Page 21 of Redeeming the Villain

Holding my hands up in defense, I scoff. “I don’t toy with people.”

Griffin cackles. “Malik, don’t lie to yourself. You are a grade-A menace.”

Sitting up taller, I meet his stare in the rearview mirror. “Thank you.”

Blair points her finger at me. “I’m serious.”

Blair’s automatic defense of a girl she just met signals everything in me to start locking down. It was this simple for her to take Alora’s side that easily. Like I don’t mean anything in comparison.

Stop, dude. Get out of your fucking head.

But the rage inside of me has already begun to swirl, slowly bubbling to the surface. “You had what, one class with her? You don’t know her, Blair.”

“And you do?” she challenges me with a feisty gleam in her eye.

“More than you’d think,” I mutter under my breath.

Shit. I need to learn to just keep my mouth shut. I didn’t mean to say that thought out loud.

She cocks her head to the side. “What?”

Her brown eyes holds mine as she waits for a response. But I don’t want to spend any more of my morning talking about this girl. She is occupying far too much of my damn time.

“No, I don’t.” Fuck, I shouldn’t have lied to her.

Griffin relieves me from the interrogation. “Baby, play that song you wanted me to hear earlier.”

Blair lights up. “Oh my God, I almost forgot.” She grabs her phone and connects to the Bluetooth of Griffin’s pickup.

A moment later, some new pop song plays through the speakers. I tune it out almost immediately, getting lost in the never-ending spiraling thoughts in my mind.

This isn’t going to end well. However this goes, Alora is going to crash my world to the ground with her pretty smile and kind words. She already stole Blair from my corner. Who’s next? Asher? Griffin?

Clenching my fists in my lap, I force myself to take a breath, realizing that this is getting out of control. I need to expel some energy before I explode.

Thankfully, we are almost to campus, and I can wear my muscles down in the weight room until I have nothing left to give.

Maybe I should just skip the party tonight. It’d probably be a smart idea, especially if Alora plans on attending. God, she’d better not though. She’s getting too confident. Like she’s forgotten our dynamic and who makes the rules.

Let tonight be a test. I’ll go. We’ll see if she shows up. She’ll choose her own fate. If she does, I’ll give her a reminder of our past together. A taste of what she ran far away from.

* * *

“Malik, are you coming back home or what?” Griffin asks me as we walk out of the locker room after practice.

“Yeah. I’ve got to shower quickly and change beforehand. Is Blair coming with us tonight?” I ask out of curiosity.

Sometimes, she comes out with us, and sometimes, she’d rather stay home, curled up with one of her books in that giant library Griffin had built for her at the end of last year.

“Yeah, she is. My best friend, Lumi’s coming too. He’s going to meet us at the house and ride with us.” Griffin dumps his backpack into the bed of his pickup and slides in the driver’s seat.

Griffin starts the truck as I sit down in the passenger seat and says, “Blair is staying here a while longer for another class, and Lumi will bring her home. So, it’s just us. Do you want to grab any food? I’m starving.”

“Sure, yeah.” My stomach grumbles, reminding me I haven’t eaten anything, aside from a smoothie, after weight lifting earlier.

His phone dings.

“Hey, Mrs. Potts is going to make us some food. She and Chip are on their way home now. If that’s good with you?”

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