Page 80 of Hate Game

“Son, stop conceding. It’s a simple yes or no.”

“Yes,” I admit. “I would love to see more of you and Mom. Soon, I’ll be out of the house and see you less often than now. You’re my parents. You’re good people who love and spoil me rotten, and I’ve been a jerk for taking advantage and then blaming my failures on your being gone and not being here for me.”

Everything I bottled up from my freshman year, when they started traveling more, spills from my mouth.

Small arms wrap around my waist from behind. Rue rests her head on my shoulder and holds my big body tight to her small one.

“Aw, Son, I didn’t realize our absence affected you so much.”

“How could you?” I ask. “You two aren’t mind readers. I should have spoken up instead of acting out at school and on and off the field.”

“Your mom and me will do better, Son. Can you give us another chance?”

My parents look at me with hope in their eyes. I nod and dash aside a tear running down my face.

“Thank you, Malice,” Mom says. “We can return home as soon as tomorrow. Say the word, and we’ll catch the next flight home.”

“The house?—”

“We can stay in Dumas.”

“It won’t be the same. I’m fine with your original return date if we can FaceTime more often.”

“Sounds like a good plan, Son.”

We say our goodbyes and hang up. I turn into Rue’s touch. I thank her for being here with me and for putting up with my emotional breakdown.

“You’re more beautiful when you cry, Malice.” She cradles my face in her palm and looks at me with an emotion I refuse to acknowledge. Acknowledging that Rue loves me will have me admitting my truth.

I love Rue Lee, and that thought scares me shitless.

32

RUE

“Hey, Rue, come over here and give me the 4-1-1 on what you’ve been up to.” Tyler Moretti waves to me from the wet bar. We’re at Midnight’s Friendsgiving party.

Tyler inked my right inner thigh for my sixteenth birthday.

Mom wasn’t around, so Riley became my default guardian and signed the paperwork for me to get the devil and angel tattoo done. I’m the devil. Malice is my angel. He thinks it should be the reverse, but we all know he’ll go to heaven while I have a spot reserved in hell.

Malice is out back talking to his cousin, Midnight. Midnight is twenty-three with spiky jet-ink hair and deep blue eyes. He has a bad obsession with my sister. Enough of one that he failed his senior year so that he could graduate with her.

His craziness is kind of scary, but he’s also the nicest guy. He’s one of those book heroes who would burn down a town or the world, for that matter, should anyone hurt the woman he loves, and Midnight Sterling loves my sister, Riley Lee.

I sit on a barstool at the bar in Midnight’s huge gourmet kitchen. Tyler hands me a cup. I look inside the red Solo cup. There are chunks of pineapple and coconut shavings. I take a sip. A virgin piña colada. Yum.

“You remember.” Smiling, I tap my cup to his.

“I remember all my favorite girls’ drinks.”

I look around for his favorite girl, Asher Tran, but she’s not here. She’s probably with her hot-as-sin rugby player boyfriend, Ezekiel Harrington. I don’t know Asher personally, but one of her best friends is at the party.

Nora Sanchez. Quiet. Beautiful. Hanging onto her boyfriend, Galley Rutherford’s, arm. Missing from the party is their other best friend, Allie Allistar. She is dating Galley’s best friend and teammate, Xander Brody. Those three are so lucky. They snagged the hottest rugby guys on campus.

“How’s my girl doing?” Tyler leans close with a twinkle in his blue eyes.

I shrug. “Alive.”

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