Dare You to Hate Me by B. Celeste (classic fiction .txt) 📕

and ready to lash. “Why wouldn’t I? I’ve always wanted the best for my little brother. I—” She stops herself, averting her eyes.

“I know you have. I know that better than anybody, don’t you think?” I take her hand and squeeze it. “But sometimes that grates on people. You can’t always be the punching bag so others miss the hits, and that’s what you were.”

Ivy has nothing to say to that.

I decide to prod. “Do you want a relationship with him?”

“Like I said, I want to know he’s okay. I need to know because…”

I wait for her to finish, the seconds ticking by and her mouth parting and closing with no words escaping the fullness of them. “Chaos?”

Her eyelids pinch together as she withdraws her hand. “Please stop calling me that.” The pain in her tone makes me study her even closer, her eye twitching and lips weighing heavily at the corners. “I need to know he’s okay because I’m not, and one of us should be.”

When her voice cracks, I swallow back the urge to clock everyone in their fucking faces who made her feel that one.

Ivy is a living, breathing oxymoron.

Chaotic and selfless.

She puts her guard back up and looks at the door leading outside, her next move obvious as she takes a step away from me.

I do nothing to stop her with every inch she puts between us. “I’m not Chaos,” is all she leaves me with, her face and tone void of any shred of emotion.

When she leaves, I don’t follow no matter how bad I want to. I give her the control she pleaded for and wait until the door closes behind her before sitting down on the couch.

I think about Chet Wilkins and drop my face into my hands with a heavy sigh. “What the fuck am I doing?”

Chapter Nineteen

Ivy

It’s been over a week of avoiding Aiden at the house, and he’s made it too easy. Every night I fall asleep on the couch hoping he’ll get the hint, and every morning I wake up in his bed. The difference is that he’s never with me—his body heat void from the sheets, leaving me with cold cotton when I open my eyes and turn to his empty side of the mattress.

When I creep out of his bedroom this morning, I find his body draped uncomfortably across the cushions of the small couch. I’m halfway out of the room when I double back with a drop of my head to cover him with a blanket. He doesn’t have anywhere to be on Sundays unlike me, so he should sleep in as long as he can.

He disappeared for a few days with Caleb and DJ, and the only text I got from him about it was be back soon. And while I didn’t deserve any further explanation, the guys remaining upstairs knew I was anxious when they’d come down hesitantly to ask if I wanted to hang out and watch TV or join them for dinner when they ordered delivery. Aiden must have asked them to make me feel included.

Three days of no Aiden should have been a relief—a break from his concern over what I admitted, yet I was out of my mind wondering if I’d finally chased him away like I tried doing from the start.

I barely get to the stairs when I hear a gruff “thank you” coming from the couch. Glancing over my shoulder, I see Aiden’s arm still draped over his eyes and his body in the same contorted position as before.

Swallowing, I whisper, “Go back to sleep.”

There’s a humming noise coming from the big brute as I go up the main set of stairs. When I walk into the kitchen, Caleb and Raine are sitting at the table and DJ is putting together food at the counter.

“Good morning,” Raine greets first, smiling up from the plate of eggs in front of her.

DJ turns to me, arms open. “Morning. How about a hug to start the day?”

Caleb throws something at his teammate and DJ smacks it away right before it hits his chest. “Knock it off, bro.”

“I’m just being a good roommate.”

I grab my favorite Starbucks drink from the fridge, which magically started appearing shortly after I moved in. “Do you hug all your roommates?”

Raine giggles. “That’d be interesting.”

DJ looks offended. “I happen to give damn good hugs. The guys would be lucky to receive one.”

“To receive, huh?” Caleb glances at the blond whose cheeks tint at the insinuation his teammate makes. “Didn’t know you were so generous, Danny Boy.”

Turning to DJ, I ask, “Danny?”

He grumbles at Caleb. “Yeah, Danny.”

“Short for Daniel,” Raine pipes in.

“Huh.” I uncap my drink and take a sip.

Danny decides to ignore all of us. “Do you want some breakfast before you go to work? I make a mean omelet.”

Both Raine and Caleb nod.

“How do you know I’m working?”

Caleb laughs. “You do realize we had to go to Bea’s every single Sunday with Aiden, right? It took us a couple of visits before we realized why he was so insistent on going when he only used to go there every once in a while.”

Raine bites back a smile. “It’s true. When Cal told me that it was you Aid was going to see, I almost couldn’t believe it.”

A blush creeps under my cheeks that I try hiding from everybody. “Oh, well…”

DJ’s arm drops over my shoulder, tugging me into his side. “The guys all fucked with him after it was obvious he was drooling over you.”

The running back chuckles. “It’s hard not to when your friend goes from zero to 100 in no time flat. Dude never parties, drinks, or lets any of the girls lure him into a room alone. Then you show up and he threatens to punch us in the nuts if we look at you wrong.”

A loud laugh bursts from DJ. “Remember what he said to Brady? Get this, Ives. Justin didn’t know your man had already claimed you and said something