Deceit (Gallows Hill #1)

6. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Asher

I ’m sleeping, or at least trying to, but some annoying fuck keeps pounding on the door. Finally, having enough of it I drag myself out of bed, hopping over the passed out girl beside me before I open the door. I expect it to be Liam, he’s about the only obnoxious fucker out there that would have the balls to bang on my door so early in the morning.

To my surprise, it isn’t my best friend but instead, my uncle. He looks down at me, sneering as he looks away.

“Christ. Can you at least have the decency to get dressed before you open the door?”

“Why should I care? You’re entering my space.” I shrug as I leave the door open, strolling back inside unapologetically naked, before I jump over the girl beside me and land on the bed.

She rolls over sleepily, looking up at me like I’m her whole fucking world when she notices we have company. Glancing up at him, she pales as she scrambles to cover herself.

“C-coach Ronan! Sorry, I was just going,” she says, wrapping herself up in my blanket as she quickly grabs her discarded dress and stripper heels before scurrying out of the room.

Ronan shakes his head at me in what looks like disappointment. Then again, I think that’s just his face. He’s disappointed in most shit nowadays.

“Dude, you’re engaged now. You can’t be doing this shit,” Ronan chastises.

I choke out a laugh as I shake my head and throw my arms over my head.

“I can do whatever the fuck I want, and we both know that.”

He levels me with an unimpressed look.

“Within reason, Asher. Your dad is not going to like it if he hears you’re publicly making a fool out of your fiancée, out of your arrangement. You have to be more discreet.”

I roll my eyes, even if he has a point. Father doesn’t care what I do, just like I don’t give a fuck what he does. What he does care about is power and perception, if I threaten either of those for him… maybe Ronan has a very good point. I just wish I had it in me to care.

“Put some fucking underwear on at least,” Ronan grumbles as he looks down at me, shaking his head before rifling through my drawers.

He grabs a pair of boxers and throws them at me before looking out the window. I roll my eyes but slip them on.

“There, happy?” I ask, as I lean back against my bed.

“Hardly,” he says flatly, as he sits in one of the recliners across from me.

I snort at that. We have the same bleak and dark sense of humor about life and the future. He’s more like a brother than an uncle to me and it’s not just because we are only ten years apart. We both hold a deep resentment for our last name and what it means to be a Putnam, the responsibilities we are bound to from birth. Though we know there’s no way out of it but through it, it’s nice to bitch about it with someone who gets it.

“So, what’s your fiancée like?” Ronan asks after a minute or so.

I scrunch up my face before I shrug.

“She’s hot. Seems a bit too prudish, but I’m sure I can fuck it out of her one day. Definitely not who I would have chosen.”

Ronan makes a face, before looking towards the wall and shaking his head before looking back at me.

“Who would you have chosen?” he asks.

“Does it matter? We both know I don’t get jack shit say in all of this.”

He shrugs as I mull over his question. No one comes to mind, honestly. There are plenty who come to mind under the hell fucking no category. My phone chimes beside my pillow and I unlock it to see it’s the president of the hell fucking no club.

Bridgette Brenton is the most annoying fuck I’ve ever dealt with. I took her virginity about three years ago and she still chases after me like a bitch in heat. I swear to god, I could tell the woman to jump into a lake of fire and she would do it, gladly. Sometimes I feel something close to empathy for her. She truly believes that one day I’ll wake up and realize I’ve always loved her, when the truth is, I can hardly stand her. The only reason I keep her on the rotation is because she sucks dick like a goddamn porn star.

She does come in handy for things other girls wouldn’t be willing to do as well, like greet my fiancé butt ass naked while getting fucked on her bed. I smirk to myself when I think about the shocked look on the Princess’ face. I could have sworn I saw a touch of arousal in those crazy deep green eyes, but it was probably wishful thinking.

We don’t get lucky enough to marry women that will meet all of our needs. We get matched with the respectable kind, the ones who will produce as many heirs as we want and will stay silent all their lives. Looks like Henry Parris did a good job of providing that, considering the Princess seems about as subservient as they come. Probably what comes from being hidden away from our world for the last sixteen years.

Ronan is the only member of an Elder family that has made it unscathed thus far. He was engaged when he graduated from Gallows Hill like every man typically is, but he was able to slither his way out of it.

Lucky fucker.

Unfortunately for me, they decided I needed to be betrothed earlier than most. Usually arrangements aren’t even made until after graduation, and most of the time you get a little say in who, at least a few top choices. Not me though.

“I’ve heard she’s a nice girl,” Ronan says, assumingly talking about the Princess again.

“I’m sure she is. Gonna suck for her when she figures out I’m not a nice guy.”

“You sure she doesn’t already know that?” Ronan asks with a dubious look.

I grin at him. “If she doesn’t now, she will soon.”

It’s Saturday morning and I’m sitting on the cement steps of the courtyard with Liam and some especially clingy women when a fuming blonde tornado comes tearing up to me.

“What the hell is this!” she seethes as she throws a crumpled up piece of paper at my head.

I don’t flinch, allowing it to hit me and roll to the floor. I don’t need to look to know what it is.

“Looks like a note,” I draw out casually.

Smoke practically billows out of her ears, as her fists clench at her sides and her arms shake. I’ve got to say, I’m a little surprised. Maybe she isn’t as subservient as I assumed she was. I have to admit, this makes things a lot more fun.

Margret Bartlett comes up beside her, pulling her arm slightly like she’s trying to get her to back down. Margret may be a rebel by her mother’s standards for preferring the company of women, but she knows better than to cross me. Looks like she’s trying to convince her new bestie of the same ideals. My fiancé doesn’t appear to be in a wavering mood, though.

Liam reaches down, the little shit unable to help himself from stirring the pot, as he un-wrinkles it and begins reading it out loud.

“To my dearest fiancée, I hope your dreams are as wet as your pillow.”

He grins before looking at me, his eyes searching mine as he shakes his head.

“You didn’t.”

I shrug casually, doing my best to bite back a smile.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

A cackle erupts from him as he jumps to his feet, his laughter escalating until he’s practically in tears. The princess sends him a fierce look that only quiets him down some, before one of the girls besides me asks, “What did he do?”

I turn to look at Skyla, curious if she has the guts to admit what she woke up to this morning. Of course she doesn’t though. Too proud with that iron clenched jaw, not allowing a single weakness to show.

Alright, I’ll do the honors for her.

“I left her a little….morning delight on her pillow this morning.”

It takes the slow women around me several seconds before realization hits them. They all begin hysterically laughing and Liam starts up once again. Swear to god, the guy is like a goddamn hyena.

My eyes don’t leave the princess as the laughter grows, her hardened exterior softening with each passing second. A tear even slips out of the corner of her eye, before she discreetly banishes it away. Damn, she’s not nearly as tough as I was anticipating. That’s a shame for her. She won’t last two months at Gallows Hill. Then again, maybe that could work in my favor.

With a withering glance– that I’ll be honest, would shrivel most men’s balls right up– her and Margret turn on their heels as they head back to the dorms. No doubt, they are hell bent on getting out of here before too many people join in. Guess she’ll probably be upset when she finds out that the picture of the note, the cum soaked pillow and her drooling face was mass sent to every student enrolled.

Oops.