Page 3 of Wicked Games

I shake my head. I’m not going to be in the mood to see her, or anyone outside of the twins, tonight.

“Tomorrow?” she presses.

“Maybe. I’ll text you later.”

“Okay.” She looks between me and the twins, her smile faltering. “I’ll talk to you then.”

I upnod her. She stares at me for a few more seconds, like she’s waiting for me to say something, then spins on her heel with a huff and stalks out of my room, her high heels clicking obnoxiously in her wake.

“Dude,” Jace says as soon as the door closes behind her. “You need to cut her loose. Like, yesterday.”

Jax nods in agreement.

They might be identical, even down to the matching black shirts and dark jeans they’re wearing, but I can tell them apart with a single glance. Their differences are subtle, especially when they wear the same hairstyle, but they’re there if you know what to look for.

“Yeah.” I lean back against the settee and let out a disgruntled sigh. “I know. But it’s easier to just keep her on the hook than deal with the fallout.”

Jax shoots me a dubious look. “Are you sure about that? It’s not like she’s the only field to plow here.”

I snort-laugh. “Trust me when I say I’m not keeping her around for the sex.”

“That bad?” Jace asks, casually flipping out the blade of his butterfly knife in a blur of glinting metal as he rolls it over his knuckles in a complicated pattern that would leave my hand shredded if I tried it.

I shrug. “Mid, at best.”

“So why the fuck are you still with her?” Jax asks.

The twins might be like brothers to me, but we don’t really talk about personal stuff. I’ve been waiting for one of them to start this conversation for months.

“Like I said, it’s easier than dealing with the fallout of breaking up with her.”

They exchange a look.

“Our families have been trying to get us together for years,” I remind them. “Remember how hard my dad leaned on me over the summer? I’ll never hear the end of it if I dump her.”

“So you’re putting up with Gold Digger Barbie because your dad wants you to?” Jace expertly flips the blade around his hand in another blur of gleaming silver and the soft click of metal on metal.

“Essentially.” I roll my neck to try and get some of the lingering tension out. “And having a girlfriend keeps the rest of the social climbers away. Stick with the devil you know and all that.”

Jax leans back and crosses his arms over his chest. “Speaking of social climbers, when is little Fefe showing up?”

“Who the fuck knows,” I grumble, my bad mood intensifying.

“I still can’t believe they’re making you room with him.” Jace shakes his head and absently tosses his knife in the air. “Or why,” he adds as he catches it in his other hand and starts flipping it around his knuckles as easily as he did with his dominant hand.

“It’s school policy,” I grumble. “I had no idea having to room with your stepbrother after his family kicks it is in the rules, but apparently it is.”

“Can’t you just ask your dad to tell them to fuck off with their rules?” Jace asked. “It’s not like we don’t have any pull around here. Use your status as a founding legacy and get rid of him.”

“I tried, but Jasmine convinced him this is a good thing.” I can’t keep the bitterness out of my voice. “And you know how he is. He’s all about protecting our image, so he’s parroting her bullshit about it bringing us closer together when he really just doesn’t want to show any family division or weakness.”

Jace snorts out a laugh. “The only thing this arrangement will bring you closer to is a felony.”

“Mood,” I agree.

A soft knock draws my attention from the twins. Heaving a sigh, I slide my gaze to the large wooden door. “Who is it?”

“It’s me,” a muffled voice says from the other side.

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