Page 67 of Her Devils

J shakes his head. “So that’s your plan? Share her with us for now and then ask her to be your girlfriend?”

The incredulity in his tone rubs me wrong, and I glare at him. “Maybe. I don’t know. I haven’t thought that far into the future. We have state and nationals to worry about, and then hopefully worlds, but our deal is on until then, and if I still feel this way by the end—”

“Do you seriously think you turned into boyfriend material overnight?” J bites out. “This deal works because we’re helping each other get what we want, and we’re having fun along the way. There are no expectations, no obligations beyond worlds, and no chance for hurt feelings. Sure, Lenley is awesome, and we’re becoming friends, but do you really think you won’t get bored in six months? How about in one year? You’re the one who’s banged more chicks than Peyton and me combined, Chan. You’re right that Len is special, but if you’re thinking about turning this into something more permanent, make sure that you’re up for the task, because if you screw up and hurt her, I’m going to have a problem with it.”

Unbelievable.

“You’re going to have a problem?” I sneer. “Who made you Lenley’s keeper? I’d cut my own balls off before I hurt her.”

His gaze hardens as he looks me right in the eye. “Don’t worry about that. If you fuck up and hurt her, I’m going to hand you a rusty knife and make sure you follow through with it.”

That’s when it dawns on me. “Fuck. You aren’t mad because I’m catching feelings for Lenley. You’re mad because you are too. Mr. Always In Control is falling for our fuck buddy!”

He has the decency to avert his gaze. “I don’t know. Maybe. I mean, I’m no better boyfriend material than you.”

I snort. “Ha. That’s the fucking understatement of the year!”

He rolls his eyes. “Look, I’m not sure how I feel, okay? Like you said, we have to think about our endgame. We came to Star Cove because it’s the place to be for skydiving. We have a world championship in our sight. This is why I wasn’t sure about this deal to begin with. Spending all this time with Lenley is becoming confusing.”

Ah, yeah, things were much easier when we had a gaggle of faceless groupies on rotation to get our rocks off.

Lenley was supposed to be the solution to our image problem without becoming celibate, but she’s quickly becoming a lot more than a fuck buddy.

Peyton looks at us with wide eyes. “Are the two of you fucking serious? You can’t fall for Lenley.”

His tone causes me to snap. “I can fall for whoever I want. Cool your fucking jets, Peyton. I’m not trying to go back on our deal, I’m okay with sharing her with you and J for now, then—”

“Then what?” Peyton’s tone drips with frustration as he throws his hands in the air. “You two are forgetting something very important. None of us can fall for her.”

He’s so full of shit. “Why not? Because you want her for yourself, but you know that being her stepbrother makes it even harder for you to convince Ken and Gina that you’re serious about her?”

He almost shrinks under the weight of my glare.

“Don’t even try to bullshit J and me into believing that you don’t feel anything for Lenley. I saw how you look at her.”

I’ve never seen my best friend look more defeated than he does right now. Not even when Penn fucked with his gear and he couldn’t try out for the Angels. “This stepbrother bullshit isn’t the only reason, Chan. Yeah, Dad would fucking disown me if I told him I like Lenley. He doesn’t trust me with her, and I don’t blame him, because I wouldn’t fucking trust me with anyone’s daughter either. But it’s more complicated than that.”

I groan. “More complicated? Why?”

Peyton’s scowl deepens. “We can’t go there because I don’t even know how that would work between the three of us. It’s one thing to share a fuck buddy, but if this was a serious relationship, she’d have to choose.”

I shrug. “Maybe, but—”

He interrupts me. “But it doesn’t matter if Dad doesn’t consider us worthy of Lenley or if fighting over her could potentially ruin the decade-long friendship between the three of us. Lenley doesn’t belong to us.”

I stop in my tracks, not liking the finality of his tone. “Yeah, I know, because she’s our fuck buddy.”

Peyton’s laugh is bitter when he shakes his head. “It’s not that, Chan. Don’t forget why I offered her this deal. Penn broke her heart because she was in love with him. The reason our deal is perfect is because we can’t break her heart since it belongs to another.”

I don’t like this. “To Darrius Penn?” I say.

“Yeah. That’s why I told her she should kiss him. It’s what she wanted from the start. I’m confident that Penn will fuck up because he’s a piece of shit who doesn’t deserve to kiss the floor Lenley walks on, and in that case, she has us, and she’ll reject him and get her revenge.”

“But what if he doesn’t fuck up?” I ask.

Peyton’s fists clench to the point that his knuckles turn white. “That’s why there’s no point in destroying our family over this. Lenley is our friend, and we have a mutually beneficial deal. All will be well as long as we stick to the rules.”

I watch him walk out of the locker room. I’ve always followed Peyton’s lead, both in the air and on the ground. He’s always been the one who had a sense of direction of our path until Lenley.

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