by Lux Carmine
“Are we going back there?”
“I was wondering if you’d like to stay at my house. We have four guest rooms.” I met her gaze quickly in the mirror, the snow was getting worse. She looked like she was giving it serious thought.
“Will your parents be there?”
I glanced away, my gut tightening again. Was she afraid of being alone with me? I cleared my throat. “They had a holiday party tonight. If they do get to make it back, it probably won’t be until closer to 3am.”
She nodded. “Okay. I’ll stay, but you have to sneak me out in the morning.”
I stared at her in the mirror, wondering why she’d have that stipulation. “Okay.”
“We’re staying over too! Gamefest!” Devin said quickly, turning around he nodded to Max. I knew why they were winking at each other—the bet. I hoped Skylar didn’t catch on or we’d all be in deep shit and probably all be losers.
“Great. We’ll make ourselves comfortable, and heat up some frozen pizza and play video games.”
“Parker’s house is the most casual of all of ours,” Max inserted as we pulled up the driveway.
Skylar gasped, her eyes wide and her nose practically pressed to the glass. I guess this was going to be a shock to her. I pulled into the three-car garage and turned off the Jeep. We made our way inside the house. I was relieved to find the lights and stuff were working. As Max showed Skylar the place, Devin and I putzed around in the kitchen, trying to gather what we needed for a full night of gaming before heading downstairs.
“This place …” Skylar said in awe. “It’s incredible. I can’t even imagine what it must be like to live in a place this big. You could fit like … twenty of my house in here. My room is as big as the smallest bathroom.
I cleared my throat, my cheeks burning with embarrassment. “It’s not mine, it’s my parents’.”
She’d long since pulled off her coat, revealing her white cable knit sweater. The sleeves were too long, hiding her hands. She crossed her arms and followed Max towards the game room. I’d never thought much of what we had … or how ridiculous it might look to someone else. The room was dark with strings of green lighting hidden under the chair rail molding. There were three gaming chairs all lined up next to each other, perched in front of a full set of gaming consoles with their own flat-screen TVs.
I wiped my sweating palms on my jeans and glanced around for a seat for Skylar. “Sorry, we don’t invite other people to game with us in person.”
She smiled a little and shrugged. “It’s okay. I can just sit on the floor.”
My heart raced as I pictured it. “No!”
“You can have my seat,” Devin offered.
“Mine is the cleanest,” Max said.
She went to the seat in the middle and put her hands on it. “Can I sit here?”
The other two grumbled and I nodded. She’d chosen my seat. “Sure.”
“Thanks.” She sat down, looking uncomfortable as she tried to sit up instead of relaxing against the curve of the chair. “So what do we do now?””
“I guess we make ourselves comfortable for the night and try to have some fun,” I said. I didn’t really know what else to do. We’d had a million slumber parties by ourselves, but the prospect of spending the night with my two best friends and Skylar, while trying to navigate the fact she was part of an active bet, was not my idea of a great time.
SKYLAR
My phone buzzed in my hand. I glanced down and Mom’s picture lit up the screen. I excused myself from the ruckus going on in the game room and went to the bathroom. Once inside I leaned against the wall and texted Mom back.
Skylar: The bridge was closed.
I’m staying at that nice boy’s house. Wish you could see it. It’s amazing.
The kitchen is your dream come true.
Mom: Pix???
I grinned and left the bathroom. I felt only a little bad sneaking upstairs to go snap a picture for my mom. She had a right to know where her daughter was, right? I turned on every light I could find. One switch caused a garbage disposal to roar to life, and I jumped in surprise at the loud unfamiliar grinding noise. Once it was all set up, I switched to my camera and took my time finding the right angle. I snapped the pic and sent it to her, a grin on my lips.
I walked towards the basement stairs and turned my ear to pick up on the conversation below. The guys were smack talking each other. I smiled and went back into the kitchen. I tried to imagine living here. What would it be like to be Mrs. Wells? What was she like? The way my dad talked about her, she was as normal as any other woman in our trailer park. I went in search of family photos and hit the jackpot in the living room, which was tastefully decorated in warm reds, golds, and browns. The built-in white shelves hugged either side of the fireplace and were lined with family photos in gold frames. Pictures of their wedding day, pictures of Parker at various ages. Parker’s dad’s NFL days. Football and family was an overwhelming theme.
“Find anything interesting?”
Gasping, I turned. Parker was perched on the arm of one of the leather couches, a grin on his lips. I crossed my arms over my chest and hoped the blush wasn’t too bright on my cheeks. Caught! “Sorry. I was just taking a picture of your kitchen.”
He chuckled. “Skylar, I hate to tell you but … this isn’t the kitchen.”
The embarrassment was nearly overwhelming. I laughed nervously, secretly wanting to smack him on his hard abs. “I know that! I took a picture for my mom and then got distracted by all the shiny things.” Among other things, there were gold frames, a gold mirror, and a glimmering grand piano.
Parker got up from his perch and nodded his head as he approached me, then stopped a foot away and gazed down into my eyes. My stomach fluttered at his closeness. “Yep, I knew it. Gold digger.”
Without thinking, I gasped again and did smack him across his abs with my knuckles. He chuckled and pretended like I’d hurt him.
“I’m just teasing. Are we boring you?” he asked once he’d regained his composure.
Faking a yawn, I threw him a grin. “Maybe a little. I’m not into video games.”
He shook his head in disapproval. “We can’t be friends anymore.”
My gaze fell to the floor. I didn’t want to be friends with him. I wanted more than that. The only word to describe me was “greedy.” My stomach hurt with anxiety over it all. I swallowed hard as I crossed my arms tight over my chest. Things needed to come out in the open. “We won’t be friends for much longer anyway.”
There was a pause.
“Why do you say that?”
I chanced a glance and it held because he was staring down at me, tension and a tinge of hurt on his face. I couldn’t look away. “Because you’ll go back to your life and I’ll go back to mine. You only ever noticed me because I was working with you.”
His eyes searched my face—really searched it—and it killed me to not know what was going on inside his head. Slowly he lifted his hand and cradled his palm against my cheek. “That’s not true. I would’ve noticed you no matter where I’d found you.”
My cheek flamed beneath his touch and something twisted in my heart. He was falling for me, and I was falling for him and his two best friends. Guilt made me pull away and slip my phone into the back pocket of my jeans. “I’m getting hungry … for spaghetti. Do you have any in that fancy pantry of yours? That’s what you call it, right?”
I was worried he was going to be weird about it, or ask what was wrong with me, but he didn’t. Instead he led me over to the pantry and opened it up. “Skylar, this is a pantry … or fancy pantry, as some people call it. Of course we have spaghetti.” I smiled, the tension broke in the room and we cooked dinner for the four of us. While stirring the spaghetti and watching him cut vegetables, I wondered if this was what my future could be like.
It was a wishful dream.
DEVIN
Max and I glanced at each other and I shook my head. Parker was hogging Skylar! There was no
way me or Max could win the bet without face time. Who was I kidding? Max wasn’t going to win the bet. And that left me. I wasn’t going to lose to Parker. It would be murder on my ego.
“They’ve been up there alone for awhile.”
I nodded at Max’s always obvious and straight-forward observations. “Indeed they have. We need to break up the party, Max, or we won’t have a chance at winning the bet. You go up there and tell Parker you need to talk to him about something, and I’ll pull Skylar away.”
Max thought about the proposition and then frowned. “What? Why would I pull Parker away so you could talk to Skylar?”
My eyebrows shot up. “Dude. You had alone time with her earlier today when you drove her to work.”
“Yeah but it was only a fifteen minute ride.”
I shrugged. “So give me fifteen minutes.” I could woo a girl in fifteen minutes and leave her wanting more. I did it all the time.
He considered it some more and then stood up. “Fine. I’ll give you fifteen minutes alone with her and then you owe me.”
“Give me thirty, and I’ll let you drive her to work for the rest of the season.”
He pressed his lips together and finally sighed. “Fine.”
We evacuated the game room and followed the scent of tomato sauce and Italian seasonings to the kitchen. There were four plates set up at the dining room table in the other room. Max leaned in and whispered, “I’m going to wait until after dinner. I’m starving and that looks really good.”
My stomach growled in agreement. On the table were four steaming bowls of spaghetti and meatballs, salad, and some garlic bread. There was only one thing missing. With a self-assured grin, I strutted to the wine fridge and pulled out a bottle. I didn’t know anything about wine except that it could get you drunk. “Skylar, what do you think?” I turned the bottle so I could read the label. “Shall we have …” I stared at it. The damn thing was in French! “A bottle of wine with dinner?” I turned my most charming smile on her.
She was flushed and just shrugged. “I mean, I don’t want any, but if you guys do, don’t let me stop you.”
Parker came up to me and snatched the bottle from my hands. “Don’t be an idiot,” he whispered. “Her dad is an alcoholic!” I let him put it away and tucked my hands into my back pockets. This was not getting off to a good start. “Sorry, Skylar,” I said, not afraid of confronting issues. “I didn’t know about your dad.”
She shot Parker a wounded look, and I fought back my grin. Now Parker was no longer the good guy. That’d teach him. Parker checked my shoulder as he passed by to take his seat at the table. I ignored him. He was bigger and stronger, but I was more charming by far.
We all sat around the table, silent at first. Our silverware clanked against the china. Skylar broke the tension first. “So, are your parents’ houses this big?”
Max set his fork down and wiped at his mouth, shaking his head. “No. Mine is smaller. But it feels a lot bigger because my parents are minimalists.”
I smiled at the weird look Skylar shot Max. “My mom is an interior designer. Our home is magazine ready all the time.”
“Except your room,” Parker muttered. “You live like a pig.”
Skylar giggled and I clenched my teeth tight. He was fighting back. Not smart.
“I’m sure yours would be too if you were me, Parker. I don’t have a mom who will clean up after me like you do.” He glared at me and I took a satisfied bite of my garlic bread. “Mmm.” I swallowed and then pointed my bread at Parker’s face. “Do you know what? I don’t have parents who won’t let me date, either.”
Parker shook his head at me, his eyes turning dark. I knew what was going to happen even before I heard the loud scrape of his chair pushing back from the table. I got up from my chair and made a couple of steps before I was tackled to the ground. “Oh, shit!” It hurt less when we were ten and Teagan fessed up to liking me more than Parker because I’d stolen the cookies his mom had made him and given them to her.
SKYLAR
I was shocked. They were fist fighting each other during dinner? Devin was purposely baiting Parker and it seemed to revolve around me? Parker wasn’t allowed to date and yet he was flirting with me? It was like something out of a teen wolf movie. Too many alphas … or something.
Max was eating as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening. He smiled and raised his garlic bread in salute. “This is delicious, Skylar. Thank you.” He had to speak a little louder than normal.
I motioned to Devin and Parker with both hands. “Should we stop them?”
Max glanced over and shrugged his shoulders. He turned back to me and took another bite. “No one really has room to throw stones at the table, you know. Except maybe you.”
“Why not?” I asked, my eyes turned to Devin and Parker still going at it on the floor, yelling at each other about cookies and cars and video game titles.
“Because we all made a bet to see which one of us you’d start dating.”
My eyes swung to Max as my heart dropped to my knees. “What?” I searched his brown eyes. Surely I’d heard him wrong.
He nodded. “Yeah. We all like you, and none of us were going to bow out. So we made a bet.”
My mouth and throat were suddenly really dry. With a shaking hand, I took a sip of water before standing up from the table. “Excuse me.”
Max nodded. “Sure. Going to the bathroom?”
I waved him off and headed downstairs in the basement to retrieve my coat. My head was swirling. First the thing with Santa, and now this? Why did no one stop to think about what I wanted? Why was I just a thing to be fondled and wagered on? I was not just an item, and I wouldn’t stand aside and let myself be taken advantage of or manipulated.
I stuffed my arms into my coat and quickly ran back upstairs. I avoided looking over at the dining room. I didn’t care if they’d killed each other, now I knew I was just a game to them. Like the one they were playing downstairs. They probably did this all the time, a way to prove whose dick was bigger. I wasn’t playing along.
I whipped open the front door and stepped outside. The wind and snow billowed into my face, trying to warn me away. But I couldn’t stay. I gazed out at the swirling snow, illuminated by the yellow lights surrounding Parker’s house. Which was worse? Freezing to death in three feet of snow, or mortal embarrassment when they found out I knew about their bet and then got mad because I wasn’t going to play along? Either way it ended the same way: me in the cold, frozen and alone.
I had somehow managed to trudge to the end of the driveway before a strong hand grabbed onto my arm. I jerked away from the grasp and spun around, stumbling with the snow up to my calves. It was Parker.
“Wait! Where are you going?” he asked, his voice loud so he could be heard over the wind and snow. He hadn’t even taken the time to put a coat on.
“I’m going home! Max told me about the bet!” I tried not to feel anything for Parker and the black eye he had going on. It was his own fault.
Parker looked away, cursing. He put his hands on the back of his neck and looked at me. There was so much pain in his face, it was like a sucker punch. “Don’t go … can we talk about this?”
“What is there to talk about? You can’t date so you weren’t going to win the bet anyway, right?”
“Please?” He lowered his hands and tucked them under his arms for warmth. “It was fucked up, we all think it was fucked up, but we just … we all like you and …”
“And what? What would the winner get, huh? Bragging rights after I gave it up?” The anger boiling inside me was primal. I was shaking and not from the cold. I wanted him to hurt the way I was hurting. “How many girls have you three tricked into falling for you?” I pushed him hard, and he stumbled backwards. His eyes widened and his mouth fell open. I’d wounded him. Good.
“There haven’t been any other girls, Skylar.”
I shook my head. “I don’t believe you!” I turned around and started limping again,
my toes already painfully numb.
“Just ask Max! He’ll tell you the truth! You know he will! Please come inside? If you want to go home, I’ll drive you …”
I slowed down, the tears in my eyes making it harder to see in the already low visibility. I was stupid for even thinking about going back. But I’d be stupider to think I’d make it home alive. It was too far, and I wasn’t dressed for snowstorm traveling.
I kept my head ducked and turned back, leading the way to the house. Once inside, I removed my snow-covered shoes and went straight to the basement, leaving a trail of snow in my wake. I perched myself in a chair in the corner and tried my best not to cry. Worst. Day. Ever.
Chapter 18
MAX
The three of us stood at the top of stairs after Skylar stormed down, Devin and Parker looking helplessly at me.
“What did you say to her?” Devin rubbed his jaw, which was red from where Parker had clocked him.
Parker sighed. “She asked if we’d bet over other girls, too. I told her no. I don’t know if she believed me though.”
I shrugged and headed down the stairs. Devin reached out and put a hand on my arm, but I shook him off and kept walking.
“Max,” Parker hissed. “What are you doing?”
I turned and glared at him. “She’s angry. At least one of us needs to talk to her.” I kept walking. By the time I was halfway down the stairs, their footsteps sounded behind me. I took a seat next to Skylar in one of the gaming chairs, and Devin and Parker planted themselves on the floor, rather than argue over who was going to take the third chair.
“No offense, but I’m not really in the mood to watch you three play video games,” Skylar said. There was a sharpness in her voice. She was definitely angry.
