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Standing up, I stalled behind West as I whispered in his ear. “I need to talk to you. Without the parents around. Meet me in the basement. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
He whirled around to look at me but stayed sitting. Distrust lined his features, and I half expected him to straight up tell me to fuck off. He didn’t say a word, and after another few seconds, I walked to where my mom was sitting.
I gently took her hand in my own, and she startled when I helped her stand. “Mom, can we talk for a few minutes?”
“Of course, Katalina.” She didn’t move a muscle until I began pulling her toward the door. I wondered if there was still a coherent thought in her head after all the pills she’d swallowed in the last fifteen years.
Glancing back at the table, I swallowed when I realized all three guys were staring at me. West and Eli were glaring, as if trying to read my mind. River’s gaze was filled with curiosity, making me think I wasn’t as stealthy as I thought when I talked to Eli and West. Turning on my tall, black heels, I walked into the foyer with my mom’s arm wrapped in mine.
“I’m going to see Noah this weekend,” I told her softly. “Do you want to come with me?”
The smallest amount of pain simmered in her eyes. “No. William takes me every weekend. Unless you’d like to go with us.”
“No.” My answer came out sharper than I intended. I blew out a breath. “No, thank you. I’ll go on my own.”
I didn’t want to spend any more time with William than I had to. Eyeing the basement stairs, I let go of my mom’s arm. “I have to go do something, Mom. I’ll see you later.”
She nodded and slowly began walking up the stairs to her room. The family dinners were about the only social thing she did anymore. Glancing over my shoulder at the dining room, I froze when William’s eyes locked on me. Before he could corner me, I raced down into the basement. Our parents never came down here.
Childhood memories rushed through me as I took in the space. It had all been redone, but still looked exactly the same. Plush black carpet covered the floor, and small circular lights dotted the ceiling. There was an air hockey table and ping-pong table in the back. A small kitchen area had a fully stocked bar that was now filled with alcohol instead of juices like it was when I was young. A couple of couches sat in front of a flat screen that was mounted on the wall. My gaze went to the door on the side of the room. It used to be a movie theater, and I was guessing it still was since nothing else had changed.
“What do you want, Kat?”
Whirling around to see West leaning on the wall near the steps, I smiled through my nerves. I was honestly surprised Eli hadn’t come with him. It wouldn’t have worked if they both came down here at the same time.
Eli and West were strong together. But if I could create doubt between them, they’d be fighting with each other instead of focusing on me. I had the perfect weapon to cause a rift between two guys. Even best friends who were as close as they were.
What better way to get between two guys than using the one thing that short-circuited their brains? Something even hatred or distrust couldn’t fully smother. There was plenty of both of those emotions brewing in West’s eyes, and my idea seemed a bit far-fetched now.
But I was still going to try.
CHAPTERNINE
Determination gleamed in her eyes,and I was regretting not waiting for Eli before I came down here. His dad had practically dragged him into the study. Probably to tear Eli a new one for being late to dinner.
“What do you want?” I repeated, watching her warily. It wasn’t like she could physically hurt me, but it was obvious she was up to something.
“I wanted to apologize. For what I’ve been doing the past two years.” She bit her lip. “Even though you two deserved it. But if we’re all stuck here, then I’d rather act like you don’t exist than fight.”
“That is the worst apology I’ve ever heard,” I muttered, not moving an inch when she sauntered toward me. Her black cocktail dress was riding up her thighs as she walked, and I forced myself to look back at her face. She stopped inches from me, and with her heels, she was almost tall enough not to tilt her face up to meet my eyes.
“I can think of another way to say sorry,” she purred as my eyebrows shot up. Her intent was clear as day when her hands went for my belt. I snatched her wrists before she could touch me.
“What are you doing?” I ground out, trying to think of anything other than what she looked like under that dress. My dick was already getting hard at the thought of what she was implying. Fuck.
“Come on, West.” My grip tightened on her wrists when she tried twisting away from me. “Once my name flies across campus, the only guys who will risk touching me are you three. Everyone else fears the founding families. And out of you three, the only guy I want touching me is you.”
“You’re full of shit,” I growled, releasing her wrists, only to wrap my fingers around her throat and push her against the wall.
I expected fear to cloud her eyes, but all I saw was desire. Her hands went back to my belt, and she swatted my free hand away when I reached for her wrist again.
“All I want is an orgasm.” She locked eyes with me while still undoing my belt buckle. “I went to breakfast with the team this morning. They had some interesting things to say about you.”
My jaw clenched, seeing amusement dance across her face. “Like what?”
“Like the fact that you can get a girl off better than any other player on your team.” She smirked. “Although they had nothing to say about Eli. I guess he doesn’t get around as much as you do.”
Eli had a rule of not sleeping with girls on the basketball team. We spent too much time with them, and it could make things messy fast. I tried doing that last year and failed within the first two months. It wasn’t like I slept with every girl on the team, but I’d had my share of fun over the last three years.
