Hateful Love (King of Aces #1)

by T. Ashleigh

“You don’t talk to him,” Whaley growls, and the sheriff holds his hands up, taking a small step back as he grins at Whaley once more. “My apologies.” He snickers, tipping his hat in fake sincerity. “Until next time.”

This is the day Whaley gave me the first of many, many lessons that I’ll never forget. No one bad is ever truly bad, and no one good is ever truly good.

I’ve got too many people relying on me now that Ryker got himself locked up.

I grip the two golden chains I always wear, the old necklaces that used to be a matching set for Ryker and I. It’s the only real thing I have left of him now that he’s incarcerated. I shake my head and let go of the chains, trying not to think about my brother. It’ll only make my already sour mood worse. I finish off my smoke and then stomp it out with my boot.

it’s Blaine Yates. The entitled prick doesn’t even snag a regular parking spot in the back either, just claims a lined-out one near the front.

Guess he’s too busy texting away on his cell phone to care about vehicular manslaughter. I fuckin’ hate him.

Everything about him from his perfect blond hair and gray-blue eyes to the way he carries himself pisses me off.

“Fuck off, Silas, I didn’t almost run you over, but even if I did it wouldn’t be the end of the world.” “No, but I have no problem ending your world,” I bite back. “Go ahead and get thrown out of school,”

“Not like anyone would miss you.”

I still remember the way he looked up at me and how his big brown eyes held mine. It was like all the air was sucked out of the room. It just took me by surprise, the sheer intensity of my reaction to him, and I knew it wasn’t going to be something I would shake anytime soon. I’d never experienced anything like that before. I was so lost, so entranced, that it took me a moment to come back to reality.

Silas brings out the worst in me. It’s like I have this raw fury that’s buried so deep inside and ready to be unleashed the second he’s near. The worst part is that he knows he’s getting to me, no matter how much I try to hide it. He’s under my skin, and every day I come closer to acting impulsively and beating the hell out of him.

I’m drowning. I’m suffocating. I’m dying a little more inside every damn day.

you predicting the future?” I snort, cocking a brow as I look him over. “Did you see that in your magic crystal ball?” He scoffs and gives me a shove. “Asshole.”

School, work, home. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Welcome to Yale University!

see Liza on the other end of the diner, looking flustered as she tries to pull away from asshole Kent. He’s got his hand on her arm, trying to pull her closer to him. How the hell had I not noticed the jocks had arrived?

“I’d let her go if I was you,” I snarl once I reach them.

“Did you not hear me, dickhead? I said. Let. Her. The. Fuck. Go.”

“We were just talking. Nothing to get worked up about,” he says, gesturing over his shoulder to the table filled with guys from our school. “Right, guys?”

shouldn’t be surprised you’d be behind this shit,” I spit out, taking a small step in his direction. His eyes widen as his jaw drops, looking so pathetically confused that it pisses me off even further. “Seriously? I didn’t do anything.”

want him to fight back, want him to get mad, want to see the perfect guy he claims to be unleashed and lose control… But he doesn’t. He never fucking does and I can’t stand it.

“Not what your friend here was sayin’.” I motion to the rest of the jocks at the table. “You get off on messin’ with girls while they’re tryin’ to work, huh?” “You’re talking out your ass,”

think you need to be taught a lesson on manners. Clearly, your mama didn’t teach you any,” I try to take another step but the table stops me. “That’s not what happened.”

“You got a lot of nerve talking about my mom. Should I say something about yours?”

“Blaine didn’t do nothin’. Calm down, Silas. You can’t do this here. Gonna get yourself in trouble.” She tries to say it quietly, but her voice carries around the now deathly silent diner.

“That’s right, Silas. Wouldn’t want me to call my dad, the sheriff, would you?” Kent taunts. This bastard and his crook of a dad are a match made in the Seventh Circle of Hell. “Go ahead and call him. I’ll press charges on you for tryin’ to touch my ass,” Liza says, and I see red again.

“The fuck did you say?” Then I look at Kent. “You tried to grab her ass?”

The sound of bone crunching rings out loud and the adrenaline coursing through me causes my blood to sing. YES!

Blaine grabs a stack of napkins and presses them to Kent’s nose. Blaine looks at me, eyes narrowed and lips curled, but I just flip him off.

“Keep your fuckin’ hands to yourself, asshole!” I yell at Kent just before the diner door closes.

“He shouldn’t have messed with you.” She releases a long sigh. “No, he shouldn’t have, but I was handlin’ it.”

“I bagged up your food. Take it and get out of here. Blaine’s gonna take Kent to the hospital. I threatened the fuck outta Kent, so he ain’t gonna tell his dad, but you need to be careful. You can’t just go around hittin’ people. It’ll get you in a heap of trouble. I know it ain’t a big deal to you, but think about your mama.”

“Thanks.” Pulling out my wallet, I pass her two twenties.

“It’s fine. Now go,” she says, taking the money. Before she makes it two steps, she stops once more and turns to me. “Hey, Silas?” “Yeah?” “Thanks,”

and something about the idea of fighting with Blaine… I can’t describe it. I’ve never wanted anything so badly.

My mind was practically screaming for him to do something. I’m slowly chiseling away at all the icy cool indifference he’s built up and have almost broken through, and when I do, I know it’s going to be beautiful to see, to watch him let go. Stop thinking about Blaine fuckin’ Yates. But I can’t.

don’t know if I want to bleed for him as much as I want him to bleed for me, but I do know whatever happens between us is going to be explosive.

but I grab Kent by the collar of his douchey polo and shake him. All that hidden darkness within me surfaces like a bubbling volcano. “Hey!” he shouts, eyes wide with confusion as he tries to pry my hands off him. “What are you⁠—” “You’re going to tell your dad you ran into a door,” I state, teeth clenched as I pull him closer so my nose is touching his. “Tell him you got hit with a football. I don’t give a fuck.”

“Sorry, I— Look, you don’t want to make this a big deal, right? What if Coach thinks you started the fight? He’ll bench you for tomorrow’s game.”

just tell Dad we were messing around with the football,” he says, smiling as if it was his idea in the first place. “That’s perfect.” “Brilliant,” I mutter, giving him a harsh pat on the back. “Good job, Kent.”

My mind circles to Silas once more. The way his big brown eyes lit up in rage earlier, the vein throbbing in his neck, the way his arms flexed as he clenched his fists, the⁠—

Once again, I’m hit with how little I matter to my parents. I wish that we had more common ground, but instead, I feel like an intruder in my own family. And the worst thing? I can’t even find it in me to care.

“I swear, that guy is such a piece of work. He’s lucky Ryker wasn’t the one to see it.”

only to catch eyes with a retreating Silas. His face looks too smug for my liking. That son of a bitch.

Our eyes hold for a beat. Once again, those fucking eyes. They’re so dark they’re almost black, deep and all-encompassing. I look into them and feel like I’m falling, falling, falling, and then crashing into nothing.

“I can still leave, asshole.” “You love me,” he teases, puckering his lips, and in return, I give him the middle finger. “Aw. Ain’t that sweet?”

You have got to be kidding me. I turn around, my gaze clashing with Silas’. He’s dressed in his typical attire—black

black combat boots, black skinny jeans, black shirt, and his A...

Why does he look so good though? What the fuck? No idea where that came from.

Why is he here again? “Are you following me?” I bite out, frustration obvious in my tone. “Hardly,” he says, releasing a chuckle as if he finds my question amusing. “I was already out here. Saw you walkin’ by…”