Page 85 of Play Dirty

I ran a hand through my hair, forcing my breathing under control as I crossed the room and unlocked it. The door swung open. Mercer stood there, already pissed, with half the team behind him.

And then beyond that…

The rest.

Fuck.

Ares. Sebastian. Their eyes went straight past me, right to her. Standing there in my clothes.

“Everyone okay?” Mercer barked.

“Yeah,” I said quickly. “We’re good.”

His eyes narrowed slightly, scanning the room. Eventually they flickered back to Haven.

“Why is she in here?”

“She got spooked,” I said. “There was a fight outside her room.”

“That’s putting it lightly,” Zack muttered, standing somewhere behind the coach.

Ares didn’t move. That was worse than if he had. He just stood there next to Sebastian, the both of them watching.

But neither of them looked very convinced. In fact—

“It’s not like that,” I added sharply. “They were right outside her door.”

I jerked my thumb down the hallway.

“Go on. Look.”

A couple of them moved down the hall. Zack’s voice shouted back.

“Yo! There’s blood out here.”

That shifted things. Just enough.

Mercer swore under his breath. “Everyone back to your rooms,” he growled. “Now.”

Nobody moved.

“Or I start pulling ice time,” he grunted, his voice lower and more dangerous.

That did it. Guys scattered. Doors opened and closed, all along the hall. Mercer watched, arms folded, like a shepherd putting his flock away. Eventually, his gaze drifted back to Haven.

“Your own room,” he grunted.

She nodded once, and stepped away.

Halfway down the hall, Haven looked back at me. Just for a second. And in that second, everything we’d almost done hung there. Unfinished. Unresolved. What could’ve been. What almost was.

Then she turned away, and I stood in the doorway watching her go. I should’ve been thankful for the interruption. For the prevention of a huge mistake, that could only complicate things.

What scared me most… was that I didn’t regret it.

~ 29 ~

HAVEN