Page 50 of Play Dirty
June giggles from outside. It’s almost summertime, and I’m not sure why she’s bothering with the garden. “Stop it.” She whispers and breaks out in a giggle, that sick, infectious feeling creeps up my spine and takes hold in my heart.
She laughs as she shoves him, and he catches her wrist. Not hard. Not cruel. Just enough to make her smile wider. Enough to make me sick.
I hated how I felt, watching her with him so carefree and loved, while I chased an illusion.
Mine.
He was supposed to be mine.
Shame and guilt wash over me like a rogue wave swallowing me whole and spitting me back out.
“Shiloh.” Tati's irritated voice snaps me out of the memory, but the feeling remains. That eerie, ill feeling has made a permanent home within me. “We have to start getting ready.”
I nod, waiting for the security guard to finish taking pictures and taking our statements. As always, Tati is ahead of the game; our dresses are ordered and waiting. As crowned, we are expected to go into the sorority house and give our pep talk. The anticipation has my body humming with energy and adrenaline. “Are you ready for tonight?”
“Do you think we can pull it off?”
Tatiana shrugs before looping her arm into mine. “I think, in the dark, anything can happen.”
That’s true, the hunt is outside in the woods behind the club, ocean breeze coming from the other side. Masked, in the dark with nothing but trees to shield us from the ones who chase. My stomach flutters, my heart rate spiking at the intrusive thought that comes to mind.
Nico is chasing me…
Would he?
It’s funny how today we talked about rebirth in class… because right now, I feel like I'm being buried alive. I don’t think I’ve been living since the day I found June lying dead. Shaking off the thought, I continue to walk to the sorority house where we will get ready and sell our lies to the eager petals waiting to be devoured.
Chapter Twenty
Nico
The last thing I want to do today is party and mingle... Or fuck. I definitely don’t want to do that, but the thing is, when you are leashed and owned, you don’t really have a choice. I’m expected to perform.
I’m expected to play.
And like the fucking good boy I’ve been molded into…. I obey.
Begrudgingly, I look at the all black suit that lies perfectly on my small bed. From the bathroom, I can hear Thiago as he fucks his hand. He thinks the water can tune out the sound of his vicious strokes or the way he grunts. The walls are paper fucking thin, and I can hear everything, but this helps him relax before we are expected to play the part.
My eyes dart between the bathroom door and the box where June's phone remains tucked away, when curiosity wins. Walking over to the box, I remove the lid and grab the phone, turning it on. I chew my bottom lip as I wait for the screen to come on, and when it does, my heart squeezes. A picture of June and Shiloh as kids fills the screen, both girls covered in paint, holding their hands up.
A smile spreads across my face, and a warm sensation spreads through me as my vision begins to blur. My thumb brushes over June’s little face. My smile flickers—then dies. Because I remember how this ends. June’s gone. Shiloh hates me. And I’m still here, breathing guilt like it's air. I failed her. Just like I failed my sister. And that’s the guilt that was heavy in my heart. The regret… I wasn’t there to protect them.
Sitting on the corner of the bed, I begin to scroll through her phone. Not sure what I’m looking for, so I start with her apps. Nothing out of place for her, then I notice the messages. My heart aches when I find all the missed calls and unanswered texts from Shiloh. Noticing the lack of mine— what a winner I am.
I couldn’t bring myself to read through the thousands of messages between Shiloh and June. It felt like an invasion of privacy. When I exit their thread, I notice there’s a message from D, but it’s been deleted.Who the fuck is the D?
Quickly, I grab my phone from my pocket and add the number. When the phone glitches, the screen places me right on Tatiana's message.
The last answered message…
10:10pm
June
Here.
Before I can make sense of it all, the water turns off, and quickly I chuck the phone back into the box and finish getting ready for tonight, when my phone goes off.
