Playing for Keeps (The Game #2)(9)
Author: Emma Hart

“His mom told me that. She also said you both spent half that time in your rooms, leaning out of your windows and yelling at passersby in the hope that she and your mom would get so annoyed they’d unground you.”

The smile on my face widens as I remember. Our houses are set so they face each other, both with huge yards wrapping around. We both had the side rooms, the ones that faced the main street, and we’d lean out of them talking to each other all day until someone walked past. Then we’d shout and scream about how we’d been locked away unfairly by an evil witch.

Needless to say, I wasn’t allowed to watch Sleeping Beauty or read Rapunzel for a long time. In fact, my parents confiscated all my fairy tales for about a month. That didn’t go down well. At all.

“So, did anything happen here?”

“The usual. Nothing exciting.” I shift in my seat.

“In other words, Kay drank too many shots and offended someone, Lila sneaked off with Ryan, and Aston took some girl back to his room and pissed her off two hours later.”

“Pretty much,” I agree, choosing not to correct her about Aston. It’s only a half lie, anyway …

“And you, as always, turned down advances from the numerous hot guys and disappeared back to your room. Right?” She raises a skeptical eyebrow.

“Right.”

“Braden wasn’t here breathing down your neck and you didn’t take advantage of that?”

“Nope.” Kind of no, anyway.

“Wow.” She cocks her head to the side and smiles. “You really do need to get laid.”

“Wow.” I mirror her movement, trying not to laugh at her. “You really do spend too much time with Braden.”

She opens her mouth, pauses, and closes it again, her eyes widening. “Oh my God. You’re right. He’s turning me into a female Frat brother!”

“Join a sorority?”

“I don’t think I’m quite sorority material. Plus a good half of them have likely slept with my boyfriend and hate me because I’m the one that got him.”

“Ah, that would be awkward.”

“Mhmm.”

“Where is Braden anyway? Not like him to let you leave his side,” I tease her.

“Ha ha.” She rolls her eyes but smiles. “He’s gone to sort all his crap out. In other words, interrogate Aston and make sure he didn’t pull his usual tricks and get into your pants.”

Wow.

“And he thinks Aston would tell him even if he did?” My eyebrows get stuck somewhere between a frown and raising in disbelief.

“Apparently,” she mutters. “Just like you’d tell me if you did, right?”

“Uh, no.” I laugh, biting back the uncertainty that tried to creep into my words. Dammit.

“So you might have slept together?” Maddie’s green eyes sparkle over her cup.

“No.”

“Right. So you might have because you’re gonna tell me no anyway.”

“Maddie, stop putting words in my mouth.”

“It didn’t work, did it?” She pouts.

“No, because nothing happened.” I bang the table. “Nothing.”

Nothing anyone needs to know about. And no one needs to know, so nothing happened.

That logic works a lot better in my head than I’d imagine it would outside of it.

Chapter Six – Aston

I glare at Braden. “For the tenth f**king time, I did not sleep with Megan this weekend.” But not for a lack of damn well trying.

Braden folds his arms across his chest. “She seemed more pissed at you than usual in class.”

I shrug a careless shoulder. “Probably because I pissed her off more than normal on Saturday night.”

Ryan grins. “She did look like she wanted to wring your balls after you spoke to her at the bar.”

“Yeah well, even if she did wring them, I wouldn’t have been hard pressed to find someone to kiss them better afterwards, would I?”

“Shit, man.” Braden shakes his head and sits down. “Was I really this much of a f**king ass**le before Maddie?”

Ry throws his cell in the air and catches it. “Yep.”

“Difference with me and you, dude,” I say, “is that I can admit I’m an ass**le. You thought you were f**kin’ Jesus or somethin’.”

“That’s because I am – behind closed doors.” He grins like the smug bastard he is. “At least you didn’t try it with Megan.”

“I don’t know why you’re so worried. Megan has more brains than to give the goods to this dickhead.” Ry cocks his thumb in my direction, and I flip him the bird.

“You say this, but I’m the only one here with my freedom left. Your girls have your dicks in the palms of their hands,” I remind them.

“And what magical damn hands they are.” Ryan snickers.

“What? You never felt a magic hand before Lila?” I throw at him. “I guess I’m the blessed one.”

“Blessed with the ability to snake your way into bed with anyone you want to,” Braden continues.

“Because you didn’t have the same ability. I must have imagined all the half-dressed girls doing the sweet walk of shame from your bedroom.”

“One day, Aston, you’re gonna end up just like us.”

“If I ever end up as pu**y-whipped as you, please, f**kin’ punch me.” I snort. “But that’s not gonna happen, trust me.”

Being pu**y-whipped means feeling – and I don’t do that. I don’t let myself do that. Feeling means remembering, and remembering is a load of shit. Besides, the one girl that could make me is the one girl that’s off-limits.

And that’s a damn good thing. If I can’t have her, I can’t feel for her, and if I can’t feel, I can’t hurt her. Because I would. Eventually. Eventually the walls would build back up, push her out, and I would fall back on the only feelings that matter.

The physical ones. The ones that involve a pair of legs around my waist.

You’re just like her. It’ll be all you’re f**kin’ good for.

“Dude?” Ryan claps his hands once. “You there?”

“Yeah.” I pull myself from my head. “Thought I saw somethin’.”

“You say you won’t find anyone, but you will,” Braden continues. “Trust me. And it’ll be the girl with balls big enough to stand up to you and put your spindly little dick in its place.”