The Peer and the Puppet (When Rivals Play, #1) (57)

“Vaughn never promised them anything.”

“Like he never promised my friend?”

“If she makes assumptions, that’s on her.”

“Well, maybe he should be upfront with her. Don Lemon once said, ‘There’s a degree of deception in silence.’”

“So you’re taking relationship advice from a news anchor?”

“It’s not about love, moron. It’s about honor.”

“She’d think he was an asshole if he told her not to expect anything.”

“You don’t know that.”

My head fell back onto my shoulders. Four was the most fearless girl I’d ever met, but she was also the most na?ve. “I do know that, Archer.”

I knew all too fucking well. Taking advantage of what I thought was a harmless crush and sleeping with Olivia haunted me every fucking day. I knew what everyone assumed, and I didn’t bother to correct the rumors. The truth was she had come to me. I didn’t stop to consider who she was or why she offered herself to me. I was fourteen and only concerned about winning a stupid bet. Jamie, Vaughn, and I had been competing to see who could ditch their virginity first and I had won. Surprisingly, Jamie had been the most reluctant even after his fallout with Bee while Vaughn had been too chicken shit. Not to mention, I was technically in a relationship with my cousin’s ex-girlfriend but sleeping with Bee was the one line I couldn’t cross. I will never know why Olivia chose me to sleep with and why she chose me to watch her die. I only know her family will never let me anywhere near her to ask. I don’t blame them. I had once been a plague on this town and everyone in it.

“Because you’re such an expert on women?”

I stepped behind her, leaving no space between us. Her round ass pressing against me had my dick rising from slumber. “Would you let me inside you if you knew there would never be anything else?”

“If it’s what I wanted.” Her rigid body told a different story.

Not in a million years would Four let me have her without owning a piece of me in return. She wasn’t that kind of girl, but I’d play along anyway.

“Is it what you want?” My hands curved her hips as my lips brushed her nape. “Me inside you?”

“You’re twisting my words.”

“What if I told you,” I said I as I slipped the button on her jeans free, “that it’s all I can think about?” It was the most honest thing I’ve said to her since her return. While she’s been plotting to ruin me, I’ve been imagining ways to get her on her back. To start.

“I would tell you it will never happen…” She drew a sharp breath when my fingers slipped inside her panties. “…with or without the commitment.”

“Is that why you’re so wet?” Her whimpers as I circled her clit sounded so sweet. “Because of all the sex we’re not going to have?”

I told Vaughn this was how I’d make her pay for trying to humiliate me and foil my plans, but as I toyed with her pussy, I found myself wanting to make her come for entirely different reasons.

“Absolutely,” she said, panting. “Ever McNamara not getting what he wants for once is my favorite fantasy.”

I dipped my fingers lower, drawing another gasp from her lips. “I hear you, Four, but it’s five minutes to midnight. Do you know what that means?”

“No,” she whined.

Cupping her pussy, I kept at her clit with my thumb. I didn’t want to miss a fucking thing when she came. “It’s time to blow your candle out.”

Her body shuddered, and then she pressed her ass against me when my finger pushed inside her. Fuck, she’s tight. I wrapped my arm around her waist to keep her still. I didn’t want the first time I took her to be in the middle of Coach’s goddamn kitchen.

“What if someone comes?” She was too busy riding my hand to see me bite my lip and close my eyes in relief. If she had denied me, I probably would have thrown away pride and begged at her feet.

“Then they’ll see how sexy you are when you come.” Because nothing short of ‘no’ from her lips would stop me from debasing this girl. I gently filled her with a second finger to drive her wild in my arms, and it nearly crippled me to stop there. I knew just by how snug and eagerly she gripped me that she was untouched. A virgin. All mine. And if I hadn’t already sold my soul, I knew I’d do it right then to keep her that way.

Tragically, it didn’t even matter.

By the time my father tossed them back in the slums, I will have carved my name into her heart, soul, and pussy.

Four suddenly flooded and clamped down on my fingers as if she read my thoughts, and despite my claims, I clapped my hand over her mouth. I decided not only would her sweet cries be for my ears only, but I’d make sure to hear them as often as I liked.

“We’re not through,” I warned. She was already slumped in my arms and fighting to catch her breath. Holding her up with one hand, I pulled her jeans down with the other until they pooled around her sneakers. Her panties were next, and then I was plopping her on the counter.

“It’s cold!” she squealed.

“Shut up.” I nudged her thighs apart, and she let me. My throat bobbed as I became captivated by her. I wanted nothing more than to have her bare and spread like a feast for a king, but we were in someone else’s home and uninvited at that. Casting a glance toward the doorway, I made sure we were still alone.