“But I didn’t beat you. You were public enemy number one, and I failed.”

She then gets up and rushes by me. Rolling my eyes, I stand up, and of course, I chase after her.

“Baylor, stop. I’m talking to you.”

“Go away.”

“No, I’m talking to you.”

“Fuck off, Sinclair!” she yells back at me with tears threatening to fall.

Reaching out, I take ahold of her wrist and whip her around to look at me. Her nostrils are flaring, her eyes are dark with anger, and her breathing is labored, but I don’t care. She’s acting like a baby, and I won’t deal with it. She pulls her arm free and we lock gazes, my breathing matching hers. She makes me so fucking mad.

“No, listen to me. So you didn’t get the position, it’s not that big of a deal. Stop acting like a fucking crybaby and man up!”

“You have no clue what you are saying. You don’t know me, you don’t know my situation, you know nothing. So just shut up!”

“Because you won’t allow me to know. I came in here trying to talk to you, to make it better—”

“I don’t need you to make it better because you can’t! You don’t know what it’s like to look my father in the eyes after he’s put all his time and effort in making me the best. He gave up his dreams for me, and then I failed him. He didn’t raise a fucking loser, Jayden. He raised a winner!”

“You didn’t get the captain position! I highly doubt that qualifies as failing!”

“It is, because it was the missing piece to get me to where I want to go. I needed the leadership, but instead I allowed you to get into my fucking head and mess me all up.”

“What?” I ask incredulously. Is she blaming me?

“Nothing! Don’t worry about it, and get away from me.”

“No,” I say, taking her arm to keep her from walking away. “You didn’t get captain, Baylor, but you are still an alternate. And who cares about titles? It matters about your performance, and Baylor, you got that in the bag.”

“No, I don’t! Because in the end, if they are gonna choose someone to go in, it’s gonna be you!”

Glaring at her, I don’t understand her way of thinking. “There are two hundred spots in every draft. I’m sure there is enough room for both of us. They took three from this school last year.”

She shakes her head and says, “And they didn’t take you. Which means I had to be better than you to get in.”

Stopping, I hold her gaze. That was a low blow, superlow, but she doesn’t mean it. Her lip is wobbling and her eyes are wide, almost like she didn’t want to say that.

“Do you really mean that?” I ask, but her stubborn ass won’t answer me. She’s just staring at me, her eyes watering while her lip wobbles. “Are you trying to push me away here? Is that what that was?”

“You know all about that, don’t you,” she snaps. “You’re great at making people feel like rejected losers.”

I shake my head before letting out a breath. I’m trying to keep my cool, but man, she is trying me here.

“Man, what happen to letting that go? To forgiving me?”

Her lip curls up as she glares. “I don’t like you.”

“That’s your answer?” I ask, and then I laugh. “You know what, Baylor?” I say sharply. “You say I’m the enemy, but really, you’re the enemy. You are your own worst enemy, and it’s fucking insane. You’re gonna bring yourself so far down, gonna push away so many people, that you’re gonna be left alone with no one to bring you back up.”

“I don’t need anyone to pick me up,” she growls back at me. “Especially not you.”

Taking a step closer to her, I hold her gaze. I try to ignore how hot she looks, how beautiful the hazel color of her eyes is, but it’s hard. Yeah, she pisses me off and she makes me crazy, but she does it while driving me wild with lust. I hate the way she makes me feel, but then I love it. She almost makes me feel like I’m bipolar and my sanity is nowhere in sight. I just don’t understand it. While she is sitting here, screaming at me, I should be pissed, screaming back, but I want to kiss her.

I want nothing more than to give that mouth something else to do.

Glancing up from her glossed-up red mouth, I look deep into her eyes and shake my head. “You know, I don’t doubt you. I bet you wish I’d go away.”

“I do. Just leave me alone.”

“I’m not going anywhere, though,” I say sharply. “You’ll have to give me a good reason to. Until then, I’m not moving. I’m gonna be in your face and make you see that I am good for you.”

“A good reason? Here is one: I don’t like you!”

“That’s a fucking lie, and you know it,” I say automatically, and then her teeth are sinking into her lip before she looks away, sucking in a breath through her nose. “Try again.”

“Fuck off, Jayden.”

I smile because I’m breaking down walls. She didn’t say Sinclair this time. She said my name, and she said it as a breath.

“No, because you know I’m right. You can’t stand me because I make you feel something more than just winning. You’re not mad because you lost, or even that you disappointed your dad—maybe at first. But now, you’re mad because you’re happy for me, because you knew that I deserved the position. You’re just too proud to admit it.”

Looking up at me, she glares, the little spot above her nose, between her brows, scrunching up while her mouth drops. But her eyes tell the truth. I’m dead-on right. “You are delusional.”

“No, I’m right. And the thing is, I couldn’t even be happy I won because I was worried about you. I wanted you to win, Baylor, but I knew if I let you, you’d skin me alive.”

Looking away, she shakes her head. “Just go away.”

“No. Stop pushing me away.”

“No, I can’t, Just go!” she yells, and I shake my head.

“Look at me,” I say, but she doesn’t. I fully expect her to move away when I take another step toward her, closing the distance between us, but she doesn’t. She stands there, sucking in breath after breath, and it’s honestly killing me. Taking my chances, I lift her chin with my index finger until her eyes meet mine. They are full of anger, remorse, and lust.