“Mom.” Placing my glass on the counter, I went to her, taking her hands in mine. “Don’t let him get to you.”
“He’s just different when Kent is around.”
Yeah, because Kent was a buffer, absorbing some of his son’s hostility toward me and Mom. And he always had an excuse for Jason’s unwillingness to attend family meals or trips. ‘He needs to focus on football’, Kent would say, ‘He’s under a lot of pressure’. But Mom wasn’t an idiot. Jason hated her almost as much as he hated me.
There had been a time when I’d wondered if Jason hated me because of her. I’d thought perhaps he was just an angry twelve-year-old, pissed his dad was trying to replace his mom. But we weren’t kids anymore and Jason never did warm to Mom. And he’d only grown colder with me. Besides, from what I’d heard, Mr. and Mrs. Ford’s relationship broke down long before Mom and I ever came on the scene. Mom had been a struggling single parent and Kent had been picking up the pieces of his life when they met, and while I hadn’t been excited about the prospect of getting a new family, after wh
at Dad did to us—to Mom—I only wanted her to be happy.
Even if she’d chosen an ex-college football player who coached junior high football, with a son who breathed football like it was air. But at least Kent didn’t play anymore. That would have been too much to bear.
We hugged it out, and Mom pasted on her best smile. “Maybe he just needs some time to get used to it?”
“Maybe.” I doubted it, he’d had years to get used to them being together before the wedding, but I didn’t want to burst her bubble. “I have to go, Flick’s waiting.”
“Have a good day, baby.” She kissed my head, and I grabbed my bag, before slipping into the hall, my stomach knotting tighter with every step.
Once she found a parking spot, Flick cut the engine and turned to me. “Okay,” she inhaled deeply. “You can do this.”
“Do what?”
“Go in there with your head held high, of course.”
“Right,” I replied, confused. “Was there another option?”
“Well, I was prepared to add another thing to my list.”
“You were?”
“Yeah.” Mischief sparkled in her eyes. “I don’t want to end up in the pen, but I’d do it, for you.”
“In the pen?” I smothered the laughter building in my chest.
“Ride or die, baby.” Flick waggled her brows. “I’m serious though, if you want to get payback, I’m in. So in. What Cameron did was—”
“I don’t want payback,” I said, my voice trailing off.
My best friend jerked back, eyes wide with surprise. “I’m sorry, I think I heard you wrong because it sounded a lot like you said, you don’t want payback.”
Shrugging, I said, “I don’t. I’m done.”
“Did something else happen?” She frowned. “Something you didn’t—”
“You were right. It’s gone too far and if I don’t walk away, I’ll be the one who ends up hurt. I can’t play their games anymore. I’m done.”
Something had changed when Cameron kissed me, not that I’d ever admit it to anyone. For a split-second, I’d actually thought he wanted me. His kiss was too intense. His touch too desperate. And I’d almost fallen for it; hook, line, and sinker.
But now, I realized it was all part of the game.
A game that, until the moment his lips fixed against mine, I’d always been more than willing to play. I’d even considered myself a worthy opponent. The girl who refused to let the Raiders trample all over her. But something was different this semester.
Cameron had gone after the one thing I’d always protected.
My emotions.
He’d made me feel something. Things I didn’t want to feel. The rules had changed, and deep down, I knew if I kept playing the game, my reputation and sanity wouldn’t be the only thing on the line.
“Wow, Hailee Raine, could it be that you’ve finally matured?”