Run, Girl (If You Can)

Violet led Noah to the table with her hand in his and called for Nathan to get off the couch and come eat. Her countenance grew icy to hide her mortification once her brother gave her weird looks about the food.

Nathan was a man of his word. He didn't say anything about how her steak was slightly tough and the potato skins weren't as crispy as he could have made them. At least not at loud. The face he pulled after taking the first few bites said it all.

Thankfully, Noah wasn't as picky as that connoisseur. He seemed perfectly satisfied with the meal and made sure to thank Violet for her effort.

As embarrassed as she was, everything was going fine until the dessert was brought out. Her idiotic brother looked horrified at first, realizing what he had done by showing up unannounced, but then he decided to play wingman. Which was even worse.

"Hey Noah," Nathan said casually. "Have you ever had a strawberry chocolate mousse cake before?"

Noah didn't seem to catch onto his suspiciously nonchalant tone as he replied. "Yeah, my dad buys one for my mom from a bakery every year for Valentine's Day."

"They take for-ev-er to make. Because of how long it takes, I had to do it as homework once and bring it back for the teacher to taste rather than make it during my dessert class. I'm surprised Violet chose to make something so time-consuming. I suppose she must be bored having nothing to do other than physical therapy."

His tone was still maddeningly casual but he shot his sister a wink, making her want to bury her face in her hands. Somebody kill her now.

Violet knew that the Singletons always got one of those cakes for Valentine's Day. She had gotten a prized slice once or twice over the years while visiting Noah. He and Logan always used to fight over who got to have the leftovers since their parents typically ate most of it.

It was why she had chosen to make this particular cake. Partly because she already knew Noah liked it and partly because of the romantic connotation. She had hoped he would get it before her nosy brother got involved. Now she wanted to sink into the floor.

Knowing this was a Valentine's cake was bad enough. But Nathan just had to go and tell him how time-consuming it was to make it. Noah's eyes widened slightly as the implications set in.

His girlfriend, who was by no means a baker, had followed a ton of tiny, intricate steps throughout the course of the day to make him a cake he liked. Denying the romance intended in that sort of gesture was impossible.

If she survived the rest of the night, Violet was going to murder her brother.

"Your time was well spent," Noah said lightly. "The cake is delicious."

Nathan seemed smug and shot her a 'thumbs up' under the table, which only made her want to disappear even more than she already did. He would pay for this. But how? There had to be some way she could make him wish he had never intruded upon her evening.

A wicked grin crossed her face for a split second when she thought of the perfect way to make him want to leave. A vintage board game her mother had played as a child accidentally ended up with Violet's things when she moved and she kept forgetting to return it.

When they were younger, she used to make her brothers play it with her all the time and they always hated it. Which made sense, because the game was called Pretty Pretty Princess and involved wearing costume jewelry to win.

Her mother found the whole thing so hilarious that she secretly filmed them once. Oliver came across that old footage when he was a teenager and all of her brothers were so embarrassed that they made a pact to never bring it up again.

Violet hadn't been a part of that pact. If she played her cards right, she could trick Nathan into thinking she wasn't out for revenge.

"Nate, I'm feeling nostalgic," she said simply. "I want to play one of mom's old games. Will you play with us? My favorite brother?"

She added on a thick layer of sisterly charm, knowing it would make him do whatever she wanted. Her brothers were forever competing to be the favorite, which she found ridiculous because she loved all of them.

Nathan fell for it hook, line, and sinker. But Noah knew that gleam in her eye and barely managed to muffle his laughter. Whatever she was planning must be good so he was willing to go along with it.

Violet headed over to the closet where she kept the games and placed it on the table right in front of her brother once the cake was cleared away. An innocent, happy smile lit her face so he was smiling too right up until the moment he saw the name of the game on the box. His expression immediately turned to one of panicked horror.

Pretty Pretty Princess. The bane of his childhood. Back then, he had been too little to even understand what his sister was making him play. Oliver was too but Kaleb had worn the fake jewelry despite his tattered pride because he didn't want to be left out.

"Isn't it funny that this somehow ended up mixed in with my games when I moved?" Violet asked, holding back a grin. "I found it the other day when Noah and I were looking for a card game and I've been dying to play.'

Nathan gulped. "Does it have to be this game?"

She made her expression as sad as possible before meeting his gaze. "I thought it would be fun. I always loved playing this game with you. If you really don't want to…"

Her tragic act worked. He was putty in her hands. "No! It's fine. We can totally play. As long as you don't take any pictures."

Violet made the motion of crossing her heart but there was a catch. She had promised not to take any pictures but that didn't mean Noah couldn't. By the look on her coconspirator's face she could tell that he had caught onto her plan. Vengeance would be sweet.

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