Player(43)

“Hey there, Patsy,” Ian said with an unfriendly smirk.

“Don’t call me that, asshole.”

He laughed. “Aw, don’t be sore, sugar. Come on, let me buy you a drink.”

Ian reached for her, but she shrugged out from under his arm.

“In your dreams,” she shot, turning to me once more. “Let me know if things change, all right, Sammy? You know where to find me.”

Before I could permanently decline, she turned and walked away.

Ian watched her go with open admiration of her ass. “Look at you, turning down pussy left and right.”

“Yeah, well, I’m only one man with two hands, which just so happen to be full.”

He snickered. “With Val’s ass, I’m sure they are.”

My hand twitched at my side with an involuntary urge to pop him in the nose. “Why are you such a dick?”

“Can’t help it. I’ve got so much to spare.” He glanced over the crowd, unimpressed. “Nail her yet?”

“What’s it matter?”

“It doesn’t. I’m just curious. I have this nagging feeling that she’s a virgin, and the thought of that ass of hers getting punished is too much to resist.”

My simmering anger flared. “She’s not a fucking side of beef.”

“Aren’t you noble.” He turned to me and laughed with condescending certainty. “Man, watching you wriggle around on the hook is too much. Just don’t go falling in love, Romeo.”

“Shut the fuck up, Ian.” It sounded like I was kidding. I wasn’t.

“I mean, seriously,” he said, turning to face me. His face was smiling. His eyes were not. “Look at you. Moral ambiguity looks good on you. Better than the bullshit you always put on. Always Mr. Cool, always have your shit together. Always the good guy. What you don’t realize is that we’re the same, you and me. All you’ve gotta do is get on my level, give up the act.”

“You keep saying that. But it’s not an act, and I’m nothing like you.”

“Not an act? Who’s the one lying to Val? Who’s the one leading her on? Tell me it doesn’t feel good. Tell me you don’t like having her on the string.”

I stepped into him, shoulders square, jaw clenched. “I haven’t lied to her. I’m not stringing her on. And you’re fucking heartless.”

He shook his head, the corners of his lips curling. “And you’re fucking hopeless.”

I caught the scent of her hair just before I felt her hand on my arm. “Is everything okay?”

I didn’t break eye contact with Ian. “Everything’s fine.”

He laughed, a sound I was coming to hate. It shocked me that I hadn’t noticed before.

“Speaking of fine,” Ian said, the tension easing, but I could still feel the tug. “I’m off to find tonight’s lucky girl. You kids have fun.” And with the tip of his hat, he turned and disappeared into the crowd.

I exhaled slowly and counted to three, scooping Val into my arms to whirl her around. She held on to me like she might fly away from the force. As mad as I was, she might have.

“What were you guys talking about?” Val asked after a moment, her dark eyes troubled, her brows knit to form the smallest crease.

“Nothing,” I said, trying to will the word into truth. Because it wasn’t nothing. Not when it came to Ian, and not when it came to Val.

She didn’t seem convinced. “Really? Because you looked pretty upset. Did he say something? I mean, I imagine he did. He’s always so…”

“Annoying? Disgusting? Misogynistic?”

Val laughed. “I was going to say forward, but that works, too.”

“I don’t know if he can help it. He’s always loved attention, especially from women. I keep trying to tell him he doesn’t have to be so…well, Ian. But honestly? I think he enjoys it. Like he gets a rush from deceiving people, from manipulating them.” I shook my head and stopped talking. I’d already said too much.

Worry tugged at her lips. “Does he manipulate you?”

I laughed. “All the time. Every day. But he’s the closest thing I have to a brother. That’s what they do, right?”

Now she wore a full-blown frown. “No. I mean, my brothers fuck with each other, but it’s always harmless. Well, usually harmless. They’ve been known to throw their fair share of punches. But true deceit and manipulation? Never.”

And then I was frowning, too. He’d been my closest friend for what felt like forever, the one I spent more time with than anyone else. As I recounted the last few years, I realized we didn’t hang out with anyone else. Every other friend I’d had, he’d teased, pointed out every bad quality, and-or been an asshole to them. Which left him and me very much on our own.

I think I’d known somewhere in the back of my mind that he’d done it on purpose, but I hadn’t fully recognized it until right then.

And now, he was after Val.

Ian pissed me off on the regular, but the bet had taken him to a level I didn’t like. I wondered briefly if he’d betray me but pushed the thought away the second it touched me. He wouldn’t. We’d been through too many years together for that.

“Ian’s a dick, but you don’t have to worry about him. He’s like a dog with no teeth. All bark.”