1. Josh

Isold my soul to the devil the day I was born, I just didn’t realize it at the time, but now he wants to collect with my signature on the dotted line. It doesn’t matter that the devil in question just so happens to be my father, or that the deal was made to protect my sister. No, the only thing that matters now is that I have no other option than to marry someone that my father approves of. My father, Hugo Peters, esteemed Mayor of the town of Fairfield, and a complete joke of a family man. I hate him, and I know hate is a strong word, but if I could come up with one solitary word for how I feel about the man who raised me, that’s what it would be. Hate.

My childhood was basically a silent war that I was ill-equipped to fight at the time, and worse, I wasn’t the only person I had to protect from the battle. My little sister Madeline is the only one in this world that I truly love, and I would do anything for her. Which doesn’t sound like the burden that it is, but unfortunately, just as I know that fact, my father does too, and he wields it against me often.

The only escape I ever had from him was hockey. From the moment I picked up my first stick and whacked it against my first puck, everything changed. It was my cold solace that eased the burn of the hell I was growing up in. It used to be the one thing I could count on, the one thing that could keep me grounded no matter what was happening, but I haven’t felt at home on the ice in a long time. There was once a time where the game felt fun and easy, where scoring a goal and winning a match meant everything to me, but as of right now, I can’t quite remember when I lost that.

I guess it started when my father realized I didn’t want to follow him into a career in politics. It was a speech I’d heard a thousand times about how his father was in politics, how his grandfather was in politics, and that it was just what Peters’ men were meant for. He doesn’t care about my love for the game, or my aspirations to be in the NHL. No, the only thing he cares about is the fact that I am a disappointment to the family, something he has made more than clear in private, but that doesn’t stop him from singing my false praises in public any chance he gets.

We have never seen eye to eye, not since I was old enough to understand the type of man he truly is, and all I have done since is try and shield my sister from him. A matter that he recently pushed the boundaries of like never before, when he tried to blackmail her into marrying his business associate”s son, Bradley Thorne. Something I quickly rectified as soon as I was aware of it of course. It only took a little digging and some phone calls to expose his cheating on his college football team, and he quickly became unsuitable. Unfortunately though, that wasn’t quite the end of it all.

I knew my father wouldn’t stop. The only time he ever cares about Maddie or me is for reasons that aim to make him look better, and even getting Bradley Thorne out of the picture wouldn’t have been enough to stop him. If I didn’t step in, he would have just put the next suitor in line on the block and pushed my sister towards him. Maddie isn’t like me, she is kind, warm, and innocent. She would never survive the burden of a loveless marriage. So I gave my father an ultimatum, I told him to leave Maddie alone and I would take her place. Of course the bastard made me wait for his answer, no doubt trying to find someone else to take Thorne’s place, but then along came Nova Darkmore.

Captain of my hockey team and overall a giant man-whoring prick, yet somehow to my surprise he managed to fall for my little sister. A fact I am still having trouble trying to swallow, but the even bigger surprise is that despite the history of my father fucking his mother Diana, and basically ruining her life, he actually approves of Nova as a match for Maddie. Apparently being the star of the hockey team is good enough to make him a suitor for her, but not good enough for his only son. So I guess in the end she has won, but I will still pay the price to protect her.

The list of names of suitable future wives he gave me has been burning a hole in my desk for days now, and not just the list and the requirements that come with it, but the name that sits on the very last line of that list.

Hallie Rose Sanders.

My sister”s best friend, a constant in my life since I was eleven years old, and a fiery tinkerbell-sized rocket who pushes me at every turn. I’m not sure what the hell my father was thinking putting her name on there, but now that it is, it’s like I can’t see any other. Hallie and I have a complicated relationship, but it wasn’t always like that. In fact, I used to consider her one of my only friends, I guess in a way I still do, even if I’m not one of hers, but I had no choice but to push her away. I was already stuck in hell, I wasn’t going to drag her down with me. Yet now it might be the only way for me to survive, for me to beat my father at his own games once and for all.

Today is Thanksgiving, and instead of arriving early at my parents” yearly gala, like I know they expect me to, I am pacing my room staring at the list of names in my hand. Fuck my father, fuck him for being who he is and forcing my hand in this way. He knows how much I love Maddie, how I would do anything for her, and now I’ve got to make a decision that will impact my life forever. And not just mine, someone else’s too.

Feeling both stressed and frustrated I storm from my room, move down the hallway, and barge inside my roommate’s door to get his take on things. Daemon Forbes plays on the hockey team with me and became a close friend from the moment we both started at FU. He has his own shitty background to deal with, and though I don’t know all the details, I know he has it far worse than I do. Something I remind myself of as I find him sitting alone on his bed on a day that should be spent with family.

“Oh, please, do come on in,” Daemon drawls, not even looking up from the sketchpad in his hand, as his pencil moves furiously across the page.

I pretty much always find him like this, tucked away and isolated in the solace that is his room, scrawling pictures he never lets anyone see, and avoiding interaction as much as humanly possible. The layout of his room is a mirror image of my own, except Daemon’s walls are lined with overflowing tall, black shelves filled with books and sketch pads. We have both been tainted by the sins of our fathers, but where I let my grief spur me into action, Daemon lets his consume him. It pours out of him in waves, and for the last three years I have been doing everything I can to not let him drown.

Daemon isn’t the type of person that lets people in, but after three years playing on the same hockey team, and living in the same house, he didn’t really have a choice when it came to me. It’s why I’m here now, pacing the one bit of clear space at the foot of his bed as I try to gather my thoughts.

“Fucking archaic bullshit that’s what it is,” I spit, not gaining any more of his attention than I already have. Not that it matters, he has been witness to this particular rant more than once over the last month. “I’m twenty-one, who fucking gets married at twenty-one?”

“You apparently,” Daemon grumbles, eyes laser-focused on whatever is on the page in front of him, his pencil still moving.

I ignore him as I continue. “And Christ, the names on this damn list, so many fucking names,” I hiss, smacking the list in my hand with the other. “Serena Lock, Callie White, Jessica Farmhouse, Lana Cockworth, I mean really? Lana fucking Cockworth? Her name backwards spells anal for Christ’s sake.”

A version of a smile graces Daemon’s mouth, as the edge of his lips curl. “I’d definitely lead with that in your proposal,” he muses, using his finger to blend in whatever he is doing.

“Brianna is on here Daemon, and her friend Georgia, the one always trying to fuck you at parties,” I exclaim, but again his eyes don’t move from his art, not that I begrudge him that, I know how much it helps him. Instead I forget the list for a second and focus on my father instead. “Can you believe he expects me to just pick a wife, like it’s that simple, like I’m just picking what I want to eat for dinner tonight?” I continue pacing back and forth at the end of his bed, wishing the dark hole he has created here for himself could swallow me whole.

Unfortunately I am not that lucky, and as if he has direct access to my thoughts, my phone starts ringing and I spy my father’s name flashing across it. I groan, showing Daemon the screen, who does nothing but frown and sketch even harder, and then I accept the call.

“Father,” I say in a clipped tone, seeing no point in exchanging pleasantries when I am already late.

“Have you picked someone yet?” he asks, no doubt sitting in his office with an after dinner whiskey and making his party guests wait for his big entrance. He doesn’t have to elaborate, he knows I know what he means, he’s probably been rejoicing at the fact he now has control over me after losing it for so many years.

“Yes,” I lie, hoping he doesn’t detect the dishonesty in my words, as my eyes flick back to the list in my hands. “Just narrowing down a few final details,” I add, not bothering to elaborate like I know he wishes I would.

“Well don’t take too long,” he snaps, that temper of his, one of the main things I inherited from him, teetering on the edge of release. “Our position in this society is more fragile than you think, just look at what happened with the Mayor of Black Hallows.”

I frown at the mention of Carter Fitzgerald, the infamous ex Mayor of the town just over from us. “Dad, that Mayor was a psychotic serial killer, I don’t think this is the same kind of thing.”

My father scoffs, “Yes, well, we all have our secrets, Joshua.”

When I flick my gaze to Daemon now he is watching me carefully, no doubt hearing every one of my father’s words in the otherwise silent room. Secrets, that’s what it always boils down to, doesn’t it? Secrets are what keep Daemon in this dark spiral, secrets are what got my father into office, secrets are what ruined my relationship with him, and secrets are how he almost stole my sister”s future from her.

“Just stop wasting my time and pick a suitable wife or I will do it for you,” he adds, interrupting my thoughts, and I don’t respond, turning his words over and over in my head.

It doesn’t matter what I do, those words still bring me to only one solution. My eyes flick down to the list yet again, and just like they have since the moment my father gave it to me, they stop on the name on the very last line. Despite everything, Hallie is the only reasonable choice he put on that list. She is the only one on there who truly sees me, knows me, knows my family, knows what I am up against here, and will hopefully be willing to help me end all of this.

“I understand,” I finally reply in a clipped tone, this time not waiting for a response as I end the call and stare at the name of my future wife.

“It has to be Hallie,” I all but whisper, earning another grunt from Daemon. “I just have to convince her, which should be easy enough, right? We’re friends.” Daemon laughs this time. It’s subtle, but it’s definitely a laugh, and I stare him down. “What? You think she won’t agree?”

Daemon shrugs noncommittally, his pencil paused as he sighs, “She seems nice enough.” That’s it, four words, more than most people would get, yet they make me smile.

“You’re right,” I tell him, folding the list in half and shoving it into my pocket. “The choice is simple, she is the only choice.” None of the other women on this list could ever compare to her, they don’t share the same history as we do, regardless of how many of them I have already fucked, her excluded of course. “Thanks, Forbes, you always know just what to say.” I don’t wait for his response, leaving his room as quickly as I came with only one destination in mind.

Hallie and I might not be close anymore, but I know like me, she would do anything for Maddie. She cares about my sister just as much as I do, and I’m almost certain she isn’t seeing anyone right now because I haven’t seen any guys around her. Not that she ever really has guys around, except for that one prick from high school who used to brag about taking her cherry until I broke his arm in two places and he finally disappeared.

Regardless, Hallie is better than any other wannabe trophy wife looking for their step up the societal ladder. She is the right choice, the sensible choice, the only choice.

I just have to get her to agree first.