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It was why I’d left Harper alone. Crossing Harper meant crossing Daddy Dearest and doing that put me directly in the path of pissing off my own father. Something I would never risk if I could avoid it because he could be a colossal dick.
I was expected to inherit my father’s business one day, and Harper planned to go into politics like her father. It made sense that we would end up together. After all, politics and businesses like Sebastian’s kind of went hand in hand—even if the public wasn’t supposed to know that directly.
I’d started to feel a slight shift, though. Fucking with Wilder was way more fun than anticipated, and it drove Harper absolutely batshit crazy! Regardless of my methods, she had no room to complain because she was the one who commissioned me for the job. A job she could have done herself. How I accomplished it was my business. It wasn’t like she was telling the whole truth, anyway. Something was up between those two, and I planned to figure it out. Harper was a bitch, but she didn’t develop obsessions like that. At least, I’d never seen it.
So far, their stories matched up, and I couldn’t find a shred of evidence to disprove them aside from a gut feeling. Oh, but if I found out Harper was lying to me, I’d make her punishmentsomuch worse, and she’d have to deal with it.
She’d made a bet. She’d brought that on herself. Even though Wilder was aware of it now, the bet was still in place, and I planned to win.
“So, I heard Hunt damn near had to get his jaw wired shut. He needs thousands in dental work,” Michael said across from me, pulling me from the same place my mind had been all weekend—Wilder. “Seriously, what the hell were you guys thinking? Especially overher? She’s a bet. Bets aren’t worth going to jail over.”
“This one is,” Asher mumbled, shoving his food around his plate with a fork.
Unfortunately, I had to agree, and I had no fucking clue why. I’d known her a fuckingweek,and in thatincrediblyshort amount of time, she’d bitch slapped me, embarrassed me, caused me issue after issue, and now put me at risk of serious prison time if fuck face ever opened his mouth.
Of course, I didn’t think it would go that far.
If Rick had a soft spot for the neighbor girl like Harper said, he would more than likely solve that little issue before it became a real problem.
“Uh-oh,” Trent said. “Incoming.”
I looked up to see Wilder headed my way. Surprisingly, she didn’t have the usual pissed as hell expression she wore as her eyes met mine. On any other day, every time she looked my way, I could see the utter hatred in her eyes. Her entire face, body, and aura projected total disdain for me. I doubt anyone had ever loathed me quite so much as Temperance Wilder.
I found that exciting.
I loved spurring it on.
Temperance was probably the sexiest when angry. Well, actually, now that was my close second favorite. Thesexiestwas watching her come.Fuck. I’d never seen anyone react to me quite like that, and I’d had more than enough opportunity to see just about every reaction I could possibly think of. She surprised me, though, and I couldn’t get enough of it. I wanted more of her.
Iwillhave more of her.
Today, however, was not that day.
After what happened Friday, I wanted to avoid her like the plague. She didn’t need anyone pawing all over her, least of all me. She was supposed to be off school today, so I’d felt confident I wouldn’t see her. Unfortunately, my time had run out, seeing as the lovely Temperance was headed straight for me. And if she had no anger or resentment in her expression for me, then that meant she had something far worse in mind.
Appreciation.
Abso-fucking-lutely not.
There was no way in hell I’d let that girl anywhere near me with that shit. She was the kind of girl who could destroy lives, and I wasn’t about to let her ruin mine.
“Well, well, well,” I said with my usual sarcastic tone. “What do we have here? Seems the lost lamb wandered into the den of wolves. What can we do for you?”
The guys laughed, and she narrowed her eyes at them before looking at Asher and me, her dark look softening.That’s not good.
“Can I talk to you both for a sec?” she asked.
I heard the unmistakable tone of hope in her voice, and for some reason, it set me on edge. What a stupid girl.Wantingto talk to me was bad enough. Well, unless she wanted to scold me. That was often, and that was normal. I enjoyed it.
Hopingto speak to me was something else. That was crossing a boundary she needed to stay far from. If shelikedme, then that gave her power over me. It also increased the likelihood of her staying at Crestview and blowing my bet with Harper.
A bet I sorely wanted to win.
I leaned back in my seat, giving her a cocky smile. “I’m quite sorry, T, but I’m all out of sexual favors. You’ll have to make sure to get to the front of the line next time. Early bird and all that, you know.”
She rolled her eyes and shook her head.There it is.
“I’m not an idiot,” she stated flatly. She was about to say something else, but I interrupted her.