Page 76 of Play The Game

I’m still chuckling at my own hilarity when I get back into my room, freezing as the door swings shut behind me.

Three sets of eyes take me in.

Harley is shirtless, holy hot damn, sitting on the couch holding a bottle of whiskey. Ash looks deliciously sleep-rumpled, still in his sweats despite sleeping in his own bed last night, and he has shot glasses lined up on the coffee table in front of them both. Blaise looks tired and grumpy from where he’s sprawled out on the floor, also rocking his sweats. It occurs to me that we very, very rarely have time together like this, the four of us in a room alone, and I want it more than I want air.

“You took your time, babe. Wanna play a game?” Harley says, waving the bottle at me as if that will entice me into playing along. I blush as I come out of my trance and I kick my shoes off, stalking over to slump down on the couch between the cousins.

“If we’re playing hooky from everything we’re supposed to be doing, can we skip the game and just drink? I was also kinda hoping for breakfast,” I grouse, but the second Harley slings an arm around my shoulders, I’m in. Why does he smell so good?!

“I’ve got my truths up my sleeve. You owe me,” Ash says, his tone like warm honey, and it’s almost enough to distract me from the words themselves.

Fuck.

I’d forgotten about that.

“Well, what do you want to know then?” I feign indifference but his smirk tells me I fail miserably.

Harley frowns at him and cracks the bottle of whiskey open, taking a swig and then handing it over to me. He hates not knowing shit about me, and Ash having the upper hand will be grating on his nerves.

Ash keeps his eyes locked on mine as he swipes the bottle from me, and fills the shot glasses to the brim. “I’ll be gentle, Mounty. We’ll play by your rules and if you don’t want to answer something just take the shot, and I’ll wait until it’s just the two of us to get the real answers.”

I groan at him because nothing in this world will piss Harley off more. “I’ll answer your questions. You guys can take shots if you don’t want to. You go first, Ash, since I owe you.”

He stares at me for a second and I almost think I see some regret on his face, but he asks the question anyway. “Why do you hate your birthday?”

I take the shot.

Harley curses under his breath, I think he’s ready to argue with Ash for me, but I wave him off. “I can tell I need to be drunk for the rest of this conversation. I hate my birthday because my mom died on my birthday. Next question.”

Blaise glares at Ash and tugs me until I end up in his lap. They’ve all taken to just picking me up and moving me where they want me and I’m still deciding if I like it or not.

I grab the bottle and start in on it. “C’mon, ask your questions. I’m giving you ten minutes and then I’ll be fucking wasted and useless. Someone better figure out how you’re going to explain this to Aves, too.”

Ash opens his mouth but Harley cuts him off. “I thought you hated your mom. Why miss out on your birthday every year to mourn someone you hate?”

Another gulp, I’m not going to make it to ten minutes. “I’m not mourning her. I’m commemorating the day I got sent to a group home and met a boy there with sweet words who knew exactly what to say to get me to trust him. A boy who told me he’d protect me and keep me safe. I’m commemorating the last time I blindly trusted someone and he turned out to be the biggest fucking monster under the bed. I’m mourning naive Lips Anderson who had no idea that boy had been watching her for months and sold her mom the dirty batch of heroin. I might have met him there, but he’d been watching me for a while and my life ended the same day she died. Lips died too, the Wolf is all that’s left. Next question?”

Harley takes a shot and then punches Ash in the arm so hard he winces. “Ask one of us one, babe. It’s not just you playing.”

Oh. That could be fun. I hand Harley the bottle and tap my chin with a finger dramatically. Blaise snorts with laughter, his chest pushing into me as he leans forward to grab a shot and down it.

Fuck it, I’ll go for the throat. “Why don’t you two get pissy that Harley always sleeps in my bed? Why is some shit harder to compromise on than others?”

Ash scowls at me, sighing and rolling his eyes when I can only stare back at him. “Harley sleeps well around you but outside of your bed he’s an insomniac. Last year we had to drug him to get him to close his eyes for longer than twenty minutes at a time. I’m not going to get pissy over him finally having some sort of regular sleeping pattern. Would you say no to me sleeping in your bed while he’s in there?”

I shake my head. It’s a stupid question, I’ve had all three of them in there before.

“Well, there’s your answer. Yes, I’d like you on my own occasionally but I knew what sharing you entailed when I agreed.”

I look at Blaise and find him nodding. “I’m less… grumpy about it, I guess. I don’t give a fuck who’s in your bed or who you’re fucking, Star. As long as I’m one of them.”

I blush because that’s sweet, but also I feel a little like a skank for wanting them all. For enjoying the hell out of them sharing me. Ugh. I’m a total whore.

Harley brushes his knuckles over my cheek. “Stop overthinking things again, babe.”

Blaise takes another shot and then moves me around in his arms like I weigh nothing which isn’t fucking possible with the amount of ice cream I now get to eat every week.

He pouts at me and my eyes glue themselves to the inviting sight of his lip. “Why is this only truths? I want there to be dares as well. Kiss me, Star. I dare you to.”