Chapter3

I froze in place. She still gripped that riding crop in her hand. I knew exactly what that look on her face meant. It wasn't just a scolding; it was an impending, total lockdown that would suffocate every last inch of breathing room in my life.

My mother's gaze carried a lethal mix of arrogance and raw contempt.

"Let her go." My mother lifted her chin. "I don't expect a piece of society's trash abandoned by his own parents to understand the concept of decency. Those rich parents of yours, notorious in our circles, can't even be bothered to show their faces for you once. Keep your hands off my daughter."

I swallowed hard. "Mom, it was my idea to sneak out, I was the one who—"

"Shut your mouth!" my mother snapped, cutting me off. "I don't burn sixty grand a year gold-plating your resume just so you can sneak out in the middle of the night to fool around with some grease-stained, low-life loser. Aria, get over here."

Seventeen years of conditioned muscle memory made my legs go weak, completely out of my control. I clenched my fists. I had to go to her, or else by tomorrow morning, there wouldn't be a single astronomy magazine left in my room.

But the second I shifted to the side, Zane didn't just refuse to let go; he pulled me flush against his back, shielding me completely.

"She's done being your puppet," Zane said, radiating an unapologetic, infuriating bastard energy. "And she's definitely not going back to your damn cram schools."

My breath hitched in sheer terror. I reached back and gripped the hem of his shirt for dear life. "Zane, stop talking. Just go..." If my mother blew this up by calling the cops or the school board, he would be facing a hell of a lot worse than a simple detention.

He ducked his head, forcing me to tilt my chin up and meet his gaze. "Look at me." His thumb brushed lightly over the red indent my teeth had left on my bottom lip. "Nobody forces you to make a choice."

My mother descended halfway down the porch steps, her high-end silk nightgown hanging unnaturally still in the night breeze. "A street punk who crashes every single class and couldn't even scrape into a state community college is standing on my property, telling me how to raise an Ivy League candidate?" She stared down at him with imperious disdain. "I’ll give you to the count of three. If you don't take your filthy mud and get off my lawn, I’ll have the cops drag you away in cuffs for trespassing."

Zane released my chin and turned around. His heavy leather boot stepped onto the first rung of the porch stairs, closing the distance between him and my mother to less than a yard.

"Let’s make a bet, ma'am," he said. "You know exactly what the loser has to pay."

My mother's gaze swept back and forth between him and me, like she was calculating a guaranteed, risk-free transaction. "Why on earth would I bet with you?"

"Midterms are in two weeks. If Aria's total score drops out of the top three in her grade, I’ll instantly pack my shit and bounce from this rich ZIP code. I'll never show my face to her again, and I’ll even have my old man wire an investment fee into your broken company."

"But if I not only keep her in the top three, but actually raise her ranking—" He paused for two full seconds. "You back off. You never dictate her free time again. And you will bow to her and apologize, right in front of me."

My mother stared at him for three seconds. Suddenly, she laughed.

"With an illiterate thug like you tutoring her?" Her condescending gaze swept over Zane from head to toe. "Fine. Since you’re in such a rush to get kicked out of this neighborhood, I’ll grant your wish."

"Deal," Zane replied, his voice ice-cold.

"Are you out of your mind?!" I frantically yanked at the hem of his shirt. "You scored a three on your last math test!"

My mother grabbed my arm and yanked me inside the house. Right before the heavy front door's deadbolt could engage, Zane leisurely fished a cigarette from his pocket and clamped it between his teeth. Through the narrowing crack of the closing door, he cocked one eyebrow at me, his lips curling into a smile.

"Good girl, maybe I am that black sheep."

The door slammed shut with a deafening bang.

I curled up on the cold floor, burying my face in my knees. How the hell was a bastard who knew nothing but handing in blank papers and throwing punches supposed to win? But the one thing I couldn't shake from my mind was that final, audacious smile on his face right before the door shut.