Page 14 of Hers To Keep
I tense at her mention of Drake. “Did he say why he didn’t come?” I ask, anxiously.
“No but figured that was self-explanatory.” I should have guessed his absence wouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone given the circumstances between him, Ace and me. The guys must have realized they wouldn’t be questioned about his no-show, one less thing to worry about.
“Yeah, we just ended up staying longer at Ace’s house.” The lie comes easily, like it’s become second nature to me to spew lie after lie to those I care about.
“Okay. I’ll wait for you downstairs, then.”
Once Stella leaves, I grab a pair of ripped jeans and a long-sleeved white shirt. Picking up my makeup bag, I head over to the adjoining bathroom to change, and quickly apply a few coats of mascara and a bit of liner, hoping to hide my swollen eyes that cried all night and morning. I let my hair, which has now air dried, down from the loose bun it was in, letting it fall down my back.
I’m not mentally prepared for whatever tonight will bring, but I know it’s crucial to keep a face of indifference. I need to find the strength to act as if the last few days haven’t happened. Act as if I didn’t just see my mother again after over three years, looking every bit as pretentious as these fiends act. As if I didn’t see my stepdad murdered in cold blood before me by my boyfriend. Act as if my boyfriend and his friends didn’t beat my ex-boyfriend half to death. Act as if I haven’t once again sold what bit remains of my soul to the devil himself.
Changing my mind, I head back into the room quickly taking off the outfit I first chose and decide instead on a more provocative pair of black cut-offs and a red cropped tank with a peephole in the middle of my chest giving a lot more cleavage than I’m used to. I grab my hoodie from the bed but throw it back, deciding instead to slip into a thin black cardigan I borrowed from Stella once and never returned.
I’ll be freezing my ass off, but it'll be worth Ace losing his head over the way his boys look at me in this getup. The way their sensual gazes will linger over my body from head to toe. I see the way they look at me when I’m around, the things they’ve said to him about me. The Horsemen may hate me, hate the fact that I’m with their king, but I have no doubt they’d want me as theirs given the chance.
Staring at my reflection in the mirror, I gaze into the eyes of the seductive temptress I need to become. They want me to play nice, nice is what they’re going to get. They won’t see it coming.
Chapter
Six
ACE
We set up a bonfire down by the lake after we arrived back from the grocery store in town with some burgers to throw down on the grill. My sister and her pesky friends made us stop to pick up some sushi rolls, becausetheir bodies would never look the way they do if they ate burgers.
I almost suggested throwing Carrie on the grill instead for being such an annoying bitch, but I figured she might actually enjoy being my meal for the night. There’s no way I’m ever going back to that.
I've yet to see Scarlett since our little standoff earlier that left me with the worst fucking blue balls I still haven’t been able to get rid of. It’s like the more she fights me, the more turned on I get, and the more I need to have her.
What I want to know is what’s taking her so damn long to come out? I’m just about to head back to the cabin and drag her assout myself when Bass whistles loudly, calling my attention to Scarlett and Stella heading out of the house.
I’m impressed Little Silver actually got her out of the room. Stella walks over to the group first, but my eyes are fixated on the seductive enchantress walking a few steps behind her.
Dressed in a pair of shorts that perfectly outline her pretty little cunt and a fire engine red top that exposes her deliciously, sensual body and those fucking sexy tattoos across her abdomen. My gaze travels down to her chest saluting the hard nipples poking out from behind her before my eyes connect with hers.
She’s wearing a light sweater I’m sure does nothing to warm her up, so I’d like to think her perky nips are her reaction to seeing me and not because she’s fucking cold.
Fuck, I know they are.
“Fuck, man,” Bass says crashing his chest into my back as he throws his arm around my shoulder. “With a body like that, you better lock that shit down quick or someone, not me, is going to come and swoop her right out from under your feet.”
Scarlett’s eyes connect once again with mine, a shy smirk appearing on her face as she winks at me and heads over to her posse. Her arms wrap around the fucker Kai, her body filling up his arms perfectly, as he swings her around. Once he sets her back down, she turns slowly to look at me, licking her lips before turning back to him. I tug on my jeans, adjusting them, trying to calm my fucking dick before it explodes here before everyone. Fuck, she’s doing this on purpose.
“All right, baby, two can play at this game,” I say to myself, before grabbing a bottle of bourbon from the cooler, and heading toward Carrington.
Chapter
Seven
SCARLETT
He’s drunk. Like falling over his ass, eyes barely open, slurring his words drunk. And the bitch is hanging on his arm, petting at him, desperately putting her fake ass breasts at his eye level in her five-inch heels. Pathetic.
The way she flips her hair back over her shoulder as she laughs aimlessly at some stupid joke he tells. It’s infuriating. I stand by casually, acting like I don’t have a care in the world. I shouldn’t care. Not after everything that’s happened between us. Not after what I know about him, what he’s done. Yet I find myself with my hands fisted at my sides, my nails digging into the skin of my palms, glaring at the dimwitted blonde bimbo on my boyfriend’s arm.
I rack it up to temporary insanity.
Maybe it’s the fucked up need to protect something I’ve laid claim to. A genuine reaction to someone taking something of mine. Even if it’s under false pretenses, Ace Servite is mine, andI’m going to show Carrington Prescott what happens when someone touches something of mine.