Page 125 of Endgame

Maybe I was reading too much into his words, but I wanted him so badly to tell me that he hated her guts. It would have made me feel a million times better. Even if I was only his friend with benefits.

“What happened?” I forced myself to ask.

“I got tired of being second best.” Rourke’s voice was low and gruff, his blue eyes locked intently on mine. “That’s what I’ve always been in Britt’s eyes; her backup plan.” He shook his head and sighed. “I was never gonna be her endgame, Six. Not like I should have been. So, we broke up. Junior year.”

“Second best?” I asked, confused, wondering how on earth anyone could look at Rourke and consider him second best. Rourke Owens was second tonone. Even when I hated him, I knew that. This boy was nobody’sbackupplan.

“Yeah.” He laughed harshly and it was a pained sound. It hurt my heart. His blue eyes narrowed when he said, “After the ninth or tenth time I caught her cheating on me, I’d had enough.” He shrugged helplessly. “Figured I’d rather be alone than with a liar.”

“Was sheyourendgame, Rourke?” I dared to ask.

“At the time, yeah,” he admitted hoarsely. “She was.”

“And now?” I paused before asking, “What’s your endgame?”

“Now?” He exhaled heavily. “My endgame is to get the hell out of this town as soon as I graduate.”

He had a plan just like mine.

How ironic.

“But you continued to sleep with her?” My voice sounded far more accusatory than I had intended. “Why do that to yourself?” I added in a softer tone of voice. “When you knew she was doing you wrong like that?”

“Because I couldn’t forgive her and I couldn’t move on from her,” he shot back honestly. “I was stuck and Britt was…familiar.”

“Rourke…”

“I know it sounds bad, Six,” Rourke interrupted, running a hand roughly through his hair. “But it’s the only answer I have.”

“Thank you for telling me.” If Rourke was expecting me to judge him then he had me totally wrong. “And FYI? Britt’s a fucking idiot for letting you go.”

His gaze softened. “You think so?”

Reaching across the console, I grabbed his hand and squeezed. “I know so.”

“What about you?” Rourke asked, blue eyes sparkling with mischief, obviously keen to veer the subject away from him. “Don’t try to tell me you didn’t leave a trail of broken hearts back in Kansas”

I scoffed. “Doubtful.”

Rourke raised a brow in disbelief. “I find that hard to believe, Six.”

“Yeah, well it’s the truth,” I shot back. “My last boyfriend gave up on me when after six months of dating, the furthest he’d managed to get was a hand job.”

Rourke looked at me in disbelief. “You’re kidding, right?”

I shook my head. “I kid you not. Peter called me ‘high-maintenance’ because I wouldn’tput out.” I forced back a shudder at the thought. “He broke up with me right before junior prom and went with Sarah Landes instead.” I leaned my head back and grimaced at the memory. “Of course, I have no doubt he got what he wanted from Sarah that night, though I don’t know for sure, since I blew off the dance and took a shift at work instead.”

“What douche nozzle,” Rourke said in a tone laced with disgust.

“Uh-huh.” I nodded in total agreement. “He was a mistake.”

“A should have been swallowed kind of mistake?” he asked with a teasing wink.

“Yes,” I laughed. “Definitely one of those.”

“Before him?”

“Um…” I paused as I thought back. “There was Michael Dauntez. We dated for a couple of months when Mom and I lived in Nevada.” I smiled fondly at the memory. “He had worse luck than Peter,” I laughed. “He didn’t even manage to slip the tongue when he kissed me. But then again, we were in the seventh grade, so what did he really expect from me?”

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