Page 45 of Ruin

I take the flower off my locker, put it in my bag, then look at the note on the box.

Do not open until I am with you.

Get to my practice.

D

I shove the note and box into my bag. I turn to Lileah again. She’s smiling before looking around.

“Don’t hurt my brother,” she says, then walks away.

I roll my eyes.

Don’t hurt my brother.

What the fuck does that even mean? She acts like I mean something to him. I don’t. I never will. I only have to get through this year, and then I’ll never have to see him again.

Her words repeat in my head.

At the hockey rink, I see Declan talking to his coach. Then he skates over to me, stopping by the door.

His eyes roam over me, up and down, before he smirks.

I sign.

You need to stop looking at me like that. People might think you like me.

Declan laughs, a full, loud laugh, that echoes around the rink.

“What can I say? Your look is growing on me. Come here.” I hesitate but take a step closer.

He leans in, and kisses me.

Why the hell is he kissing me?

“I like the piercings,” he murmurs. “They do something to me that’s unexpected.”

I pull back.

Then find another woman with piercings.

Is that the reason he’s keeping me around? Because I have piercings? I’m sure there are women out there who have them.

“Why when I can have fun with you?” He gives me one more kiss, then he skates alongside me as I walk to the stands to sit down. My kickboxing class was this morning, but my body hurts so much from Robert abusing me last night, so I didn’t go. I know Declan is going to ask me. “Are you going kickboxing? I need to see you in action.”

And there’s the question. He said he wanted to see me in action yesterday when he came over to study.

No, I went this morning.

I don’t know what he has planned for me today, but if he sees the bruises, at least I can say it was from the class, which I know he’ll believe. I don’t know why I didn’t tell him earlier about it. It would have saved me so much stress worrying about what I was going to tell him about the bruises.

“So, I get to play sooner than I thought.” He winks at me.

Yours to do whatever you want.

I sign. It’s meant to be more of a sarcastic answer, but I’m not sure if Declan sees the look on my face, to know I’m messing.

“Oh, I will.” He skates off, and I sit in the corner and get my pad out to start drawing. I don’t really have anything on my mind to draw, so I draw the ice rink with the players and put my own dark, twisted feel to it.

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