Page 17 of Play The Game

“How’s the bed sharing going? I haven’t been woken in the middle of the night to sounds of moaning so I’m assuming you haven’t jumped straight into group sex.”

I choke so hard on my coffee that it comes out of my fucking nose. My eyes water as Avery screeches with laughter and I decide I’m breaking up with her.

Mopping up the mess with the napkin she ever-so-helpfully hands me, I still send her a look as I croak, “Harley decided to tell the others I’m inexperienced, so they’ve become giant fucking teases.”

And, fuck me, are they good at it.

Blaise has refused to wear a shirt inside the house since arriving and I’ve been fucking dying over it. Harley enjoys watching me squirm, his eyes smoldering and intense, undressing me and fucking me with one damn look, but when I’ve approached him, he’d back off. I’m terrified to even think about what Ash is going to add into the mix, because he’s never been the type to be outdone, and the tactics he’s resorted to while we’ve been long-distance were brutal enough.

I think they want me to beg.

I also think I’m going to.

Avery cocks an eyebrow at me. “Well, if you want to break Ash, just put on some of the lace he picked out for you. I still can’t believe you didn’t realize how much he wanted you back then. He insisted on picking out your damn panties, for Christ's sake.”

I shake my head at her but she only cackles back.

She’s been giving me shit about it since the day she joined me in the bathroom and laid it all out for me. I consider it for a second and then smirk at her.

“Wanna help me get back at them? Beat them at their own game?”

She quirks an eyebrow at me over the rim of her cup. “Always, Mounty.”

I lied. I’m never letting this evil queen go.

After we finish eating, Avery scrubs every inch of the kitchen with a manic grin plastered on her face and the sort of zealous energy that only she could have about soapy water and a pot scrubber. I keep her company while I make it through my second cup of coffee, gossiping and catching up, but by my third, she’s elbows deep, scrubbing out the oven and I leave her to it as she hums happily under her breath.

I’m tucked up in the lounge, taking notes from my chemistry textbook before there are any signs of life out of the guys. Whether Avery threatened him, or if he’s just relieved that I’ve rejoined the land of the living and doesn’t want to jinx it, Harley doesn’t acknowledge yesterday at all, his eyes giving me a quick once-over before he kisses me with just a little too much tongue for Avery’s liking, if the textbook that’s flung at his head says anything. I’m still a little awkward about… all of it, really, and I’m blushing like an idiot when Ash saunters out of our room, Avery’s lecture loud enough to wake him up, too. Checking me out, he’s about as subtle as Harley was but when he ducks down to kiss me as well, his goes beyond a bit of tongue. It’s downright porn and I have to cut him off before his sister actually kills him.

Apparently, he takes offense to that and decides the only way forward is to melt my brain and my damned panties, until I don’t have enough neurons firing to consider our surroundings. He ever-so-casually tells us he’s heading out for a run, nodding along with my list of routes to take and places to avoid agreeably, before he ducks back into our room to change. Then that motherfucker walks out in the tiniest pair of fucking shorts I have ever seen on a man. If I thought the kiss was porn, well, that was past-Lips talking. Naive and sheltered Lips who didn’t realize that a man’s legs and ass could look like that. His eyes are a searing brand on my skin as he takes in the absolute mess I’m in, smirking triumphantly before blowing me a kiss and walking out instead of doing something about the puddle I’ve become, like the dick that he is.

When I finally regain my senses after he’s locked the front door behind him, I tell Avery to order fifty fucking pairs of them and she gags at me dramatically. My cheeks on fire, I shove my headphones into my ears and lose myself in my studies, where my energy is best spent and won’t have me making an idiot of myself. Harley joins me without interruption, spreading out on the floor in front of me so he can lean against my legs each time he takes a break and stretches. When Ash gets back from his run, he takes a shower I refuse to think about, and then splays himself on the couch with me, his head in my lap as he takes a nap. It’s strangely comforting instead of distracting, and I practically devour my textbooks.

Once Blaise finally wakes up, looking every part the rumpled Devil-may-care rock god that he is, even as he’s blinking blearily around at us all, Avery declares that she’s made dinner reservations for us all at a restaurant on the nice side of the city and then shepherds me into her room to get ready. It’s barely four in the afternoon, so I have no idea why it would take us three hours to get ready. I grumble this at her.

She clutches her stomach as she laughs at me.

It takes even longer.

Avery treats me like her own freaking doll to play with, and I just shut my eyes and let her. She tames and curls my hair into gorgeous, gentle waves. My makeup is simple, but with a bright red lipstick that makes my pout look lush and sexy. The black dress Avery pulls out of her wardrobe for me is sleek, stunning, and I tell her to never let it slip how much it cost her. It has a high neckline and from the front it looks modest, even with the skirt landing just above my knee. The show-stopper is the back, where the cutout dips low and the ruching over my ass makes it looks round and pert. The neckline buttons at the top to look like a choker, and, fuck, even I get a little excited at how I look.

Avery cackles, every inch of her body glowing with a particularly mischievous aura that I’m sure would terrify the guys if they were here seeing it, but it only makes me grin back at her. I mean, it’s this sharp edge that I admired in her to begin with and now I get to be in on it with her, it’s literally my life’s purpose at this point.

“Is this what you were thinking when you asked for my help?” she gloats.

With a smirk, I turn to check myself out one last time before giving my ass a shake for good measure, and she laughs even harder. “This is better. I didn’t know I could look this good.”

There’s a thump at the door and then Harley grumbles through it at us both. “Are we going to dinner or a fucking runway show? I’m hungry, and if Morrison smokes any more, he’s going to be useless.”

Cursing under my breath, I swing the door open to find Blaise and chew him out, but Harley is blocking the way. Before I can ask him to move, or shoulder him out of my warpath, he takes a jerking step back at the sight of me as his jaw drops. My temper cooling a little, I smirk and raise my eyebrows at him, hoping he doesn’t notice the way I’m also having some trouble breathing at the sight of him. I never knew black slacks and a white button-up shirt could look so devastating.

“Jesus Christ, you’re both drooling,” Avery grouses as she sidles past me, shooting me a grin behind Harley’s back before she struts out into the lounge to murder Blaise for me.

Recovering with a speed I envy, Harley smirks as he steps forward and tugs me into his arms. “I should’ve known Aves would dress you in her fancy shit. You look like one of those upper-class ladies. Don’t get me wrong, you look hot as fuck, but it’s still… weird.”

I scoff at him and I’d probably be a little insulted, even with the assurances, if he wasn’t looking at me like he wanted to rip the dress off my body. He hasn’t even seen the best part yet. “I’m assuming Avery is taking us to some uppity place, and I doubt I own anything that would pass the dress code. Those people don’t exactly love a band tee and Docs.”

Harley smirks. “Too bad for them, Blaise does and that asshole is willing to throw his daddy’s reputation into the mix to get away with it.”