Ruthless (Black Mountain Academy) - Mila Crawford Page 0,22
did that guy mean back there--from quarterback to loser? Did you play football with them?”
I didn’t answer. Hated the truth of it on my lips. But I couldn’t lie to her, not about this too. “For a while.”
“Were you good?”
I cracked a smile at her direct question. “Good enough to throw a record-breaking season for the Cougars. I was so pissed when I came back from boarding school, I lit my jersey on fire and watched it burn from the pool deck. Just one of the reasons Monica prefers me sleeping far away from her, out here in the pool house.”
“Wow.” Her eyes dropped from the ring in my lip to the inked knuckles, then back to my gaze. “Full of surprises, aren’t you, Sinclair?”
“I like keeping you on your toes.”
“So what changed--with football--I mean?”
I shook my head. “What didn’t change?”
“Do you always answer questions with more questions?”
“Are you always so direct about business that isn’t yours?” I bit, then regretted it instantly when coldness clouded her usually warm eyes. Silence hung heavy enough to cut with a knife, memories of my years playing football as a child, Edward and Monica cheering me on from the stands, sending a surge of emotion to the brim.
I shuddered, determined to leave it where it belonged and focus on what was right here, right now.
Little Mouse.
“You even like that bubble gum pop shit?” A look of disgust formed on my face, and she laughed as a remixed eighties song reached its awful chorus.
“All music is powerful. Look at Pink: totally underrated for years. She was considered a pop princess when she came out but her songs empower millions of people around the world. My mom pretty much raised me on her.”
I waited, still skeptical, before the ghost of a condescending smile lingered on my lips.
“Hold on.” She walked to her bag and pulled out her phone, searching through music until she found the song she was looking for. Pink’s smooth vocals echoed between us, the lyrics taking over the quiet room, as the two of us sat there absorbing the lyrics. “This song is called Chaos and Piss.”
When the song ended, she looked at me, eyes soft but just as piercing as they usually were. I tipped my head to the side, admiring her like a complex puzzle to figure out.
“You pick this for a reason?” I asked, voice lowering an octave. I couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d chosen this one because it reminded her of someone. Maybe me.
“Not initially,” she admitted.
I broke into a roar of laughter, not giving a shit even if she’d had me in mind when she’d chosen this song. She thought I was dark now? She didn’t know the half of it.
My phone went off and my laugh was cut short when I moved to the kitchen table to grab it. I breathed easier when my mom told me that Tammy was improving rapidly. When I hung up a moment later, I relayed the new information to Maddison. “That was my mom. She says Tammy is heading home in the morning. She’s going to stay at the hospital with her tonight.”
“Oh, Kyler, that’s great.”
“Yeah.” I shrugged before moving back to the plush rug and skimming the music again. “I think I should show you some real music.”
“Pink is real music. Thank you very much.” She shot a pout at me.
“You’re pretty cute when you’re tryin’ to be bratty. These rich chicks are really rubbing off on you,” I said, before quickly adding, “The brat part, not the cute part. I have a feeling that cute quality is all you.” I sat there, her eyes burning right through me.
“Cute, huh?” A frown darted across her face. “Why does that sound like an insult coming from you, Kyler Sinclair?”
My grin cocked to one side, the realization that she was right not surprising at all, the realization that she knew me better than I thought, totally. “Hate to say it, but in this case...” I bit down on my lip ring before moving in slowly, one fingertip tucking a stray strand of her hair behind her ear.
A visible shudder passed through her that seemed to jump the barrier of space between us.
She sucked in a slow breath, eyes laser-focused on my bottom lip. I grinned, tugging the loop between my teeth to play with it a moment before doing the only thing I’d been thinking of and pressed my lips to hers in a feathery kiss.
I was frozen at first,