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I reached over and opened the door, releasing her seatbelt with my other hand. “Get out. You’re not scared, great. Then walk to the house. No one’s hiding the woods, waiting for one of Alex and Dev’s weaknesses to get separated from the herd. And if they were, you wouldn’t be scared anyway, right? So walk.”
I watched as she realized I wasn’t kidding, the fear in her eyes clear as she finally got how far I would take this little competition between us. She thought this was a game to me. But she didn’t realize just how seriously I took my games. This game in particular.
“Bex, please.”
“Get. Out.” I refused to cave to her plea, turning to face out the front windshield until I heard her slowly get out of the car, shutting the car door softly. I drove away, leaving her to fade in the rearview mirror as I drove the last half mile to the house. I parked at the end of the driveway, the road to the house long enough that I knew Ames and Alex wouldn’t see Wren’s car parked there while I waited.
I easily hacked into Wren’s phone so I could hear her soft pants as she climbed the final hill up to the house. I couldn’t call it hacking, really, since I already had access. After the debacle with Ames being kidnapped a couple months ago, Alex had bugged everyone’s phones as a precaution and given me access.
I listened for any signs of distress, but instead of screams or any indication of terror, all I heard were quiet sniffles as Wren cried on the other end of the line. Ten minutes later, she crested the hill. I knew she didn’t expect to see me there because she was still crying, tears dripping to the ground from where she watched her feet as she walked. She paused when she noticed me standing there but then continued moving closer, a false show of strength despite red-rimmed eyes that betrayed her tears.
It was fucked up to like her tears, but the sight of them warmed me anyway, giving me a perverse sense of pleasure. I liked bringing that emotion to her eyes, knowing she thought of me as the droplets ran in warm tracks down her face. Anyone could earn her smiles, which she gave out like cheap tokens of favor, but these tears were only mine.
As she came closer, I grabbed her chin between my fingers, tilting it higher so I could watch as more tears gathered in the corner of her eyes. She kept her eyes wide open as they focused on mine, clearly trying not to let them fall.
“Give them to me,” I urged, shaking her head just enough, until she complied, blinking slowly so they trailed down her cheeks. I wiped them with my thumb, bringing the digit to my lips so I could suck off the salty liquid.
Her breathing hitched as she watched. It was a shame for her that she refused to wear a bra with padding, because her arousal was clear to see through the thin material of her top. I stepped back, putting more space between us as I remembered the goal here was to keep her scared, not horny.
“Get in the car.” She walked to the passenger side without complaint, buckling her seatbelt as I did the same next to her. I couldn’t help but taunt her, tasting the lingering flavor of her tears on my tongue. “Still not scared?”
Wren kept her eyes away from mine, and I tapped on the brakes halfway up the driveway to force her to look at me. She glared, but that response was better than her sullen silence, and she finally answered, eyes dead on mine as I finally parked her car at the top of the driveway. “I’m not scared. I finally get the rules of the game.”
With that, she hopped out of the car, not giving me a backward glance as she grabbed Ames’s newest bouquet out of the back seat. I watched her profile as she walked up the front porch, shaking herself as she took a deep breath and put a smile on her face. She didn’t glance up as I stalked up behind her, she just opened the front door, and I frowned when she allowed me to match her steps with my own.
“The party has finally arrived! And with a special delivery!” Wren thrust the bouquet into Ames’s arms, who managed to still look surprised each time Wren showed up with flowers despite receiving bouquets at least once a week from Alex. She pulled the familiar silver card off the bouquet, blushing prettily as she read the note.
“Promises, promises,” she taunted Alex from across the room, and he narrowed his eyes in a motion that caused Ames’s cheeks to redden even further. She shook off his burning stare as she glanced at her watch, frowning when she noticed the time. “What took you guys so long?”
I looked down at Wren, wondering if she’d sell me out or keep our games to herself.
“We had to make a pit stop. Bex got thirsty.” She looked up at me with a smug smile, surprising me as she twisted what happened into some semblance of the truth. Her self-satisfied expression was all too clear in the planes of her face. Wren was acting like she won our encounter today, with Dev’s agreement to teach her how to shoot, her stoic reaction to my tasting her tears, and now her quick wit, and her confidence grated, made me want to lash out, make her feel out of control.
“Parched,” I agreed, my eyes on Wren even as I passed Ames the coffee I’d bought for her, a lucky coincidence to go along with Wren’s smart comment. I fisted my hand in the back of Wren’s top, keeping her close to my side as I smiled down at her. I knew the genuine pleasure on my face caught her off guard, her eyebrows pulling together in confusion and the corners of her lips turning down.
She tried to pull away subtly, wiggling her hips in an attempt to loosen my grip on the hem of her shirt, but that only made me pull her closer. I enjoyed the warmth of her seeping into my side, especially when I felt the unease mixed with it. Wren might have thought she knew the rules of the game, but that’s the thing about the games I played. Rules changed. If I needed to keep a tighter hold on Wren’s leash to show her just how mean I could be, I would more than willingly put a collar around her neck.
Chapter4
Wren
Bex threwme off my game, wrecking my sanity with her hot-cold routine. Every time I felt like I understood the rules of her game, she changed them. Encouragement to make friends outside of our group followed by taunting me into ripping up that woman’s business card. Ignoring me for weeks and then forcing me into a car ride alone with her.
When she made me walk to Alex’s house alone in the dim twilight, I thought I finally got it. Bex wasn’t annoyed by me or intimidated by my friendship with her sister; she truly hated me. Leaving me on the side of the road as if my life was forfeit, as if she truly didn’t care what happened to me, drew a line in the sand.
But then she licked away my tears and kept me by her side the rest of the night as if some part of her regretted her actions. It threw me so much that I didn’t try to struggle away after long, my hip pressed against her thigh the rest of the night without argument. I was off-kilter, and she knew it. So when I finally got home later that night, Dev - goddess bless him - offering to drive me, I resolved to throw Bex off just as badly.
* * *
I tookclothes almost as seriously as I took flowers. They had always been a passion of mine, and I treated the bright colors, varying textures, bows, ruffles, and accessories as ways to showcase my personality and mood. Being lucky enough to have a perpetually perky attitude meant that my clothes usually consisted of bright colors and fun textures.But clothes could also be used to make a statement, and that was the goal of tonight’s outfit.
I smoothed my skirt, trying to project confidence as I walked into the house. Yet another dinner provided me the opportunity to enact the plan I had been plotting the last few days. Bex threw me off my game last time, and I refused to give her the satisfaction this time. My clothes were my armor, proof that I could play the game just as well as Bex and was willing to take things just as far.
“Marco!” I called out, making sure my voice didn’t waver despite my nerves.
“Polo,” Alex’s monotone carried from the kitchen, and I followed it to find him, Dev, and Ames gathered around the kitchen counter.
Ames kissed my cheeks as she pressed a drink into my hand, as if realizing I’d need it. “Apple cider margarita,” she clinked her glass against mine as she took a long sip. “Dev made them.”
