”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”

Smart.

Nash’s intelligence is the reason I got myself into this whole fucking mess in the first place.

The challenge and the games are what we lived for. I never thought there would be a day when I would regret them. Partly because I don’t do regrets. And also because I didn’t see Elsa coming back into my life with such power.

“Talk to Elsa,” I say.

“Why would I do that?”

I want to smash his face into the car and pick his neurons apart.

I don’t do that.

Nash is one of my rare tickets to get Elsa back.

“She likes and trusts you more than ever after you ran your fucking mouth about the kidnapping.”

“She does, doesn’t she?” His lips curl into a smirk.

Fucker knows his strengths all too well. He didn’t only tell Elsa about the kidnapping to get back at me, he also did it so she’d trust him.

“Too bad I’m not in the mood to help a fucking whore.” He slams his shoulder into mine.

I clench my jaw and grab him by the shoulder. “I’ll owe you one.”

He stops and slowly turns around.

Nash, of all people, knows I don’t like owing anyone shit. This is a drastic measure. I’m giving him the chance to make the first move and strike.

“You’ll end it.” He squares his shoulders so we’re standing toe-to-toe. “All of it.”

“Soon.”

“And you’ll tell me what the fuck is your deal with her.”

“Deal.”

Sorry not sorry, Queens. I warned you. Now, you’re on your own.

If I were a better person, I would’ve sent her a warning text, but I’m not. Besides, this is payback for when she didn’t notify me about Jonathan.

It might take days, but I always pay my dues.

“When are you going to talk to her?” I ask.

“After you do.”

“If I could talk to her myself, I wouldn’t ask you to do it for me.”