Page 156 of Till The Sun Dies (Checkmate 2)

Laine’s face flames a wild red, when Jess’ simply flushes a pink I’d rather not think too deeply about. “If the girls win, I get your fifty and a favor owed, whenever, wherever.”

He laughs. “Geez, how times have changed. You want a favor from aguy like me… you sure about that, Blondie?”

“Yup.” She thrusts her hand forward to seal the deal, never mind the fact her karaoke partner continues to shake her head. Taking her hand, Kane pulls her in until she slams against his chest and his lips press over hers.

Pulling back with a gasp and taking a second to reorient herself, Jess turns to us with a filthy grin. “Okay, we’ve made our deal. What are your terms? It makes it so much more fun when we have something to lose.”

“I didn’t agree to this,” Laine grumbles. “That was your deal, your problem.”

“Well, we can’t pull out now,” Jess answers quickly. “I just made a deal with a thug, and thugs don’t tolerate yellow-bellies. He’ll kneecap me, take the fifty, and provide a cushion for my sore knees so he can still collect on that other thing.”

“So fucking gross.” I half turn away. “What if we do Laine and me versus you and Kane?” I could do that – I could play her music, and she could sing. We’d win, because she sings like an angel and is beautiful to boot. Kane will parade around the stage like a circus monkey and get a few laughs, but he’s no competition on her. “I wanna play with Laine.”

Jess snickers and turns my statement into something much more sexual than I intended.

Turning, I grit my teeth when I find Laine’s face fire engine red. “I’m so sorry. That’s not what I – I didn’t mean it like th–”Fuck.“You know what I meant.”

“It’s girls versus boys,” Jess presses. “I can’t beat him if I’m on his team, and winning is important to me.”

Stepping closer, Laine places a soft hand on my forearm, sending electricity rushing through my blood. Looking up through long lashes, she meets my eyes and makes me hard as steel.

“You already owe me fifty because of the manual, and Alex’s baby. You sure you can handle this heat?”

She’s stepping up. She’s challenging me. “Okay. I’m doubling down – the bet’s already at fifty, let’s make it a hundred, and,”a lifetime together,“you’ll write a song with me if you lose.”

“Write a song?” she chokes. “Really? Why?”

Because I love you.“Because I love writing new songs, and collaborating with you would be fun. It’s like writing a book, but with three hundred words or less, and a whole bunch of feels.”

“But I don’t… I’m not part of your band. I don’t know how to write a song.”

Liar.“You know music. The rest will work out once we get started.”

Her eyes narrow the way they used to whenever Mr. Smythe would walk by. “Okay… If you win, you get a shitty song, but if we win, I want the hundred, and a month of driving your Charger.”

“Oh, shit!” Jess hollers. “Baby’s digging in hard. A whole month?”

“A whole month?” I grit between my teeth. “A month is a long fucking time, Laine. What will I drive?”

Flashing a wicked grin, she shrugs and turns. “You’ve got a bike, or you could borrow Wanda if you ask with your manners. This is vacation, so I’m going hard or going home.”

“She’s going hard,” Kane adds obnoxiously. “Jesus, we’re all gonna die today. Drinks in; we have our wager.”

Our group of four stand shoulder to shoulder, Laine’s hip pressed to mine, Jess’s to Kane’s, and when he hands Laine a new daquiri, we tap them together and chug like we know someone’s gonna regret this night.

“Ugh!” Jess throws her head back and swallows. “Alright, Bish. I love you.”

“I love you, t–”

“But go away.” She grabs Laine’s hand and drags her away from me. “Go talk to whoever you have to talk to, tee it up so we get two songs in a row. Then we prepare for war. You pick who goes first, we don’t care, we’ll win either way.”

“Jesus Christ,” Kane groans when the girls rush to a dark corner and draw eyes with each step they take. “Tell me they can’t sing, Ang. They’re selling sex, and we can’t compete with that.”

“Theycansing. They can dance and play instruments, too. You think they didn’t nag us to teach them over the years?”

“Fuck. I won’t lose, Alesi, so fix this shit. I want… that thing. Twice. And then once more for her insubordination.”

Jesus. I’m over here worrying about sayinganythingthat might scare Laine, meanwhile the tatted-up thug is talking insubordination and demanding BJs in a public bathroom.

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