Chapter 12
12
MALICE
R ue doesn’t take off the makeup, and I refuse to give her a ride. We stew in silence, avoiding one another in a suddenly too-small house.
In the afternoon, she goes for a walk. The air is cool, and the sky is clear. I take a long draw of refreshing air into my lungs and follow close behind her. Now that I’ve had time to think, I give Rue’s theory of the fire being intentional more thought. But I lose my train of thought the moment my gaze lands on her swaying hips in a pair of snug jeans that highlight her fine ass.
This morning, when I caught her red-handed roaming around in the dark with what I believe are stolen NVGs, she didn’t exactly answer my question.
Where are you going, Regret?
Anywhere but where you are.
Was she meeting Red for a quick hookup?
Then again, she said they’re friends. Did she? My brain is a chaotic mess. Her words don’t matter. What’s important is how Red looks at Rue with possessiveness and hunger. He’s into Rue, and his interest is enough reason for me to keep her at arm’s length.
Our friendship and whatever good feelings I had for her are gone. What’s left is lust, and it warps into hate at every turn, threatening to destroy me from the inside out.
To get my peace, I have to let go of my desire for Rue.
We’re not good for one another and are too alike. Opposites attract, and Cassie is my opposite. She has a good head on her shoulders, and there’s no worrying she’ll get into a situation she can’t get out of.
I pull out my phone and check my messages. There’s one from Cassie that I haven’t answered. I was too irritated and focused on the turn of events. Rather than getting stuck with troublesome Rue, I should be cruising the streets in my GT-R with a drop-dead gorgeous girl riding shotgun.
Yeah, it was my fault for leaving people unsupervised in my parents’ home, but Rue’s ruthlessness led her to propose the living situation with my parents.
Did she set fire to my parents’ house?
Why would I think that?
Rue is ruthless and a thief, but she isn’t crazy. Why put the blame on Rue? I’m the one who messed up.
I tuck my phone in my back pocket and return my thoughts to Cassie. She is hitting me up for a date, a road trip to Dumas. I’ll do it, but what do I do with Rue?
Ahead of me, the path is empty. Where did she go? I take my time getting to my parents’ house. She couldn’t have gone far. I’m right. She’s in front with her arms crossed. She looks from one end of the house to the other and steps toward the front door.
I call out to her. “Don’t go inside. The fire marshal called while you were FaceTiming Red. Anything around and inside the house could help them pinpoint the fire’s cause. Leave it all be, Regret .”
She stomps over and jabs her finger into my chest. “Stop with the name-calling.”
“Or else what, baby ?” I snatch her finger in mine and rub it up and down. Her eyes widen.
Rue yanks her finger out of my grasp. “I hate that you have to make everything about getting inside my pants.”
I lean into her space. “I want you out of my house, Regret . The sooner, the better.”
“Then meet the conditions. Like you said, everything is a given. The only thing you need to work on is your grades.” She sighs. “Maybe we can do a trade. I’m not good at math, but you are. You suck at writing, and I take joy in writing papers. I’ll be your strength in whatever you’re weak in and vice versa. How about it? Can we shake on it?”
“You want out of this arrangement that bad?”
“I want what you want, Malice.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.” She sticks out her hand. “How about it? Do we have a deal?”
I stare at her hand. Her wrist bones are delicate, and her fingers are thin and graceful. What would it be like to circle my calloused fingers around her dainty wrist and drop kisses on her pulse point?
I cross my arms and look down my nose at her. “I hate that everything is a negotiation with you. Hate that you want something in return. Again, you reek of desperation and are too eager with your ask. Do me a favor. Do more damage than ask for a shake. I have more zeroes in my bank account than I know what to do with.”
She pulls her hand back. “I don’t want your money.”
“Then ask for what you want most.”
“You’ll give it, no questions asked?”
“None, Regret.”
She looks at the ground, but not before I glimpse the confusion on her face. What is going through that pretty head of hers?
My heart kicks up extra beats in anticipation of what will come out of her mouth. Rue is full of surprises. She glances up with a determined set to her jaw and steps forward.
Rue raises her hand, cups my face, and strums her thumb across my cheek. “I could bury my face in your skin and inhale your scent. Press my mouth to the underside of your jaw before I kiss you until we’re out of breath. That’s what I want.”
I smirk. “Is that a line from one of your romance books?”
“You said no questions asked.” Indignation on her face, and she is cute as fuck. I can’t resist her charm any longer. I grasp her chin and tip her face to mine. Dark as fuck eyes. Parted lips. Sun-kissed skin. Tiny. Willful. I lean in close. Her pupils dilate, and her mouth parts farther.
“I don’t give a fuck where the words came from.” I strum my thumb along the arch of her cheek. “As long as you show me.” My voice is hoarse and lust-laden.
What is happening between us is a lust that will weaken once we’re out of each other’s life. There can be nothing more with Rue. We are too alike. Will fight like cats and dogs. Ream one another out for the simplest things. Misunderstand one another at every turn. Me and Rue aren’t a good fit.
Yet when she presses her slender body fully on mine and nuzzles the scruff on my face and the underside of my jaw with her full lips, I give in to a thought that soon leaves my mind the instant her mouth brushes mine.
We fit perfectly .
She tastes sweet, like honey, and her body is soft against the hard planes of mine. Needing more of her softness and sweetness, I wrap my arms around her waist and deepen the kiss.
A girl’s lips have never felt like Rue’s. I could nip and suck on Rue’s lips all day if given the chance. Her lips are plump, soft, and yielding . She gives as good as she gets. Her arms lock around my neck, and I can’t resist her pull. I grab her by the underside of her thighs and pick her up. She circles her slim legs around my waist. Rue has nice legs. They go on and on.
I hoist her up with my hands under her ass. She tightens her hold, and goddamn, I dig how she is holding onto me with all of her being, as though letting the critters nearby know that I am hers and she is my girl. I walk us backward toward my place and then change my mind. It’s not in our best interest for me to not face forward.
As I turn my body, a popping noise cuts into the silence. Holding onto Rue, I duck and hit the ground. She lands on top of me, straddling my thighs.
Oh, fuck no, will I let any harm come to her. I bring her down to me with my hand on the back of her head. A large shadow looms over us. I don’t have my shotgun. I should have thought better than to leave the house without one after Rue’s talk of someone out to get me and my parents.
“Bruh, what are you doing with my girl?”
Rue’s hair on my face obstructs my view of my prick of a cousin. I swipe the strands aside. “Whatcha doing here, Red?”
“I came to give my girl a ride. She’s wanting to go to the Eastside and said you refused.”
“Damn right I did.” Using the ab muscles that I worked hard to get nice and tight, I rise to a sitting position. “Are you okay?” I run my palms over her body. “You didn’t get hurt when I hit the ground, did you?”
“No. Are you hurt?”
“Nah. I’m good. It’ll take much more than Red’s mufflers to hurt me.”
She glances over her shoulder. “You didn’t bring the Escalade?”
“And risk getting jacked?”
“Good point. You won’t wait for me, right?” She gets off my lap.
“Hold up.” I settle my hands on her waist, keeping her where she belongs—anchored to my body. “He better wait around until he sees the whites of your eyes. There are mother-effers in that part of town who won’t bat an eye at the chance to hurt you.”
“I’ll be okay. They won’t hurt me.” Nonchalant. Couldn’t give a shit.
“You know this how?” I grind out between my teeth. Rue needs to think about the consequences of her actions rather than continuing to believe she is invincible and safe from harm.
“I did their leader a huge favor, and he owes me.”
Their leader? Like the leader of a gang? I should question her further, except my mind is hung up on the words “he owes me.”
“You better not be asking him for a kiss, Rue.”
“Wait a minute, did you two swap spit? You fucked with my girl, Malice?”
Rue isn’t denying she’s his, and I’m not denying the kiss. That kiss was unforgettable.
Rue gets on her feet and swats Red on the shoulder. “Stop with the possessiveness. It’s getting old. Come on.” She grabs ahold of his hand, and I see red.
Tamping down my temper, I push off the dirt, stand, and follow them to Red’s beater Chevy.
“How long are you gonna be gone?”
“Don’t wait up for me. I’ll have my friend drop me off.”
“So he can bring his buddies over and rob me?”
Rue rolls her eyes. “Not everyone who lives in the Eastside are gangbangers, druggies, and criminals, Malice.”
Yet she used the words “their leader.” Huh.
“Either way, you make sure and drop hints that I will shoot anyone that steps onto my property. They’ll get one warning shot. One, Rue.”
“I don’t like shotguns. They do serious damage.”
“What would you prefer I use?”
“A Taser?”
We stop next to Red’s car. Before my cousin can do it, I open the door for Rue.
“For you, I will lock up the shotgun in the safe and head over to the general store for a Taser. Will that make you feel better, ba—” I shut my trap. I almost called her baby.
Red doesn’t miss my near slipup. He gives me a strange look. I stare back and am about to flip him the bird when Rue sets her hand on my arm.
“I hate it when you’re too agreeable. Stop being such a brownnoser, Malice. It’s annoying. Right, Red?”
“Yeah.” He rubs his chin, his gaze shooting from me to Rue. “Yeah, it is. Rue hates it when people are too accommodating. Accommodating people have hidden agendas. What’s yours, cousin? You plan on getting with my girl?”
I shake off Rue’s hand. “She already said she isn’t yours.”
“Never heard those words from her luscious mouth. What she said is, ‘stop with the possessiveness. It’s getting old,’ right Rue?”
“Verbatim. Can we go now, please?” She lowers herself into the seat. “Bye, Malice. Remember, behave.”
I direct my best glower at her. “How much trouble can I get in without you hovering around, Regret ?”
She narrows her pretty brown eyes. “I hate you.”
“Hating you too. Stay out of trouble. I cannot afford to lose my babysitter.”
I shut the door. Red peels out of the driveway. I jam my hands in my pockets and study what is left of the second floor of my parents’ house.
Intentional .
On purpose.
Arson.
Damn .
I’m going to wring the bastard’s neck that set fire to my childhood home.