Page 43 of Play Dirty

Like nothing had changed.

Across the table, Zack was mid-story about something that sounded like it involved poor decision-making and even worse timing. No one was really listening, though. Everyone was buried in eggs, sausage, bacon and biscuits.

The room actually felt normal. Too normal. Like the house had collectively decided to pretend that last night never happened.

Good.

That made two of us.

I lifted my mug, which by now was cold. The coffee pot was full again, but warming it up would certainly lose my spot.

Heat. Cold. I tried hard not to think about those things. I didn’t want to remember how the chill in my body had disappeared last night, the very instant I’d—

NO.

I took a sip of my cold coffee instead, and ate the last crust of my toast. Focusing on that was the better choice, even if it delayed the inevitable for only a few more seconds.

Then, inevitably, I looked.

Across the table, Sebastian sat angled slightly away, his attention fixed very deliberately on something Caleb was saying. He hadn’t looked at me once. Not when I came down, not when I sat, and certainly not now.

Which was… fine. Expected, even.

And probably smart.

I went to look away, but he glanced up at the last minute. His eyes found mine — just for a split-second — and then immediately shifted away again. Far too quickly to be comfortable.

I stared down into my coffee again.

Right. So we’re doing that.

It was fine, I convinced myself. Better actually. Cleaner and easier to pretend nothing happened, if neither of us were willing to acknowledge it.

I dared to reach for a piece of bacon, as Zack laughed at his own story. Someone threw a piece of toast at him. Dorian spilled juice on himself, for the second time since sitting down.

It was normal. All of it. Except—

“Hey!” Asher said suddenly, looking at me.

I didn’t look up right away. The piece of bacon still dangled guiltily between my fingers.

“Yeah?”

“You weren’t in your room last night.”

And there it was.

I set my coffee down slowly, as I brought the bacon to my plate.

“Sure I was,” I said flatly.

He snorted.

“No. You weren’t.”

Finally I lifted my gaze, meeting his directly.

“And you would know that how?”