“This isn’t something that can be rushed.” He smirked. “Besides, we never agreed on a deadline, so I can take as long as I want.”
She clenched her fists; he had the annoying talent of making her blood boil. “If you can’t get this done by the end of the year, you’re seriously losing your game.”
“I’m not losing my game.” He looked around, as if making sure no one was listening. Then he leaned forward, lowered his voice and continued, “She was all over me on Halloween. I would have had her if Larissa hadn’t showed up and ruined it.”
“And Halloween was, what…three weeks ago?” Peyton laughed. “Come on. What’ve you been doing since then? Don’t tell me you’re second-guessing yourself. Or maybe Madison’s not your type and you’re just not attracted to her? I would have a hard time believing that, but, hey, then it makes the task even better.”
Oliver gritted his teeth. “I’m plenty attracted to Madison,” he said slowly, as if restraining from yelling. “But something’s up with her. She’s going through something tough, and she won’t open up to anyone about it, not even me. So have some compassion and give me time.”
Peyton exhaled and crossed her arms. “It’s sweet that you care so much about Madison, but I don’t care about her feelings. So get it done by New Year’s, or who knows what pictures I’ll post online when the clock strikes midnight….” She let the threat hang—even though she meant it when she’d promised Savannah they wouldn’t post that photo—and Oliver glared at her.
“What do you have against Madison, anyway?” he asked. “I know you’re not friends with her, but why do you want to hurt her like this?”
“It’s none of your business,” Peyton said.
“You made it my business when you used our bet as a revenge plan on her.”
“Fine,” she said, since it wouldn’t matter if he knew. “You’ve seen that Campusbuzz site, right?”
He nodded. “Once or twice.”
“I don’t really go on it, either,” she said, since no one admitted to spending time on it, even if they were addicted. “But a few weeks ago there was a particularly nasty post about me and my sisters. Someone linked me to it, and I checked it out—only to find that one of the pictures on it was one I caught Madison taking of me earlier in the year. I forced her to delete it from her phone, but apparently she’d backed it up first, because I would recognize that picture anywhere.”
“So you think Madison’s behind the post?” Oliver said, as if it were the most unlikely possibility ever.
“Um, yeah, I think she’s behind the post,” Peyton said. “I’m sure of it. I saw her take that picture, and I saw it on her phone. It would be one thing if she’d attacked only me—I would get over it—but she targeted my sisters, too, making up awful lies about them. I won’t let her get away with it.”
“So now you’re using our bet from the summer to get back at Madison for what you think she wrote about you and your sisters, and threatening to blackmail me if I don’t follow through,” he said. “That’s pretty devious.”
“You’re one to talk.” Peyton rolled her eyes.
“I never said devious was a bad thing.” He smirked. “But even if you’re right and Madison wrote that post—which I don’t think she did—what you’re doing is pretty shitty. It’s worse than what you think she did to you.”
“Whatever.” Peyton faltered, because, yes, what she was asking him to do to Madison was awful. But she didn’t care how much Oliver doubted it—Madison took those pictures and wrote that post. Who else could it be?
“I have to drop off this paper,” she said, since this conversation was only making her feel worse. “Have a fun break. Maybe you can use it to make progress.”
With that, she flipped her hair over her shoulder and strutted down the hall, not glancing behind her. She’d already set this in motion—she wasn’t backing down now.
She reached the door to Hunter’s office, knocked and let herself in without waiting for him to reply. Instead of sitting at his desk, like she imagined most teachers did, Hunter was lounging on his couch, the footrest up as he graded papers. If Peyton hadn’t known better, she would have assumed he was a college student finishing the last of his homework before break.
He looked up at her, smiled and dropped his pen onto the stack of papers. “Hey, Peyton,” he said, his lazy tone reminding her of when they’d hung out in the cabana. “I was starting to worry you wouldn’t show.”
She shut the door behind her. “And risk not getting this paper in after you gave me an extension?” She joined him on the couch and offered it to him. “Never.”
“Great.” He took the paper, and his fingers brushed against hers, sending a warmth shooting through her body. He stared at where their skin had touched, but then he glanced away, adding the paper to the pile. “One more paper for me to grade while you and your friends are enjoying your break,” he joked.
“I’m visiting my family in California,” she said, crossing her legs in his direction. “Leaving town in a few hours. But you should try to take some time to relax over break. Hang out at a pool…maybe even in a cabana?” She couldn’t help it—even though she’d promised Jackson she wouldn’t see Hunter anymore outside of school, she wanted to remind him of the time they’d hung out. She wanted to know if he still thought about it. About her.
Especially since, after Jackson had rejected her on Halloween, he’d put the wall up between them again. Peyton wasn’t that forgettable, was she? That easy to push away?
“I don’t think I’ll be renting any cabanas on my salary.” Hunter laughed. “But thanks for letting my friends and me use yours that one day. We had a blast.”
“Anytime,” she said. “If you ever find yourself at the Diamond pool again, let me know. Maybe I can call in a favor and get you a cabana.”
“That’s a tempting offer,” he said. “But, Peyton, you know we can’t see each other outside of school like that again, right? I didn’t say anything, because I didn’t want to put you in an awkward spot, but the headmaster knows about those pictures. There was nothing in them to prove anything happened—especially since you live at the Diamond, and it would make sense to run into you there—but I did get a warning. If anything else like that pops up online again, I could get in serious trouble.”
“The headmaster saw those photos?” she asked, and he nodded. “Which I guess means you did, too. You didn’t see that entire post that went along with them, did you?”
His eyes flashed with guilt, and he didn’t have to say anything to confirm that, yes, he’d seen it all.
Her cheeks heated, and she buried her face in her hands. Why hadn’t she thought that Hunter might have seen it? The forum wasn’t a huge tabloid or anything, but it was notorious throughout Goodman. And the things that had been written about her—that Madison had written about her—it was so humiliating. How much of it had he believed?
She couldn’t bring herself to look at him, dreading that his expression would confirm what she feared—that he thought the post was true. That he, along with everyone else at Goodman, agreed with every horrible thing said about her.
“Hey.” He pulled her hands down from her face, forcing her to look at him. “Yes, I saw it. I was hoping you hadn’t, because whoever wrote it….ell, whoever wrote it is clearly a miserable person. But we both know that none of it was true. That’s what matters, okay?” He stayed where he was, his gaze locked with hers, and Peyton’s heart beat so fast she felt like she could barely breathe.
So she did the first thing that crossed her mind—she leaned forward and kissed him.
His mouth opened, his tongue brushing softly over hers, and her pulse quickened at the realization that this was actually happening. She was kissing Hunter Sterling. And he was kissing her back. Had she locked the door behind her? Whatever—it didn’t matter. She ran her fingers
through his hair, pushing her body against his, not wanting this to end.
Then he pulled away and shot out of the couch, his face twisted in horror.
“You need to leave.” He pressed his thumb against his forehead, unable to meet her eyes. “If anyone ever found out about this…I could lose my job. We need to forget that ever happened.”
Her heart fell. For a moment—for one stupid moment—she’d thought he cared about her.
But she was wrong.
“Fine.” She stood up and straightened her top, maintaining as much dignity as possible. “Have a good break.”
His only response was to nod and look at the door, as if he couldn’t wait for her to go.
She darted out of the room, slammed the door behind her and hurried out of the school. She couldn’t wait to go to the airport and get a break from this town. Although that meant seeing Mom and Grandma again, both of whom she hadn’t seen since summer. And she wasn’t particularly close to either of them. But seeing them had to be better than the rejection she’d been getting at every turn in Vegas…right?
Unfortunately, given her mom’s track record, she knew to brace herself for anything.
Chapter 20: Madison
Since Halloween, Madison’s life had been hell. Larissa had convinced their friends that she was a deceitful, slutty bitch, and they’d stopped hanging out with her. The only person who spent time with her outside of school was Oliver. He was the one keeping her sane.
So when Madison got back to her condo on the first day of Thanksgiving break, she wanted to sulk, order pizza and watch season two of Downton Abbey, her latest television obsession. But she was five pounds away from losing the weight she’d gained last month, so instead of succumbing to the temptation of Dominos, she stuck a VitaPizza (190 delicious calories!) into the microwave.
Her parents wouldn’t be home until that evening, so when her pizza was ready, Madison settled in front of the television for some quality time with Lady Mary and the rest of the Downton Abbey crew. It was a great show, and Madison loved historical fiction, but it also kind of tortured her, because it was about three sisters. Which reminded her of the Diamonds and the guilt from keeping the secret from them. Every time she saw one of them in school she felt worse. The secret kept building up inside her, and she would eventually break down from keeping it to herself.
If she hadn’t broken down already.
Maybe if she confided in one person, she would feel better. Then she could piece herself back together and make sure the second half of junior year wasn’t as awful as the first.
Since she’d lost all her other friends, Oliver had to be that person. She trusted him more than she trusted anyone.
But there was that lingering memory of how they’d almost kissed on Halloween. And if she and Oliver had kissed…it would have changed everything between them. Because Oliver hooked up with girls—he didn’t date anyone—and he eventually broke their hearts. So Madison couldn’t let anything happen between them, even if whenever she was around him recently, her stomach fluttered, and her skin tingled when he touched her.
Those feelings couldn’t be real. They were a strange reaction to her life falling apart. Plus, they hadn’t had another almost-kiss since Halloween. It had been an “in the moment” thing…they were both in costume…they weren’t themselves. It was best to forget about it. And she needed her best (only?) friend right now.
She picked up her phone and clicked on her texts with Oliver.
What’re you up to right now??
woke up from a nap…about to order lunch. u?
Just finished eating. Do you mind if I come over? There’s something important I want to talk to you about.
She stared at the text without sending it. Telling Oliver would change everything. She would be betraying her parents’ trust, but it would feel so much better to share this with someone. Oliver would keep the secret.
She took a deep breath and ran her fingers through her hair. Was it fair to drag him into her drama? But she’d been feeling like such crap recently, like a shadow of her former self. She couldn’t go on like this any longer.
She pressed Send.
* * *
Half an hour later, Madison stood outside the towering double doors of the Prescotts’ villa at The Gates. Oliver knew she was coming, so he’d left the doors unlocked, and she let herself in.
She’d been to the villa a lot, but every time she walked inside she was amazed that it looked more like a museum than a home. Unlike the modern penthouses in the Diamond, the villas at the Gates were palatial. Oliver’s reminded Madison of the Vatican, with its high ceilings, dark wood, ebony floors and silk-paneled walls. The furniture was thick and carved, with a masculine feel. Oliver had mentioned that the Prescott villa was nearly ten thousand square feet. It also had a backyard with a pool and hot tub. Many scandalous parties had happened in that backyard—until the middle of sophomore year, when the Prescotts had forbidden Oliver from having large groups of friends over.
Madison found Oliver in the kitchen, eating lunch at the wooden table that looked fit for a small medieval banquet.
“Hey.” He dropped his sandwich and sipped something that could have been water, although, judging from the short crystal glass, it was probably vodka. “Is everything okay? You seemed worried in your text.”
“You have no idea,” she said, joining him at the table. She’d thought about this moment the entire way over. Now that it was here, her throat felt thick, and she could barely get the words out. “A few weeks ago I found out a huge secret, and it’s been eating away at me and I can’t take it anymore.” Her eyes filled with tears, and she buried her face in her hands, swallowing away the sobs that were trying to force themselves out. It wasn’t the first time Oliver had seen her cry, but breaking down in front of people made her feel so weak and helpless.
“What’d you find out?” He spoke faster than normal. “Nothing to do with me, right?”
“Why would it have anything to do with you?” She looked up, surprised at how he’d jumped to the edge of his seat. “You’re the only person who hasn’t ditched me since I found out.”
“No reason.” He relaxed and sipped his drink. “Sometimes it just feels like everyone blames things on me when they’re not my fault. Guess I’m an easy target.” He smirked—clearly he didn’t care that much about people gossiping about him. “Anyway, do you want a drink? I can open up a bottle of wine. It might make whatever’s going on easier to talk about.”
“Yeah.” Madison somehow managed a smile. “That’d be nice.”
He went to the wine closet and came back with a bottle of red. “Is Brunello Pinot Noir all right?”
“Your parents won’t get mad at you for drinking it?” Madison knew how intense Oliver’s parents had gotten about trying to control his drinking—and how much they loved their wine collection. She didn’t want to be the reason he got in trouble.
“They have so many wines in there, and this one isn’t from the rare section, so they won’t notice it’s gone,” he said. “Besides, they know wine isn’t my drink of choice. But you like it, so I’ll have a glass or two with you. Or you can have the bottle and I’ll stick with vodka. Whatever you’d like.”
“We can split it.” Madison eyed the bottle—with the way her temples were throbbing, she wouldn’t mind finishing off the entire thing. But that would be way too many calories. Not to mention that she’d be wasted.
He poured them both a glass, and since the kitchen felt so impersonal, they went to his room. Thanks to the cleaning staff that came to the Prescott villa every morning, Oliver’s room was perfectly neat, his king-size bed crisply made. Madison took her shoes off and situated herself on it next to him, both of them leaning on the mound of pillows propped against the headboard. The memory of the almost-kiss on Halloween still lingere
d in her mind, so she left about half a foot between them. She couldn’t allow herself to get distracted.
“So.” Oliver played with the stem of his glass. “What’s going on?”
Madison sipped her wine. The pinot could have used time to breathe, but she needed the liquid courage, so she took another long drink. “Remember the day in advanced genetics when we did blood typing?” she asked. “Around the end of September?”
“Of course,” he said. “I’ll never forget that day. You got upset because you thought you messed up the lab, and you’ve been on edge ever since.”
“Yeah.” Her heart warmed to hear he’d noticed it had been that exact day that everything had changed for her. Which only confirmed she was right in telling him this. “Except I didn’t mess up the lab. I did it right both times. Which was what made me even more upset…”
And from there, she spilled the entire story.
* * *
“Wow,” Oliver said once she’d told him everything. Saying it out loud hadn’t been easy—Madison had cried so much that her eyes were dry and her cheeks had to be puffy, and half the bottle of wine was finished. Her body was warm and her head felt fuzzy in that tingly buzzed sort of way, and she poured herself a third glass, filling it high so she wouldn’t need to reach for the bottle again soon for a refill.
“Adrian Diamond is your father.” Oliver shook his head, his eyes wide. “Peyton, Courtney and Savannah are your sisters.”
“Half sisters,” she corrected.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “Brianna’s my half sister, but it doesn’t make her half as important to me than if we’d had the same mom. I just….his is crazy. I’m still wrapping my mind around it.”
“There are still times when I wake up in the morning and wonder if it’s all been one long nightmare.” Madison closed her eyes and took a long sip of wine, the silky texture of the pinot making its way down her throat and warming her stomach. Then she opened her eyes again and balanced her wineglass on her knees, holding on to it to keep it steady. “But it’s not a dream—it’s real. And these past few weeks have been hell.”
Diamonds in the Rough Page 21
