Page 40 of Vicious Desire (Fallen Royals 4)

“I guess she’s inviting herself in,” Skylar grumbles. “Come on, Riley.”

I let out a slow breath and follow her.

The inside of the house is a disaster, but Skylar just offers a slight smile. “They’re in the process of divvying everything up.”

There are clearly two different styles of stacking things as we walk through the house. Books have been removed from the shelf and line the halls, some haphazard and others still as organized as they must’ve been displayed.

Boxes of dishware and silver.

Baubles, plants.

Skylar leads us down the narrow hallway into the kitchen, which looks fairly unscathed… until she opens a cabinet and reveals how empty it is.

My stomach twists.

We shouldn’t be here.

Forcing someone to invite you into their home is like peeking into their underwear drawer. It’s intimate for girls who aren’t friends. A piece of Skylar’s life that she’s worked to protect reveals itself.

“We’re intruding,” I blurt out.

I wonder how I would react if they pulled this shit at my house. If Parker stood by the door until I let her in.

A small part of me acknowledges that I wouldn’t.

Skylar shrugs. “If you don’t mind my parents’ bizarre feud, you’re welcome to stay.”

“You said you didn’t want to go home,” Parker points out.

It takes Skylar time to find three glasses—she has to cross the room to a box in the corner and unearth another one—and she pours us water. I take a seat at the kitchen table, and they follow suit.

“I don’t,” I admit. “But that doesn’t mean I feel good about...”

“The only people I tried to impress were the cheerleaders,” Skylar says, staring directly at me. “Look how that worked out? I stopped hiding, and it helped.”

I nod halfheartedly. It worked for her.

But what if I’ve been camouflage for so long, I forget how to become visible again?

“Talk to us about Eli,” Skylar says.

I grimace. “There’s not much to tell.”

“Except… all of it,” Parker says. “I know nothing. Who is Eli?”

When I knew Parker, Eli was my own little secret.

“I don’t want to talk about him.”

Skylar reaches out and pulls a leaf from my hair. It’s tiny, easily missed, but she holds it up for me to see. “You were in the lead. You should’ve won.”

I sigh. “He provoked me.”

She knows he’s an asshole—I don’t have to spell it out for her. He didn’t say why he was back. Just that he needed the job.

And he threatened to work for Dad.

I swallow what feels like liquid metal. My throat burns. “And I guess I provoked him, too.”