Page 24 of Unmasked Rivalry
“Way,” I mumble, trying to keep my cheeks from igniting.
“It was... not what you’re thinking.”
“Were tongues involved?” Sable, horror-movie gleeful.
I grab a paper towel and throw it at her. “Oh yes. Tongues were involved. Teeth were involved. Bourbon was definitely involved. But I stopped it, because it’s a very bad idea.”
Nia lets out a howl and slams her mug on the table. “Tell us everything. Start at the angry part and end with the sexy part, but don’t skip the part where he probably threatened to murder you.”
I huff. They want to know all the juicy details, fine, they can’t say I didn’t warn them. I tell them everything, about Harper, about the kiss, and about how it ended.
For a moment, they all stare in shock.
“You’re telling me Harper was pinballing dirty money through this place, and not a single soul knew it?” Mera asks, her eyes wide.
I nod.
Mera gives a low whistle. “Damn. How much money are we talking?”
“I don’t know, but enough that Ralston now wants me to keep it going.”
“Shit. And Knox knows?” Sable asks, taking another sip of coffee.
“Yeah, he knows, and he didn’t want to believe it. Anyway, I don’t want to talk about him or her anymore. If I continue, I might just have a breakdown. I need music, and maybe a small screaming session to reset my nervous system.”
Mera laughs. “On it.”
They turn on the music—Lady Gaga, because of course they do—and within three minutes all of us are belting the chorus and shaking our asses as we sweep, wipe, and mop. I’m halfway through scrubbing the counters when Mera nudges me in the ribs. “So, Knox. Are we rooting for him to try again?”
“Absolutely not,” I say instantly. “He is hung up on his dead woman, and I’m not about to clean that mess up or be the reason he tries to get over it. Besides, I’m not interested.”
I know I’m lying. I can feel the night in my mouth, the taste of it, the way he kissed me like revenge.
I wish I hated it.
Nia grins as she goes past. “If you ever want to talk about it, or if you want to pretend to talk about it but really just need to set something on fire, you let me know.”
The rest of the morning passes in a blur of cleaning, bitching, and gossiping about which of the club guys has the best jawline. Talon won, because the man is chiseled like a Greek god. Still, it was a close call. By five o’clock, the kitchen is the cleanest I thinkit has ever been, the guys have patched the roof and mowed the lawn, and have created a fire outside.
They also got alcohol.
I’m not unhappy about that.
We pour whiskey into plastic cups and join them outside. The wind is cold, but the fire is a beacon, and we sit around it. I feel the heat warming me to my bones, and I close my eyes, enjoying every small second of it. We drink for a bit, then we go for an adventure to the barn. In there, we find a huge tank filled with water.
“Let’s jump in,” Nia says, her eyes wide.
Mera looks to me, then Sable. “I’m in. It looks clean.”
Sable scrunches up her nose. “There might be a huge snake in there?”
“Come on, you only live once,” Nia laughs and climbs up the side. She jumps, screaming, fully clothed, which means the rest of us have to follow suit or risk eternal shame.
“Might as well,” Mera says, putting her cup down.
Fuck it. I climb the ladder and watch Sable cannonball in, sending tidal waves over the rusted edge. Only she would do that, pregnant, without a care in the world. Nia goes in after and then Mera, and before I know it, I am jumping in, my body surrounded by cold water. I surface, gasping and laughing, and the four of us swim around and splash until we’re too cold to take a second more.
We climb out, soaked, just as a heap of guys are coming into the barn.
