“Dad, Brooklyn is a Sanders. She…”
“Sanders? Really? You didn’t think I’d find out who she really was? You don’t think I heard the rumors of that asshole having an illegitimate daughter? It doesn’t matter what her last name is, she has Pruitt blood in her veins.” He turned to his wife. “Did you know about this?”
“Yes, but…”
“I won’t have a Pruitt sleeping in our house. Or let his thugs stick their noses in my security system. Do you want to get us all killed?!”
“Maxwell!” Mrs. Caldwell yelled and stood up. “Enough.” She walked over to him and grabbed his arm. “We’ll discuss this in private. Not in front of the kids.”
“I want her out of here,” he said. “By the time I come back.”
Mrs. Caldwell pulled him out of the kitchen back into the sinister portion of the house where he’d come from.
Donnelley cleared his throat. “I’m going to go check in with Miller. I’ll be right back.” He walked away before any of us even had a chance to protest.
“Cheers,” Mason said and held up a cup of hot chocolate. “Welcome to the family, Brooklyn.”
Matt groaned and leaned his head back on his chair. “Why does Dad have to be such a dick?”
“You didn’t tell him I was a Pruitt?” I tried to search his face. I’d thought he was embarrassed of me when I was a nobody. But being a Pruitt somehow seemed worse.
“You’re not a Pruitt,” he said, lifting his head. “You’re a Sanders, baby.”
I wasn’t entirely certain that was true. I was pretty sure my dad had changed my last name without my permission.
“Don’t leave me hanging,” Mason said, his cup still outstretched. “I’ve always thought having a little sister would be fun. You’re already taking the heat off my back.” He laughed and tapped his mug against the one in front of me, even though I hadn’t lifted it up.
“This isn’t funny,” Matt said. “Dad can’t make her leave. You saw what Mr. Pruitt does to people that go against him in some way. Brooklyn can’t live with that nutcase.”
“My dad would never hurt me,” I said. I trusted him as much as I trusted Matt.
“Maybe not. But Isabella tried to freaking kill you last night. You’re not going back to their apartment.”
I didn’t want to cause a mess with Matt and his family. But even though I wasn’t scared of my dad, I was still scared of Isabella. He was right, I couldn’t go back. Not until the new security was in place. And even then, I’d have a lot of questions about it before I’d ever feel safe there again. Again? I shook my head. I’d never felt safe there.
“Dad’s not going to kick her out,” Mason said. “Not if Mom doesn’t want him to. Let’s circle back to the rumors. Did you really run around homecoming completely naked?”
“What?” Matt and I both said at the same time.
“No,” I added. “That’s not…”
“And did you really dress up like a prostitute and go into James’ hotel room?”
Oh fuck. “No. Well…yes.” God. I could feel Matt’s heated gaze. “No to the prostitute thing. But I did go to James for help.” I turned to Matt. “He slipped me his keycard last night. I was never going to use it. Ever. But when Isabella abandoned me in my freaking underwear, the keycard was the only thing I had. I didn’t have any money or my phone or clothes. It was my only choice. I would have come to you but your house was so far away. Trust me, I definitely would have preferred your help. You know that.”
Matt reached out and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.”
He looked so hurt for letting me down. Hadn’t he just heard what I said? It was just a proximity issue. It wasn’t his fault.
Mason laughed. “Wait, so let me get this straight. You showed up to James’ room in your underwear?”
“Well, I kind of made a makeshift dress out of a map.”
He smiled. “So you showed up naked to his room. And then what happened?”
Actually, sharing this part might cheer Matt up. “I walked in on him and Rachel.”
Mason spit out his sip of hot chocolate. “Really? Having sex?”
“No, she was…um…giving him…you know…”
“Head?” He cocked his eyebrow up. “You can say it you know. Oral. Sucking his cock. Blowing…”
“Cut it out, Mason,” Matt said.
My face had to be bright red. “Yeah, that.” I didn’t want to say it out loud. I’d never even done it before. “Everyone completely freaked out and I ended up running through the lobby. But I was in my underwear. I’m pretty sure only a handful of students saw me.” How had the rumors spread so quickly?
“This is amazing,” Mason said. “What did James do when he saw you come in his room?”
“He said my name. And Rachel…bit him.”
Even Matt laughed this time.
“Serves him right,” Mason said. “Fucking asshole.”
I didn’t laugh. I didn’t find it funny at all. James had been kind and sweet. I didn’t feel comfortable telling Mason the rest of the story. I wanted to tell Matt in private. But I wanted to fix what I’d help break too. “James helped me,” I said. “I think this crazy misunderstanding about Rachel…you could all clear it up, don’t you think? If you just sat down and talked.”
“What do you think I’ve been trying to do the past week?” Matt asked.
“I know, but…”
“The Hunters are dead to us,” Mason said. “We tried to fight for them. And all they wanted to do was fight us.”
It wasn’t just them being stubborn. They were hurt. I looked at Matt. He had tried to fight for James. He’d tried to look after him. He’d worried and fretted over the blackmail because he cared about his friend. And all James wanted was to punch him in the face.
But James and I were friends now. Maybe I could convince him to try to fix things.
Matt lifted up my hot chocolate. “Aren’t you even going to try it?”
I took the mug from him. It tasted just like my mom’s. I sat in their warm kitchen, listening to the two of them laugh. And I hoped that I could stay. No one ever laughed at the Pruitts’ apartment. I hadn’t felt this at home since I’d lived with Kennedy.
But I had a feeling Mr. Caldwell wouldn’t let me stay. And I understood why. I was a Pruitt. I was toxic. I laughed along with the Caldwell brothers, but I kept thinking about the fact that the hot chocolate always felt warm in my hands. No matter how much time went by. And I wondered if it was because my hands were permanently cold. Cold to the bone. Just like the Pruitts’. Was Mr. Caldwell right about me?
Chapter 8
Sunday
I sat down on the edge of Matt’s four-poster bed. The last time I’d been in his room, Rob had pushed me inside and locked the door. I’d thought I was about to get the life sucked out of me by a vampire. But today I was just waiting to see if I’d get my hopes sucked out. Any minute now, I expected Mr. Caldwell to come through those doors and kick me out of his house.