“Pig.”
“Bitch.” He disappeared into the hall leaving me alone with Cameron.
The very last place I wanted to be.
Cameron
“He’s a disgusting pig,” Hailee said as the door closed behind Asher’s retreating form.
“He’s only messing with you.”
“He called me a bitch.” She gave me a pointed look, daring me to disagree.
“Yeah, but he didn’t mean it.” Asher was… complicated. He acted the spoiled football god better than most of us, but I knew him better than that. And the Asher Rixon High got wasn’t the version I knew existed underneath his mask.
“Whatever.” Hailee folded her arms over her chest, drawing attention to her soft curves.
Of course she’d had to storm into the kitchen wearing nothing but thin pajamas, her silky hair hanging over her shoulders like a huge fucking arrow saying ‘look at my tits’.
I forced myself to look away, silently commanding my dick to stand down. “You okay?” I said, breaking the deafening silence. Hailee’s eyes narrowed as they slid back to me, her expression murderous.
“I can’t believe this,” she muttered. “I went to that party to escape all your crap and now I’m in the middle of some stupid football rivalry thanks to my asshole of a brother. So, you tell me, Cameron, how the hell am I supposed to feel?”
“If it’s any consolation, I told them not to do anything reckless.”
“Oh wow, you did? Look how well that worked out.” She sneered. “God, I really want to paint the crap out of something right now.”
Silence enveloped us, the atmosphere toxic. Hailee had every right to be pissed. Hell, I was pissed too. I’d told them not to do anything stupid, warned them to stay out of Rixon East. But I should have known they wouldn’t listen. Jason did whatever he wanted, when he wanted, consequences be damned. But he’d never had to worry about anyone but himself and the team before. East knowing about Hailee changed things. And whether he’d admit it or not, it made Jase vulnerable.
“I need to go.” She started moving for the door, but I straightened off the counter.
“We should—”
“What, Cameron?” Hailee’s eyes were saucers as she cut me with a look that made me feel five inches tall. “What should we do? Pretend like we can actually stand each other? Go another round of verbal chess? Or maybe you want to shove a bag over my head and ruin another perfectly good shirt?”
I heard her words, felt the venom behind them, but I was too distracted by her lips to really let them settle in my bones. Too focused on the way her mouth curved with every syllable.
“Oh my god,” she shrieked. “You’re doing it again. You’re totally looking at my—”
I closed the distance between us, crowding her against the wall, snagging a wisp of her hair between my fingers. It was a bold move given the hate stare she was giving me, and the fact her step-brother was right outside, but it was a damn sight better than fisting her hair and smashing my mouth to hers, which is what I really wanted to do.
“Do you ever stop talking?” I asked.
“Do you ever consider getting professional help?” She looked away from me, her arms folded across her chest, as she fought a smirk.
“Oh, Sunshine, the only thing driving me crazy is you.”
“This isn’t a game, Cameron. This, us, it’s not attraction you feel; it’s hate. I. Hate. You.”
Leaning in, I ran my nose along her jaw, sure I felt her body shiver, her breath catch. “Keep telling yourself that, Sunshine.”
Her hands pressed against my chest as she glared up at me, but she wasn’t fooling me. Hailee was pissed, yes, but she was also turned on. Her pupils were dilated, her skin warm and flushed. And I wanted nothing more than to find out all the other ways I could make her blush.
But she ground out, “I’m not doing this again with you. I won’t be that girl.” Giving a little shove, Hailee ducked underneath my arm and slipped away from me. “Stay away from me, Cameron.”
But as she walked away from me, I knew I was screwed.
Because the rules had changed, and I knew I couldn’t stay away from her.
Even if I wanted to.
After giving myself five minutes to calm down, I found Jase outside, throwing a ball. He looked like shit: a deep purple bruise around one eye and an angry cut on his lip. Anger radiated from him like a warning sign that said, ‘stay the fuck away’, but I wasn’t anyone. And we needed to talk about this.
“I should’ve listened to you,” he ground out, hiking the ball and sending it flying through the tire.
Folding my arms, I shrugged. “I told you it was a bad idea, but you couldn’t have known she was going to be there.”
“She shouldn’t have been there, stupid fucking—”
“You know she wasn’t there to stir trouble for you.”
“Wasn’t she?” He levelled me with a hard look. “How can I know for sure this wasn’t all part of her plan to get back at me for your little stunt at the pep rally?” His brow rose. That was Jason though, so wary of everyone’s ulterior motives. I guess it came with the territory; the higher you climbed, the less you could trust the people around you. Because everyone wanted a piece of a legend in the making.
“Because, man, Hailee might get off on your games almost as much as you do, but she’s not you. Besides, she hates the limelight. Can you really imagine her going to an East party and announcing herself as Jason Ford’s step-sister?”
He mulled my words over, his eyes hard on the ground. “She’s made things real fucking difficult for me. My dad knows we butt heads, but if he found out I... fuck.” His fist clenched at his side. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do here.”
“East know she’s family now, so you might as well start treating her like it. Rivals Week is the week after next. If they’re going to try anything you can bet your ass it’ll be then.”
Jase jammed his fingers in his hair, tugging the ends in frustration. “She’ll never go for that. And honestly, I’m not sure I can do it. I don’t like her.” He glanced up at me. “I’ll never like her.”
“You don’t have to like her.” The words stuck in my throat. “But she’s in the middle of this now, whether you like it or not.”
His grim expression told me he knew I was right. “She won’t make things easy,” he sounded defeated.
“She doesn’t need to. One semester; we only need to get through one semester and then the season is done.”
“One semester,” he echoed as if he was trying it out for size. “I swear to God, man, if she screws anything up for me—”
“She won’t.” If Hailee knew what was good for her, she’d keep her head down and her mouth shut, and this thing with Thatcher would all blow over. And if it didn’t… well, I didn’t want to think about that right now.
“Fuck.” Jase let the ball fly and it hit the outer rim of the tire. Jason didn’t miss.
He never missed.