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He could handle the cruelty from his classmates The brutality from the demons sent to kill hi he was the worst sort of scum-trash

What he couldn’t stand was how quick his s to please her

He locked his jaw, trying to keep the tears froirl like he was some kind of baby who couldn’t handle his emotions

Nick shook his head "I don’t knohat else to do to prove to you that I ain’t Adarian Malachai To make you see the real me and not this misconceived notion you have of a pain in your butt, sent here to shame and humiliate you I don’t knohat’s worse The fact that you have no confidence in your ability to raise a decent person or the fact that you expect me to turn psycho for no reason It’s not my fault Adarian’s my father I didn’t pick hi but your personal disappoint, he turned around and headed for the door

"Where are you going, Nick?" histo you and everybody else, Maht to hell, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it"

Nick stopped as he reached the table Wren was currently cleaning He pulled out a small handful of bills and set them doith the others that had been left in the empty bread basket

Wren frowned at him "What’s that for?"

Nick jerked his chin toward the booth where the et what you’re entitled to Since I cost you the tip, it’s only fair Ihis hands in his pockets, Nick headed down Royal, toward Bubba’s He’d go hoht now, he wanted to be with sos when he didn’t deserve it For all of his faults, Bubba had always trusted hienetically defective kid

"Nick?"

He paused as he heard Kody’s voice Part of hinore her, but it wasn’t her fault his mom had laid into hi loishing he was anywhere else in the world than right here Right now

Yeah, one day hethe entire universe But today, he was just another loser

Kodyher knees, she came up to capture his lips with hers Nick closed his eyes and inhaled the sweetest scent he’d ever known

She cupped his face as she kissed hier and hurt After a few seconds, she wrapped her arainst his neck--so that sent chills all over hiainst hiainst the top of her head "Thank you, Kody"

"I didn’t do anything"

Yes, she did She cared And thathis throat, he draped his arm around her shoulders and started back down the street toward Bubba’s

"Your mother loves you, Nick"

"I know But she doesn’t trust me"

"She worries about you"

"I worry aboutme of … stuff I know not to do I don’t understand why she can’t see et it I just don’t You know, she actually asked me back when I played football why I wasn’t friends with Stone Blakemore ‘He’s such a nice boy, Nicky,’" hein hi out with him and his friends’" He curled his lip "Stone, Kody Stone The boy who carries his only two brain cells in his jock strap, and who isn’t happy unless he’s picking on so them" The boy who called Kody a whore every tiood in people"

But not in me

And that hat always kicked him hardest Stone, the idiot bully, was perfect He, the ever dutiful son, was defective…

The injustice stung so deep that it left a bleeding wound inside his soul What would he have to do to make hisborn to destroy everything?

A tool for evil?

Capable of murder?

His stomach churned even more as he realized that he was exactly all of that And more You’re destined to destroy everyone you love

Maybe his ht, Kody?" he asked, needing to know the truth about hi to flip out one day and become my father?"

She pulled hi more than the choice between lesser evils No one can take away your free will Not even the gods It’s the one gift that can never be returned, stolen, or revoked We can blame others for our bad decisions We can say that we had no choice But it’s always a lie No one puts your hand on the gun but you Only you can decide if you pick it up or leave it alone"