I Hated You First

by Rachel John

Star Tower Park. I’d

I forced my jaw to relax so I wasn’t gritting my teeth while trying to keep my hold on casual. This opening up thing had felt nice in theory. But pulling back the curtain and letting Lauren dig around and take a look made me feel a lot more exposed than I’d thought.

Clay’s mouth closed on mine. “Don’t.” Another kiss. “Worry.” More kissing. “About it.”

But l was secretly grateful for it.

But I*

Clay wasn’t just some guy. He was the guy. Mine. I wanted him for keeps. And that was scary.

“Mockery is my love language.”

I followed the direction of his gaze over to a scary-looking Nutcracker doll on the mantle across the room. It was like the eye of Sauron as far as he was concerned. I could just tell.

The old man shrugged. “In my house growing up, if you didn’t cheat at cards, you weren’t trying hard enough.” “Have you ever cheated while we’ve played?” “No, ma’am. I didn’t want anything toxic dropped in my anything.”

“What are you doing?” I about jumped out of my skin and turned around, grabbing the lapels of Parker’s shirt and dragging him down to my level. “Keep your voice down, idiot.” “Is this about the flowers? Who’s that guy talking to Dad?” “Noble Tuttle, my date from last weekend.” “So things went well.” Parker grinned at me. “No, they did not.” “Then why is he here?” “That’s what I’m trying to figure out.” Parker stood and pointed down at me, calling out, “She’s over here.”

A flash of irritation mixed with attraction flooded over me. That woman. She was trouble, the sort of trouble that would keep me on my toes for years to come. Well, if we didn’t go down in a blaze of glory.

If I had a mike, I would have dropped it. I

Mic* not Mike

We weren’t a big family, but boy, were we loud and intense sometimes, with all the subtlety of a social justice warrior in a Reddit forum. I wasn’t sure what their plan was in coming here, but I doubted it was to destroy Clay’s carpet. Orange soda did not forgive. The color wasn’t coming out of Raelyn’s arms and face, let alone anything fabric. She looked like an angry carrot. An angry, screaming carrot. Like one of those mandrakes they uproot in Harry Potter that made students faint from the noise.

“Where are Clay and Lauren?” John suddenly asked, loud and paranoid. It was the voice of a parent noticing a missing Sharpie and a toddler not in the room.