Wicked Lies Boys Tell

Leah picks up her glasses and then cowers beside me, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“She’s a disgusting skank!” Ivy yells, drawing a huge crowd from the lunchroom to where we’re at.

“She’s not a skank,” Penn bites out at her.

She untangles herself from Penn’s grip and Jett wisely grabs hold of her shoulders.

“She’s supposed to be marrying him,” Ivy barks out, tears burning in her bright green eyes. “But she fucked you instead.” A single tear slides down her red cheek. “And now she’s pregnant with your baby, Cope! A whore!”

Leah sniffles from beside me. I turn and check her over. “Are you okay?”

She nods, swiping away her tears with the backs of her hands. “Yeah.”

“Yeah,” Ivy mocks. “Because she gets the best of both worlds. Rich Penn McAlister is her fiancé and bad boy Copeland Justice is her baby daddy. You disgust me, whore.”

“That’s enough,” I bellow.

Several kids snigger nearby, loving the drama as it unfolds.

“No,” Ivy says, her voice a broken sob. “I don’t understand how you left me. After two years, you left me.” She points a black fingernail at Leah. “For that.”

“Ivy,” I warn.

“She’s nothing. Was it money? Is it because she’s rich and I’m not?” Ivy shrieks, losing all control. Normally she’s so cool and collected.

Jett shoots me a panicked look. I have no sympathy for him. He’s the dickhead who probably told her all about the pregnancy drama we had at dinner last night. I bet the asshole wishes he’d kept his mouth shut. Now he’s dealing with a feral version of Ivy as if her normal self isn’t wicked enough.

“I didn’t love you,” I say as gently and as quietly as possible. It was never my intent to hurt her.

“Yes, you did,” she argues tearfully. “You did.”

“My heart never belonged to you,” I admit. “I’m sorry.”

“And it belongs to her?” she asks, her tone shrill as she points to Leah.

No.

My heart belongs to my best friend.

Penn McAlister owns my soul too.

As much as I want to belt those words out, I don’t. Not because I’m afraid Jason is going to try to ruin me. I’m already fucking ruined. As long as he doesn’t take the only thing I care about away from me—his son—then he can try and terrorize me all he wants.

I don’t reveal whom my heart truly belongs to.

Because then Jason will find out.

And it won’t be me he destroys.

Penn will be an even bigger embarrassment to him than I am to my dad. Jason will take away his college opportunities, his future job opportunities, his trust fund, his car. He’ll spend every waking minute trying to abuse Penn’s life. Abusing his body under his roof will no longer be an option. He’ll send blow after blow into my fucking boyfriend’s world and I won’t do that to him. No matter how much I want to tell Ivy and the whole damn school who I really love.

“You think you’ll own him now, bitch?” Ivy sneers, finding her venom once more and stinging Leah with it. “Maybe for a few months. Maybe until after the baby is born. But then he’ll crawl back into my bed because I’m the only one who can satisfy him. You probably don’t even know how to suck dick.”

“It’s not his kid,” Penn barks out.

Several kids squeak out in surprise at this new revelation. Fuck. Why did she have to do this in front of everyone?

“Penn,” I warn.

His hot gaze sears into mine. “No, I’m tired of this. So fucking tired. This is my life. Your life. Her life,” he says, pointing at Leah. “And I’m tired of letting my dad run all three.”

“I knew she was a whore,” Ivy hisses to Jett, but relief is evident in her words at the shocking twist that Leah’s not knocked up with my baby.

“It’s not his baby because ever since you and him broke up,” Penn says to Ivy before looking back at me, “we’ve been together.”

My heart stops in my chest. Heat races up my spine, spreading across my flesh like a blazing forest fire. I can feel eyes on us and some kids laugh at the stupidity of his words.

Penn and Cope are best friends.

But the words aren’t stupid.

They’re the fucking truth.

Ivy lets out an exaggerated laugh. “Stop covering for her already. She’s a weak girl who doesn’t know who the daddy—” Ivy’s words die in her throat when Penn approaches me.

His brown eyes gleam with determination and love. I can’t help but get locked in his stare. My nerves are about to eat me alive. My heart is beating out of my chest. But as he nears, I feel relief. No more secrets. No more hiding. No more lies.

When he palms my cheeks, several kids gasp, including Ivy. Then, he pulls me to him for a soft kiss. Gentle, sweet, but possessive. His kiss screams, mine. Gripping his hips, I pull him closer and kiss him deeper, my tongue sweeping across his. My kiss says, I’m not ashamed of you and you’re mine too. I groan when he pulls away, my eyes burning into his. His gaze drops to my lips for a moment and then a smile tugs at his.