Page 20 of Endgame

Benny whistled. “Damn, Lila. You’re telling me you’re not only smokin’ hot, but a genius too?”

“Oh stop it,” Lila said, while jokingly motioning for him to continue. While she didn’t ever look at King directly, she kept feeling like he was looking at her. When the guys started enthusiastically talking about their fantasy sports leagues, Knight leaned in to whisper in Lila’s ear.

“Your boy’s been staring at you this whole time.”

She tilted her head so she could whisper back. “He’s not my boy.”

Knight’s chuckle rumbled through his chest. “You should probably tell him that, because he looks like he’s about ready to murder me.”

“I’m sure it’s because he’s mad we’re still friends. You know what happened on Halloween. Whatever was between us is done.”

“And I support you 100%, Li. You deserve the world.”

She ruffled his hair lovingly and then checked her phone. Wren had just gotten off work, so it was movie time.

“Wren’s ready. Gonna go,” she said. Knight kissed her on the temple before she stood up and said her goodbyes to the group. She threw away her empty drink and headed out the south entrance of the building.

Lila stepped to the side of the path so she could pop her earbuds in and almost dropped them as she startled at the sound of a deep, dark voice.

“So you’re with Knight now, huh? Can’t say that I’m surprised.”

Her head snapped to the left where King was standing, a hardened glare on his face. After a month and a half of radio silence, he’d chosen this moment to follow her? To goad her?

She rolled her eyes. “If we were, it’d be none of your business, King.”

He scoffed. “That’s not a denial. Were you with him when you were with me?”

Lila had had it. She whirled on him, eyes ablaze. “I’m not even going to dignify this bullshit line of questioning with a response, because not only is it wholly offensive, condescending, and ridiculous, it’s also none. Of. Your. Damn. Business.”

She paused and drew in a breath. “And we weren’t together anyway, right? So what the hell does it even matter?”

King crowded her so her back was against the red brick wall, caging her in with his arms. He leaned down so that they were nearly eye to eye. “It. Matters.” King’s expression was an intense combination of irritation and intimidation.

Lila rolled her eyes to stave off the intensity of his glare. King didn’t let up.

“Are you with Knight? Yes or no?”

Lila refused to be intimidated. “Why don’t you go ask him? Since you seem to be so concerned about his well being and all.”

She couldn’t lie, his frustrated growl was music to her ears. But there was pain there, too. Just briefly. It flashed across his face like a streak of lightning and was gone just as quickly.

Lila knew she didn’t owe King a damn thing, but she wasn’t heartless, either. So after she ducked under his arm and started down the path, she stopped and turned back, just for a second, and said, “No.”

And tried not to notice the way King’s shoulders seemed to slump in relief.

Instead, she popped her AirPods in, cranked up her angry music playlist, and walked home.

Chapter 11

Holiday break flew by quickly, and Lila enjoyed spending time with her parents and four younger siblings. She’d returned to the same house she’d spent the bulk of her childhood in—the one that was always filled with freshly baked cookies, the laughter of siblings and friends, and her parents’ adorable, perhaps slightly nauseating, PDA.

Bradley U was about 50 miles away from the suburb where she grew up, providing just the right amount of distance between her and family. Because even though they were pretty damn great, Lila relished the opportunity to be on her own, completely autonomous. Her parents were well-meaning but overprotective, and her siblings delightful but in a different phase of life. Though she tried to make the drive home at least once a month for extended family Sunday dinner, she didn’t really visit on the weekends because of her job. The break from school and the family time had been just what she needed to recharge before second semester started.

She’d especially enjoyed spending time with her 16-year-old sister, Layla. Layla and their mom were the only ones who knew the basics about King, mainly because they’d surprised her one day at work and he happened to be there at the same time they were. When they saw him interact with her, they knew something was up. That all happened before the Halloween disaster, however.

Layla was the only one who knew exactly what had happened, and Lila hoped to keep it that way.

It was the first day of class for winter semester. She was currently sitting in her democracy and social justice class, which she’d wrangled Wren and Julia, one of her roommates from freshman year, to take with her. When they’d scanned the small auditorium style room for seats, Lila spotted King’s roommate, James, and Nate, who was the soccer team’s goalie, trying to get her attention.

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