Title: All the Little Secrets
Series: English Prep
Author: S.J. Sylvis
Genre: Mature YA/NA (High School Romance)
Release Date: October 27, 2020
English Prep has always been known for housing the most uppity, privileged rich kids in all of Pike Valley. That is what has been driven into my brain since attending the opposing prep academy in the area since middle school.So, when I am hastily pulled out of Wellington Prep and thrown into English Prep my junior year, it feels like I am being thrown to the wolves.
My plan is to blend in and to remain invisible, so I fly under the radar, staying away from the “in” crowd.
Then, I lock eyes with Ollie Powell.
I learn very quickly that the Powell brothers rule the halls of English Prep in all their prestigious glory. They turn heads with their smug grins and good looks as they parade through the hallways shoulder to shoulder. And although Ollie is the lesser of two evils, he is still the bane of my very existence.
That’s because English Prep isn’t our first run-in.
The first time we met was gritty and dark, shoved deep beneath secrets neither of us want to reveal.
I thought I was being thrown to the wolves the first day I stepped foot in English Prep.
But I was wrong.
There is a much bigger wolf out there, and Ollie might be the only one to slay it in the end.
All the Little Secrets is a standalone, Enemies-to-Lovers High School Romance intended for readers 18+. This book deals with subjects that some may find triggering. (Although this is the second book in the English Prep Series, it IS a standalone!)
Prologue
Ollie
Secrets. They were what drove a wedge in reality. They were the bridge between the past, present, and future. They were everywhere. Everyone had secrets. Some bigger than others, sure, but we all had them.
And she knew my deepest, darkest one.
Piper sat beside me in the back of my brother’s Charger as he reluctantly stepped out and climbed up the side of a drab, shithole of a house to get to Hayley’s bedroom.
I couldn’t even fathom the amount of secrets those two shared. Old best friends turned enemies with enough sexual tension to light this entire fucking town on fire. But Hayley was Christian’s little secret, and no one liked to reveal the truth.
Leaning back in the Charger, my lip lifted as I glanced over at Piper. The interior of the car was dark, the window tint blocking the glow of the moon, almost as if it had disappeared altogether. Small specks of illuminating blue light from the dashboard dotted the side of Piper’s delicate cheek. Her soft features were drawn tight as she stewed in her hatred for me.
“Stop staring at me,” she hissed.
I chuckled, the deep sound reverberating in my throat.
“Are you angry because I’m right or because I’m wrong?”
“I’m angry because you tricked me into thinking my best friend was in the car. You all but kidnapped me from the party!”
A jealous side of me emerged as I thought back to an hour ago when I’d walked into the Wellington Prep party. Piper was too close to one of their own, and it irritated me. Fire fanned over my skin as if she were actually mine. It was the reason I’d revealed my hidden ace in the first place.
I slowly shook my head back and forth in Piper’s direction. “That’s not why you’re angry.”
Her eyes flared to mine. I couldn’t see their color, but I knew they were a jade green, just like the leaves of the evergreen trees that lined the back of English Prep.
She scoffed. “Then please enlighten me as to why I’m angry.”
I answered matter-of-factly, “You’re angry because I know it was you that night.”
Her face didn’t so much as twitch. Her pink lips stayed straight. Her eyelashes didn’t flutter closed. Nothing. Not even a tick of her cheek. And that right there, my friends, proved that I was correct in my assumptions. She knew if she reacted, she’d give away her poker face and crumble.
I leaned in a little closer, watching Christian through the Charger’s window, following after Hayley as she stormed across the street. I breathed in Piper’s soft scent as I dipped my lips down to her ear. “I know your secret, Piper. You aren’t nearly as innocent as you lead people to believe.” She held her breath, not daring to make a move. The heat from her body put the interior of the car at a solid 100 degrees, and it stirred up something unholy inside of me. “But that means you know mine, too.”
Ollie
Secrets. They were what drove a wedge in reality. They were the bridge between the past, present, and future. They were everywhere. Everyone had secrets. Some bigger than others, sure, but we all had them.
And she knew my deepest, darkest one.
Piper sat beside me in the back of my brother’s Charger as he reluctantly stepped out and climbed up the side of a drab, shithole of a house to get to Hayley’s bedroom.
I couldn’t even fathom the amount of secrets those two shared. Old best friends turned enemies with enough sexual tension to light this entire fucking town on fire. But Hayley was Christian’s little secret, and no one liked to reveal the truth.
Leaning back in the Charger, my lip lifted as I glanced over at Piper. The interior of the car was dark, the window tint blocking the glow of the moon, almost as if it had disappeared altogether. Small specks of illuminating blue light from the dashboard dotted the side of Piper’s delicate cheek. Her soft features were drawn tight as she stewed in her hatred for me.
“Stop staring at me,” she hissed.
I chuckled, the deep sound reverberating in my throat.
“Are you angry because I’m right or because I’m wrong?”
“I’m angry because you tricked me into thinking my best friend was in the car. You all but kidnapped me from the party!”
A jealous side of me emerged as I thought back to an hour ago when I’d walked into the Wellington Prep party. Piper was too close to one of their own, and it irritated me. Fire fanned over my skin as if she were actually mine. It was the reason I’d revealed my hidden ace in the first place.
I slowly shook my head back and forth in Piper’s direction. “That’s not why you’re angry.”
Her eyes flared to mine. I couldn’t see their color, but I knew they were a jade green, just like the leaves of the evergreen trees that lined the back of English Prep.
She scoffed. “Then please enlighten me as to why I’m angry.”
I answered matter-of-factly, “You’re angry because I know it was you that night.”
Her face didn’t so much as twitch. Her pink lips stayed straight. Her eyelashes didn’t flutter closed. Nothing. Not even a tick of her cheek. And that right there, my friends, proved that I was correct in my assumptions. She knew if she reacted, she’d give away her poker face and crumble.
I leaned in a little closer, watching Christian through the Charger’s window, following after Hayley as she stormed across the street. I breathed in Piper’s soft scent as I dipped my lips down to her ear. “I know your secret, Piper. You aren’t nearly as innocent as you lead people to believe.” She held her breath, not daring to make a move. The heat from her body put the interior of the car at a solid 100 degrees, and it stirred up something unholy inside of me. “But that means you know mine, too.”
S.J. Sylvis is a lover of reading and writing and just recently graduated with her graduate degree focusing on English and Creative Writing (the only fun parts were the writing classes). Besides writing, S.J. Sylvis loves coffee (specifically caramel iced coffee, but really, any coffee will do), binge-watching Gilmore Girls, going to the beach and spending time with her family! She currently lives in North Carolina but is often moving as her husband is in the United States Marine Corps and they go where the military sends them!
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