Page 33 of Play The Game

It takes me a full minute to remember how to breathe.

Harley groans under his breath and scrubs his face with both his hands. “Why is there always someone worse? I thought you were the fucking worst there was.”

That breaks the somber mood a little, and Illi smiles like Harley’s just called him pretty. “So sweet of you to say, but there is always someone worse. I for one never want to meet whoever the fuck is worse than Morningstar. Any idea on why that fuck Beaumont wants his own kids dead? Or why he can’t just do it for himself? I’m not gonna ask what they’ve done to piss him off; I’m sure the cunt deserves it and I’ve never known you to put up with dickheads. Well, other than that cock D’Ardo.”

I grimace and shrug. “They haven’t done anything, except survive the bullshit they’ve been put through. I know some of why their family is messed up, but I’ll get the rest of the details and we can work this out. Fuck.”

Illi cuts me another look. “Kid, there’s no dealing with the devil. This isn’t a story from old; you can’t cut a deal. If he takes the job from Beaumont… they’re gone. All of them.”

I swallow roughly. There’s no way I’m letting that happen. No. Fucking. Way. “Reach out to everyone and tell them that the twins are mine. Morrison too.”

Illi blows out a breath and rubs his jaw, his skull rings catching the light and grinning at me ominously. “You inducting them?”

Harley’s gaze is like a brand on my skin as he watches me, but I only shake my head. “I haven’t asked them, just put it out there that they’re under my protection. I don’t care how you word it, just make sure word gets out that if anyone touches them, they answer to me. If Morningstar takes the job… I’ll start calling in favors.”

Harley glares at the ground, his fists clenched dangerously. Illi stares at him and then says, softly, like this time he’s testing his grit, “It’ll be war, kid.”

Harley shrugs. “They’re richer than God, if we need to we’ll get them out of the country. I hear Antarctica is nice this time of the year. Ash will fucking love that.”

NINE

After a terrible night of sleep, I see Harley off to swim training with a kiss and another reminder to keep the details of our night to himself, until I get the chance to speak to Ash alone about it. He takes note of the haggard look I’m rocking, and the exhausted rasp in my voice, and nods along easily, cupping my cheek as he kisses me again softly. I’m still not used to being treated like that, and I have to swallow around the lump in my throat as I head to the bathroom to have a shower despite how early it is, giving up on sleep entirely.

The hot water only helps for a second before I’m sighing and scrubbing at my face as if that’ll help me figure this shit out. There’s nothing about this threat that’s simple; I can’t even tell Avery about it without a plan because her family or, more specifically, her father has always been a touchy subject. I’m all for keeping my nose out of everyone else’s trauma, but their lives are on the line here and I can’t make a plan without knowing what the fuck is wrong with the senior Joseph Beaumont.

The way Avery has always danced around the topic, I know it’s Ash who has a problem talking about it, so he’s the one I need to speak to but getting him alone is impossible. I’m already painfully aware of this fact, and I mean painfully, because I get to see him all day, speak to him, joke around with him, but I barely manage to hold his hand between classes. He’s always affectionate toward me, snark and sarcasm included, but his extracurriculars are at the same time as Avery’s and with his sister around, I barely get more than a peck on the lips from him.

I feel so fucking guilty.

Blaise pins me to the bed most nights during our study sessions, and Harley has been sleeping over a few nights a week, kissing me senseless before the sun comes up and he has to leave for his swim practice, so it doesn’t really seem fair. Fuck, why has it taken this threat for me to realize that Ash has been singled out and… iced out, I guess? Fuck. It gets worse the more I think about it.

Sulking and trying not to show it, I bury my head in my textbooks for another hour before Avery’s alarm wakes her and she has a shower. I make us both breakfast and she scowls at the mountain of French toast waiting for her, but she doesn’t call me out. Then I make us both coffees and eat like it’s my last meal, which makes her really begin to eye me with suspicion.

It’s when I start washing the dishes that she finally breaks. “Are you really that worried about me asking about your night? Why do you think I got you that suit, Lips? Honestly! I don’t care what you guys did, or where… though I am going to have to organize to have the pool cleaned now you fucked Harley in it; I do use it occasionally.”

I choke on my own spit and almost die. She screeches with laughter at my sputtering as she gets the coffee machine running again, making us both coffees to-go, and I could kiss her damn feet in gratitude. Even if she is trying to kill me.

“I didn’t fuck Harley in the pool! Or at all! Jesus, Aves. This has nothing to do with sex—it’s about Illi’s intel.”

Some of the amusement leaches out of her face as her brows pinch. “Really? That’s… surprising. The way you’ve been acting all morning, I thought you were feeling guilty about the guys again. The only time I’ve seen you like this was the first time Ash kissed you.”

Jesus fuck.

I scrub the pans harder, groaning softly under my breath. “Maybe it’s a little bit about sex. Sort of. Fuck, okay. I got some news and I need to speak to Ash about it, alone. I was thinking about how to do that without causing a scene and it made me realize that I don’t spend any time with him. Just him. I’ve been so busy with assignments, keeping everyone on track and avoiding all the gossiping bullshit in the dining hall that I've been neglecting him. I haven’t made time for him. I’m an asshole.”

She doesn’t immediately reply, and it takes me a full minute of scrubbing before I’m brave enough to look at her, but she’s just watching me closely. “Are you having second thoughts?”

The pan clatters into the sink as I drop it. “No. Not even a little bit, not for a second.”

She shrugs easily back. “Then you’re not an asshole, you’re just busy. You’ve seen the other two because they’ve shoved their way into your schedule; Ash hasn’t. It’s not all on you, Lips, and before you start on your next crisis, he’s definitely not having second thoughts. I think he’s just… taking a different approach. Honestly, I feel like he’s worried I really will kill them all if I catch them in here naked. Which I might. But only them, you can do whatever you like—just don’t fuck any of them in the kitchen, bathroom, or my bed. Or the couch. You know what, just stick to your bed and change the sheets immediately post-coitus.”

I roll my eyes at her dramatics, the only reaction I can manage with the storm of emotions in my gut, and when I feel them bubbling to the surface, I finally just blurt it out. “Look, we promised not to lie to each other so… I’m not going to lie to you. I need to speak to Ash about a new threat we’re going to have to deal with. I know he’s not ready to talk about the sheer fucked-up levels of bad that your father is, but the situation has forced my hand.”

Avery stares at me for a second, then frowns and pulls out her phone. “I’ll cancel tutoring with Blaise, tell him and Harley to stay away for the night, and Ash can skip track.” She chews on her lip and then says, quietly, “I know you want to do this just with him, but I should stay, too. If it’s… if it’s a matter of safety, I don’t want him skipping things or trying to make it sound… less than what it is for your sake. He’ll try to shield you from it all like he does with me. I mean, he shields Harley and Blaise from it, too.”

My heart sinks all the way down to my stomach, but I nod.

The guys notice my mood the second they lay eyes on me. Blaise quietly checks in, slipping me his iPod with a kiss to my cheek, but he lets it go when I shrug back to him. When Harley tucks me under his arm with nothing but a scowl, it doesn’t take Ash long to figure out our late-night rendezvous is the culprit, and he starts in on his cousin for details.