Page 356 of Bad Prince

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Her voice.

Her eyes.

The way she didn’t run this time.

Kane watches me.

“You think that was a game?” he asks quietly.

My hands flex at my sides.

I don’t answer. Because part of me—knows it wasn’t.

“She put herself on the line for you,” he continues. “No mask. No armor. No bullshit.”

A beat.

“And you walked.”

That one sinks in.

Deep.

I look away.

Back to the court.

Because it’s easier than looking at him.

Easier than admitting?—

this isn’t clean.

None of it is.

“I don’t see it that way,” I say finally.

Kane huffs.

“Yeah,” he mutters. “That’s the problem.”

He steps back.

“Just don’t take too long figuring it out,” he adds. “Because girls like her?”

A pause.

“They don’t wait forever.”

Then he turns.

Walks off.

Leaves me there with the ball and the echo of his words.

The gym goes quiet for a second.

Then—“DAMN, VALE!”

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