After the Ex Games (The Ex Games #4)(8)
Author: J.S. Cooper

Part III

Two Weeks Later

Chapter 6

Greyson

“Do you have all your stuff packed up?” I pulled Meg towards me and she laughed. “Do you find my kisses funny now?”

“No.” She leaned up and kissed me. “I just think your question is funny. I don’t have much here, so there’s not much to pack up.”

“I didn’t even think about that.” My hands found their way to her butt cheeks and squeezed. “I forgot you only came with a small bag.”

“You mean you haven’t noticed I’ve been wearing the same three outfits?” She laughed at me and made a face.

“To be honest, I don’t really care about the clothes you’re wearing.”

“Greyson.” She pushed herself against me. “I swear all you think about is sex.”

“Well, of course that’s not true.” My hand made its way up to her breast. “I think about other things as well.”

“Uh huh,” she moaned against my lips as I pinched her nipple. I kissed down her neck and made my way to her breast, biting down and sucking on her flesh. “Greyson,” she murmured as I kissed her.

“Yes?” I muttered, my mind focused on taking her nipple in my mouth.

“Why are we going to Brandon’s house?” She ran her hands through my hair and I continued kissing her, even though warning bells were going off in my brain.

“I told you why.” I looked up at her. “I want us to get a place together.” That wasn’t a lie. I did want us to get a place together.

“Why can’t we just stay at my apartment? Why do we have to go to Brandon’s?”

“I just thought it would be fun. I know Katie has been missing you.” I looked away from her then. That wasn’t the complete truth.

We were going to stay at Brandon’s because he lived in a safe environment and had hired security. I didn’t want to tell Meg that though since I hadn’t told her about the death threat Brandon and I had received. I flinched as I remembered the note and the single bullet I’d found on my desk the day before. The note had been simple and brief:

To the founders of the private club,

A life for a life? Who do you love?

“What are you thinking about?” Meg’s voice was soft as she reached up and tilted my face to look at her.

“Nothing.” I shook my head and forced a smile on my face. “I’m just hoping the four of us don’t kill each other.”

Meg laughed and kissed me on the lips. “I’ve lived with Katie before, so I know we’ll be fine. I’m not so sure about you and Brandon though. You guys still seem pretty tense.”

“That’s why I want us to stay with him instead of at a hotel. I’m hoping we can mend our relationship.” I kissed her back hard and closed my eyes, not wanting her to see the fear that was brewing inside of me.

The bullet and the note had hit me to the core. I’d been waiting for something to happen, so the last two weeks had been torture. Brandon and I had waited at the diner for three hours for someone to show up. A part of me had held on to the hope that whoever was behind everything was calling our bluff. Maybe they weren’t really serious. Maybe whoever it was hadn’t meant anything, but I’d known that was just wishful thinking. As soon as she’d shown up at the club, I’d known my life was going to change. I knew everything was going to come out into the open. All of my secrets would be brought to light. It was as it should be. It was something I’d been waiting to happen for the last ten years. Some part of me had always known that true love wasn’t in the cards for me. A wife and a family hadn’t even been a part of my psyche. How could they be? Men like me didn’t have happy families. Men like me didn’t deserve them.

“I hope so too. You guys were best friends. I know it’s horrible that Maria killed herself, but you can’t blame yourselves for the rest of your life.”

“I know.” I nodded. “I just want us to get our friendship back.” And our lives.

“I want that as well. That’s why I agreed to go.” She hugged me tight. “You’d tell me if there was anything else going on, right?”

“Of course.” I nodded. “There’s nothing else.”

“Why do I think you’re not telling me everything?” She took a step back and sighed. “I’m trying to give you the benefit of the doubt, Greyson, but I can tell something is off.”

“Meg—” I started, but she cut me off.

“Don’t Meg me.” She shook her head. “Nuh uh. Tell me, Greyson. Since yesterday, you’ve been acting funny and you haven’t taken your eyes off me.”

“That’s because I—”

“Nuh uh, don’t go there.” Her eyes narrowed. “Tell me the truth.”

I took a deep breath and pulled her towards me. I knew I was going to have to tell her part of the truth. Meg was too smart for her own good. “We got a death threat at the club yesterday. We don’t know who they are targeting or why, but I think it’s best for us to move out while we figure it out.”

“Do you think it’s the same person who took Nancy?” Meg’s voice fell to a whisper and her face paled.

“I don’t know.” I shook my head. “I just don’t know.”

“What did the private detective say?”

“He said that right now we’re the ones in danger and we need to leave until we figure it all out.”

“And find Nancy, right?”

“Yeah.” My voice felt stilted as I lied. I was scared to find Nancy. I was scared that she was another casualty in the club. She was another piece in the puzzle that was threatening to ruin everything for me. “Or if you want, we can just fly away from here. Move to Hawaii or Rome and just live our lives in a different sort of paradise.”

“Why would we do that? We can’t let some idle death threats scare us.”

“I don’t know what David is capable of.” I could hear the panic in my voice. “He’s crazy.”

“I can’t believe he just disappeared. I bet he took Nancy.” Meg looked annoyed with herself. “I always knew something was off with him. I should have confronted him. I just didn’t think he could have done anything. He looked so innocent.”

“He probably took her as some sick sort of fantasy. If he can’t be with her sister, he wants to be with her instead.” My words felt wooden coming out of my mouth, and I felt a fire burning up inside of me.