Page 12 of Power Play
"Lacey?" His eyes widen before he shakes his head. "Nah, man. Stay away from her. She's one of the good ones."
"I didn't ask if she was a good girl, or a bad girl," I say, my voice low and suggestive, just to make the jab at him that I've been thinking about her naked. I want to get a rise out of him if it'll give me the answer I'm looking for. "I asked if there was anything going on between you two."
He narrows his eyes at me. "There will be."
"So that's a 'no'. Thanks man." I slap him on the shoulder. "Thanks for the green light."
I pop the top off of another beer and head to the hot tub. I'm not going to stay away from a woman because Ben wants there to be something between them. That's on him.
Eventually Lacey, Tracey, Ben and the others join me in the hot tub. While I waited for them, I decided that's the game that I'm going to play. I have no interest in Tracey, but if flirting with her gets a rise out of Lacey, then I'll have a good idea of where I stand with her. I want to get a rise out of her. I want to see some fire in her eyes, something other than her hiding in plain sight.
Lacey's wearing a unitarian black one piece that covers everything while Tracey's wearing a barely-there white bikini. Unfortunately for Tracey, it's having the opposite effect. Lacey's covering makes me want to see what's underneath. Tracey showing everything off is boring. If I wanted to look at tits, I'd go to Pornhub.
Lacey's a beautiful girl, and she knows it, but her demeanor, her bathing suit, makes me feel like she doesn't want the attention. I wonder if that's because her twin has been stealing it their entire life. Surely Lacey's got enough of a backbone to stand up to her sister. Sure, she panicked that one morning, but it only took her a few minutes to get herself under control. I don't know what's caused Lacey to be so strong, but so shy at the same time.
Tracey sees the moment my eyes lock on Lacey and she swims over to me in the hot tub. Instead of sitting next to me, she perches on my thigh. Even better.
Maybe I'm a sadistic asshole - no, I know that I am - but I want a reaction out of Lacey. She's been ignoring me, or overly stiff and polite to me, the entire time she's been here. I'm not used to that, and it's making me feel off kilter. Women throw themselves at me, the way Tracey is. I don't even have to try anymore. I go out to a hockey bar; women see me and flock to me. Usually I can seal the deal in under ten minutes. I know what they want; they know what I want. It's asimple transaction. So, what I'm not used to is wanting someone who doesn't want me back. Fuck, maybe it's not even worth the effort.
When Lacey turns from her conversation with Ryan and sees Tracey on my lap, I give her a slow, sexy smile and make a point to play with Tracey's hair. What I'm not expecting is Lacey's reaction. There's a flash of hurt before her eyes go completely blank. No. Her eyes didn’t just go blank—they went hollow, like someone flipped a switch and drained the light from her face. It isn’t anger or jealousy. It's worse. It's nothing. I expected the hurt, the jealousy. What I didn't expect was her to completely shut down. Next to her, I see Ben watching the entire interaction. He laughs quietly and shakes his head like he knows a secret I don't.
That's got me even more irritated.
I push Tracey off me ungracefully. She doesn't get the message and still cuddles up against me, our thighs touching from hip to knee. She laughs a little too loudly, makes sure the attention is on her, and hijacks every conversation.
What should have been a hot and heavy sexy hut tub sesh has gone weird. Everyone around Tracey can't get a word in edgewise, and the vibes are off. Everyone is politely engaging with her, but it's forced. And I have to watch Ben and Lacey whispering quietly to each other.
After a strained hour, everyone makes some sort of excuse to go to bed early. This is a fucking train wreck of a vacation. And we have another day and a half of it.
As I towel off and go to head to the master bedroom, Ben slides up next to me and I notice we're alone.
"You're not going to get her like that," he whispers, leaning in conspiratorially.
"What?"
"Lacey. She's a good girl. She doesn't do jealousy or envy. You'll only push her away by trying to make her jealous."
I look up at him, but he's already looking up at a bedroom window, supposedly hers.
"Why are you telling me this?"
He shrugs. "I dunno, man. All I know is that is that woman deserves the world. And if you're the one who can give it to her, I won't stand in your way."
I quirk an eyebrow at him. "Do you... do you love her?" I ask, my voice breathy with wonderment. I've heard of this mythical thing called love but haven't actually seen in it real life. I see affection when we hang out with married players, but I'm not sure I've ever seen love. I thought it was just something authors wrote smutty books about, not real. I can't imagine loving someone so much you'd happily let them be with someone else. I can't imagine putting someone else's happiness before my own. What the hell happened between the two of them?!
He looks at me, a soft smile playing on his lips. He looks up at her window again wistfully, looking lost in a memory. "Yeah, man. I really do. You will, too, if you let her in. There's not an ounce of that woman that's unloveable."
He claps me on the shoulder before tossing me a nod and leaving me alone on the back deck. Not for the first time since I met her do I feel unsettled. The instant attraction I felt for her. The vulnerability and strength I saw that day when she had that panic attack. The wanting her, but her not wanting me. The complete and utter shutdown when I tried to make her jealous.
And now Ben telling me he loves her enough to let me have her? And that if I ever did,I'dfall in love? What fucking Twilight Zone have I woken up in??
Chapter eight
Lacey
There's a light knock on my door. I check my phone. It's two in the morning. I haven't been able to get to sleep. I can't help replaying today's events over and over again in my head. And then admonishing myself because I know what terrible side effects lack of sleep has on a body.
Tracey invited herself to this trip just to fuck with me. Ben lost control on that bumpy road, and I couldn’t stop thinking about what that meant. I remembered the night he was talking about. We had been in my childhood room, with my parents downstairs, when he took me from behind in front of my mirror. It was so fucking hot, forbidden, perfect.
