Novels by Westley Dans

Garrett was putty in Beau’s hand. That was Toby’s thought as he watched his stepbrother and best friend chat with each other from across the cafeteria. The two sat alone, but it didn’t feel as if nobody wanted to join them. It was as if the auburn-haired enigma was somehow warding outsiders off with his presence alone. The Irons heir knew he wouldn’t be spending much time around Garrett during Trials season, but there was a sort of possessiveness that sprout up whenever he went to hang with somebody else. He was the first real friend Toby’s made in Sheffield. “Stepbrother, huh? Still?” Rhys said from beside him, gazing at him with eager eyes. Toby frowned. “What?” “He’s still your stepbrother, right? Is the mother around?” “Unfortunately, yeah.” “Seriously,” Arthur stuck a fork into his mashed potatoes as his lips curled up in amusement. “Daddy Irons hasn’t gotten rid of her, yet? My pops cycles through his wives like cigarettes, I’d h

Chapter 8It was right before dinner when Toby summoned the courage to face his father with the news. It was strange how he hadn’t already heard of it given the hold he and the other four families had on the town. Wherever Beau had come back from, it must have been on the same caliber as Legacy. A seemingly impossible thought, but now wasn’t the time to rule anything out.But how would his father react?Despite being his stepson, Toby knew there was no love lost between the two when Beau was sent away. He just became another stain on Emerson’s front windscreen that he needed to wipe off. Having it come back would definitely cause problems.Toby trudged into the dining room to spot his father already seated at the head of the long table. The man looked exhausted. His hair was in place and his suit, untucked and unbuttoned, was without any crinkles, but it was the posture that gave it away. It wasn’t unusual to his d

Chapter 7 “You’re not kidding!? That was him!?” Garrett, sitting beside Toby as the latter drove, exclaimed in shock. The Irons heir was dropping his best friend back home after school when he was asked about the mysterious new student. Toby nodded stiffly. “Yes.” Relaying his crooked past with his stepbrother always succeeded in dampening his mood, bring back old emotions he thought he was finally starting to get over. Beau wasn’t the only one to lose sight of the plot those five years ago. And the earlier confrontation with the long-lost fire-starter seemed to send his mind careening back into that dark place again. Garrett exhaled, still stunned. “Well, no wonder he hates your ass. You got him locked up. Not in jail, but is a mental hospital any different?” “I don’t know where he came from. Honestly, it doesn’t feel like much time has passed at all. It feels like yesterday he burned down the manor.”

Chapter 6Seven Years Ago“You have a phone on you?”Beau snapped out of his daze, stiffening straight up as he gaped confusedly at his stepbrother across the kitchen island, who was busy eating his breakfast of scrambled eggs and ham. A couple of weeks since he and his mother got here and that hate in that glare had yet to fade even the slightest bit.“Uh… what?” Beau blinked.Toby’s eyes narrowed all the more. “I said do you have a phone on you?”“Y-Yeah, I think-”The brunette cut him off with a sneer. “Then take a picture. It’ll last longer.”Beau gulped, red tinting across his nose in embarrassment. He hadn’t even realized he was staring. “O-Oh, I’m sorry. I wasn’t- I was just- I…”His

Something was off today.It was an uneventful school day, or it would have been if Toby hadn’t sensed the shift among his classmates. It wasn’t usual for him to tune into the utterings of the lower branches. Rumors devised to elevate their statuses while tarnishing another’s reputation. However, the whispers and murmurs have been getting to him all day.The talk of a new student.Even Garrett prattled on about the kid, having just met him before the start of the school day. He got it out of him after lunch period.“As far as first impressions go,” Garrett spoke, “he’s going in with the right head. Cautious but somewhat amicable. A bit standoffish, but when has that ever been a bad trait to have in Hadleigh?”Toby raised an eyebrow. “He can take care of himself?”The newbie was going to need to be able to. Especially since he was entering directly into senior year. There were so many

Toby shielded his eyes as he looked upward while he and his sister walked toward Hadleigh High. The weather was so bright, he was almost disappointed what was planned for the day wouldn’t happen under ominous rainclouds. Despite the sun shining luminously above them, it wasn’t too hot. If anything, the atmosphere was just clement.“Oh god,” Maisie’s eyes widened in realization. “It’s that time of the year again?”Toby rolled his eyes. “You’re complaining about it? You never stay.”“But my friends do. Do you know how obsessed they are with you and your boys? Penny was even thinking about asking Rhys out. Rhys! That boy may be a knockout, but he gives me vibes that he’d rather knock you out while you least expected it.”“He’s not that bad.”“Of course, you would say that. You’re definitely worse. And stop staring at the sun. If y