Page 65 of Her Devil

“What? No, I have not! Well, I’ll stop mopping up so much then.” She chuckles, laying back on the bed as Charlotte and I restart our swimming; break over.

The glass doors slide back, the sound of voices carrying our way as some of the guys step out, heading to the pool. At least I can’t blame this one on Tamsin; her and Taylor are offgetting coffee, or whatever that translates to.

That’s probably code for fucking in the back of his suped-up dick extension, but as long as she’s not doing it in the middle of the living room, I don’t really care. She totally denied it when I asked, and I’m reasonably sure nobody else noticed, they were way too interested in Nick and Wyatt. But they were doing something, I’m sure. Although, after what we were doing in the woods just half an hour earlier, I don’t really have any room to question it.

Leo and Jacob glide into the water whilst Emmerson and Jasper leap into the deep end, water going everywhere and causing the girls to shriek and jump up, finally making their way to the water and joining us. Leo joins Charlotte and me going back and forth across the pool while Jacob lounges comfortably at the side.

“Oh, hey, Emmerson. Have you seen George today?” Charlotte asks. “He’s been ghosting me for days.”

“He’s not ghosting you, honey. He’s gone,” Emmerson replies from the other end of the pool.

“Gone? What do you mean gone?” I ask, leaning up against the side as Charlotte stops mid-swim, turning to give him her full attention.

“He wouldn’t just leave without saying goodbye,” she argues.

“I’m not sure he had much choice,” Leo counters, carving a path through the water to her. “But don’t worry about it, we didn’t get one either.”

“So, what? He just up and left without seeing any of you?” She looks from Leo to Jacob, Jasper and then Emmerson, her longing gaze going to the big empty house that suddenly feels like it’s looming over us. “Not a single one,” she whispers, the sound almost lost under the movement of the water.

“Sorry, chick,” Jacob says as he heads towards her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders comfortingly as he moves her towards the shallower water and the steps.

I don’t miss Leo’s raised eyebrow, but I think everyone else does as they make small talk, Jacob attempting to console a confused Charlotte.

“You know this is all a game, right?” Leo asks, coming up beside me.

I nod.

“Well, George is now out of the competition. Gone. Ended. Left without a trace.”

Because that’s not obvious enough without being so callous.

“But how? Why?” I ask.

I always knew whateverprizewe were being offered would come with a catch, and after last week’s revelations, I thought that was needing a man at your side. Unfortunately, it looks like there’s more to this than I anticipated.

“He didn’t follow the rules and he can’t be relied upon.” He shrugs. “I get he’s probably a nice guy or whatever, but you can’t count on a guy like that, not when it really comes down to it.”

His gaze flicks to the pool steps where Jacob sits, gently rubbing Charlotte’s back while whispering comforting words in her ear. Not that I can hear him from here, but that’s what I imagine as a knot forms in the pit of my stomach. What if it’s her next? Or him.

I didn’t really know George that well, but Charlotte did. Well enough for her to be this upset about it anyway. And let's be fair, my reaction to Nick getting hurt at the weekend is testament enough to how quickly bonds can be formed in this place, under this pressure, and for her to have not known for however long must have been so confusing, and frustrating.

How long would it take for me to go and find him if Nick stopped replying to me? Would I just brush it off as life and lectures and the general state of things in this chaotic place we’ve found ourselves, or would I find him gone without a trace when I finally see people to follow it up with?

“Would you miss her if Charlotte was next?” he whispers.

“Of course,” I reply, my indignation clear. But his raised eyebrow says exactly what he thinks about that.Bullshit.“Well, not as much as if it was Tamsin,” I admit. “But then we’ve been friends since we were like six or something. It’s not the same thing. That would be like waking up without my left arm.”

“Yeah,” he agrees, a sadness creeping in I wasn’t expecting. “I guess we’re lucky in that way, the only guys that have known each other a long time are Nick and Jacob, obviously.”

Our gazes both head to him as I reply, “You’re usually kind of stuck with family.”

Conversation falls to the wayside as we start to swim again, keeping half an eye on Charlotte as she starts to pull herself together.

“Where’s the rest of your rabble anyway?” I ask, catching up with him.

“They’re busy taking over the world, one game map at a time,” he replies. “They didn’t want to break off world domination for something as trivial as swimming, although had they realised who was out here, they might have changed their minds.”

“That games room would be much better suited as a spa,” Aimee comments, joining us.

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