Page 22 of The Trouble with You (Rixon Raiders 1)

“Hello to you too.” I glared down at her, confused about how I felt about her manhandling me. On the one hand, my dick liked it. If the hard bulge in my jeans was anything to go by, it liked it a whole lot. But my head knew it was a dangerous game she was playing.

“Why didn’t you tell Jason it was me?” Her eyes narrowed with suspicion, but I didn’t blame her. How could I when she had every right to be wary of me?

“So, you heard the rumors then?” A slow smirk tugged at my lips. “About how Rixon East snuck across the river and tagged our captain's car? Tsk, tsk.”

“Cameron...”

“Sunshine...” My smirk grew.

“God, you’re infuriating.” Hailee backed up, putting some space between us but it was the janitor’s closet so there really wasn’t much.

My brow quirked up. “Me? I’m infuriating? You might want to take a long hard look in the mirror, Suns—”

“Stop calling me that,” she snapped, before releasing an exasperated breath. “Why did you do it? Why did you protect me?”

“You think that was me protecting you?” My gaze hardened as I folded my arms over my chest. “Sorry to burst your little bubble, but that wasn’t me protecting you. That was me protecting my best friend from himself. From doing something really fucked up.”

“He’s a grown man,” she scoffed. “I’m pretty sure he’s quite capable of bearing the consequences of his actions.” It was Hailee’s turn to raise a brow.

“You don’t understand.”

How could she?

“Ha, football.” The word was wrapped in bitterness. “It all comes back to football, doesn’t it?” Hailee shook her head with incredulity.

“Jason has his whole career ahead of him. He doesn’t need to be distracted by you and your inability to know when to quit.”

“I…” Her expression slipped and a bolt of guilt went through me, but it was quickly followed by something else. The thing living inside me that had gotten used to watching Hailee battle with Jason. That enjoyed her smart mouth and reckless actions.

That craved them.

Shit, I was so messed up when it came to her.

“Admit it, Sunshine. You’re just like him. You can’t stand the thought of losing to him.” I lowered my face to hers. “I think you like these games. Like all the attention we give you. The attention I give you.”

Her eyes flared with anger as she sucked in a harsh breath. It was only a small action but enough to pull my gaze to her lips. Those soft-pink kissable lips.

Fuck it.

She already hated me, she might as well hate me some more.

I reached out for a strand of her silky hair, the same as I had when I’d paid her a visit in the art studio. “Cameron?” she asked, her voice uncertain and quiet and so unlike her. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Like what, Hailee?”

She swallowed, her tongue darting out to swipe across her bottom lip.

And I was done.

The thin rope of m

y control snapped, my mouth crashing down on hers as I threaded my hands into her hair and pressed us against the rack. Hailee’s fingers gripped my jersey, pulling me closer… or was she trying to push me away? I didn’t know, didn’t care, because the taste of her lips on mine, the way my tongue slid against hers, it consumed me until I was drowning in nothing but Hailee fucking Raine.

My hand skated down her waist, sliding around to her ass to pull her closer, fitting our bodies together like two pieces of a puzzle. I was rock hard, my dick pressed up against her stomach, and fuck, if it didn’t feel good. If she didn’t feel good. But I was just getting into the kiss, rolling my hips into hers to get a little more friction, when she slammed her hands into my chest, shoving hard.

I stumbled back as she shrieked, “What the hell, Cameron?” Her cheeks were flushed, her lips swollen. “What the hell was that?” I don’t know if she realized it, but her fingers ran across her lips, touching, as if she was unsure it had been real. But then her confusion melted away, replaced with anger.

Red hot, fiery anger.