Sweet Ruin: A YA Boarding School Romance (Weybridge Academy Book 3)

Along weekend at home was exactly what I’d needed, and when we returned to school on Sunday night, I felt totally recharged for the rest of the semester. At least, as recharged as I could feel when we’d been traveling for hours.

It was late by the time our car pulled up in front of the school, and Anna and Cress were doing their best to stifle yawns. It was after curfew, so there were no other students about, and the school felt oddly empty as we made our way back to the girls’ dorm.

“I’m going to sleep so well tonight,” Anna said as she lugged her two suitcases behind her.

I was tired, but at the same time, I felt wide-awake. I was excited to be back at school, mainly because I couldn’t wait to see Wes again. Last night he’d sent me pictures of him wearing his tuxedo at his family’s gala. He’d looked so incredibly hot. I hadn’t stopped thinking about him ever since.

“Do you think I’d get in trouble if I snuck over to see Wes?” I asked.

“Probably,” Cress replied. “Lisa usually checks students in when they return from weekends away, and you know they’ve been cracking down on curfew since the pranks.”

My shoulders slouched in disappointment. “Yeah, I really don’t want to clean the boys’ bathroom.”

“We could cover for you though,” Anna suggested. “You’d have to be quick, but we could tell her you needed to run back to the car for something.”

“That could work,” I said.

“You’d have to be super quick,” Cress added. “And even then, she might be a hard ass…”

I glanced toward the boys’ dorm. “I’m sure it’ll be fine,” I said with a grin. Right now, seeing Wes felt like it was worth the risk. “I’ll be as quick as I can.”

Cress took my duffel bag for me, and I started over to the boys’ dorm at a jog, taking out my phone to call Wes as I went.

‘Isobel?” He sounded sleepy as he answered, and I had a feeling I’d woken him up. It was close to midnight, but he’d been texting me on the drive back to school, so I’d thought he’d be awake.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“No, I wasn’t asleep,” he said. “What’s up?”

I still wasn’t sure if I believed him. “I just got back to school. I was going to see if you wanted to sneak out front to meet up quickly.”

“You’re back now?”

“Yeah. I’m just coming across the courtyard. But if you’re in bed, we can just see each other tomorrow.”

“No, no. I’ll come down.”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

“Okay, you have to be quick though. The girls are covering for me with Lisa.”

I could hear movement in the background. “I’ll be right there.”

He hung up the phone just as I reached the entrance to the boys’ dorm. I waited in the shadow of the building, pacing as the seconds dragged by and there was still no sign of Wes. I‘d only been a couple of minutes, and already the girls were messaging me.

ANNA: Lisa bought it. You have maybe five minutes. Tops!!!

Cress: Hurry!!

I RELEASED a breath and glanced over at the door. I hoped Wes wasn’t far off because we really didn’t have long. He had his own dorm dad he’d have to sneak past, so there was a chance he might not make it at all.

Another minute went by, and finally the door creaked opened as Wes stepped outside. He was dressed in a pair of checkered pajama bottoms with a dark Henley that stretched across his muscles, and his hair was mussed with sleep. He looked just as hot now as he did in the photo he’d sent of him wearing a tuxedo—maybe better.

A wide smile lit up his features as he spotted me, and he closed the distance between us with long, powerful strides.

He grabbed me up in his arms, and I sank happily into his embrace. We’d only been apart a few days, but it felt like much longer. I was so at ease in his arms and knew this was exactly where I was supposed to be—curfew or not.

“I missed you,” he said.

“Me too. I didn’t want to go another night without seeing you.”

I lifted my lips to his, and he pulled me close, pressing our bodies together as he deepened the kiss. It was filled with passion and yearning; it was the kind of kiss you could lose yourself in. If this was the way Wes kissed me when we’d been parted for a few days, maybe I needed to spend some more time away from him.

“You’re never going away without me again,” he said as we finally separated.

I laughed and slowly pulled back a little so I could look him in the eyes. “I was just thinking the opposite. You’re an extra enthusiastic kisser when we’ve been apart.”

Wes rolled his eyes. “I’m always enthusiastic.”

“I did say extra,” I replied with a smile. ‘How was your weekend?”

“Dull until this moment.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You were at your parents’ party last night. I’m sure that was far from dull.”

“It was the dullest party of my life without you there.”

I laughed and glanced down at my phone. There were several new messages from Cress and Anna. I didn’t need to open them to know they would be telling me to hurry up. I could have stayed out in the courtyard with Wes all night, but I knew I needed to get back or I’d be in trouble.

I lifted my eyes back to Wes. “Cress and Anna are probably getting worried. I should go.”

“Okay, good luck with Lisa. I’ll see you in the morning.”

He leaned down and pressed another kiss to my lips, which I struggled to pull myself away from.

“See you in the morning,” I said before I turned and hurried off in the direction of the girls’ building.

As I barreled through the entrance, I came to a screeching halt. Lisa was waiting for me in the front foyer. She was dressed casually, and her eyebrows were raised as she looked me over.

“Sorry, I had to go back to the car,” I said, trying to calm my puffing breaths.

Cress and Anna were nowhere to be seen, so I was guessing they were already back in their rooms.

“I’ve been told,” she replied, folding her arms as she looked me over. “What did you need to go back to the car for?”

“Uhh…” I paused as I realized I hadn’t actually brought anything with me. Cress had my duffel bag, and my hands were empty. “I went to get my bag, but I forgot to take the car keys.” It was worth a shot.

“You didn’t take a detour via the boys’ dormitory?”

“Um, of course not.”

“Because I just received a call from Adam to say that one of the boys was found sneaking outside.”

I could feel the blood draining from my skin, and I wanted to swear. I felt so stupid. I’d gotten Wes in trouble too.

“Wesley Montfort,” Lisa continued. “I believe you are friends with him?”

I grimaced, knowing there was no way out of this. “I just wanted to see him for five minutes,” I said, the words spewing out of me in a rush. “We haven’t seen each other in days. I—”

Lisa lifted a hand to stop me. I was somewhat grateful because I didn’t think my word vomit was doing me any favors.

“Isobel, you had permission to arrive back at school after curfew tonight on the condition you made your way straight to your rooms, not the boys’ dorm.”

“I know,” I replied, my whole body sinking. “I’m sorry.”

“You’ll attend detention this Friday night, and your privileges to leave school grounds are suspended until next week.”

“But, Lisa—”

She shook her head, cutting me off. “I’m sorry, Isobel, but rules are rules. And with the pranks that have been taking place in the middle of the night recently, we won’t be making any exceptions. I don’t care who your father is.”

I released a breath and slowly nodded. I hadn’t been planning to play the father card. Did she really think I was that entitled? Or was that just the way she expected all students at Weybridge to respond when they were given detention?

I’d never had a detention in my life, but in the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t so bad. At least she wasn’t expecting me to clean the boys’ bathrooms like she’d threatened everyone in the dorm just a few weeks ago.

“Now, off to bed with you.” Her tone was stern and left no room for further discussion. I left quickly before she could reconsider my punishment.

Cress was sitting on the edge of her bed when I arrived. She took one look at me and let out a sigh. “Oh no, you got in trouble, didn’t you?”

“Yeah. Grounded until next week, and detention on Friday.”

“That sucks. I told you to be quick.”

“I was, but Wes took a while to come out.” I blushed. “He got caught too. I should probably check he’s okay.” I pulled out my phone to see he’d already sent me a text.

Wes: So, I might have gotten caught. It was totally worth it though. Want to sneak out again?

I LAUGHED and quickly texted him back.

Me: No!!!! Are you crazy?

Wes: Crazy for you.

Me: Ha, ha. Very funny. I got caught too. I’m grounded till next week and have detention on Friday.

Wes: Same, but I have a meeting with my rowing coach Friday after school, so my detention is Saturday morning. Still worth it.

“YOU LOOK VERY happy for someone who just got detention,” Cress said, noticing my smile as I looked at my phone.

“Wes is so sweet,” I replied. “And his kisses were definitely worthy of detention.”

“That good?”

“I guess what they say about absence making the heart grow fonder is true.”

Cress looked thoughtful and then smiled. “If that’s the case, maybe I should sneak out and find Kaden.”

“Maybe.” I laughed as I started to get ready for bed.

“Oh, man, there’s no way I’m going to be able to sleep now.” Cress sighed.

“Yeah, me neither.”

CRESS and I stayed up late chatting, so it wasn’t all that surprising when Anna burst into our room the following morning and we’d both slept through our alarms.

“You guys aren’t up yet?” Anna asked with surprise. She walked over and threw open the curtain.

“Neither of us could get to sleep,” I said, pushing down a groan as sunlight filtered into the room, while Cress threw her pillow over her face. I must have been truly exhausted because it was rare for me to sleep much past sunrise. It had been a busy weekend though, and the excitement of last night probably hadn’t helped.

Anna didn’t seem to be listening as she came and sat on my bed beside me, pulling out her phone. “Now, don’t freak out, but there’s something you need to see…”

“Okay…” Her voice was serious, and I suddenly felt more awake. “Why do I feel like you’re about to deliver bad news?”

She winced slightly, and her hand seemed to clutch her phone a little tighter. “There’s a picture of Wes at his parents’ charity gala in the society pages.”

“And…?”

She gave me a tense smile before she continued. “And he’s with his ex.”

She turned the phone so I could see the screen. I had to blink my tired eyes several times to be sure I wasn’t imagining it. I was looking at a photo of Wes dressed in his tuxedo, and he was standing next to the most gorgeous girl I’d ever seen. She had long dark hair falling over her shoulders and was wearing a stunning green sparkly dress. Her brown eyes were glancing up at Wes, and he appeared to be laughing at something she’d said. His arm was lightly wrapped around her back, and they looked every bit a happy and glamourous couple.

“Are you sure that’s her?” I asked, swallowing as I tried to calm the nerves building in my stomach.

“Yeah, that’s Sarah,” Cress said. She’d moved off her bed and was peering over my shoulder at Anna’s phone. “But maybe that’s Sawyer with her.” She said it more with hope than confidence.

“No, it’s definitely Wes,” I replied, and Anna nodded in agreement.

I swallowed again. “I know you said not to freak out, Anna, but I’m finding that a little hard right now. They look so…” I paused as I searched for the word that best described how perfect Wes and Sarah looked in the photo. “They look so together.” The word I’d landed on stung my mouth as I said it.

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” Cress said, trying to reassure me. “He wouldn’t have snuck out to see you last night if something was going on with Sarah.”

“And he wouldn’t have been constantly calling and texting you the whole weekend either,” Anna added.

“No,” I agreed. But then my doubts took over, and I started to speculate. “Unless he felt guilty about something…” I placed my head in my hands. This was not the news I wanted to wake up to. Especially not when things with Wes had felt so good before I fell asleep last night.

“I’m sure it’s not that,” Cress said.

I didn’t share her optimism. “Then why didn’t he tell me he saw her?” I asked. “We’ve been in touch all weekend, and we saw each other last night. He could have said something if he wanted to.”

Neither girl had an answer for me.

I tried my best to ignore the churning in my gut as I got ready for school. I looked at myself in the mirror as I put on my makeup and told myself there was no reason to get upset. There was probably nothing to worry about. I trusted Wes completely, and he deserved the benefit of the doubt. But the more I thought about it, the worse my anxiety became. I’d trusted Levi, and that had come back to bite me. Everything had been perfect with Noah, and then something totally unexpected had blown it to pieces. History was not on my side here.

I tried to shake the photo from my mind as Cress and I made our way to breakfast, but my uneasiness rushed right back to me when I saw Wes coming out of the boys’ dorm. His face lit up when he saw me, and he made a beeline for us. But I struggled to form a smile in response. I knew the only way to stop my worrying was to talk to Wes about it. But the thought of that just made me even more nervous.

“Good morning, beautiful,” he said when he reached us.

He went to give me a kiss on the cheek, but I couldn’t seem to contain all the anxiety I’d been bottling up. “Can we talk?”

Wes froze, and his brow puckered as he pulled back to look at me. “Uh, yeah…”

He was clearly confused, which didn’t make this any easier. Was he simply playing dumb, or did he really not know why I was upset?

“Uh, I’ll leave you guys to it,” Cress said before hurrying away. I didn’t blame her for running—if I could have run from this situation, I would have. But there was no avoiding it. I needed to know the truth.

“What’s wrong?” he slowly asked.

“Is there something going on with you and your ex-girlfriend?” I wished I’d sounded more rational. I hadn’t planned to accuse him of anything, but my emotions had gotten the better of me. It was hard not to imagine the worst when every other relationship I’d been in had failed so dramatically.

“No, of course, there’s nothing going on,” Wes said. “Why would you even think that?”

“Because of this.” I pulled out my phone and showed him the picture of him and Sarah that Anna had sent me.

Wes’s frown grew more pronounced as he stared at the picture. He didn’t say anything for a few seconds, but it felt like an age, which really didn’t help my anxiety.

“Well?”

“Sarah was at the gala on Saturday night,” he said, finally looking back at me. “But we barely spoke.”

“Wes, it looks like she was your date.”

“Of course, she wasn’t,” he replied before stepping closer to me and taking my hands in his. “Look, her family works closely with my parents on this charity. She was always going to be there. It would have been rude of me to completely ignore her. And there were photographers doing the rounds all night.”

I stared at him as I allowed his words to sink in. What he was saying made total sense, but I still couldn’t ignore the way he and Sarah were looking at each other in the photo. How happy they seemed. “You don’t still have feelings for her? You don’t want to get back together with her?”

“Isobel, I’m with you. Getting back with Sarah never even crossed my mind.” He clasped my hands a little tighter. “I would never do anything to hurt you,” he said. “You don’t have anything to worry about.”

As I looked into his eyes, I knew he was telling the truth. Wes was too kindhearted, and I honestly couldn’t picture him cheating on me. Even if he did, I couldn’t imagine he would lie about it on top of that.

“Sorry.” I shook my head. “It’s just hard for me not to jump to conclusions. You know I’ve been cheated on before.”

“I know,” he said. “And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I saw Sarah. I just didn’t think to say anything because we barely spoke.”

“What was it like seeing her?” I asked, my voice far quieter than I’d intended. My nerves were obviously still simmering. “Did you feel—”

“I honestly felt nothing,” he said. “She felt like a stranger to me. Being with you has only made me realize how much better we are for each other. Sarah and I were never going to work. I know now that I’d been holding on to the relationship when it had died a long time ago.”

I let him pull me into a hug. If I’d seen Levi over Thanksgiving, I probably would have felt the same. I hated I’d questioned Wes and that I’d so quickly jumped to the wrong conclusion. I knew I could trust him, and yet my gut hadn’t wanted to listen. Still, I was glad we’d talked about it even if I was a little disappointed by the way I’d reacted.

The whole situation made me think about Norma’s prediction for me. She had told me to trust my heart, and while I might not believe in her psychic powers, I did believe she knew what I needed to hear. She’d seen my breakup with Levi and heard all about how things with Noah ended. Maybe she was trying to encourage me to be open to love again. And Wes was the perfect guy. Exactly the kind of guy I needed. I wanted to trust him with all my heart—but why was that so much easier said than done?