Page 3 of Hate Game

“Nah. For me, being single is a state of mind. Relationships come with complications I don’t want to deal with.”

“You would if you foundthe one.”

“There’s no such thing.”

“Oh, you’ll know it when it happens. And I hope I’ll be there when it does.”

Winslow crosses his eyes. I play-swat him on the shoulder.

“Okay, tell. What’d she say?” He cleans off his plate and then eyes mine. I let him finish off the rest of my eggs and bacon. The helping was huge.

“Let’s lock and load.” I down my coffee and glance over at Winslow with a smile. “She said it every time we put the frosting tip on the bag.” I laugh.

Leigh was a hoot, pretending she was cocking a gun and shooting every time she squeezed frosting on the cupcakes. I am so happy Leigh is my friend. The funniest things come out of her mouth.

“That’s awesome. She’s cool.”

She is.

“Now, spill.”

“Spill what?”

“About the dream you were having. I left my door open after taking a piss, and I heard you mumbling. I thought you were talking to me, so I walked back, and you were dry humping the couch, like what those hockey players do on the ice while warming up.”

“I was not dry humping anything.” I smack his shoulder again. “You’re making that up.”

He smirks. “Okay, you’re right, but a guy can dream.”

“Ew, please don’t associate me with your dream. We’re friends.”

“Best of friends. Pinky swear.”

I roll my eyes—these friends of mine. After we pinky swear, I put the picture frame inside a thick bubble wrap sleeve and tuck it inside a thick, fluffy towel. I have pictures of me and Riley on my phone, but this one is my favorite.

“The dream, Rue.” He picks up our dishes.

I help him with our coffee mugs. Winslow’s father works at the fire station for his twenty-four-hour shift rotations, and his mom works at the clothing boutique in the town center.

“Can’t it wait until after school?” I’m hoping he’ll forget by then.

“Nah. We don’t have school today. It’s teachers’ workshop day.”

Crap. My mind must’ve remembered that part; otherwise, why sleep in until… I glance at my phone. It’s noon. I usually don’t sleep this late, but my body feels so rested.

“Fine. I was dreaming abouthim, okay?”

I haven’t told Winslow thathimis Malice, our friend Red’s cousin. He only knows him as this nameless guy I’ve been crushing on since sophomore year. But what Malice and I had was more than a crush.

Winslow shakes his head. “You need to get over him and fast, Rue. He does more harm in your head than is necessary for a guy you barely interacted with.”

I told him this crush of mine doesn’t go to our school and that our interaction over the summer was brief, which is far from the truth.

Winslow’s cell phone on the end table pings. He sets the plates down, picks up his phone, and glances at the screen.

“Red and Shay are on their way. They want to get in target practice before heading over to Crescent Falls for the Everything Junk Sale.”

“And in between the sale and the party?” We have hours to kill.

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