The Peer and the Puppet (When Rivals Play, #1)

by B.B. Reid

Oh, Ever…you’re going to pay. And I wouldn’t just rip him from his throne. I’d crush him under my heel like the worm he was.

Once upon a puppet, she spun a tale to the mad king. - The Peer

Ever and gray had much in common: cool, balanced, sophisticated…emotionless.

“I bet your mother would be proud.” I caught the doubt in his eyes before he looked away. “Tell me something about her.” He chuckled dryly, and I didn’t understand why until he said, “She would have loved you. You are the karma I deserve.”

Suddenly, flat on my back, thick lips crashed into mine. If ever I were to think back to this moment, it would be for one thing. Bliss. Not even with Michelangelo’s imagination could I have painted it better. My first kiss.

You don’t touch her, you don’t kiss her, you don’t look at her like…” “Like what?” he snapped. Like you look at me. I shoved the truth down and locked it away as he shifted closer with cruel eyes.

“You constantly bring up my family’s money as if it’s what truly separates us. Would you like to know the difference between you and I, little troublemaker? You run from your demons. I chase mine.”

“Well, maybe he should be upfront with her. Don Lemon once said, ‘There’s a degree of deception in silence.’”

Countless tender kisses later, his gaze clouded with regret. “I’m sorry I was an asshole, okay?”

“Because I can’t stay away from you. I’m trying, Four, believe me. I try so fucking hard, but you keep pulling me in.”

I didn’t understand my need to protect her, but I was beginning to realize that I was powerless against it.

“Get this through your thick skull, Archer. You. Are. More.”

What I felt for Ever was raw and intrinsic and…addictive.

“Surviving isn’t living, kitten. You’ll spend so much time wishing for tomorrow that you forget about everything else.”

He wasn’t backing down. He needed me. Maybe as much as I needed him.

I couldn’t help but respect her for being grounded in who she was. Four only changed on her terms and offered no apologies. It was part of what made her so goddamn irresistible.

“If you don’t apologize and hold me right now, we’re done.”

Four was the single most fascinating person I’d met in a long time. She was an amalgamation of right and wrong and exactly the girl my mother warned would steal my heart and then dare me to take it back.

“So what do you expect me to do?” “Forgive me so we can move on.” I was lost, without answers, and left with only what was in my heart for survival. “I want to be with you, Four Archer.”

I wasn’t worried. I was drowning. And when you’re dying, it isn’t worry you feel. It’s pure panic.

I was finally into a boy. A very intense, dominating, vengeful, arrogant, manipulative yet loving, and incredibly loyal boy. Not to mention hot as hell. And he was all mine.