Page 110 of Forever Cursed

“Don’t go. Not yet.”

“Okay.”

Gwen returns with a bottle of water, and she approaches us with a careful look on her face.

“Hey, girly. Why don’t we head back to the Waylens’ instead of going out? Or we can reschedule for another night?”

“It’s okay. I want to go. I won’t let that asshole ruin the evening.” With one last sigh, her shoulders drop, but she doesn’t leave the comfort of my arms.

“Are you sure?” Gwen asks with a soft tone.

“Positive.”

Chrissy takes the water as I grab her things. The three of us head outside, where Zack jumps out of the car and tackles Gwen with a bear hug.

“There’s my two favorite girls!” When he pulls away, he sees Chrissy, and his expression drops. “What happened?”

“Can you ride with us? I’ll tell you on the way,” Chrissy responds.

Zack looks at me before looking back at his sister. “Okay, let’s go.”

During the ride, Chrissy tells Zack all about Malik. The two of them are in the back, leaving me alone in the front seat. In the rearview mirror, I watch Zack’s fists clench and unclench. He’s officially joined the Malik Is a Prick club, and I’m starting to think we need jackets to establish our membership.

When we get to the theater, Chrissy leans against me for support, and Zack gives me an approving look. He knows I won’t let anything happen to her. She’s safe with me, and she’ll never have to deal with Malik again.

“He’s not going to toss the ball to you, is he?” Chrissy whispers as we stand in line for our snacks.

“Let’s not worry about that now, okay?” I smile down at her, not letting an ounce of worry show.

“Okay . . .”

I already know Malik won’t throw me the ball during opening day, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get there. We have a backup plan. And while I have no idea how we’ll get Levi to replace Malik, we will because Chrissy and I will overcome anything that stands in our way.

Even Malik Chen.

Chapter Fifty

Chrissy

The final paper for the mentorship program is written and ready to hand in. The fall classes have begun, and the first game of the season is tonight. Rome has been at practice most days, leaving me spending my days at the Waylens’ or in my dorm.

My paper consisted of information on Malik Chen, leaving him unnamed and unidentifiable. Being as professional as possible, I roasted him to pieces.

Class A narcissist.

Sociopathic tendencies.

Lacks guilt.

Believes he is above the rules.

Doesn’t take no for an answer.

Unwilling to change.

I ended the paper by stating what I would do in a real patient-to-therapist setting: continue to work with them to the best of my ability. We’ll know by the end of this week whether we earned the extra credit. At this point, I’ll take anything.

When I get back to my dorm, a package is waiting outside my door. I stop in my tracks to look at it. This could be one of twothings: Malik has gone full psycho and gifted me his left hand, or it could be something completely innocent.

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