Game (Gentry Boys, #3)(61)

If someone other than Creed said that it could have been blown off as artificial, perfunctory. But when Creedence Gentry said he believed in you then it was a powerful feeling.

“Thanks, Creed,” I said softly. I sighed and walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water. I hoped there might be some food in the fridge, however there was nothing but a gigantic dead bird.

“What’s with our new pet?”

Creed chuckled. “Truly is hell bent on cooking a massive Thanksgiving banquet next week.”

I poked at the thing. It was massive and frozen solid. I hoped it would look better on Thanksgiving.

“I’m ordering pizza,” I announced, closing the fridge.

Creed started carrying his guitar back to his room. “I’ll chip in and take some of that,” he said.

“That’s okay, I got it.” I’d taken out my wallet and was counting the cash. Since it still contained the eight hundred dollars I’d won from Al there was a lot to count. I should have waited until Creed left the room to do it though.

“Where’d you get all that?” His voice was low and suspicious and he looked warily from me to the cash in my hand.

I quickly shoved it back into my wallet. “Cracked the piggy bank, that’s all.”

He didn’t believe me. “Quite a pile since you’ve only worked about what, three days in the last month?”

“If you kept better tabs on me you’d realize I worked a lofty five days in the last month.” Between being occupied with Stephanie and already flush with gambling funds, I’d been turning down security work lately.

My brother wouldn’t look away. I waited for him to say something else but he just stared. In fact we stood there silently in the middle of the kitchen and stared at each other for a good long time.





CHAPTER TWENTY ONE


Stephanie



I was in my favorite place. I was wrapped in Chase’s arms. It didn’t matter that we were in the middle of a club surrounded by a boisterous crowd. When I closed my eyes, all I knew was the warmth of his body and the incomparable joy of being close to him.

Truly turned to me, her face shining, as Creed paused between songs. “Isn’t he great?”

I nodded and then closed my eyes again. Creed launched into a soulful version of Bon Jovi’s I’ll Be There For You and I turned around so that I could press my cheek to Chase’s strong chest. He ran his hands up and down my back, then scooted back through the crowd, pulling me with him into the shadows where it was a little quieter.

Chase circled his arms around my waist and pressed his forehead to mine as we swayed lightly to the music. When Creed crashed into the chorus Chase suddenly moved his mouth to my neck and lifted me, crushing my body against his. He was sucking at my neck and it would leave a mark but I knew I could cover it with my hair and it was making me too crazy to put a stop to it. When Chase pushed his leg between mine I could feel my dress riding up a little and that too was fine. I was straining against him, trying to get more, because nothing was ever enough with Chase.

Somewhere in the vague part of my conscious mind I realized Creed was still singing and there were people everywhere but I didn’t want to know anything about any of them. I only wanted to know Chase.

“Come on, baby,” Chase muttered, trying to get me to grind my body against his. We were in such a dark area and people were drunk or involved with their own shit. No one should have been particularly interested in the two of us, unless they saw a reason to notice.

But someone did notice. And the sight of his leering face made my blood run cold.

Dustin O’Shea had been booking in the Tempe area since before I arrived. When Xavier first made me part of his ring, Dustin O’Shea had licked his yellow teeth and offered to show me a few things. He backed off when I made it clear he did not possess anything I wished to see. Dustin held a grudge though. The grudge grew when his clients began abandoning him after he started getting a reputation for dishonesty; changing the terms after the games didn’t fall in his favor. I had no part in that. I didn’t steal his clients, but Dustin was always looking for someone else to blame for his crappy actions.

Dustin was front and center the night I was told there was only one option in settling my imaginary debt to Xavier. He was the one who suggested an alternative if I failed to cooperate; I could either get naked and stay untouched or I could get naked and get touched by a number of people, including him. In my book, Dustin was as big a gutter rat as Xavier.

He was standing less than ten feet away with a nasty smirk on his ugly face. He held up his phone as if he was taking a picture, or a video. Or else maybe he was watching one. He’d filmed the entire f*cking thing with one hand and held his shriveled dick in the other while he yelled along with the crowd.

“Oh yeah, that’s the shit. Now kneel down and touch your *. Spread, baby, ‘cause we all want to see. That’s it. Look at you smiling and lovin’ it.”

“Stephanie.”

That wasn’t a voice from my nightmares. That was the voice of the man who loved me, the man I could trust completely. Chase ran his hands up and down my arms and stared into my face. My expression must have been disturbing because he looked troubled. I wrapped my arms around his neck and leaned into him, only then aware that Creed had finished singing. Over Chase’s shoulder I could still see Dustin. He lowered his phone and stopped smiling. There was something quite hideous about the way he looked at me. If I had more courage I would have stalked right up to him and shoved that phone down his throat. But it would raise questions and I still couldn’t bring myself to tell Chase what had happened. I couldn’t tell anyone. I was operating on borrowed time, praying that the fallout never found me.