I smiled, realizing the chaos I was about to start. “Want to play a game?”
There was a low, delighted laugh. “You’re serious?”
He sounded interested, and that was all I needed to find her. “Dead.”
“I’m in,” he said immediately.
I started my car back up, facing all the air vents toward me. “A woman named Ember is hiding. She belongs to me, and we need to find her.”
“So, she’s running?” he asked, his curiosity clearly piqued.
“Hiding,” I corrected. “She knows better than to run from me.”
He hummed as if in thought. “What’s the prize?”
I minimized the call, letting my eyes drift over the feeds in my phone, searching for her.
“Ifyoufind her first,” I said calmly, “you get to run the club for the week and offer those special nights you wanted.”
“Hmm,” Greyson responded, before inhaling slowly. “And you're just going to let that happen?”
“If you win, yes.”
A small laugh cracked through the phone. “Do we have rules?”
I appreciate the fact that he even asked. Greyson without rules could be…inconvenient.
“There’s only three,” I said, confirming she was still nowhere I could reach her.
“Go on.”
“One. No one can see you. If someone spots you, you forfeit.”
He scoffed in my ear. “You act like I’m sloppy.”
“Two,” I continued, ignoring him. “You can’t hurt her.”
“I wouldn’t do that,” he replied, as if offended.
“You would, which is why it needs to be said.”
Another quiet chuckle, but he didn’t deny it. “And I mean it, not even anything remotely close, or the deal is off.”
Another pause, this one edged with something darker. “And three?”
“If we run into her roommates, we avoid them at all costs.”
Greyson outright laughed this time. “You want to find her bad, huh?”
It’s not a want, brother, it's a need.
He exhaled slowly, as if in preparation. “When do we start?”
“Now. You have a ten-second head start,” I said lazily before lowering my voice. “Go.”
He hung up without another word as I sat there for amoment with my phone still in my hand.
Either way, she loses.
