Page 142 of Endgame

I told him to fuck off and I didn’t even like football. He then proceeded to get all huffy with me and say thatBrittwould have made it happen before stalking off.

Of course, the mention of the former love of Rourke’s life did little to calm me down; the opposite in fact. Hate was a strong word, but I honest to godloathedBrittany Beckitt with every fiber of my being.

Truly, I did.

“Do you like Rourke?” Molly challenged sweetly, bringing me back to the present.

“You know the answer to that,” I growled. I did more than justlikeRourke.

“Then prove it,” she countered, brown eyes narrowing. “Go to the homecoming game tonight and show him some support.” She raised a brow and added, “You know he’d do it for you.”

Dammit!She had me there. “You only want me there to protect you from Daryl King and his creepy fascination with you!” Molly turned red and I smirked. “Go low with me, Molly Peterson, and I’ll go lower.”

“He doesn’t have a creepy fascination with me,” she shot back, tone defensive.

“No?” I raised a brow, calling her out on her bullshit. “Then why is he constantly watching you. And why does he always seem to show up wherever we go? Did you lie to me?” I asked then, narrowing my eyes. “Did you actually make out with him at that party instead of just talking like you said?”

“I didn’t make out with Daryl,” she bit out. “We have a past. That’s all.”

A past? “What past?” I leaned closer. “You never mentioned this before?”

“Because there’snothingto mention,” Molly replied. “Daryl and I were…friends a long time ago.” She bit down on her bottom lip for a moment before adding, “And now, we’re friends again.Justfriends. End of story.”

“You’re holding out on me,” I muttered, knowing full well she and Daryl weren’t just friends. There was something weird going on between them. Ever since her house party last month, Daryl and Molly had been joined at the hip.

“Anyway, stop trying to change the subject,” Molly said. “The game. Tonight. You are coming, Mercy James.” Damn, she was freaking relentless.

I’d been to one of Rourke’s football game at the start of the year and had come extremely close to barfing. Watching my boyfriend’s ex jump around the sidelines with her pom-poms and throw her arms around him when he was walking off the field had been enough to turn me off going to his games for life. Ugh.

For the past month, Britt had been a consistent source of discord in my life. She had this infallible ability of causing trouble for me – even when she wasn’t around. If she wasn’t spreading rumors about me or tripping me up in the hallway between classes, she was laying on the charm with Rourke, flirting boldly with him right in front of me.

To be fair to Rourke, he didn’t encourage her andalwaystold her to stop, but it still hurt me. Knowing there was a period in Rourke’s life – a five fricking year long period – when Britt was the center of his world, made me feel incredibly inferior and insecure. And Britt, being the clever bitch she was, had immediately honed in on my blatant vulnerability and used it to her advantage at every opportunity.

Like last weekend, for example. The Falcon’s had an away game in a place called Church Hall, a three-hour drive from Ocean Bay. Because of the distance, the school had agreed the team should stay overnight on Friday and travel back early Saturday morning.

I had to work last weekend and couldn’t go, which I didn’t even care about, until Britt made it perfectly clear that the cheerleading team would be staying over in Church Hall, too.

Several of the cheerleaders were dating footballers and both teams had inevitably ended up partying it up together in one of the hotel rooms. I didn’t sleep a fricking wink that night and ended up stalking Britt’s numerous Snapchat updates and Instagram posts, checking for any of her with Rourke. There hadn’t been a single one, and that should have been enough to ease my mind. But I was seventeen and in love with the hottest, most unattainable boy at school; it didn’t exactly bring out the confident side of me.

“I’m going to the dance, Molls,” I offered then. “Isn’t that enough?”

All week long, the only thing people at school seemed to be interesting in talking about was the homecoming dance tonight. It was being held at Ocean Bay’s elite five-star hotel and country club on the outskirts of town. I found this totally weird since every public school I had ever attended held their dances in the school gym.

The bell rang, signaling the end of last period, and I released a sigh of relief.

“I’m done talking about this, Mercy,” Molly announced, tidying her books into her bag. She shoved her chair back and stood swiftly. “You are coming to the game tonight if I have to drag you there myself,” she said in an assertive tone. “Now, go home, grab some dinner, kiss the hell out of your boyfriend and wish him good luck, and then get your game face on. I’ll text you in a bit.” And then she skipped off, leaving me sitting at our desk with my mouth hanging open.

Shaking my head to clear my thoughts of Britt and football games, I got up and slipped the straps of my backpack on my shoulders before falling into step with the hordes of students all barging towards the school entrance, eager to start their weekend.

When I finally pushed through the main doors and managed to get outside, I descended the steps and hurried to the student parking area.

Traffic was always hectic at the end of a school day. Unlike previous high schools I had attended, everyone at the Academy seemed to either have their own car or their own driver. It was crazy. In the month I had been here, I had never once seen a yellow school bus full of kids. I guess Ocean Bay Academy was too elite and too damn posh to dabble in public transportation.

Head down, I marched through the crowd, eager to get to my destination.

When I reached the student lot, my heart began to thud rapidly in my chest, excitement churning inside of me.

There he was, leaning against the passenger side door of his truck, looking like the worst decision I would ever make, and still I bounded towards him, moving my feet in the direction of the only boy on this planet that had the ability to destroy me. Conflicted and overwhelmed with my feelings, I walked straight into the arms of my enemy turned lover.

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