Page 36 of Rules

“He was staring in our direction during the game,” Jeanette says, facing me.

This gets my attention. “He was?”

“I saw him looking here a few times.” She stops, looking at me carefully. “You know him?”

“You’re joking, right?” I laugh humorlessly.

There is no way Mr. Hill would let me clean his bathroom, much less anything else. The Hills own half the town, and if the rumors are true, Andrew’s dad is Greyford’s future mayor.

Why the hell would he be staring at a little white trash girl from the wrong side of tracks?

No way, no how.

Chapter Thirteen

MAX

“Hey, man.” I clasp Derek on the shoulder before sitting down on the couch opposite him. “How are you holding up?”

I wanted to check on him as soon as I arrived, but the guys dragged me to the game room to try some new game, and after they coaxed me into playing a game of beer pong, said it’d be better to let Derek deal with Andrew while he was in one of hismoods. I tried pointing out that Derek had just gotten a concussion and didn’t need to deal with more shit, but they simply waved me off and dragged me the rest of the way.

“Hurts like a bitch.” Derek grimaces. “I think the meds are slowly starting to wear off.”

Looking at him, I notice a sheer layer of sweat on his forehead and the paleness of his skin. Apart from that, there aren’t many indications that anything happened, but I could bet his body got pretty banged up.

Sometimes when you play hockey you don’t even notice how beaten up you are until you take off all the padding and actually look at your body for a moment. Derek was in full equipment when he fell. The pads took part of the beating, but I could only imagine what he looked like underneath it all. Even the tamest of games result in an odd bruise here or there. A fall like his...

“Probably,” I agree with a grimace of my own. “How bad?”

“Now?” He rubs his hand over his face. “Probably an eight out of ten.”

Damn.I hold in the wince.That had to be some nasty bruising he got.

“I asked Lia to get me some water so I can take more meds before I even attempt to get my ass off this couch and go home.”

“You should have gone there in the first place.”

He shrugs. “Not like I can sleep anyway. Besides, at least this way I get to stay with Lia for a little while longer.”

His words are like a punch to the gut, and before I can even try to collect my thoughts, there she is, like just a mention of her name summoned her in the flesh. She comes like a whirlwind, all rosy cheeks and messy hair.

She doesn’t even see me, worried, dark eyes glued to one guy.

Her guy.

It stings, knowing there is somebody in her life that comes first. Somebody that will always come first. My throat closes, and suddenly it’s too warm. Suffocating.

“I managed to find this one in the pantry,” she huffs, giving him the bottle. “You’d think there’d be more than one water bottle hidden in this huge ass house, but it seems like the only thing Hills drink is beer and booze.”

I tug at the collar of my shirt, uncomfortably watching them interact. Lia slides in the seat next to Derek, careful not to cause him any discomfort. One of her hands is casually laid on his thigh, while the other goes through a small bag hanging off her shoulder until she finds a small bottle with painkillers.

Clearing my throat, I offer weakly, “At least it’s good booze.”

Lia turns around, a smile playing on her lips. “Max! I didn’t see you there. When did you get here?”

“A few minutes ago.” I tilt my chin in Derek’s direction. “I came to check in on King. I would have done it earlier, but the guys stopped me as soon as I got here. Which reminds me…”

I look around, my eyes scanning through the room looking for short, black hair, but not finding it. Granted, it’s dark, and the room is filled with people, but still… “Where is Jeanette? She said she’d go and look for you.”

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