The Peer and the Puppet (When Rivals Play, #1) (78)

“He won’t be a problem as long as I stay away.” She didn’t look so sure. I brushed her cheek with my thumb, and she finally relaxed.

“What made you change your mind about me?”

“This is going to sound cliché but seeing you run out in front of my father’s car made me think twice about keeping my distance. If you had been hurt or worse, I didn’t want the last feeling you felt for me to be hatred.”

“We haven’t exactly been the best of friends.”

“It doesn’t make sense to me either, but I’ve been living without a clue since the day I met you.”

She looked as uncomfortable as I felt and quickly changed the subject. “So what are you going to do?”

“Nothing. Harlan and I agreed that if I stayed away from Exiled, he’d keep his mouth shut about who I really am.”

“But why does it matter? People from different backgrounds join gangs all the time. Who cares if you were spoon-fed diamonds as a baby?”

“Trust me, Four. It matters but not because of how much my family is worth.”

“Then why?”

I shook my head, warning her to drop it. She looked like she wanted to argue for a moment before sighing and dropping her shoulders in defeat. “Do you trust him?” she asked in a small voice.

“For now, I don’t have a choice, but if he becomes a problem, he’ll be dealt with.”

“You don’t have to be macho for me.”

I gave her my most charming smile. “Then who will I be macho for?”

“How about Barbie? Your girlfriend?” She lifted a brow.

“Bee and I are just friends.” Immediately, I clammed up. I didn’t mean to say that, and her reaction told me there was no going back.

“You call her Bee?”

“She hates her name and hates Barbie even more.” Fuck. It felt like I’d been injected with truth serum because I couldn’t shut the fuck up.

“How could she hate being called Barbie when she looks like a doll every single day? That’s obviously her own doing, right?”

“There’s more to her than what any of them sees.”

“You love her.” Her voice broke at the end. “Don’t you?”

“Of course, I do.” I quickly grabbed her before she could pull away. “But I’m not in love with her.” I stared into her pretty brown eyes while my hand on her chin kept her from looking away. “Am I understood?”

She narrowed her eyes and said, “By friends, did you mean with benefits?”

I could only chuckle at her stubbornness. Jealousy looked damn good on her.

“I mean I’ve never fucking touched her, and I never will.”

“Then why pretend? Doesn’t it get old?”

“I told you. It’s not my secret to tell. And pretending was never a problem until you.”

“And Jamie? He thinks you’ve betrayed him. How can you be okay with that?”

“I am betraying him. I knew what dating Bee would do to him, and I did it anyway.”

“Maybe if you told him—”

“She doesn’t want him to know, and if she ever does, she’ll tell him herself.”

“But why you? Why did she choose you to know her secret instead of the boy she loves?”

“She didn’t. It was by accident that I found out, but it was my decision to help her.”

I watched the battle over whether to believe me or not wage within her until she said, “Regardless, you still have a girlfriend. The kissing has to stop.”

Like hell it does.

I kept our gazes locked as I pulled out my phone, dialed, and placed the call on speaker. “Bee, I’m with a girl I’d very much like to kiss. Will you tell her it’s okay?”

Barbette snorted and said, “It’s okay, Four.”

And because I knew my best friend well, I hung up quickly and took Four’s mouth before she could allow more bullshit to spill from her lips. Those sexy, delicious fucking lips.

Mine.

It wasn’t long before I was swallowing her moans, my hands full of her slender hips.

“Ever. Wait.”

“Hell no. I don’t want to wait anymore.” I kissed her again only for her to push me away.

“What about what I want?”

I stared down at her. “You don’t want me?”

I got my answer when I felt her shiver at the promise of having me. “It’s not that simple,” she raged. “You keep filling my head with possibilities only to take it back whenever you want!”

“I know, Four.”

“Don’t do that. Don’t sweet-talk me. It won’t work this time.”

“I could persuade you other ways,” I offered.

“That sounds, suspiciously, like you getting your way.”

“You want me to spell it out? Fine. I want to go down on you, so tell me you want it, too.”

She looked torn as her teeth sunk into her swollen lips. “No sex?”

“No sex,” I confirmed. For now.

She chewed on her lip before saying, “Fine.”

“Uh-uh. Give me the words.”

“I—I want it, too.”

“See? That wasn’t so hard.” I crouched at the edge of the bed and yanked her shorts off. I was eager to get my mouth on her. After her panties joined her shorts on the floor, I drank in the sight of her pussy. I leaned in, but her hand suddenly gripping my hair stopped me from getting my fix.