Stealing His White Rose

Dash cycled through girlfriends like it was a sport.

I forced myself to swallow the bitter taste in my mouth, pasting on a flawless smile to greet every single one of them.

Until my twenty-second birthday. I waited the entire day. Dash never showed up.

I blew out the candles and made a silent vow: I was done loving him.

Just as the night was ending, a familiar silhouette stepped into view.

It was Pierce. Dash's best friend.

"Dash got tied up," he said. "He asked me to drop off your present."

He let out a low chuckle, his long fingers casually flipping a small velvet box. He took a deliberate step forward, his tall frame eating up the space between us. His dark eyes locked onto mine.

"Hazel, chasing a guy who never looks back has to be exhausting, right? Let's change the rules of the game. Be my girl."

Chapter 1

I stared at Pierce, caught off guard.

When exactly had he figured out I had feelings for Dash? I thought my cover was bulletproof. I never let a single trace of jealousy slip when I was around Dash.

"Pierce, I have no idea what you're talking about."

He pressed his lips together, clearly smiling. Yet, the tight line of his jaw betrayed a faint, barely noticeable trace of tension.

"Let me try that again, then," he said. "Hazel, I like you. I'm asking if you'd give me a shot. Let me take you out."

But he was Dash's best friend. The first time I met Dash when I was five, Pierce had been standing right next to him. Technically speaking, I had known Pierce for seventeen years too.

I stared at his face, the silent wish I had made over my birthday candles suddenly flashing through my mind.

Pierce let out a low laugh under my intense scrutiny. "Why are you looking at me like that? Thinking I'm just adding to your problems?"

I shook my head. Not a problem, just unexpected.

Pierce wasn't like Dash. In all the years I'd known him, I couldn't recall him ever dating anyone. There was even a brief period where I actually saw him as a rival for Dash's attention. Dash, on the other hand, had an endless revolving door of women.

At the thought of that, my stomach churned like I had just swallowed a handful of crushed glass.

I took a deep breath, meeting his gaze head-on. "Funny timing. I actually wished for a boyfriend tonight, and here you are, dropping right onto my doorstep," I said. "Pierce, the universe must have sent you."

"Guess I shouldn't fight fate. Let's do it. Let's date."

Pierce froze, as if he hadn't actually expected me to say yes. He studied my face for a long moment before a genuine smile broke across his features.

He turned, reaching into his car to pull out a beautifully wrapped gift box, holding it out to me.

"This one is for my girlfriend."

I opened it right there in front of him. Inside rested a necklace encrusted with crushed diamonds. It practically screamed expensive.

"Isn't this a bit too much?" I knew his family was loaded, but his past birthday gifts had always been on par with whatever Dash gave me. And I'd always return the favor with something equally priced for his birthday.

Pierce stepped closer, his hand coming up to gently ruffle the top of my hair. "For you? It's nothing."

As his tall frame closed the distance, his scent instantly enveloped me. Unlike Dash's flashy, loud cologne, his scent carried an aggressive, icy edgelike bitter lemon and cedarwood poured over crushed ice.

I subtly stepped back, putting a little distance between us. I was just trying to figure out how to politely hand the gift back when Pierce's phone started buzzing.

"Pierce, you drop off the gift yet?" The night was dead quiet, making Dash's voice bleed clearly through the receiver. It was accompanied by the unmistakable, high-pitched giggle of a girl right next to him.

"Yeah. It's delivered." Pierce kept his eyes locked dead on mine as he spoke.

My fingers subconsciously gripped the edge of my coat pocket, digging in hard.

I forced my gaze away, but my ears remained dialed into the call.

"Good. I tried calling Hazel earlier and she didn't pick up. Thought she might be pissed at me."

Pierce let out a low chuckle. "She's not. She just went down to take out the trash and left her phone."

"Makes sense. She's too soft anyway, never gets mad at me." Dash paused. "Wait a second, how do you know she doesn't have her phone?"

"Is she right there with you? Put her on."

My head snapped back around, terrified Pierce was actually going to hand the phone over. I had just agreed to be his girlfriend. Talking to Dash right this second? The whole thing felt suffocatingly awkward.

Instead, Pierce turned slightly away, his voice dropping an octave. "She can't come to the phone right now. Whatever you need to say, just tell me. I'll pass it along."

"Then tell her happy birthday, and tell her to actually get a boyfriend this year. Every time I drag her out to eat, I always have to waste breath explaining she's not my girl just so people don't get the wrong idea."

Dash's teasing voice slapped across my face like a physical blow.

I clenched my fists, my nails digging so deeply into my palms that a sharp, stinging pain shot through my hands.

Pierce lowered his voice even further, letting out a dark, quiet laugh. "You won't have to worry about that anymore."

Chapter 2

Dead silence choked the line for two agonizing seconds, and when Dash finally spoke, his voice was cold as ice. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? She's dating?"

Pierce stepped closer, his tall frame shielding me with overwhelming possessiveness. His free hand powerfully engulfed mine. I tried to yank it back, but he aggressively spread his fingers, locking ours together in a vice grip. He lowered his head, his scorching breath brushing against the shell of my ear.

"Yeah. We're together. She's my girl now. If you don't have anything else, I'm hanging up."

He ended the call, but his grip on my hand didn't loosen a fraction of an inch.

"Got plans tomorrow?"

I stared a hole into the pavement and mumbled a quick no.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow, then. It's freezing out here. Go on up."

I gave a stiff nod.

The second he let go, I practically bolted toward the building entrance.

Pierce called out from behind me. "Hazel. You're not going to back out on me, are you?"

My boots skidded to a halt on the concrete, but I didn't dare turn around.

"I won't."

"Good. Because if you try, I'm going to make myself real hard to shake."

Heat exploded across my cheeks.

I marched straight into the elevator without a single backward glance.

The minute I stepped inside my apartment, my phone screen lit up. Missed calls from Dash. And a wall of texts.

[Happy birthday, Hazel.]

[I got caught up with stuff tonight. Pierce was passing through your area on a business trip, so I had him drop the gift off.]

[You and him are together?]

[Since when?]

[Why didn't you tell me?]

[I never even see you two talk. How the hell did you end up dating?]

[Did he pressure you into it and you just didn't know how to say no? Don't worry, I'll go talk to him for you.]

I stared at the messages.

My throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton, my stomach churning. The sick thrill of revenge, the heavy guilt toward Pierce, and the resentment of seven wasted years tangled together, tearing at my nerves.

After staring at the screen until my eyes burned, I typed out a single word: [Yeah.]

A voice call from Dash popped up almost instantly.

My thumb hit 'Decline' without hesitation.

Another text rolled in.

[Hazel, are you sure you thought this through?]

I had.

I was done being in love with him.

Another bubble popped up.

[Do you even like him?]

I didn't know.

The Pierce I knew always carried a faint, icy detachment at parties. Yet that god-tier face and untouchable aura constantly drew women to him like moths to a flame.

He was the one who confessed tonight.

My fingertips curled inward on their own, my breathing catching in my throat.

Now that the adrenaline was fading, agreeing to be his girlfriend felt like a reckless leap.

But maybe Pierce wasn't a bad choice after all.

Dash, impatient for a reply, called again. My thumb slipped, accidentally accepting the call.

"Hazel, are you seriously with Pierce?"

His voice was laced with a raw, frantic edge.

So he could panic too?

I let out a low, "Mm-hmm."

A harsh curse ripped through the speaker.

"He forced you into this, didn't he? Motherfucker knows you're off-limits and he still makes a move! Hazel, you don't have to be scared of him. I'll go talk to him"

I cut him off dead in his tracks.

"I'm not scared of him. He said he likes me, so I said yes."

And you never once said you liked me.

So what exactly gives you the right to be pissed off?

Dash's furious rant cut off abruptly. A loud crash followed immediatelythe sharp sound of a glass violently shattering against a wall pierced through the receiver. Next to him, a woman shrieked in terror, frantically demanding to know what the hell he was doing.

In an instant, the tangled knot of emotions in my chest just vanished.

Dash belonged to every woman in the world. But he would never belong to me. I should have seen that years ago.

My eyes dropped to the diamond necklace Pierce had given me.

"I thought you'd be happy for me, Dash like a good older brother." I kept my voice dangerously quiet.

I used to just call him Dash. He'd always give me grief about it, calling me disrespectful. He'd complain about how I treated Pierce with so much respect but never gave him the same courtesy.

Yet now that I had finally put him firmly in that 'brother' zone, he was losing his damn mind.

Chapter 3

The harsh, grating sound of a chair being shoved aside blasted through the receiver. Dash's breathing was erratic, his voice pulled tight as a snapping string.

"Hazel, wait for me. I'm heading back right now. We'll talk face-to-face."

The line went dead.

A second later, a text from Pierce popped up on my screen.

[Hazel, if Dash comes back looking for you, don't cave, okay?]

[At least give me a week. Save me some face here.]

I could practically see the look on his face as he typed thata mix of helpless defeat and that faint, indulgent softness he always carried. A laugh slipped past my lips before I could stop it. I quickly typed back a simple: [Deal.]

The next morning, a little past nine, Pierce called to check if I was awake.

My brain was still foggy. "What's up, Pierce?"

A soft, low chuckle rumbled through the speaker. "Slept right through it and forgot, huh?"

The memory of agreeing to go out with him slammed into me. I bolted upright in bed.

"Ah, I didn't forget! I'm getting up right now."

His laugh deepened. "It's fine, no rush. Just let me know when you're ready."

I hung up, my heart hammering wildly against my ribs. I buried my face in my hands, a wave of awkward regret washing over me. Every single time I had hung out with Pierce before, Dash had always been right there with us.

Oh, right. Dash. He said he was coming back to find me today.

The more I thought about it, the more tangled my nerves got. I had no idea what kind of trip he was on, losing his mind the second he heard Pierce and I were together.

He didn't even like me. Why did he suddenly give a damn who I was dating? I had literally heard another woman's voice right next to him on the phone last night.

I took a deep breath, shoving those thoughts down. I pulled up Dash's contact and toggled his notifications to 'Do Not Disturb', forcing myself to block him out.

Since I had already agreed to give Pierce a shot, I needed to actually focus on him.

By the time I threw on my clothes and headed downstairs, Pierce's car was already parked out front.

His tall, broad-shouldered frame leaned casually against the door of a black SUV. The tailored cashmere coat perfectly highlighted his imposing build. The moment his dark, untouchable gaze locked onto me, the ice melted. He closed the distance with long strides, powerfully invading my personal space.

"Sorry, Pierce," I said. "I overslept."

He gave a brief nod. "So, how are you planning to make it up to me?"

That caught me off guard. I froze. "Uh I buy you lunch?"

A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth as he reached out, taking my hand. "Sure. But I'd rather you agree to a different condition."

I had no idea what he was going to ask for, but showing up late to our very first date was definitely bad form. I braced myself.

"Alright, name it. As long as it's something I can actually do."

"Change the way you say my name. Stop sounding so damn polite like we're just friends."

"Huh? How am I supposed to say it?"

"Just Pierce. But say it like I belong to you." He lowered his gaze, watching my face. The raw anticipation in his eyes was impossible to miss.

I turned his name over in my head. But right as it hit the tip of my tongue, it felt scorching hot.

"P-Pierce." My voice was a barely-there whisper.

But he caught it. The smirk on his lips deepened into something intensely satisfied. "Yeah," he answered, his voice dropping low. "I'm right here."

Boyfriend title aside, the sheer lethality of his smile was almost unfair. And knowing that smile was strictly meant for me? The heat rushed straight to my cheeks.

I quickly changed the subject to hide the flush creeping up my neck. "Let's go eat. I'm starving."

Pierce didn't say another word. He simply reached out and took my hand. He really seemed to have a thing for lacing his fingers tight with mine. It was the exact same way he had gripped my hand last night when I agreed to date him.

My skin buzzed under his touch. I definitely wasn't used to this kind of heat.

Chapter 4

After lunch, Pierce dragged me to an art exhibition.

"Pierce, aren't you here on a business trip? If work is slammed, we can skip the gallery. You should head back."

His family had been pushing him to take over the family empire, but he insisted on building his own startup before hitting thirty. Whenever he actually showed up to parties in the past, he'd stay for barely a minute before bolting. He'd spend the entire time glued to his phone, firing off emails and taking calls. In my head, he was the definition of a workaholic CEO running on fumes.

Yet during lunch today, he hadn't touched his phone once. And now he was taking me to an art show. He just casually brushed it off, claiming he'd cleared his entire workload last night. He said his time today belonged entirely to me.

I forced down the burning heat spreading across my cheeks, clearing my throat to keep my voice level. "Pierce, I'm not a kid. You don't have to babysit me."

"Oh. Then I'm the kid. I need you to babysit me."

The fire in my cheeks flared, making my every breath feel scorching hot.

On the way to the gallery, Dash's name lit up my phone. My thumb hovered over the screen.

Pierce shot a quick glance at the dashboard. "Answer it. It might be an emergency."

I thought about it for a second before letting my hand drop. "What emergency could he possibly have?"

A second later, Pierce's phone started buzzing. It was Dash.

Pierce turned to look at me. "Do I take this?"

I snapped my gaze out the window. "Do whatever you want. You don't need my permission."

"Then I'm ignoring it too. He's been blowing up my phone since last night."

So Dash hadn't just been harassing me. "He's probably just wasted. He gets obnoxious when he drinks," I muttered under my breath.

Pierce filed that away instantly. "I'm a great drunk. I just pass out quietly. Though, most of the time, I don't touch the stuff."

It was a completely factual statement, but it felt incredibly weird. Was he seriously competing with Dash over who was a better drunk? Why did that even matter?

Dash's calls kept coming, back to back. I finally just flipped my phone into airplane mode.

By the time we finished the gallery tour and headed back, the sky was practically pitch black. Pierce pulled up to my building and parked the car. I unbuckled my seatbelt, ready to say goodnight and head upstairs.

Click. The locks engaged.

I whipped my head around in shock. In the confined space of the car, the dim ambient light carved out the aggressively sharp lines of his jaw. Pierce turned his head, his deep, ink-black eyes locking onto me with the unfiltered intensity of a predator staring down its prey.

"Uh, so, I'm home. I'm gonna head up."

Pierce blinked slowly. "Five more minutes. Is that okay?"

Fine. Five minutes. I could sit here for five more minutes. I sat up perfectly straight, waiting for the clock to run out.

Pierce reached out and flicked on the stereo. Okay, music was good.

Sitting in absolute silence for five minutes would be pure torture. The track he picked had a great intro. I might have actually enjoyed it if his scorching gaze wasn't burning a hole right through me.

While my brain scrambled for something to focus on, Pierce suddenly released his seatbelt. Click.

The sound was deafening. My muscles locked up. That familiar scent of icy cedarwood pushed closer, swallowing the air between us.

Pierce leaned in, his massive hand clamping down hard over my wrist. His rough, burning fingertips dragged agonizingly slow across my palm, tracing a dangerous path. Pure electricity shot through my veins. My spine went rigid, stripping away every ounce of my fight.

"Hazel. I want to kiss you." His voice was raw gravel, dripping with lethal temptation.

An explosion went off in my brain, wiping everything blank.

When Pierce finally pulled back, the song had just faded out. Five minutes. Minus the forty-second intro.

He had devoured my mouth for exactly four minutes and twenty seconds. I dragged in desperate lungfuls of air, but my heart was violently slamming against my ribs.

Chapter 5

Pierce's dark gaze stayed locked onto me, heavy and unblinking. I was too terrified to even lift my head to meet it.

"Hazel, thank you for saying yes to being my girl. Today was the best day I've ever had."

"Mm," I managed to squeak out.

"From now on, whenever we're together it'll be just like this. You can hit the brakes whenever you want." Pierce's voice dropped into a rough, low murmur.

My mind instantly flashed back to a few minutes ago. When he had leaned in, trapping me against the seat until our breaths physically tangled together. The tip of his nose had barely grazed my cheek as he whispered in that exact same lethal tone right against my ear, "I've been thinking about devouring your mouth since the second I saw you this morning. So if you want me to back off, tell me to stop right now." I had squeezed my eyes shut, every muscle locked tight, until the burning heat of his lips finally crashed against mine.

When I didn't push him away, Pierce instantly snapped. Like a beast shattering its chains, every ounce of his previous restraint vanished.

His massive hand clamped down on the back of my head, and his scorching tongue pushed past my lips with a ruthless, destructive hunger. The oxygen was sucked from my brain. My bones turned to water, leaving me limp against his chest, entirely at the mercy of his crushing rhythm.

This time, I couldn't even force a sound out of my throat. I just let Pierce's gravelly voice wash over me.

"But selfishly I hope you keep acting exactly like you did tonight. Never hit the brakes. Never tell me no."

Pierce kept my fingers locked tightly in his all the way up to my floor. I didn't say a single word the entire ride up.

But the second the elevator doors slid open, Dash was right there, leaning heavily against the wall outside my apartment. A small pile of crushed cigarette butts littered the floor around his boots. He must have been waiting out here for hours.

I stared at him, my boots rooted to the floor. When he said he was coming back, I assumed it was just empty talk. Dash looked like he hadn't slept a wink. The exhaustion cut deep lines into his usually flawless face.

The moment his bloodshot eyes dropped down to our interlocked hands, his expression blackened instantly.

"Hazel. Come here."

If this were the old me, I would have sprinted to his side the second I saw him waiting for me alone. I would have shoved down the massive butterflies in my stomach and eagerly asked what brought him here.

But tonight, my boots stayed glued to the floor tiles. I didn't move an inch. I didn't make a sound.

I didn't want to go to him. I had blown out those candles. I was done being in love with him.

And I had already given my word to Pierce. I genuinely didn't give a damn why Dash had dragged himself all the way here.

Dash's chest heaved. Seeing me stand there like a statue, a raw flash of panic ripped through his bloodshot eyes. He ground his teeth together, thrusting his hand out toward me. "Hazel, stop messing around. Get over here right now."

Pierce smoothly stepped in front of me, cutting off Dash's line of sight. "Dash. If you need something from Hazel, just spit it out. We don't exactly treat you like a stranger."

The moment the words left his mouth, Dash's sanity snapped. He let out a harsh, explosive sneer. "Treat me like a stranger? Hazel and I have a decade of history, and you're standing here trying to mark your territory in front of me?! You lay one fucking finger on her and see what happens!"

Pierce clicked his tongue in obvious amusement. "You and Hazel? Didn't you literally spend the last ten years telling everyone she's just your little sister?

Oh, and by the way, I actually like her. I pursued her properly, and I fully intend to keep her around. I'm not just screwing around."

I kept my mouth tightly shut, watching the trainwreck unfold.

Dash choked on his own breath, pure, unfiltered rage igniting his eyes. He lunged forward, grabbing two fistfuls of Pierce's shirt collar, pulling his arm back for a brutal swing.

"Dash!" I screamed, instinctively snapping forward.

Dash's fist froze dead in the air the second my voice hit his ears. He slowly snapped his head around to stare at me. "What did you just call me?"

I tightened my grip on Pierce's hand like a lifeline, staring dead into Dash's eyes. "Dash, can you just stop making a scene? This was my very first date, and I'd really like to keep the memory of it intact. And Pierce is right. You've literally spent your entire life introducing me to people as your little sister."

Dash's hands went slack, dropping Pierce's collar. He physically staggered back a step. He stared at me like he was looking at a stranger.

"Hazel what did you just call him?"

The year I turned five was the first time I met Dash. He had flashed a massive grin and told me I had gotten taller.

Chapter 6

My heart pounding in my chest, I shrank behind my mother, listening to his bright voice.

"I'm Dash! I used to hold you when you were this tiny, like a little doll. You really don't remember?"

I stared up at his face, trying to match it to whatever memory he was talking about. Blank. My mom had always said I was too young back then to remember anything.

She gently pushed me toward him, encouraging me to go play.

Dash grabbed my hand, eagerly dragging me off to show me his room.

I kept looking back over my shoulder at my mom. Her eyes were rimmed with red, but she forced a bright smile and waved, signaling me that it was okay.

Dash's palm was so warm, and it had been so long since I had a friend to play with. I got distracted.

By the time I finally ran back downstairs she was already gone.

Tears streamed down my face as I screamed for my mother. Dash's mom pulled me into her arms, whispering that my mom had to take care of something important and that she would be back for me in a few days.

Dash stood right beside us, trying to comfort me. He told me I was a big girl now, that I couldn't cling to my mom forever. He said he was there for me. If I got bored, he'd call his friends over and we could all play together.

That night, Dash stayed with me until I fell asleep. He promised he would wait with me until my mom came back.

That wait lasted ten years.

For a decade, Dash dragged me along wherever he went.

Dash's first real relationship happened the summer of my sophomore year in high school. My aunt sent me over to his house for math tutoring. I carried my practice tests to his room. The door was unlocked.

Strange sounds drifted from inside. I pushed the door open just a crack.

By the desk, Dash had a girl pinned, kissing her heavily. They were that wrapped up in each other they didn't even notice I was there.

I froze, paralyzed. I spun around to run but accidentally knocked into a framed painting on the wall.

Dash chased after me into the hall. He had a fresh bite mark on his bottom lip and a helpless, teasing smirk in his eyes.

"Hazel has to keep this a secret for me, okay?"

I stared at his face and gave a stiff, silent nod.

Dash was gorgeous, and he knew exactly how to charm women. The girlfriends rotated through his life constantly. And his hand never held mine again.

Whenever he got a new girl, he'd parade her in front of me, carelessly gesturing in my direction. "This is my little sister."

I'd play my part perfectly, smiling politely and greeting them. Then I'd quietly study them, picking apart what made them that pretty.

Dash's type never wavered. He liked them pale, curvy, and flawlessly feminine.

And to him, I was permanently stuck as the crying little girl who never grew up.

It took every ounce of strength I had to finally rip him out of my heart.

So why was he here now?

Dash, my hand is already being held by someone else.

I looked at Dash, keeping my voice dead flat. "If you're done throwing a tantrum, just go home. You're too old to be starting fistfights in hallways. It's pathetic."

Dash staggered back a step as if he had taken a heavy blow to the gut, his broad back slamming weakly against the freezing wall.

I slipped my hand out of Pierce's grip. "You should go too. I had a really great time today. I'll see you tomorrow."

Pierce reached out, his warm hand gently ruffling my hair. "Alright. Get some sleep. If you're up tossing and turning, call me anytime."

He always seemed to read me so easily. He already knew I was going to be staring at the ceiling tonight