by L A Cotton
I was a lucky son of a bitch. But if the last few weeks had taught me anything, it was not to take anything for granted.
And I intended on making the most of my life—starting with the girl in my arms.
Hailee
“Where are you going?” Cameron murmured, his hand reaching for me as I tried to untangle myself from the sheets.
“Water,” I said. “I need water.” The air was different in New York. Thick and humid, it clung to your skin and made your lungs tight.
“Get me a bottle.”
“Okay.” I trailed my fingers over his jaw, heat flooding me as I remembered how intense it had been between us when we got back to the penthouse.
Pulling on Cameron’s shirt, I quickly buttoned it up just in case anyone was still awake, although given the state of Jason, Flick, Asher, and his cousins last night, I doubted anyone would be.
Padding quietly into the hall, I hurried to the kitchen and got two bottles of water out of the refrigerator, pausing when I heard a noise. My heart leaped into my throat and I silently chastised myself. It was probably just someone snoring. But as I tiptoed back into the hall, I heard it again. A gentle creak. A muffled moan. My eyes strained against the darkness to find the source of the noise, only to be met with closed door after closed door. Until my eyes landed on the bedroom Flick had taken. The door was slightly ajar. She’d drunk a lot last night. Maybe she was sick? I hurried to her door, pausing outside. A muted sob pierced the air and I stepped into the room. “Flick, are you—”
A naked ass greeted me.
Jason’s naked ass as he thrust into my friend.
“Oh my god,” I breathed just as Flick’s eyes snapped to mine over his shoulder.
“Hails,” she cried, eyes wide with surprise and hazy with lust. Her body closed in on itself as Jason cussed under his breath, before rolling off my best friend.
My best friend.
... and my step-brother.
Together.
I turned on my heel and got the hell out of there. Cameron had been right. Something was going on.
Something between the two of them.
One of the people I loved most in the world.
And one of the people I hated most.
Life had just got a whole lot more complicated.
Playlist
Somebody That I Used To Know – Goyte, Kimbra
Whatever It Takes – Imagine Dragons
Hard Feelings/Loveless – Lorde
Hell To The Liars – London Grammar
War Of Hearts – Ruelle
Where’s My Love – SYML
Runnin’ (Lose It All) Sofia Karlberg
Love To Hate It – Off Bloom
All We Do – Oh Wonder
All The Stars – Kendrick Lamar, SZA
Ready For War – Tommee Proffit, Liv Ash
Irrestible – Fall Out Boy ft. Demi Levato
My Motto – Jade Bird
I Hate You, I Love You – Gnash, Olivia O’Brien
I Can’t Make You Love Me – SOAK
Mercy – Lewis Capaldi
Water Under The Bridge – Adele
Crazy In Love – Sofia Karlberg
Send Them Off! – Bastille
Can’t Hold Us Down – Tommee Proffit, Sam Tinnesz
The Game You Play
To Nina
Thank you for believing in this story
Prologue
“Stupid girl,” I muttered to myself as I flushed the toilet and left the stall to wash my hands. The music pulsed through the walls, mimicking the thud of my heart against my ribcage.
He’s doing it to get under your skin. Ignore him and he’ll stop.
Easier said than done.
Jason ‘asshole’ Ford was the bane of my existence. Arrogant. Conceited. A total manwhore.
And the guy my heart had apparently decided it wanted.
Stupid, stupid heart.
Pressing my hands against the cool marble counter, I stared at myself in the wall-length mirror. I looked good. My hair was curled to perfection, hanging in long loose waves down my back; my makeup was smoky and seductive; and the black dress clung to my curves like a second skin.
I didn’t only look good.
I looked downright hot.
“Get it together, Giles,” I commanded to the girl staring back at me in the mirror. “He only has power over you if you let him.”
And right now, the asshole was out there all over another girl.
A girl who wasn’t me.
The knot in my stomach tightened as I inhaled a deep breath. “You’ve got this,” I whispered.
Just then, a group of giggling girls spilled into the restroom, pausing to glance me over. I offered them a tight smile and hurried out of there. The New York club Asher’s cousins had brought us to was something else. Nothing like the bars we had back home in our small town of Rixon. It was moody and dark, the furnishings sleek and sexy. Frequented by young, rich New Yorkers all looking to let loose and have fun.
I slipped into the hall connecting the cloakroom and restroom to the rest of the club, determined to enjoy the night. So what if Jason was practically dry fucking Asher’s cousin? My body—and stupid foolish heart—might have wanted him, but my head knew better.
My head knew Jason Ford was a really bad idea.
What I needed was to find a nice guy who wanted to buy me a drink and dance the night away with me. And who knew, maybe I’d get to tick another thing off my list. After all, we were in New York. New freaking York. It was a small miracle my parents had ever agreed to let me take the trip for my best friend’s birthday. Of course they only knew about the art exhibition we planned to visit and the sightseeing we wanted to do. But what they didn’t know, wouldn’t hurt them.
The thought made me smile, putting an extra bounce in my step, as I rounded the corner... and smacked straight into a hard, muscular chest. “I know you want me, Giles, but throwing yourself at me is kind of desperate.”
“Fuck you, Jason.” I glowered at him, stepping back to put a safe distance between us. Of course he took that as a challenge, the glint in his eye obvious as he inched closer.
“Jason,” I warned, but he kept coming until my back hit the wall, knocking the air from my lungs.
“I know what you’re doing,” he whispered against my ear, his warm breath dancing over my skin. I gulped, my eyes fluttering closed. His voice was low, husky even, and if I didn’t know him the way I did, it would have been easy to mistake his tone for seduction.
But I did know him.
And this was all a game to him.
“I’m not doing anything, Jason,” I sighed, ignoring the little voice in my head whispering ‘liar’.
He erased the sliver of space between us, plastering his body against mine in the dimly lit hall. “It won’t work,” he added, his tongue swiping my damp skin before nipping my earlobe. My knees buckled as a full-body shiver rolled through me.
“Jason.” It was supposed to be another warning, but my voice betrayed me, his name falling from my lips on a breathy sigh.
One of his hands glided up my body. I fought the urge to lean into his touch, to seek more. He didn’t care that he squeezed my breast a little too hard or that his fingers wrapped around my throat a little too tight. Because a guy like Jason Ford did what he wanted, took what he wanted, when he wanted it.
But I did care.
I cared that his rough touch lit up my body in a way it never had before. I cared that I wanted to let him do unspeakable things to me.
I cared that I cared.
Tears pricked the corners of my eyes, but I blinked them away, my gaze hard when he finally lifted his head to mine.
“Keep this up and you’re going to get hurt,” he said coolly. But the air around us was anything but cool.
It was blistering, crackling with tension, burning with anticipation.
“You’re playing with fire, Felicity.” God, even the way he said my name did things to me.
“And do you know what happens when you play with fire?”
His liquor-scented breath caressed my face; his lips hovering dangerously close to mine. “You end up getting burned.”
I should have told him to get the hell away from me. Or slapped his panty-melting face and walked away. Or even kneed him in the balls and run. But I did none of those things. Instead, I said, “Maybe I want to get burned.”
Because I was Felicity Giles, a girl with a list and a serious case of the crazies.
Jason’s brow lifted, his dark eyes studying me. Although looking into my soul better described the way I felt whenever his dark, intense gaze aimed in my direction.
Why couldn’t I have wanted someone else, anyone else?
Seconds passed as we stared at one another. The music reverberated around us. Laughter and chatter lingering on the periphery of our dark corner of the hall.
“Jason?” I asked, finally breaking the silence, unable to bear it for a second longer.
“Fuck it,” he breathed and then his lips were on mine, hard and demanding. Jason didn’t just kiss me, he devoured me. His hands clawed at my dress, scraping the material up my legs until his fingers found the soft flesh of my thighs.
“Oh God,” I moaned against his unyielding lips. My hands wound into his unruly brown hair as our tongues tangled together. It was messy and dirty and quite possibly the best kiss I’d ever have.
But nothing good lasted forever, and this was Jason. He wasn’t a white knight swooping in to win the damsel’s heart. He was the evil Prince out to wreck and ruin and leave a trail of broken hearts in his wake.
“Fuck.” He tore himself away from me, his body literally jerking back.
Disappointment swelled in my chest as I watched his expression morph into sheer anger. “That was a mistake.” His lip curled in disgust.
“Okay.” I managed to choke out, smoothing down my wrinkled dress.
“I need to go; Vaughn is waiting for me.”
My heart sank.
I could handle his taunts. I could even handle being called a mistake. But hearing him say he was going back to another girl after kissing me like that... it made me want to puke.
“You should probably hurry,” I bit out. “Wouldn’t want to keep her waiting.”
“Shit, Felicity, I—” Something flashed in his eyes but I cut him off.
“Go Jason, just go.” I stared at the patterns in the plush carpet.
His heavy gaze lingered on me for another second and then, like always, he was gone.
I woke startled, my eyes straining against the darkness. Crap, my head hurt after one too many drinks. But I’d needed all the liquid courage I could get after spending the night watching Jason and Vaughn. His hand on her waist, her lips on his neck. The sexual energy rolling off them, infecting everyone in close proximity.
My stomach lurched and I pushed up on one elbow, waiting for the waves of nausea to pass. Just then, a creak out in the hall cut through the silence.
“Hailee?” I whispered.
Nothing.
Lying back down, I stared up at the ceiling, my eyes chasing shadows, when I heard the sound again. Ready to go out there and see who was up, I grabbed the covers. But my door swung open and Jason stepped inside.
“What are you—”
“Ssh,” he hissed, stalking further into the room.
“You can’t be in here,” I said, curling my hands into the sheet, keeping them pulled up around my body. His eyes pierced the darkness. Watching me.
Stalking my every move.
Not that I dared breathe with him so close.
“Where’s Vaughn? Shouldn’t you—”
“Do you ever stop talking?”
“You’re in my room in the middle of the night. You don’t get to say what I can and can’t do.”
His lip curved deviously. “Wanna bet?” He edged closer, taking the air with him.
“Jason, this isn’t funny...”
“You naked under there, Giles?”
Oh God.
Heat pooled in my stomach when it should have been fear. Because Jason didn’t play nice, he played dirty.
Deadly.
Dangerously.
“You’re drunk,” I said, finding my voice again. “You should go.”
“You sure about that?” He was at the foot of the bed now, looking over me like a dark prince.
“I...”
He needed to leave.
I needed to tell him to leave right now.
Jason liked this game too much. A game I should never have gotten tangled up in.
It had all started with a list.
My list.
My foolish little list.
It was supposed to help me rock senior year. To encourage me to do all those things I’d always dreamed of but never been brave enough to do. To shed my wallflower existence.
What I didn’t count on was him.
I thought I was strong enough to play his game; to engage in war with an expert strategist.
I thought I could protect my heart and have some fun.
I should have known better.
I should have retreated instead of surrendering. But I handed over my heart without even realizing.
And now he owned me.
All of me.
Even if he said he didn’t want me.
But now he was standing there, looking at me with hunger in his eyes. A hunger that matched my own.
He did want me.
Jason Ford wanted me.
And I knew, the rules had just changed.
Chapter One
Felicity
“Are you going to ignore me forever?” I asked my best friend as we stopped at our lockers. She gave me some serious stink eye as she traded out textbooks.
“Hails, come on. It was a mistake. I made a mistake.”
Slamming her locker shut, her eyes fixed on mine clouded with disappointment. “You slept with him,” she hissed, lowering her voice. “You had sex with Jason. Have you lost your goddamn mind?”
“It was one time.” Barely one time when you really thought about it. “And I was drunk; it was a mistake.” One I wouldn’t be repeating in a hurry. Not that the aforementioned asshole would want a second round. Get a grip, Felicity.
“And you think that’s okay? You were drunk. Not to mention a virgin,” her voice lowered dangerously, indignation flaming her cheeks. “And you let him—”
“It’s done now.” I gave her a tight smile, ignoring the knot in my stomach. “It will never happen again. But at least I can check another thing off my list.” Strained laughter spilled from my lips, but Hails wasn’t laughing.
She wasn’t even smiling.
“This isn’t funny, Flick.” She let out an exasperated sigh. “I can’t... I don’t even know what to say right now.”
“So don’t.” I shrugged. “Let’s pretend it never even happened, okay. Jason who?”
But Hailee wasn’t looking at me anymore. She was staring over my shoulder, her eyes narrowed with contempt. I didn’t need to turn around to know who it was. I felt him. Felt his lips on my skin, his hands on my body.
A shiver rolled up my spine, quickly morphing into lightning bolts shooting around my body as I turned and met Jason Ford’s arrogant smirk.
“Fee, baby, I missed you.”
Silently groaning to myself, I forced a smile at Asher, Jason’s best friend.
“It’s only been a day, Asher. You might need to go see Miss Hampstead about your neediness. It’s getting worse.” My smile grew, but when I peeked over at Jason and saw his indifference my spine stiffened.
Asher glanced between the two of us, frowning. “What’s—”
“So big game Friday?” Hailee cut him off, already tucked into her boyfriend Cameron’s side.
Jason Ford, Cameron Chase, and Asher Bennet. The three of them were Rixon Raider royalty and they were hoping to take our football team all the way to State this year.
It was a big dea
l for our small town. An even bigger deal for Jason and his plan to go off and dominate college football at UPenn next year, hopefully earning him a place in the NFL draft.
“Really, Hails?” Asher mocked. “You’re a fan now?”
She glared at him, earning her a low rumble of chuckles from him and Cameron. Jason watched on; his expression devoid of emotion. If anything, he looked... bored. My stomach dipped as I looked away.
Jason was complicated. Cold. Callous. And a complete asshole. Even if he was wrapped up in a frustratingly yummy package. Dark unruly hair, even darker eyes. The kind you got lost in, pulled so far under there was no hope of ever crawling back out. Broad shoulders and muscular arms and cut abs that were entirely lickable. I knew first-hand because I’d—
Don’t go there!
Jason lived and breathed football. His commitment was borderline obsessive. But then, I guess if you wanted to be the best you had to give your all. Soul included.
“It’s kind of hard not to be a fan when your boyfriend is the star wide receiver for the team.” Hailee grinned up at Cameron. My best friend had done a real one-eighty since senior year began a couple months back. She had always hated the game. Hated her step-brother Jason even more. He, along with Asher and Cameron, had made her life hell ever since she moved to Rixon. But something changed this year. Cameron started looking at her with lust in his eyes and although she tried to ignore his charms, it didn’t take long for him to break down her walls.
Our twosome soon became a threesome; a fivesome if you counted Asher and Jason. Although from the scowl Jason wore whenever he was around us, it was no secret he was tolerating his best friend’s and step-sister’s new relationship at best.
“Yeah, well, we need to be getting to practice so...” Jason’s insinuation hung in the air.
“What’s the rush?” Asher said, “We still have—” His mouth snapped shut when his best friend levelled him with an icy stare. “Ladies, it’s been a pleasure.” He trailed after Jason who failed to say goodbye, but then, he hadn’t said hello either.
