“If realness, orhonesty,means picking and choosing what you wish to say? Sure. A guy can write down whatever the hell he wants.”
Oliver nods. “But that’s the whole point of Onyx. You’re supposed towantto tell the truth. To have the other guys really know you. The families of Onyx members are some of the most influential and powerful people in the world, and?—”
“Don’t I know it,” I mutter.
Thinking about howinfluential and powerfulmy father is just makes me want to blow my brains out, anyway.
He has money and power, but it sure as fuck hasn’t made me happier. It's a colossal privilege, but it isn’t a recipe for perfect mental health.
And it certainly doesn’t mean I’ve ever beenloved.
“Have you thought about what you’re going to confess?”
I puff out a bitter laugh. “I’ll confess that I think Onyx should quit pretending the Confessional matters at all.”
Oliver looks down at the grass, kicking at a rock with the front of his shoe.
For a moment, I almost feel a pang of sympathy.
I don’t want to crush the dreams of a hopeful, wide-eyed freshman.
But I also can’t be anyone but myself.
When I look up at his eyes again, he’s giving me a sidelong stare.
“I know you’re having sex with Rayne,” Oliver says.
I’m silent.
My heart pounds harder in my chest.
I hold Oliver’s gaze, and my body instantly switches intofightmode.
“Say more,” I tell him, keeping my tone even, holding back the rabid monster inside me.
“I walked by your bedroom door at the wrong time, and I heard some stuff I probably wasn’t supposed to hear,” Ollie says.
As I watch his expression, I realize there’s no bargaining in it.
He’s not trying tocatchme, he’s just… being honest.
Stupid.
Fucking.
Honesty.
“I wouldn’t think too much about what you heard.”
My heart is still pounding. I don’t know what to expect out of someone like Oliver, and in reality, I don’t know him very well at all.
“Oh,” he says, his eyes going a little wider. “I’m not going to tell your brother. It’s just that Rayne is the first person who was welcoming to me in Onyx. I don’t want to see him get kicked out.”
I let out a breath of air. “Rayne Colson will never be kicked out of Onyx. It’s impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because everyone loves him,” I say simply, realizing how true the statement is when the words leave my mouth. “Rayne could doanything, and still be beloved. It’s a gift he has that other people don’t. Don’t ask me how. It’s just…him.”
