The Man I Shouldnt Want A Game of Seduction and Lies

Samantha

My phone rings a few feet away, on my bed, and I freeze.

There's only one contact I've assigned the creepy ringtone to, and it immediately gives me the appropriate reaction the person behind the number deserves: a pounding heart, shortness of breath, and a lot of gut-wrenching nausea.

The phone is buried under several financial management textbooks, and I reach for it with a shaky hand. But before I can read the message, there's a knock at the door.

"Ready or not, here I come."

I grab the phone and stuff it into the side pocket of my leggings just as the door bursts open, and my best friend, Selena, saunters in, her fluffy pink robe flowing behind her, her hair pulled back in a towel. Even in that outfit, she's stunning.

She stops in her tracks when her gaze lands on me, wide-eyed. "Samantha Osborn, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

I take a deep breath to steady myself and shrug, not trusting my voice.

Selena leans her head toward the open door and calls out, "Jake."

Great, now I really need to make sure my poker face is on point.

It's hard to fool just one best friend, but both of them together? It'll take a minor miracle.

Jake, our third roommate, joins us. He looks at me sideways and raises his eyebrows. "Did anyone die?"

As soon as I turned eighteen, I bought a house and asked my two best friends if they wanted to move in with me for college. It's nothing like the million-dollar mansions we grew up in, but it's big enough to accommodate a large family. Thankfully, my parents have given me a sizable allowance since I was a teenager, and I actually listened to my sister and saved as much as I could so I could buy a house when I was old enough and escape my parents' oppression.

Selena punches him in the arm. "No one died, bitter boy." She leans toward me and whispers, "Right?"

I shake my head. "No one died, no."

At least, I hope not.

Jake points to the bed and then back at me. "Why the hell are you sitting here looking like that, doing this?"

I guess that's why he means I look a little disheveled, or at least I'm sure I don't look my best. I haven't even showered or brushed my hair to make myself look more human.

And these are the schoolwork scattered around me, on my wrinkled comforter.

I glance at the clock on my bookshelf. "I still have time. We don't have to leave for another two and a half hours."

Selena sighs as if I just confessed that I'd rather hang the toilet paper roll underneath. "The makeup artists and hairstylists will be here in half an hour."

I frown. "Huh?"

"Didn't your mom tell you she'd hired a crew for us? There'll be photographers at the party."

I shake my head to indicate I had no idea and because I can't, and don't want to, deal with this right now. None of that.

I'm not a masochist, so being locked in a room with a group of people I generally don't care about feels like torture. It's almost impossible to feel anything but fear, especially after receiving a text from Freddy. He's sure to try to ruin my life even more than he already has.

"You're almost there, Samantha. Next year you'll finish school and you'll finally be able to leave here to work abroad."

Jake's voice pulls me out of my thoughts, and I catch the end of whatever he's saying. "Well, you only turn twenty-one once, and we all know that public image is one of our parents' priorities."

"Besides making more money than we'll ever know what to do with," Selena adds.