College? I turned to look at Mom, who was watching me with that hopeful look in her eyes. She wanted this for me. She had sacrificed for me since she had been a teenager. Now, she was able to do this, and I knew it was important to her. Accepting it was hard for me though. Garrett wasn’t my father. He didn’t have to do any of this for me.

  “I …” I paused. I wasn’t sure what to say. How to say it. I didn’t want to be any more tangled up with this family than I already was. But did I really have a choice anymore? The reason I wanted to stay didn’t want me. “Thank you. The job sounds amazing. I can’t accept that kind of salary though. Not with everything you’re already giving me. It’s too much. But I would like the job. School …” I paused and looked at Mom again. I didn’t want to let her down, but I had to draw some lines. I couldn’t give up my independence completely. “I think I need to save for that. Pay my own way. You aren’t responsible for my education. But I do appreciate the offer. That’s very generous of you.”

  Garrett’s eyes were on my mother now. He was waiting on her cue as to how to proceed. I liked that. He wasn’t taking control. He was letting her lead this.

  Finally, he looked back at me and nodded. “Okay. If that is what makes you happy. We can lower your salary to one hundred thousand, but that is as low as I will go. If I hired anyone else, that would be their starting salary. I’m not going to pay my stepdaughter less.”

  With that kind of money, I’d be paying for my college within a year.

  I nodded. “Okay. Thank you,” I replied.

  He smiled then, looking relieved. “Good. I’ll get Madeline to order the equipment you’ll need. Give her a couple of days. She will contact you when she’s ready for you to report to her office in the stables.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  He stood then and walked over to Mom, bending down to kiss her. She touched the side of his face with her hand, the massive rock he’d put on it flashing at me. I turned my attention back to my food. I had a job. I had a plan for college. This wasn’t so bad. It would be perfect … if I didn’t miss Trev. If his absence wasn’t breaking a little more of my heart every day.

  Trev

  Five Days Since Gypsi Fucked with My Head and Ruined Everything

  “You’ve been drunk for four days. Laid up at the house, worrying Trinity and Shiloh. Now, I’ve got you at a damn strip club, and you still look fucking miserable. When are you gonna tell me what the hell is wrong with you?”

  Levi’s gaze was locked on me as he waited for an answer while I watched the dancer do things to the pole that should be turning me on. It wasn’t.

  I reached for the beer he’d put in front of me. “My stepsister,” I snapped.

  He laughed. “No shit. I have that much figured out. But, dude, you knew when you started fucking her that Garrett was serious about her momma. I don’t see how this engagement should send you into a downward spiral.”

  I shot an annoyed glare at him and took a drink of my beer. “Let me just watch the naked women and not talk about Gypsi.”

  “I would, but you’re glowering at them like you would rather throw darts than dollar bills. You need to talk and get this shit out of your head. You’re too young for this kind of thing. Don’t get all fucked up on a girl at your age. Gage did that, and look what happened to him. Fucking Marines.”

  Yeah, but Gage had his girl now. She was in his bed. Same damn girl he had been in love with at twenty-two. Even after five years of not seeing her. One look at her, and he had been done. That shit was scary. No one should have that kind of power over you.

  “It’s not that. I’m not like Gage. This is a different situation,” I grumbled, annoyed that he wouldn’t shut up about it.

  I was struggling to get a hard-on as it was. He wasn’t helping by talking.

  “Doesn’t look like it to me. You carved a man up over her. Looks exactly like Gage’s situation.”

  I slammed my beer down and glared at him. “It was about fucking. That’s it. We got along. We had fun. I liked being around her. I loved fucking her. She was the hottest damn fuck of my life. I wasn’t in love or obsessed, like Gage was.”

  “She ended the fucking when the parents got engaged?” he asked me.

  I shook my head. “No,” I replied through clenched teeth.

  “Well, why the fuck are you drinking all day, laying up at our house, slamming around like you’re angry at the world?”

  “Because she told me she fucking loved me. Ruined it all. It was so damn good too. Fucking epic. Then, she had to go and say that stupid shit.”

  Levi let out a low whistle, leaning back in his chair. “Damn,” he muttered.

  I tossed back the rest of the beer and tried to pay attention to the girls currently groping each other onstage.

  “You just need to fuck someone else. A professional. Someone who can remind you that there is no magic pussy. They’re all pretty damn magical,” Levi told me.

  He leaned forward and motioned for one of the strippers on the floor. She was blonde with big tits, and I could tell she knew Levi by the way her lips curled as she made her way to our table.

  “Pandora, I’d like you to meet Trev Hughes. Blaise’s younger brother. He’s had a bad week. Thought maybe you might break one of your rules since he’s a Hughes and my friend. Take him back to a room. Help him forget the shit week he’s had.”

  The blonde’s eyes lit up at the sound of my last name. “A Hughes. I’ll break any rule for a Hughes,” she purred and walked over to me, running her fingers through my hair. “You’re as pretty as your brother,” she said, then bent down. “Come with me,” she whispered in my ear.

  I glanced over at Levi. He held up his beer to me and took a drink, then winked. What the fuck? Maybe this would work. I sure as hell needed something to work. I was killing my damn liver with the nonstop drinking.

  When I stood up, she slipped her hand in mine and led me through the crowd. The hall of rooms—as Levi had called it the first time he brought me here a year ago—was one I had never been down. Paying for a blow job or sex was dumb. I’d get that shit for free. But right now, I needed something other than Gypsi on my mind.

  I followed Pandora into a room with red walls, a black leather sofa, and some other shit I had no idea how to use. She closed and locked the door, then pointed at the sofa.

  “Go get comfortable,” she told me.

  I looked at the sofa, and the image of old, fat men, who had paid to fuck a hot piece of ass, sweating on that thing turned me off.

  I glanced back at her. “What is it that you’re planning on doing to get me in a better mood?” I asked.

  She squeezed her tits as she walked over to me, then ran her long, sharp red fingernails down my chest until she was gripping my cock through my jeans. “What do you want? I’ll do dirty things for a Hughes.”

  I bet she would. Except when she said the word dirty, it reminded me of the shit I’d said to Gypsi when we were fucking. Maybe she just didn’t need to talk. I knew this was supposed to get my mind off Gypsi, but she was blonde. On her knees with my cock in her mouth, shutting her up, I could pretend.

  “On your knees,” I said as I started unbuckling my belt.

  I was barely holding on to a semi-erection right now, but if a woman’s mouth took my dick, it would get hard. It was a dick. She grinned and watched me as I shoved my jeans down, freeing my cock.

  Her hands were bigger than Gypsi’s, and she didn’t have the curls. But I could work with it. She began to lick it, and like I knew it would, the damn thing jumped to attention. Grabbing her hair with my hand, I pushed it into her mouth.

  “Suck it,” I growled.

  Her nails bit into my thighs as she took my cock deep. I closed my eyes and brought up the image of Gypsi on her knees in front of me. My cock shoved in her sweet mouth. FUCK, I missed that.

  “That’s it,” I moaned. “Take it deep, Lollipop.”

  She gagged as I shoved harder into her.

  “You love to gag on my big dick, don’t you?” I asked.

  She pulled back, letting it come out of her mouth. “Yes! Fuck my mouth,” she panted.

  Wrong voice.

  My eyes snapped open, and the stripper on her knees looking up at me wasn’t what I wanted to see.

  “Don’t talk!” I barked. Then closed my eyes again and tried to pull the image of Gypsi back up before I lost my fucking hard-on. Those insane sunshine-and-honey eyes staring up at me. Loving how I took her mouth. God, she was gorgeous.

  “That’s it, Lollipop. God, I need this.”

  Fingers slid up my thighs toward my chest and stopped. I felt the sharp nail circle around something, and my eyes snapped open on a growl. She was messing this up. Looking down, I saw her staring at one of the fading bruised bite marks Gypsi had left on me. Seeing her tacky nails touch it, where Gypsi’s mouth had been, sent a blinding rage through me. I shoved her back and walked away from her, pulling my jeans up.

  “This isn’t going to work,” I said, buckling my belt. “Sorry for wasting your time.” I didn’t even look back at her as I made my way to the door.

  This was fucking Levi’s fault. I didn’t need a damn stripper. I needed Gypsi.

  “Trev.” Pandora called my name.

  Gritting my teeth, I turned back to see what she wanted. I had just gagged her with my cock and then shoved her off me. It wasn’t my best moment.

  “Yeah?” I snarled. I couldn’t help it. I was angry. She’d touched Gypsi’s bite mark. That wasn’t hers to touch.

  “Whoever she is, this Lollipop, go get her. Fix it.”

  “I can’t fucking fix it!” I snarled. “She loves me. I can’t fix that.”

  Pandora raised her eyebrows at me. “And you don’t love her?” She laughed. “You’re either in denial or scared. Whichever it is, get over it before you lose her.”

  I jerked the door open and stalked out of there. This fucking strip club was not what I needed. I needed to fucking see Gypsi. What was so wrong with her loving me? That wasn’t so bad. She loved me, and I wouldn’t have to worry about losing her. I wouldn’t lose her to another man. I mean, she would know I didn’t love her, but she was special. I had to fix that. I hadn’t meant it when I said it to Trev. I was angry, and it had just come out. Gypsi was fucking special. That was it. I could love her, and she could be special to me. We’d get along great. It could work. I fucking needed it to work. I’d tell her how special she was, and things would go back to the way they had been.

  Levi was frowning when I got back to the table.

  “That was a fast fuck,” he said.

  “We didn’t fuck. We’re leaving.”

  “Ah, man, please don’t tell me you couldn’t get it up.”

  I scowled at him. “She sucked my dick. Of course I got hard. It was just the wrong mouth. We need to go.”

  “The right mouth being Gypsi’s?” he asked, standing up.

  I nodded. “It’s time I go home.”

  Levi chuckled. “You might want to go wash the smell of strip club off your body first.”

  Good idea.

  Thirty

  Trev

  The Rolls-Royce and Mercedes G-Wagon in the driveway meant Dad had company. At least he would be distracted and I could get Gypsi in my bed without him noticing. His no fucking rule was not going to work. I’d deal with him later.

  Right now, I needed to go make sure Lollipop knew she was special. Real fucking special. And she could love me all she wanted. Why had I freaked out before? I’d gotten it in my head that her loving me meant we couldn’t do this because she would think it was more than sex. But it would keep her with me. It wasn’t a bad thing. It was security.

  Yeah, it was my security. I liked that. It meant I had her. No one else did. Besides, if a girl was gonna fall in love with me and possibly get obsessed, then Gypsi was the one I wanted to do it. The idea of her being clingy made me smile. She could be crazy-obsessed girl all she wanted. I’d keep her safe. I was also so damn hard, thinking about it, that my cock was throbbing.

  Stepping in the side entrance to be sure to miss whoever Dad had over for the evening, I started down the hall to get to the back staircase. Hopefully, Gypsi was in her room and not being forced to play stepdaughter to the guests. As I passed the theater, I heard voices. I stopped when Gypsi’s voice hit my ears, and I turned to go back to the door and listen. The other voice was male. I started to shove the door open, and I paused, taking a deep breath.

  This was Gypsi. She wasn’t going to be on some date with a guy five days after telling me she loved me. It was probably one of the guests. Dad more than likely was having her entertain the son of one of his friends. Which made me want to put my fist through another fucking wall, but it wasn’t Gypsi’s fault. That was mine. I’d left her here.

  I pushed the door open slowly. There was some movie I didn’t recognize playing, but my gaze went to Gypsi. Townes Hoagan, the son of the senator two states over, was looking at her like she was his last meal. Her blonde curls were pulled up, leaving her neck bare. Her shoulders seemed tense. Like she was uncomfortable, but her musical laugh confused me. Was she faking? Surely, she didn’t like this guy. He was a prick. Talk about rich, spoiled kid. He was your typical frat boy.

  I took another step inside, and then he leaned in, cupped her face with his hand, and kissed her. She didn’t push him away. He was kissing her, and she was letting him. I turned and left the theater, unable to watch it. If I ripped Townes’s arms off his body, my dad would be upset. Besides, she hadn’t been pushing him off. She’d let him.

  Five days ago, she had been in love with me. That didn’t look like she loved me. That looked like she was willing and ready for the next guy to come along who would fuck her brains out. She was a sex addict. I’d taken my dick away, so she was shopping for a new one.

  Slamming through the house, I went to my room, shaking with rage. The pain in my chest and sick rolling in my stomach didn’t help. I grabbed the first thing I came to, which was a lamp, and threw it against the wall. I seethed as I watched it shatter and fall to the floor. My gaze swung to the snacks I had in here for her. Those needed to be gone. I wanted all fucking memories of her out of here. Shoving the snacks into the closest garbage, I tied it up and set it outside my door. I’d take it down later. For now, it had to be out of my sight.

  Reaching for my phone, I scrolled through my Contacts until I found Bea’s number. This time, I wasn’t going to picture Gypsi. I was going to get her the fuck out of my head.

  Gypsi

  Seven Days Since Trev Walked Out of My Room

  Mom and Garrett had left before sunrise to go to New York. Garrett had set up appointments for her to meet with wedding dress designers. The next Mrs. Hughes had to have a one-of-a-kind wedding dress.

  Today, I was supposed to meet with Maddy at the stables and start my new job. If it wasn’t for the fact that I knew Trev had come home—because I’d heard Garrett mention it yesterday—and I still hadn’t seen him, I would be more excited about today. Knowing Trev was hiding from me was difficult. I hated that this was what we had turned into.

  When I stepped into the dining room for breakfast, Trev was sitting at the end of the table. He lifted his gaze to mine and then picked up his cup of coffee. I stood there, staring at him like an idiot, but no words came. Just seeing his face again made my chest warm. It eased some of the pain.

  “Excuse me,” a female voice said behind me.

  I stepped out of the way automatically, and Bea—topless pool girl—walked past me, wearing only one of Trev’s shirts.

  “I couldn’t find the Splenda,” she told him.

  “I’m sorry,” he replied, smiling at her. “Do you want me to go look?” Then, he shifted his gaze to me. “Do you know where the Splenda is, Gypsi?”

  I shook my head.

  He turned back to her. “I can go look,” he told her.

  “I don’t have to drink coffee,” she said, then leaned down to kiss him.

  Numbly, I stood there as he ran his hand under the shirt she had on and grabbed her ass. She was here the morning after. This wasn’t a hotel room. She had slept in his bed. She had woken up with him. He was having breakfast with her. Everything he had told me was a lie.

  I turned and ran. I headed for the front door. I had to get out of this house. Away from that. If I’d had anything left for Trev to break, he’d just crushed it into a million pieces. Opening the door, I headed outside. A sob escaped me as I made my way to the stables. I couldn’t go into Maddy’s office like this, but I wasn’t about to go in that house.

  Why was it that when I finally fell in love, when I let myself feel something, that it was tragic?

  “Gypsi?”

  I lifted my eyes from the ground to see Maddy standing outside the stables. She was walking from her car. I was too early. The concerned look on her face as she looked at my tear-streaked one was embarrassing. I came to a stop and wiped at the tears on my cheeks.

  “Sorry, I, uh, just needed some air. I’m not rushing you. I will just walk around a bit,” I told her.

  She glanced up at the house, then back at me. “You can come with me to the office and tell me what my brother-in-law did.”

  I shook my head. “No. That’s okay. It’s nothing. All my fault.”

  Maddy put a hand on her hip. “I love Trev. But I also know him. He means well, but he’s not the best when it comes to handling girls.”

  I wasn’t going to do this. By talking to one of them, it would feel like I was trying to get his family to side with me. I wouldn’t do that.

  “No, really. Trev was honest with me from the very beginning. Very honest. He made no promises. The thing we had, it’s over. We will be family soon. I just … it’s just hard to see him with someone else. And that is all on me. Not him.”