Page 77 of Torrid Little Passion

Brady

"Pay up, bitches,"I state as I walk into Max and Finn's kitchen. Julian's right behind me, but I don't care. He should know by now that we bet on everything, including each other.

"Explain to me again how you won?" Max says, slamming his hand on the counter. "If I remember correctly, you said senior year. That's a pretty broad guess."

It was broad for a reason. The two idiots standing in front of me were optimistic in their assessment of the situation. Finn thought they'd be together by the end of our sophomore year, Piper's freshman year. Max thought it would happen over that first summer. Kane didn't think they would ever get together, and Colt thought it would only be a fling, that it wouldn't last more than two weeks.

Now that we've established Colt was wrong, I'm declaring myself the winner. And they each owe me fifty bucks.

"You lost years ago, both of you," I state, pointing back and forth between Finn and Max as they glare at me. "And since it's officially day twenty-one of their relationship, both Kane and Colt lose."

"What about Declan and Micah?" Finn challenges.

"Micah wasn't even here when we made the bet; he was still in high school. I can't remember what Declan guessed and neither could he, so he forfeited."

"I still think I won," Julian says, taking a seat at the island after cracking open a beer.

"Yeah, yeah. You won the girl. I won the money."

His eyes smile at me over the lip of his can as he takes a long pull. Bastard is happier than I've ever seen him. Or heard him. Which is awful since I hear him all the time. At night. In the early hours of the morning. Those two go at it more than Mya and I do. Which says a lot since we've almost been caught multiple times now.

First, the night at the Zeta house, though we kind of were caught the next morning. Mya's been working on repairing her relationship with Cleo for the last week. It's been a slow-moving process and time consuming. That hasn't stopped her from coming over when Julian's at work. And sneaking out after he's in bed.

I'm enjoying it a little too much if I'm honest. The secrecy. The sneaking around. It's hot.

I can't wait until tonight so she can sneak in, which is the plan. She said she had something she wanted to talk to me about.

Am I scared? Not a chance.

We've already talked about the hard stuff. The kind of things that would normally have a person running in the other direction. It should be smooth sailing from now on. At least, it feels like it should.

Once we announce our relationship to everyone else.

Which I'm thinking we should do after Thanksgiving. That'll give Julian's new relationship the proper amount of time to be in the spotlight, so we can all tease him mercilessly, and then the focus will shift to me.

I'm ready for it. Prepared to take whatever they throw at me.

But there is one person I want to tell first.

Colt.

Because he's seen it firsthand. He was there the night I protected Mya from the two drunk assholes, and he called me out on my feelings back then. It only feels fair that he's the first to know I finally pulled my head out of my ass and went after the girl I wanted.

It's not going to be tonight, though.

This is our first poker night in a while. Probably because we've all started to build our own separate lives. When we were all single, we'd get together once a week and play. Now those who are single are the minority instead of the majority.

"Speaking of Declan, where the hell is he? And Micah?" Finn asks, pulling his phone from his pocket.

"Colt and Kane are on their way. They're stopping for food," Max states, sliding a beer across the counter toward me before balling up a fifty-dollar bill and tossing it at my face.

"You realize their idea of food is going to be a quick grab from the gas station. Chips and candy. Nothing real. Maybe those instant mac and cheese cups or granola bars." My words cause Max to groan as we hear the front door open.

Colt and Kane round the corner, each holding a bag of snacks in each hand. As expected, they've brought junk food and not even close to enough to feed eight grown-ass men.

Rolling his eyes at the 'feast' they lay out on the island, Max swipes his phone off the counter and mumbles something about ordering food as he heads down the hall.

"What?" Kane and Colt both ask, looking at each other before glancing around the room.

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