Page 7 of The Trouble with You (Rixon Raiders 1)

I snickered. “Too many.”

“It’s so pathetic.”

“Desperate,” I added, feeling a strange dip in my stomach. Ignoring it, I pushed my plate away, slid on my glasses, and pulled out my sketch pad and pencils.

“What’re you working on?” Flick leaned over to get a better look. “Wow, that’s good, Hails, really good.”

Pride swelled in my chest. I didn’t draw for other people, but it never hurt hearing someone appreciated your art. The piece, a sketch of kids filing into school I’d titled ‘first day rush’, had taken me hours but it still wasn’t quite finished. I liked to carry a project around with me for moments like this.

Moments where I needed to escape all the bullshit that came with being Jason Ford’s step-sister.

“Hmm, Hails.” Flick’s voice ruined my concentration and I glared at her.

“What?”

“Is that any way to greet your... friend?

I glanced over my shoulder to find Asher Bennet standing behind me, a smug grin plastered on his face.

“What do you want?” Pencil poised between my fingers, spine rigid, I readied myself for whatever bullshit he was about to throw my way.

The tables surrounding us had grown quiet. Everyone knew Jason and I were step-siblings. Everyone also knew there was no love lost between us. He didn’t usually come after me during school, preferring to keep our games out of the public eye, so whenever he or one of his friends approached me, it usually warranted everyone’s attention.

“I just wanted to return this.” He plucked something from behind his back, dropping it on the table in front of me.

My eyes widened and then narrowed at him with contempt. “Where the hell did you get this?” Heat flamed my cheeks as I covered the familiar black lacy bra with my hands, slowly dragging it toward me. It was a stupid question, one I already knew the answer to, but he’d caught me off-guard.

“You left it at my house.” Asher stroked his jaw, raising his voice a few decibels to make sure everyone in the immediate vicinity heard him. “When we... you know...” His brows quirked up, a wicked smirk plastered on his face.

The table across from us all snickered, a low rumble of whispers starting to build around me. Son of a bitch. I balled my hands into fists, my nails biting into my palms. There was no way to spin this to my advantage and from the arrogant glint in his eye, he knew it.

I knew if I looked over at the football table, Jason would be watching his plan unfold just the way he’d hoped. I was foolish to let my guard down. But after three days of radio silence, a tiny part of me had hoped he’d finally called a truce. Stupid girl. There would never be a truce between us, and I’d stopped wondering a long time ago why he hated me so much.

But I refused to just roll over and take his shit.

I couldn’t.

Keeping my glare on Asher, and not the football table, I stood up, and before I could stop myself, I slapped him. The crack of my palm against his cheek pierced the air and his eyes darkened. “What the—”

“You promised,” I cried with Oscar-worthy gusto. “You promised you wouldn’t tell anyone. I thought… I thought I meant something to you. I thought you loved me.”

He jerked back. “L- loved you?” Asher laughed but it came out all strangled and wrong. “I never said—”

“Sure, you did.” I inched closer to him, lowering my eyes and gazing at him with what I hoped were convincing puppy-dog eyes. “Right after we… did it, you said you loved me.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jason moving toward us, anger burning in his blue eyes. Knowing I had his attention, I continued. “I know you’re worried about what Jason will say, Ash, but it’s okay.” My hands slid up his chest and his expression fell. “We can be together. Jason won’t… Oh, hi, Jason.” I finally looked at him.

“What the fuck are you doing?” he seethed, derision rolling off him.

Stepping back, I moved closer to Jason, cutting us off from prying eyes since we had the attention of the entire cafeteria now. “You think you’re so fucking slick,” I said through gritted teeth, still smiling. “You’ll have to try a damn sight harder than that to embarrass me.”

The second I said the words, I saw his eyes light up. Crap. I usually didn't bite, but he got under my skin so much. Too late now though, I’d openly challenged him. And Jason never backed down from a challenge.

One of the few things we had in common.

“Jase.” The sound of Cameron’s gruff voice startled me. I hadn’t even realized he had approached us. My eyes lifted to where he stood to the side of Asher. “Come on, she isn’t even worth it,” he said coolly, not even flinching as the words left his lips, his eyes refusing to meet mine.

But I did flinch.