Page 8 of The Games We Play

“I am not,” I defend, but I have to blink several times to bring the my-dick-is-bigger-match into focus.

“What is it with you and Tess? You could have any girl on that floor, and you’re obsessed with this one. I’m going to find out if her pussy is that good to keep stringing you along.”

My cheeks heat, and I feel everyone in the room turn their attention to me. I’m thrown off balance when Seth’s body slams into me. I barely catch myself as Ryan tackles Seth to the ground. A flurry of punches and curse words. I’m forced back as a group of people crowd around, shouting and cheering on the testosterone battle.

Leave it to Ryan to cock-block me from the one person I’ve been trying to get with. I shove my way through the crowd, throwing elbows to get the larger football players to move aside. I was so close to feeling…something aside from thisnagging emptiness.

Outside, I sit on the rock wall along the sidewalk in front of the house. The music from inside is loud enough to hear, and people mill around the yard. Someone pukes nearby, and I grimace at the sound.

The street is empty, and I imagine my masked man appearing out of nowhere. At least then, tonight might be interesting. I’d like to see Ryan try to run him off.

“Tess,” Ryan shouts, and I blatantly ignore him. He crouches in front of me, not a blemish on his perfect face. “What the hell was that?” he asks, his features still tinged with anger.

“Don’t,” I say through gritted teeth. “Just stop acting like my boyfriend. You aren’t! Why did you stop Seth? I was finally getting somewhere, and you had to ruin it!”

His eyes narrow at me. “You mean I stopped him from using you, then throwing you away like he does every other girl. God! What the hell is wrong with you? This isn’t my best friend. It’s like you want to be treated like fucking trash.”

I glare at him. “I want to go home,” I state, not wanting to hear what else he has to say about my mental state. He’s right. I’m not the best friend he once knew. I haven’t been for a while. He just refuses to see it.

Five - X

I slam my carinto park at the airstrip. My hair sticks out at odd angles in the rearview mirror, and I smooth it down with my hand. As I roll up my sleeves, I resist the impulse to return to Puppet’s house and make her beg for considering the idea of letting another man touch her like she almost did with that frat boy.

I gave up drinking years ago. It does nothing but make me sloppy, and I can’t afford to be sloppy. But now, the idea of flying to an unknown place to take a life because someone paid the price doesn’t make my blood sing like it once did. She’s infiltrated my every sense. I shake my head as if I can shake her out of my veins.

An engine revs beside me, and I roll my eyes. This is the last thing I needed tonight.

Straightening my tie, I slip on my sunglasses even though it’s night and step out of my car. They say eyes are the windows to your soul. Well, the devil himself has long since seized mine, and I don’t need anyone trying to get a read me.

“Oh, look out. They called thebig guns,” Sierra says around a toothpick between his lips. We don’t know each other’s real names or lives outside of what we do. Our boss uses the Phonetic Alphabet for code names, and agents don’t speak outside of the mission. I smirk and turn toward the private jet waiting for us to board.

“Who’s the target?” I ask as I lock my car and walk to the aircraft. Sierra jogs and falls into step beside me, his shaggy, black hair tucked behind his ears.

“Does it matter? Death is death, and you and I, brother, are its deliverance.” He climbs the steps first, and I hesitate with one hand on the rail.

Images of Puppet at home in her bed flood my mind, and my knuckles whiten as I fight the urge to turn around and let Sierra handle this one himself.

This isn’t like me. Nothing has ever come between me and the job. No matter what the details might be. It’s the one thing that makes me feel alive and brings me happiness.

Except there’s a doe-eyed blonde that has taken residence in my mind and is monopolizing my focus. In all the years I’ve been contracted out, now is the first time a job has gotten to me. Am I growing soft?

No, I internally growl. She’s an assignment that I need to protect. That’s all—an asset I refuse to share.

“Lima! Let’s go!?” Sierra slaps his hand on the exterior of the plane, and I shake my head. I’ll know if anyone comes or goes from her place while I’m gone. I set up cameras to make sure my little pet is safe, of course. Sitting across from Sierra, I sip on my water while he has a glass of champagne. We’ll reach the longitude and latitude destination we weretexted in two hours. Then we will get sent the target’s information and where we can find them.

If we need fancier attire to blend in, we’ll have a hotel room waiting for us with fresh clothes and identification or whomever we are portraying. Before this job, I worked solo. Now, when the target is a larger payday, we work as a team—as well as two people who have severe trust issues can. I’ve met my employer once during a simple proposition that was made in the shadows. All she had to do was say it was a six-figure for just one contract.

One death.

One bullet.

Once we’re in the air and I can’t leave the job, regardless of what I see, I pull my phone out and go to the app for my security footage. Adding a few more seconds of torture, I skim the ones throughout my home before clicking on the feed from Puppet’s. She’s in her bed, sleeping on her back. Her eyes are closed, and her lips are parted as she mumblessomething.

I lift my glass of water and pause, the edge grazing my lips as I enhance the footage and zoom in. Her lips part wider, and there’s movement under the blanket at the apex of her thighs. I set my water down and pull my wireless headphones from my pocket, ensuring they’re connected before turning up the volume.

My dick is already growing before her soft moans play across the earpieces.

Sierra kicks the toe of my boot, and I glare at him through the sunglasses for interrupting me. “Got some good porn or something to have you so focused?” His brown eyes glint with mischief.

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