Page 65 of Hate Game

“Will kissing me make you happy?”

“Happier than I have a right to be.” He skims his finger over my bottom lip and then the top one. “Perfection at its finest.”

No one has ever described my disproportionate lips as “perfection.” Releasing a slow breath, I tip my head forward. Malice meets me halfway. Our mouths touch.

Malice kisses me gently. His hold on my hips is firm. His thick fingers weaving in and out of my hair is heaven on earth. I will never tire of his kisses and his touches. Soft one moment. Urgent and possessive the next.

“What were you doing spending the night at Mason’s?” he murmurs over my mouth. “Was it payback for having Cassie over?”

“I wish, but no. But what you did hurt.”

He drops a kiss on my forehead. “I’m sorry.”

“Cassie. The party. Getting suspended again. Those things hurt me. You’re setting me up to fail.” There, I said what’s on my mind.

“Failure keeps you near me.”

“Because that’s all I’ve been my whole life, right? A failure? A regret?”

“Jesus, no.”

“Then succeed, Malice. Make your parents proud and trust you again. Get the grades up. Stop partying. Find a job.”

“And the good deeds?”

“Continue them. Being a mentor to a junior high school kid.” As part of the “Biggie” program that Malice started. “And also volunteering at day camps during school breaks is you. You would’ve made a great big brother.”

“What you said means a lot to me, Rue.”

“Have you told your parents?”

“Fuck, no.”

“Why not?”

“They’ll think I’m doing it to fill a void. My mom wanted two more kids, but something happened when I was born, and the doctors told her she couldn’t risk her life by getting pregnant again.”

“How—”

“I overheard my father and grandmother talking about it during one of our holiday dinners. I’m the only child of a Sterling. My uncles all have a second, third, or fourth sons. No girls. Ours would’ve been the first, Rue. Just like I was your first, and you were mine.”

He tucks pieces of my hair behind my ears. I look deeply into his eyes.

“Do you regret I was your first?”

“Never. If I had my way, you would be my first in every lifetime.”

What he confesses takes my breath away. And Malice didn’t do the things he did because he wanted me to fail and for everyone to see I’m a failure.

He wants me near, and I would like to stay with him too, but not in a situation where I am paid to keep an eye on him. I’ll prove everyone wrong and succeed, even if it means leaving Malice’s side. Most of all, I want Malice to be happy and for his parents to notice they raised a good kid. Like me with my mom, all Malice ever wanted was his parents’ attention.

I scoot back on his lap and play with the hem of his shirt. “I feel the same. You would be my first in every lifetime too.” I reach out and interlock my fingers behind his neck. “Trace not breaking up with me bothers you, doesn’t it?”

“Damn right, it does. That traitorous mother-effer better do the deed soon.”

“He will.”

“Or you can take the lead and do the breaking up.”

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