Page 105 of Her Devils

Channing comes also, muttering a string of curses, his eyes locked with Lenley’s as he empties himself in her mouth.

It takes us a second to come back to reality.

“Fuck, that was incredible.” Chan lets go of my hands, slapping his palms against mine in a final high five, before breaking our Eiffel Tower. “Are you okay, baby?” he asks, withdrawing from Lenley’s mouth at the same time I step back.

He scoops her into his arms, lowering her against the pillows piled by the headboard.

“That was really fun.” Lenley smiles. “I don’t think I’ll ever look at the Eiffel Tower the same way again.”

Our chuckles are interrupted by Peyton stirring in his armchair.

“Yeah, believe me, neither will we. Peyton won’t either, trust me. There’s nothing like jumping down almost three hundred meters, trying to open your parachute as late as possible, and landing accurately while you’re hungover.”

Lenley snuggles under the covers. “Are you speaking from experience?”

I shake my head. “Fuck no. I know better than to party too hard before a jump. Channing, on the other hand, has been there once or twice.”

Chan flips me off with an embarrassed chuckle. “It happened once two years ago, and I learned my fucking lesson. I’ve never been so scared to puke while I dived facedown at breakneck speed, but at least I had thousands of miles to get my sorry ass under control. This BASE jump is a different animal.”

I don’t argue, because although you fall pretty fast at that height, I agree that low jumps are scarier. The ground looks way closer, and the margin for error is almost nonexistent.

“Maybe he shouldn’t jump,” Lenley says worriedly.

I sigh. “Maybe. But there’s no way Peyton will agree to miss it. That would mean letting Penn get away with his shitty behavior tonight.”

“I can’t believe he would act like this. It isn’t only unsportsmanlike, but he’s also putting Peyton at risk. That would already be horrible, but now that you guys are going to be teammates...”

Channing and I look at each other but don’t say anything.

Lenley has a big heart, and she’s loyal to a fault, so it isn’t surprising that she can’t see what a piece of shit her oldest friend really is.

“Guys, can you get Peyton and put him in bed with us?” she asks.

“Fuck no.” Channing chuckles, marching toward our team captain and lifting his big frame over his shoulder as if Peyton weighed nothing. “We have a big day tomorrow. None of us needs to wake up in a pool of Peyton’s vomit. I’m taking him to the bathroom. He can sleep in the tub while J and I cuddle up to you.”

It’s hard to miss the worry in Lenley’s eyes as she watches Channing disappear into the en suite bathroom.

I’m worried too, and God knows I wouldn’t want to be Peyton tomorrow morning.

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