Fair Play

by Madison, Dakota

  FAIR PLAY

  MATCHPLAY SERIES: BOOK TWO

  Dakota Madison

  FAIR PLAY

  Copyright © 2013 by Dakota Madison

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission of the author.

  This is a work of FICTION.

  Names, characters, places and incidents are either a product of the author's offbeat imagination or are used fictitiously.

  Any resemblance to actual persons living, dead or previously dated by the author is entirely coincidental.

  A SHORT ON TIME BOOK:

  Fast-paced and fun novels for readers on the go!

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  The rules of fair play do not apply in love and war.

  John Lyly, Euphues, 1578.

  One

  Love is like war; easy to begin but very hard to stop.

  Henry Louis Mencken

  The two-carat princess-cut diamond glistens in the sunlight. The engagement ring is amazing—too bad it’s on Rainy Dey’s bony little finger. The ring should be mine. Aaron Donovan and I belong together. We always have and always will. His little infatuation with the freshman won’t last. I just need to figure out a way to accelerate their inevitable break up.

  What kind of name is Rainy Dey anyway? Were her parents Berkeley hippies or something? Just look at her. She’s the epitome of cute and innocent, with her big brown doe eyes and doll face.

  She makes me want to puke.

  Or punch the cute right off her little doll face.

  The look of utter disdain on Mrs. Donovan’s face is priceless. If Aaron had handed his mom a steaming pile of shit, it probably would have elicited a better reaction than introducing Rainy Dey as his fiancé. Aaron’s mom adores me. She always said she wanted me to be part of their family—to be Aaron’s wife. She and Mr. Donovan had no idea that Aaron and Rainy were even dating. Aaron waited until he and Rainy were engaged to spring the news on his parents. Now that it’s sprung, Mr. and Mrs. Donovan are trying their best to be diplomatic and polite but they’re failing miserably at it. They clearly hate the idea of Aaron marrying someone so far beneath him.

  Not that I blame them.

  The girl looks like she’s wearing a dress from J.C. Penney’s and I’d be willing to bet she got her little wedge heels at Payless. Every inch of her screams middle class. Is it any wonder the Donovan’s are looking down their noses at her? She wouldn’t know a pair of Manolo Blahnik’s if they hit her right smack in the middle of her doll head.

  “I have another surprise,” Aaron says as he removes his graduation cap and hands it to Rainy. He runs his fingers through his thick black hair, trying to fix the style that was flattened by the cap. Even with hat head, Aaron is still the most gorgeous guy on the planet. I love the way his dreamy brown eyes glisten in the afternoon sun. When God created Aaron, he came as close to perfection as he was ever going to get.

  “Even Rainy doesn’t know this yet,” Aaron continues. He looks like he is bursting with some news that he’s desperate to let out.

  When I shoot a glance at Rainy, I can see her demeanor has changed. She has stiffened and seems on edge. This should be good.

  Aaron’s mom grimaces and scrunches up her nose, like someone has placed that steaming pile of shit under it. Aaron’s dad crosses his massive arms over his broad chest. Even in middle age, the man is still buff. It’s easy to see where Aaron gets his incredible physique. If Aaron ages as well as his father, he’ll still be a stud well into his forties.

  The only way Aaron’s parents could be less thrilled is if he told them he was gay. No, I take that back. I think being gay would have been better than marrying Rainy Dey.

  And this thrills me. If I play my cards right, I know I can get Aaron’s parents to support me in my quest to make Aaron mine.

  Aaron clears his throat. “I’ve been accepted into the MBA program, so I’ll be going to graduate school in the fall. I’m staying here for two more years.”

  My eyes move back and forth between Rainy and the Donovan’s as I try to gauge all of their reactions. Rainy’s mouth has dropped open in surprise. For her, it’s obviously a good surprise, two more years to keep her little claws in Aaron.

  Mrs. Donovan has turned completely white, which is a feat because she’s perpetually tanned. She looks like she’s going to be sick. Mr. Donovan’s face has turned to stone and his jaw is clenched so tight, I can see the muscles in his neck bulging.

  The Donovan’s have too much class to start a fight on the lawn in front of all of the other graduates and their families but I don’t think Aaron’s dad will be able to hold in everything. He looks like he’s ready to explode.

  “I thought you were going to start work at the company in a few weeks,” Mr. Donovan says through his clenched teeth. “Things have already been arranged.”

  The company, Donovan Brothers Industries, which Mr. Donovan co-owns with his brother, is one of the largest corporations in the world. Worth billions, it gives Halliburton a run for its money.

  “Then they need to be unarranged,” Aaron asserts. I’ve never seen him stand up to his dad before and it’s extremely sexy. I’d love to drag him into one of the empty classrooms on the other side of campus and fuck him senseless. Except he’s got a fiancé and they’re holding hands. What a waste.

  “I thought we had an agreement,” Aaron’s dad hisses.

  Aaron isn’t backing down, which surprises me. He always does exactly what his daddy tells him to do.

  Except for now.

  “I never agreed to anything,” Aaron clarifies. “I’m not coming to work for you. I’m going to graduate school. I’ve already paid my tuition and put a deposit down on a condo.”

  Mr. Donovan’s eyes narrow and he leans in close to Aaron. “How dare you defy me?”

  “I’m not trying to defy you, Dad. I’m only trying to live my life.”

  Mr. Donovan actually shoves a finger in Aaron’s face and Aaron takes a step back. “You wouldn’t even have a life if it wasn’t for me.” Mr. Donovan is now seething.

  When I glance at Rainy, I can see that her eyes are getting wet with tears. She has absolutely no backbone and it makes me hate her even more. As if I need any more reasons to hate her. She has what I want and that’s why she needs to be eliminated from Aaron’s life. I always get what I want. Aaron will not be an exception.

  Aaron remains even-tempered, which surprises me, too. He’s showing a maturity that I always hoped he’d someday possess.

  “I’m sorry if you’re disappointed, Dad,” Aaron states. “I know this is a lot to spring on you all at once.”

  Mr. Donovan looks like he wants to say more but he stops himself. “This isn’t really the time or place to have this conversation.”

  “I’m not sure there’s any more to say, Dad. My mind is made up.”

  Mr. Donovan shakes his head in a manner which says I’m not done with you. It makes me wonder if Mr. Donovan will cut Aaron off just to prove a point. Not that Aaron doesn’t have money of his own. He’s a trust fund baby just like me. But neither of us has the type of money that our parents do. Aaron and I have enough money to live well for the rest of our lives. Our parents have the means for an incredibly lavish lifestyle.

  And I believe one should always go for lavish. I love the saying: Go big or go home. I think it should apply to both money and cocks. I know Aaron has the former and I’m dying to know if he’s also endowed with the latter. When I fantasize about Aaron fucking me—which is quite often—I imagine him being quite well-endowed.

  My other motto is: You can’t be too rich or too thin. That needs no further explanation.

  Mrs. Donovan speaks up. “We only made
dinner reservations for six. We didn’t know you’d have your little friend with you.” She says little friend with so much repulsion and loathing that I just want to hug her.

  And I’m not a hugger.

  Aaron glares at him mom. “Rainy is my fiancé.”

  Aaron’s fiancé looks like she’s going to cry at any moment. I can see her blinking back tears. What a baby. If this is any indication of how weak-willed she is, she’ll be about as difficult an opponent as a house of cards. With one quick blow, I’ll be able to knock her right down. Then maybe she’ll go back to the Chicago suburbs or whatever middle-class hellhole she’s from and find herself a middle manager or even an engineer to marry. She can have her 2.5 middle-class children, a white picket fence and a little black terrier and leave Aaron where he belongs—with me.

  Aaron puts his arm around Rainy’s shoulder and gives her a little peck on the cheek, which seems to calm her obviously frayed nerves. If I hadn’t known Mr. and Mrs. Donovan my entire life, I might have been a bit intimidated by them, too, and especially if I was meeting them for the first time as Aaron’s fiancé. What was the boy thinking? He never does anything the easy way, that’s for sure.

  Mrs. Donovan continues. “I’m not sure they’ll be able to add an extra seat.” But the look on her face says: I don’t want them to add an extra seat because I don’t want to even acknowledge Rainy as part of my son’s life.

  Aaron shoots me a look like he wants me to volunteer my seat for Rainy. Fat chance. I was here first. She can get in line.

  Aaron’s jaw tightens and he says, “I’m not going without Rainy.”

  I can see Rainy gulp and her eyes are now darting back and forth between Aaron and his parents. It’s as if a sudden realization has hit her that she is coming between Aaron and his mom and dad and I love it. Miss Goody-Two-Shoes is not going to do well on that kind of guilt trip. One more piece of ammunition I can use in my quest to get Aaron.

  “Going where,” I hear a gruff voice say behind me.

  I know that voice anywhere. It’s Evan Warner. Another one of my lifelong friends and also my frequent fuck buddy.

  “Mr. and Mrs. Donovan,” Evan says as he nods in their direction, oozing charm. I know one day that boy is going to run for President. He has all the right attributes: a wealthy and connected family; more charm and charisma than Obama and Clinton combined and a moral flexibility that I find particularly attractive.

  Evan puts his arm around me and gives me a light kiss on the check. It’s meant to be a friendly gesture but when he moves his arm away he brushes my ass and lingers a little longer than a friend’s hand would.

  My eyes immediately dart to Aaron to make sure he hasn’t seen Evan’s little public display of desire. One of the things I love about Evan is that he’s always ready to fuck and he’s good at it. He’s almost as reliable as my vibrator and usually a lot more fun.

  Rainy’s reaction to Evan is interesting. I know she doesn’t like him but it never occurred to me that she might be afraid of him. She actually took a step away from him when he moved toward our group. When Aaron takes a step between Rainy and Evan and seems to want to protect her from Evan, my alarm bells go off. Something obviously happened between Evan and Rainy and I hope it’s something I can use to my advantage.

  I watch as Evan removes his graduation cap and messes with his hair. As if anything could ever happen to his hair, it’s cropped short and always perfect. Like Aaron, everything about Evan is perfect, just more pronounced. While Aaron looks like a guy who just stepped out of GQ magazine, Evan just stepped off the cover of Muscle & Fitness. He’s enormous and all chiseled muscle. And a big guy like him absolutely could be President. Just look at how far Arnold Schwarzenegger got in politics. He was Governor of California and probably could have been President if he had been born in the United States and he hadn’t fucked his maid and had a kid with her. Don’t get me wrong, Evan probably wouldn’t have a problem with fucking the maid, he’d just be a lot more careful and definitely more discrete.

  The only problem I see with Evan becoming President is a First Lady. Evan likes to play the field and keep his options open. Wide open. Sometimes he even likes two wide-open options at the same time. Or so I’ve heard. When I’m with Evan, I don’t share because I’m too greedy and selfish but I’ve heard stories about some of Evan’s other conquests. He’s legendary. And he’s definitely got enough stamina to satisfy multiple partners at the same time.

  The way Rainy keeps looking at Evan has me perplexed. I can’t quite put my finger on it but there’s something there and it’s very uncomfortable…

  It takes me a minute but then it occurs to me that Evan may have a thing for Rainy, too.

  I sneak a peek at Evan and sure enough, he’s looking at Rainy like a sick puppy dog. What is it about that girl that gets all the guys hot and bothered? She’s cute but she reminds me of a little porcelain doll my grandmother bought me when I was eight years old. Do guys seriously find that attractive—especially two of the most eligible bachelors on the planet?

  If I had a napkin, I’d hand it to Evan and tell him to wipe the drool off of his face. I can’t believe he’s stuck on Little Miss Middle Class. Maybe I can find a way to use that new piece of insight to my advantage.

  Evan wants something he can’t have and it looks like it’s eating him up inside. Surely he’ll be willing to work with me as a co-conspirator to break up Aaron and Rainy. If our bedroom compatibility is any indication, we’d make a perfect team. I put having a talk about it, with my fuck buddy, on my to-do list. Maybe I can even use some other methods of persuasion to convince him.

  “So,” Evan says. “Are you all going to The Ridge for dinner?”

  “We were just discussing that,” Mrs. Donovan replies.

  “My brothers have been in Singapore on business for several months and they couldn’t make it back. I thought my sister might make it but she ended going to India to live at an ashram, so we have an extra seat at our table it you need it.”

  I notice that Evan looks directly at Rainy when he speaks and she’s doing her best to avert his gaze. Aaron is shooting daggers at him. They used to be best friends but that was before Rainy came into the picture. I guess that saying bros before hos applies to everyone but Rainy.

  Aaron gives me a look which clearly indicates that he wants me to take the seat at Evan’s table but there is no way I’m going to volunteer to do it. People would get the idea I actually had a nice bone in my body and that is not a perception I want to perpetuate.

  I give Aaron a little evil grin instead. I want to see him work for it. It turns me on to see him stand up for himself and show he’s got a pair.

  “Perhaps Keira would like to join Evan’s table this evening,” Aaron suggests as he glances in my direction. The guy is so smooth and has so much charm I melt whenever he turns it on. And right now, he’s got it on full throttle.

  Before I have a chance to respond, Evan puts his muscular arm around my shoulder and pulls close. “I’d love to have Keira join us for dinner.”

  When I look up at Evan, he winks at me. There’s a little exchange of energy between us that makes me feel like we may be having each other for dessert.

  “Now that that’s settled,” Aaron says. “Maybe we can get these gowns off and have a drink before dinner. Dad, you look like you can use one.”

  Mr. Donovan gives a sigh of resignation and nods although I have my suspicions he’s not going to give up on Aaron that quickly or easily. Like me, he’s someone who gets what he wants and he wants his son to join the firm and marry someone of his social standing—like me, for example.

  I take one more glance at Rainy. She looks like a deer caught in headlights. Her eyes are wide and filled with fear. I’m sure meeting Aaron’s parents was not what she expected. She’s so sweet; I’m sure she’s used to everyone liking her and expected the Donovan’s would fall in line. It must really suck that her fiancé’s parents despise her already but I love it.

&
nbsp; She can try everything in her power to make the Donovan’s like her but it will never happen. She’ll be like Sisyphus trying to roll the huge bolder up the steep hill just to have it roll back down again right before she reaches the top. Because the one thing Rainy can’t do is make herself rich. Sure, she could accumulate wealth (although not very likely as an art historian) but she still won’t be rich. Rich is something you are. And Rainy Dey will always be a hopelessly middle class girl. And what kind of idiot majors in art history? It’s completely impractical and people in business, like the Donovan’s, don’t like to waste resources on impractical pursuits. Rainy probably could have told the Donovan’s she was an art thief and they would have had more respect for her.

  “It was wonderful to see you, Keira,” Mrs. Donovan says as she gives me a peck on the cheek. “I’m so glad you could make it for the boys’ graduation.”

  “I wouldn’t have missed it,” I reply and shoot a glance at Aaron.

  He just stares at me as if he’s trying to gauge what I might say or do next. I don’t want to throw too may curve balls at him, though. It is supposed to be a celebration of his graduation. I decide to throw a few easy pitches instead.

  “Congratulations again, Aaron.” I step to the side of him that isn’t attached to Rainy and give him a kiss on the cheek that lingers just a few seconds longer than necessary. While I’m so close, I breathe him in. I like the clean scent of him. It’s a sharp contrast to Evan’s spicy cologne.

  When I take a step back and glance at Rainy, she looks like she might cry. I love that it’s so easy to get a reaction from her. She’s totally intimidated by me and I know she views me as a serious threat. Not that she shouldn’t. She would be stupid not to. I am a threat because I want her man and she definitely knows it.

  And deep down inside she must not completely trust Aaron. She must believe that he is capable of cheating on her with me and I’m going to use that bit of insecurity, no matter how small, to my advantage.

  I place my hand on Aaron’s shoulder and say, “Best of luck in graduate school.”