Page 57 of Hate Game

“Nah. Bro would whoop my ass if I did. Simple. Seven saw them when he dropped Leigh off for her shift.”

There’s a pinging noise. I check my phone. It’s not an incoming text for me.

“Huh. Interesting. Malice is throwing a party at his place tonight.”

First, he breaks his dad’s rule and brings Cassie over. Then, he punches a teacher and gets suspended again. Now, he is throwing a party at his “sanctuary and not a frat house” house?

Malice could easily meet his parents’ conditions, and I would be out of his place and his life. Instead, he is prolonging my job to prove a point. I am a failure and will never succeed at anything, including the simple job of keeping his grumpy butt in line.

A ping from my phone brings me back to my conversation with Trace. Trace is talking to me and has been. I’ve zoned out on him.

“He’s roped me and Seven into helping him. There’ll be a shit ton of kids. He invited the entire senior class from both schools.”

Shay and Winslow will be there, along with my friend and Shay’s girlfriend, Bailey. But both schools? The kids will overrun the house, knock over Malice’s precious plants, and leave behind a mess.

What’s worse is the possible invasion of privacy. My room isn’t mine, but the thought of kids making out on my bed conjures images of bodily fluids over the sheets and covers. Ew. Or they’ll go through my stuff just because it’s where I’m staying while Malice-sitting, and they’re curious what is in the room. The possibilities for destruction are endless.

“I’ll help too.” I’ll show Malice that I can make his party such a success that the kids will talk about it for years. “Are you bringing Sorrow?”

A tense silence is followed by a door opening and closing. Did Trace have me on speaker, and he’s moving away from the earshot of Sorrow?

“I’m not sure yet.”

“I can stay by her side until you’re able to.” I see how Sorrow looks at Trace when she doesn’t think anyone is watching her. This fake boyfriend-girlfriend thing between me and Trace is hurting her. “Can we break up publicly soon?”

“You have as much control over the situation as I do.”

“And ruin your reputation for breaking girls’ hearts? Uh-uh. Anyway, a boy would break up with me and not the other way around.”

“Why is that?”

“A girl like me always gets her heart broken.”

“Remind me what a girl like you means exactly.”

“Bad rep. Poor as dirt. A friend but never a girlfriend kind of girl.”

“Everyone deserves love, Rue.”

“Even a quiet girl who lost her parents tragically and was kept away from a world that will do her more harm than good?”

He takes his time answering.

Did I go too far in assuming he is interested in Sorrow?

“Yes,” he finally says in this soft voice that aches with longing and anger.

Trace wants to start something with Sorrow but believes he’s bad for her. He is the bad boy who stomps on girls’ hearts, and she is the innocent girl he won’t allow close enough to be tarnished by his darker side.

“Break up with me soon.”

“I’ll think about it. Now, let’s party plan and help our boy throw the best fucking party this side of the state.”

23

MALICE

The party at my place spills out onto the lawn, across to the cement pad large enough for a dozen large lifted pickup trucks to park, and up the pathway to my parents’ place.

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