Page 67 of Hate Game

“Cuddling only. Cross my heart and hope to die, I’ll tell the randy beast in my pants to settle the fuck down.”

I laugh. He is so cute when he makes anXover his heart and then looks down at his groin with a mock glower on his face.

“Yes, I’ll spend the night with you,” I murmur over his mouth.

We kiss nice and slow. His hands roam over my hips, sides, and arms. His fingers splay over my butt. He caresses me and brings me closer to the heat between his legs. I groan and grind on him. He deepens the kiss. I press my body into his until there isn’t space between us.

I love how I can tuck my small body into his larger one. He is my shield from the storm. A dam that holds back my need to cause destruction with my thievery. Being with Malice, the bad boy, makes me want to be a better person. For him. For me. For us. For our unborn baby.

Sadness overwhelms me. Mason saw his first love with someone else. They had a child together. Will that be me in a few years? I’ll fall… Scratch that. I’m in love with Malice and falling deeper the longer I’m with him. He’s my first love. He’ll abandon me just like everyone else in my life. I’m not good for him. He’s too good for me. I’ll only bring him and his dreams down with a bad reputation that never goes away. And it won’t go away if I follow him to wherever he may land.

I end our kiss. “Let’s go home, Malice. I want you to hold me.”

“Anything for you, babe.”

We drive home. I stare out the window. “The Night We Met” by Lord Huron fills the car. My hand in his, Malice brings my fingertips to his mouth and drops kisses on each one.

At the house, I shower and change into my PJs. I walk in on Malice changing the sheets and grabbing my pillow and covers from my bed. He is true to his word.

We cuddle, talk, and wake up together as the sunlight streams through the windows.

Malice isn’t my first boyfriend. Technically, Trace is. But I hope I can experience what it would be like to have the guy of my dreams fall head-over-heels for me before graduation, even though he’ll break my heart when he leaves for bigger and better things.

26

RUE

Trace and I didn’t have a crash-and-burn screaming match that signaled our breakup.

Instead, he broke up with me during our lunch period in a spot notorious for being Cambridge High’s prime place to break someone’s heart.

We’re seated opposite one another on a covered park bench. To our right is the lunchroom, the double doors open wide to let in the warmth from the sunshine. To our left is the school parking lot. As soon as we took our seats, the noise in the lunchroom fell to a low hush.

My hands are clasped on the table. Trace reaches for them. Out of respect for Malice, I shake my head. He sets his hands at his sides.

“We don’t have to do this,” he says.

“We do. I won’t be responsible for hurting another girl’s feelings. We girls raise one another up. We don’t put each other down.”

“Who are you speaking of? Be very clear, Rue.” He leans forward, his greenish-blue eyes twinkling. Strands of dark hair fall across his forehead. Trace Saints is sexy, but underneath his pretty boy good looks and a care-less attitude, something dark lurks beneath the surface.

For a quiet, broken girl like Leigh’s friend, Sorrow, the darkness in Trace must be scary but appealing. What is the darkness within him, and can it be tamed and controlled?

“Sorrow Sophia,” I reply. The girl with two first names. The girl who lost her father in a fire and is now living with the Saints. “I see the way you look at her and her at you. Give her a chance to get to know the real you.”

“Called out and caught in the open.” Trace chuckles. “Nothing gets by you, does it? And you? Will you do the same with Malice?”

I cross my arms over my chest. “I’m not sure what you’re speaking of.”

“Oh, come on, Rue.Everyoneknows you have a thing for Malice.”

“For your information, I don’t need to open up to him. I’m trying to get over him.”

“Living with him will help you do that?” He rubs the pad of his thumb over his lower jaw. “How does that work exactly? Give me pointers, Rue. I’m not into my current housemate like you believe I am, but in case I catch feelings, share these pointers. Fair?”

What a clueless, lovesick, pretty boy. I see on his face what is on mine in the mirror when I think of or say Malice’s name. Longing. Frustration. Frustration for longing for someone who is out of my league. Sorrow, with how broken she is, is beyond Trace’s help. How can darkness penetrate through the shield Sorrow’s placed over her heart?

“We hate one another, okay?” I answer. “Hating one another puts distance between us.”

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