Page 5 of Her Wicked Knights (Their Hallowed Queen #3)

Colton

Marley's indignation at me stalking a girl sticks with me in ways I don't even understand. It almost gives me a weird sense of pride, a strange thrill. She is the one that is my mind's obsession, my heart's desire. And she has no fucking clue.

She also has no fucking clue that I'm outside her window again, nestled in the tree house Tripp's father built in the old oak in their back yard when we were kids.

It's been years since we used to come here to hang out, since we would gather magazines and books (Marley) and snacks and come here to be alone together, away from the rest of the world.

The world had seemed so much smaller then.

.. so much brighter. Now, it feels bleak.

How can it not when I don't want a single fucking thing in this world more than I want her?

I'm supposed to be deciding what I want to do with my life, deciding what I'm going to do for a living, if I'm going to college, whether I want to play football.

I only do it because it demands so much of my time and energy that it distracts me from thinking about her.

.. it distracts me from thinking about how much I'd rather be at her side than anywhere in the world.

Tonight, Marley's not alone. And that makes my blood boil, because I don't understand how Jake wormed his way into her life the way he did.

We all knew we liked the same girl, and we had an unspoken understanding that none of us would betray the others to go after her.

It would ruin the friendship we've had all our lives, the only constant we've all known besides our affection for her.

And yet, he went after her anyway, broke our trust, betrayed us.

And now he doesn't even act like he has the whole world at his fingertips when he's got my whole world there, too.

I see Marley laugh as Jake presses himself against her, and it must be funny because she throws her head back and laughs louder.

I can hear the sweet sound even through the glass panes in her room and the din of crickets screaming below me, but it only makes me clench my jaw tighter, because I'm not the one making her laugh.

I'm not the one pressed up against her, breathing her air. And I want to be.

A scratching sound on the other side of the treehouse draws my attention to the doorway, a square space trimmed with wood pieces that Tripp's mom and Marley painted patterns on once.

That paint has long since faded, and the wood is knotted, showing the passing of time.

I don't know what weight limit he built this place to have, but I'm probably pushing it.

.. especially once Tripp pushes in with me.

He doesn't look the least bit surprised to see me, and I gather he figured it out when I confessed my dirty secret earlier. "Fancy meeting you here." He muses, his lips curling at the corner into a wry smile that confirms exactly how he knew I was here.

"Tripp," I nod my greeting and turn back to the window, where I can see her still wrapped tight in Jake's arms. He's kissing her, her head tipped back.

I can't see much, but that's probably for the best since my blood boils at the sight of him with her like that.

I know Tripp has kissed Marley before too.

They were kids, so I've never asked him, but I'm dying to know what she tastes like.

.. how soft her lips are, if he's ever found anything that comes even remotely close to what that felt like.

"Don't you have practice tonight?" He asks, his eyes raking my face for a minute before I feel them leave me so he can look out the window too. At her.

"Got cancelled tonight. That's why Jake's there. With her."

He doesn't judge that my voice darkens, or roll his eyes, or tell me to get over it.

Instead, he curls his knee against his chest, resting an arm on top of it as he watches the same display as me.

I know he doesn't use the treehouse anymore, but it's not like he has to.

His bedroom window looks right into Marley's, as if the people who had the houses built all those years ago planned for this, as if they knew that best friends would grow up in those rooms. When we were younger, we used to come up with all sorts of ideas for how to pass stuff back and forth, sometimes leaving notes on the window in Tripp's mother's lipstick, or in Marley's case, her sister's lipstick.

We made cup phones once when Tripp was grounded, and the rest of us piled in Marley's room to be able to talk to him.

I'm sure there's no way his parents didn't know.

Tripp sets his jaw, and I can tell he feels the same way I do about Jake. "Audrey seems like a bitch, huh?"

His question takes me by surprise, so at first, I just laugh. "What?"

"What?" He laughs back. "You can't tell me you didn't notice. She screams 'daddy-issues'."

I laugh louder at that, shaking my head. "You sound jealous."

"I am fucking jealous." Tripp shrugs. "But so are you. That's why you're in my treehouse watching Marley with Jake like it's going to change the fact that they're together. It won't."

"Yeah, well Audrey doesn't have her hands all over my—" I swallow, not willing to go so far as to claim Marley as my girl when I have no claim to her.

"Still," he shakes his head, ignoring my slip of the tongue. "I don't like her."

"You don't know her." I reason. "Maybe you should give her a chance."

"No," He looks like he's tasting something sour as he stares out the window. And then, as if he's just now realizing how ridiculous he looks, he shakes his head again. "There's just something about her."

"Yeah," I laugh. "It's called 'you're worried she's going to replace you'. Well, I've got bad news for you, friend. Jake already did that months ago."

"I noticed." Tripp glowers. "And I have the self-awareness to realize that I'm not going to change it. Unlike you, who is stalking her."

I shrug, unbothered by the accusation in his voice. "It's not that deep."

"Stalking?" He laughs like maybe we're talking about two different things. "Actually, it is. It's a crime. A gross one."

Now it's my turn to laugh. "I'm not doing anything worse than you. Or are you going to tell me you don't find yourself looking out your window, waiting for the slightest chance that she'll turn to see you so you can play it off as a coincidence, so that you can have a minute of her to yourself?"

When he doesn't answer me, I smirk.

"Thought so."