Kings of Cypress Prep

West Golden - so easy to hate, yet so hard to resist. Don’t let that pretty face of his fool you. He isn’t the boy next door, or the kind you trust with your heart. He’s the devil in designer jeans, with all the charm of a bona fide psycho. Trust me. He swears I did something to cross him before I even stepped foot inside Cypress Prep, but it’s a lie. No one knows better than me that I’m all out of chances. His money, status, and the loyalty of his equally entitled brothers makes him seem untouchable. Only, I know better than that.

West Golden - football star. Playboy. Dead to me. Nothing puts the final bullet in a girl’s rep like a leaked sex tape. Especially one starring her and the cocky quarterback who’s had it out for her since day one. Yep, you guessed it. That girl is me. At Cypress Prep, West is king, but all I see when I look at him is the wicked prick who gets off on trying to break me.

West Golden - fierce protector. The one. The cocky jock I once wanted to kill with my bare hands is now the only one I trust with my heart. In a city full of corruption and dark secrets, knowing who’s on your side gets harder to determine every day. Especially now that Vin’s on the warpath, passing out threats he fully intends to see through to the end. His power here in Cypress Pointe seems limitless, and I don’t have time to see if that’s true. I’m prepared to make sacrifices to keep my family safe. Even if what’s sacrificed is my own happiness.

Dane Golden - best friend. Temptation in football cleats. Roommate? I’m screwed. His followers don’t call him Pretty Boy D for nothing. The guy is, literally, God’s gift to women. I should know. I’ve watched chicks throw themselves at him since puberty. Sharing his loft should be simple. Easy. But shortly after I settle in, we realize being "just friends" was so much easier when we weren’t sleeping under the same roof. Seven years of thinking we had this down to a science goes out the window the night Dane sees my “Never Have I Ever” list.

When I spotted him sneaking out the Dean’s window—a woman whose reputation precedes her—I could’ve minded my business. But it’s not every day you catch your nemesis in such a compromising position, so I did what any self-respecting person would’ve done. I added fuel to the scandal that ignited, then laughed while the cops hauled him off in nothing but handcuffs and his boxers. Of course, the arrogant prick found a way to rope me into the lie that got him out of trouble. Which means the only way I come out of this unscathed is to go along with it, pretend we’re a thing.

Rumors buzz when a pic of me buying a pregnancy test goes viral. This wouldn’t be such a big deal if, roughly one month ago, I wasn’t also spotted with the new top-dog of Cypress Pointe’s most notorious crime family.