Page 164 of Ruptured

“I’m not interested in fucking talking to you. I understand what’s going on. Rebel won’t. She believes in romance and faithfulness. She thinks the luxurious treehouse that we all grew up enjoying is the standard. She doesn’t have my father. She has Uncle Christopher. I understand you have the brain of a five-year-old and the attention span of a turtle, so if she isn’t in front of you, you don’t care—”

“That isn’t true!”

“It must be. You have her all starry-eyed over that stupid poetry, telling her you want to kiss her while watchingSpongeBob—not evenTwilightwith the hottest werewolf known to man—then the minute Diesel brings Fia over—”

“Don’t tell Rebel.Please. I really do care about her—”

“I’m not telling her,” Mattie snapped. “She doesn’t need to know you’re a bad poetanda cheater.”

Kayce bit into an apple and began crunching, his eyes lit with amusement. Kaia was tall and rangy, while Kayce was talland muscular. The Riggs brothers werehawt, although, in her opinion, Kayce beat Kaia by leagues.

“Hey, Matt,” Grant Harrington greeted, walking to the table with Ryan, Bishop, Torrin, Narci, and Diesel following behind, and nodding to Kaia and Kayce.

“Oh my god, my asshole alarm malfunctioned,” she chirped.

Chuckling, Grant leaned down and kissed her cheek. Blond and good-looking, he was always filled with humor. He’d secretly been Mattie’s first crush. “Good to see you, too.” He clapped Kaia’s back. “Don’t let her get into your head. She will rip you to pieces, bro.”

“Deservedly,” she retorted, glaring from Kaia to Bishop and Diesel.

At least Bishop and Kaia looked ashamed. Whether it was performative was irrelevant. Diesel lifted a brow.

Unintimidated, she flipped him off. He might’ve been a dickhead, but he’d never hurt her. As it went, she trusted Diesel more than she trusted her father. “You’re wrong and you know it.”

“Little Red has a bone to pick with you,” Torrin said, clapping Diesel’s back in the same show ofmanfectionthat Grant offered Kaia.

“To what do you refer, Matt?” Diesel asked, not giving anything away. “You shouldn’t accuse anyone without evidence.”

“And you should never share evidence with juvenile dickheads,” she retorted. “That video should’ve been sealed, Diesel. Your compadres might claim the 5thAmendment, but CJ saw it. Bro, if Uncle Christopher sees that, you’re so cooked.”

Hesitancy flickered across his face, but he shrugged, arrogant as ever. “I’ll tell him that I did it to show how unworthy Kaia is of Rebel.”

Playing Uncle Christopher was never a good idea. Leaving Diesel to his own fate, Mattie looked at Kaia. “And you’re just as cooked.”

“A sustainable argument, Mattie,” Diesel drawled. “Regarding Kaia.”

“You don’t wear arrogance well, Diesel,” Mattie snapped.

“I wear it excellently.”

Rolling her eyes and ignoring the chuckles, Mattie threw Diesel a dark look. “You want to go into attorney mode? Here’s my closing argument. I’m telling not onlyyou, Diesel, but everyone tostop fucking with Rebel.She isn’t made of clay. Herlifeisn’t clay, to be molded at your whims.”

“I’mRebel’s big brother. I know her needs better than she does. Emo boy isn’t for her.”

“Apparently, living isn’t for you,” Mattie pointed out. “You hurt her by cutting her off when you married Tabitha. Now, instead of easing up on your fuckery, you add to it. Shame on you. And shame on you, Kaia. Shame on you for acting as if you haven’t been sleeping with Fia.”

“It was one fucking time, Mattie,” Kaia bit out. “Six days ago, so back off. I won’t do it again, but you’re a little late to the game. Fia–

“Is one of Rebel’s biggest haters,” Mattie screeched.

“I didn’t know—”

“You didn’t have to know. There’s such a thing as integrity, idiot. Loyalty.”

“Girls don’t understand,” Ryan said. “If Kaia likes Rebel and if even thinking about kissing her might get him killed, what’s he supposed to do? He’s not a monk. It’ll be bad enough when she’s eighteen. He definitely can’t touch her now.”

“Then don’t pretend you want a relationship with her,” Mattie told Kaia. “Tell her the truth: she’s too young and you’ll date other girls.”

“Rebel will never forgive me.” Kaia shoved his hands into his pockets and sniffled. Emotional motherfucker. “She’ll never give me another chance.”