Page 68 of Fueled Hate

“Leave him out of it.” She grips the side of her shirt, pulling it down.

“It makes more sense why you hate Kyle so much. As if the way he treats Sadie isn’t enough, he also knows your dirty little secret.”

“Andrew and I broke it off. It was a mistake.”

“A repeated one, apparently.” It was a well-guarded secret that I hadn’t caught onto until I realized she wasn’t staying at Parker’s all those nights and was lying to Sadie. Bryce did enough digging to find out that Willow had been at Andrew’s place while Parker was working nights. Parker was also already at work when Noah died, further proving my suspicions that Kyle is at fault.

“Nope,” Bryce hollers from the kitchen. “It’s only a mistake the first time, after that it’s a decision.”

“Please. Don’t tell him,” Willow begs.

“It’s not my place.” And, I have bigger bones to pick with Parker. If Kyle isn’t guilty, he’s next in line.

“Then what do you want? Why tell me that you know unless you’re gonna use it against me?” Her voice cracks as her words fade off.

She’s been hurt too, just as Sadie has, and my guess would be from his clone Andrew.

“Mercy. We all make mistakes, but it doesn’t change how we feel about someone. You should understand that entirely.”

She quickly wipes her cheeks, walking to the door.

“Bye, Willow!” Bryce hollers out in a chipper voice as Willow slams the door behind her.

“Everything is set for tonight,” I say.

“Kyle challenge you already?”

“No, but he will. He’ll want to redeem himself.” I’m sure of it, but Bryce looks at me over the rim of his mug with doubt. “What?”

“Are you set for tonight?”

“Yes.” I should be. This was the goal. Take everything away from Kyle, make him suffer. Sadie is out of his reach, his title is mine, his car is next. The plan was always to torch it, light the bitch on fire while he watches his precious ZR1 burn. But it doesn’t feel like enough. Sadie might be right about one thing—it’ll never be enough. I’ll never be able to make him suffer as brutally as he does others, as he did Noah. But Sadie will suffer further if I succeed at my original goal—torching the ZR1 in her dad’s shop, so Frank and Kyle both watch their existences incinerate before them while they can’t do a thing to stop it. Only, I’ll be sending my future with her up in flames too.

Am I willing to accept that consequence?

37

Sadie

The unsettling part is not sitting in his car or not being ready to get out of it yet as I wait to go into school. The unnerving part is the handwritten note that I keep reading over and over. The one that I found after receiving a message on my phone this morning. I easily located the key fob hidden just outside my front door, exactly where he said it’d be. The note, that I wasn’t expecting.

Still yours.

Dylan

Tucking the piece of paper into my bag, I step out of the STI and head to class, unable to delay the inevitable any longer. Willow texts that she has a seat saved and she also informs me that both people I was hoping to avoid are there—Kyle and Dylan.

I’d figured Kyle would be the last person to show after what happened last night. But I shouldn’t be surprised, he never knows when to leave shit alone, including me.

Walking into the classroom, I descend the stairs, attempting to keep my focus on making it to my chair without laying eyes on either of them. Complete and utter failure on that count. Kyle’s back is to me as he sits two rows behind Willow, but it’s Dylan who turns, looking over his shoulder at me from where he sits across the aisle. His eyes are penetrating; the little progress I’d made to forget about how much he affects me is undone. Halting in place for a few seconds, I clutch my bag to my side before hurrying to drop in the seat next to Willow.

Fumbling with my things, there’s a tight tension in my muscles as I feel Kyle’s evil stare on my back.

“Well, this isn’t awkward,” Willow whispers as she leans over. “You good?”

Nodding, I grab out my notebook as the professor moves to the podium.

“Sadie,” Kyle mutters behind me.