Page 14 of Sin

“How would that be a win for you? You’d be stuck being my personal taxi driver for three months.”

“I have to drive to Thurston almost every day anyway, and I’ll know you won’t be sneaking off to get in strange cars with serial killers.”

“And when I win?” I counter.

“Then you pick a car in my collection and it’s yours. I’ll even teach you to drive it.”

“I told you. I don’t want anything from you.”

“I wouldn’t be giving you anything. If I lose, which, again, is doubtful, the car would be yours fair and square from winning the bet.” He gives me a used-car-salesman smile. “But if you don’t think you can win?—”

“Fine,” I say, realizing too late that Sin has caught me up in one of his games. Despite the knowledge, I quicken my stride, determined to beat him to the highway and win just to spite the cocky bastard.

We reach the highway and take turns trying our luck. I go first with several cars passing me by and leaving me choking in their clouds of dust. After making sure I use my inhaler, Sin calls out that it’s his turn, sticks out his thumb, and almost immediately, a car full of girls in a convertible pulls over for him. He charms them into offering him a ride, but since there isn’t room for me in the crowded car, he waves them away.

Seriously rethinking the brilliance of the whole hitchhiking plan, I try again, wondering if I’ll ever make it to Thurston for my appointment. Less than a minute later, I whoop in victory when a Land Rover pulls over in front of me with my extended thumb.

“You want the Audi or the McLaren?” Sin calls out in a suspiciously gracious show of defeat.

The window rolls down to reveal the handsome face of Mercer Saint. “Wanna ride?”

“You cheated,” I point an accusing finger at Sin, who’s wearing a shit-eating grin as he opens the Land Rover’s back passenger door and motions for me to climb in. “You set this whole thing up to lose.”

“That’s never how I play the game, sweetheart,” he says, leaning through the vehicle’s open window and pulling my seatbelt tight across my body and buckling it. “It’s creating stakes so that no matter if I win or lose, I get what I want.”

“And just what did you want in all this, Sin?” I ask bitterly. “For you to show me that no matter what I want, you’re in control?”

“For you not to fucking hitchhike,” he growls back. “To make sure you’re safe and no one ever hurts you.”

I sit back in my seat, shocked by his protectiveness. Trying to figure out how this Sin sums up with the one who offered me a huge amount of money to chase me out of his life.

Before I can start obsessing over it, Sin’s mood shifts, and he focuses on Mercer, who has been watching us from the driver’s seat like we were an afternoon matinee. “Dude, thanks for the ride and all, but turn that shit off,” he says, referring to the laid-back emo music playing.

“Don’t yuck my yum,” Mercer shoots back while turning the music up louder. “You should try listening to it. It’s called a feeling purge, and since you’re the most emotionally constipated guy I know, it might loosen you up a bit.”

Sin flips him off and jumps into the front seat. My fingernails grip the leather upholstery as I try to prepare myself for the sight of two lovers greeting each other, but instead of a torrid kiss, they start wrestling over the music until they reach a compromise and start playing Jonah Reeves.

“What’s up?” Mercer makes eye contact with me in his rear-view mirror.

I nod, unable to offer any more enthusiasm at seeing him when a replay of the shared moans between him and Sin are replaying in my head louder than the music blasting through the Land Rover’s speakers.

Reading my greeting for what it is, Mercer smirks at me. “One of these days you’re gonna like me, little brother,” he says with an annoying wink.

“Stepbrother,” Sin and I correct him at the same time.

“Whatever.” Mercer shakes his head at us. “I don’t mind playing chauffeur for you this morning,” he says as he maneuvers around a step van going slow. “But y’all are gonna have to find your own way home after classes. I have to have dinner with theassholetonight.”

A look of happy surprise comes over Sin’s face. “Devlin is in town?”

Exasperation takes over Mercer’s face. “I don’t know why you say it like it’s a good thing.”

“Devlin is cool.”

“You know he hates you, right? Like, can’t stand your guts, gets a face tick every time I bring up your name.”

“That’s just because of the time he walked in on us in the hot tub.” He rubs his jaw as if in deep contemplation. “Looking back, I probably shouldn’t have invited him to join in.”

Mercer glares at him. “Ya think?”

---