Chapter 11
11
MALICE
I wake up with morning wood from hell. Scrubbing my palm over my face, I beeline for the bathroom. The door is shut. What the…? I turn the knob. Locked . Everything comes back to me. The party by the lake. The fire. My parents’ intervention. Rue and that damn kiss of hers.
Everything I wanted to feel for other girls, I felt for Rue with only a kiss. Blood coursed through my veins. Anticipation kicked extra beats in my heart. Every nerve in my body stood on end.
Damn.
I pound on the door. “Open up, Rue. I have to take a piss.”
“Use the downstairs bathroom. I’m busy.”
“Busy doing what the fuck?”
The door opens, and Rue sticks her head out. “I’m getting ready. Now scram. Piss elsewhere.”
My bladder and wood from hell forgotten, I grasp her jaw and jerk her face close to mine. Her eyes are made up in this smoky hue, and her lashes are dark and long as fuck. On her pouty lips is a shade of mauve that gets under my skin. The shade gives her this older girl vibe. I prefer softer colors, like pink, on my girl.
My girl? Rue isn’t mine. She’s Red’s girl, and I slipped up last night. If Red catches wind of my betrayal, there will be discord in the family. Family is everything, and I won’t let a girl drive a wedge between me and my cousins.
“Take your time.” I head for the stairs.
“Can you drop me off on the Eastside? Red is busy.”
Her words stop me.
“What business you got in that shitty part of town?” Scum of the earth lives there, making their living off people’s addictions and thirst for violence. “I don’t want you anywhere near there.”
“You forget I am Eastside born and raised.”
There is no forgetting on my part. I fully understand where she comes from and how she came to be in my life and Red’s. Rue’s family moved into one of my parents’ rental houses in Delridge. A year in, Gina lost another job and couldn’t keep up with the rent. She and the girls moved back in with her brother when Rue was fifteen. One day, Gina left town and never came back.
Rue caught Red’s eye long before she caught mine. They’ve known one another since elementary school. I don’t blame him for taking her under his wing. She is tiny, willful, and smart. Her smarts could be her saving grace, except she listens for shit. Right now is a prime example of her listening skills.
“If you won’t drop me off, Shay or Winslow will.”
Not if I can help it. I march to my room, find my phone, and fire off a text. “I let them boys know if they come near the house, I’ll shoot out their tires with my shotgun.”
Her pretty brown eyes widen. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Want to test me?”
“Pfft, how do you have their numbers anyway?” She narrows her eyes. “Are you bluffing ?”
Damn, she’s good.
Her eyes light up. “You are. God, you have a horrible poker face. Remind me to play a round with you.”
“Regular poker or strip poker?”
She flips her long hair over her shoulder. “You wish it was the latter.”
I smirk. “Can’t say it, eh, Regret?”
“Stop with the name-calling, Woody .” She stares at my crotch and shakes her head. “I hate that yours is bigger than Red’s.”
“Wait, what?” Did I hear correctly?
“That was the wrong thing to say, wasn’t it?”
“What do you think?”
I march forward. She slams the door. I stick my hand out, and the door bounces off my meaty palm. Rue skitters back. I catch her chin between my fingers and give her body a slow perusal from the top of her head to her bare feet. She’s changed into a pair of sweatpants and a tight-as-fuck T-shirt with the words “hang loose” across it. Her breasts aren’t hanging loose. They are round and perky, her nipples pushing against the cotton like my cock wants to do to that sweet spot between her legs. I shake my head.
Jesus H. Christ, what the hell is wrong with me? I can’t let what happened earlier in the field happen again. I let go of her chin and step back. “You’re Red’s girl, and I don’t poach on what’s his.”
“What gives you the idea I’m seeing him?”
“It’s obvious, Rue.”
“He’s my best friend.”
“Looks to be more. Plus, you saw his junk,” I point out. “Tell me, what guy shows his girl BFF his junk?”
“Red does, and that’s because he knows I don’t have feelings for him in that way. Red has feelings for someone else. She left without giving him closure, and he’s sworn off girls ever since.”
This is the first time I’ve heard of Red’s broken heart. “He’s not being truthful, Rue.” My nice way of saying he’s a liar.
“It doesn’t matter what you think of him.” She stares at a spot over my shoulder, lost in whatever is on her mind. “This whole time, you believed I cheated on Red with you?”
“Yeah.”
“How could you after what I said after—” She waves her hand. “After we made love.”
Why won’t she own up to her lies? “We didn’t make love. We fucked .”
She gasps. I’ve gone too far, but Rue doesn’t disappoint. She is a fighter.
“I hate you.”
“Good. It’ll make the time with you go by faster. Now take the damn mask off, and I’ll drop you off wherever you want to go.”