Page 103 of The Pact

I’m definitely jealous now. I feel my insides tangle and constrict and I have to fight the urge to chase after the bitch and ... I don’t know. I’ve never hit anyone and it’s not like she did anything to me personally but is it wrong that I want to slap that smug smile off her face?

Shep notices my reaction and the smirk disappears from his face. This is one of the things I like about him. He’s always joking but he isn’t an idiot, he knows when shit gets serious. “What’s up, Smokey? You look like someone just pissed in your cereal.”

I feel a little ashamed by the way I feel, especially because aside from Ashton, as far as I know the others are still looking for a no string attached kind of deal. But I can’t keep the words from leaving my mouth. “You fucked her. All of you.” I spit out like an accusation of sorts. Even though it was before me. Even though Shep didn’t even so much as wave at her.

Shep removes his arm from my shoulders, turning fully to face me. His hands are now holding me by my biceps. “Smokey, are you actually jealous?”

I avert my gaze, feeling a little childish but unable to help the way I feel. “What if I am?”

He takes a step forward, lifting my gaze to his with gentle fingers. There’s a smile on his face but it’s soft and free from any mockery or teasing. “That’s kinda hot, Smokey. But you’d be wasting your energy being jealous of Theresa. First of all, we all fucked her except for Kelley. She didn’t seem to like him when we first met her. She was the reason for the ‘all of us or none of us’ rule of our game. I guess she’s changed her mind after Kelley placed first in every race since the beginning of the year? Regardless, it doesn’t matter. Theresa was a one and done kinda deal. None of us is interested in her. If you haven’t noticed, we all have eyes just for you. And I’m talking just for myself here but believe me, Ausra, you’ve been occupying my thoughts pretty much constantly, lately. Unless I’m asleep or I’m eating, you can bet that sexy little ass of yours that I’m thinking about you and all the things I wanna do with you.”

His words make me smile but Shep looks dead serious. “Now, come help me get ready. Super X is next.”

He surprises me by brushing his lips on mine even if we’re out in public on a really crowded beach.

***

Kelley

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I WIN MY RACE.

I’ve been focused and in the zone all day. I didn’t expect to see Theresa but to my surprise, I didn’t really care. I thought I’d be angry when I saw her again but I felt absolutely nothing.

It’s weird that when we met, she wanted nothing to do with me but when she came to say hi earlier, she was definitely flirting. Whatever. I guess me winning every single race this year put me on her radar? Or the fact that aside from Ash’s dad I’m being courted by some of the biggest sponsors in our field?

She competes too, so maybe she hopes that by getting in good with me, she’ll get an introduction?

But it doesn’t matter what her motives are, she made me feel like shit when she let the others fuck her and made it clear that she didn’t like me.

I used to obsess about what I’d do and say when I saw her again but the truth is that I haven’t thought about her in months. Since we met Ausra to be exact. That girl got under my skin like no one ever before. Not even my first and only girlfriend, the one who turned me off relationships completely when she cheated on me and dumped me freshman year.

I’ve been protecting myself from ever giving anyone the power to hurt me by keeping things with girls on a strictly “hookup only” basis. Fucking is great, right? I thought I had the best of both worlds. Tons of pussy and no attachments or whiny girls trying to dictate what I do and who I hang out with. For companionship, I have my bros, I thought I wanted for nothing.

Until we met her.

Ausra.

She’s strong and vulnerable at the same time, sexy as hell and yet she was so innocent and inexperienced. A part of me wanted to protect her and another part of me wanted to own her, take that innocence away bit by bit.

I know the guys felt it too and this is why we wanted her to play with us. And we changed the rules of our game just for her, because she was too perfect for us to just fuck her and move on. Taking our time to teach her how we like things was supposed to be fun and dirty. But I realized that we’ve all started to care beyond scoring points and beyond getting our rocks off. I’ve never taken anyone home before her. I’ve never let anyone see the shit show that my family is. How I have to be there for Nora because Mom is a ticking time bomb. Always on the verge of doing something reckless and always one second away from hurting herself without a thought about her fucking responsibilities.

Ausra understood that my life at home is stressful but that I care. I’ve never felt so close to anyone aside from the guys and my baby sister.

I’m beginning to fall for her, this is why I agreed to offer her a job with the team. I want to keep her around even after we’re done with our game. I want to see if she can be someone special in my life like the guys are. I don’t even care if they want her too. They’re my brothers and we’re all in this together.

“Hey, do you want a beer?” Theresa is the first person who approaches me as I set foot on the private beach of the hotel the competition organizers reserved for the teams. Our sponsors are here too and they’re offering us this laid back beach bash. Or at least, that’s what they called it on the flyers. I don’t feel very laid back when I meet Theresa’s eyes.

I look at the two bottles of beer in her hands and at her tall, athletic body in a tank top and denim shorts. Her straight, dark hair is held away from her face by two metal barrettes and is flowing down almost to her butt. I thought she was hot in a girl next door kinda way but now I think she’s too skinny and her smile doesn’t reach her eyes.

“No, thanks.” I answer more abruptly than intended. “I still have the team races tomorrow. Both slalom and marathon. So I’m sticking to water tonight.”

Her smile doesn’t falter and she takes one step closer. “Ok, sure. Maybe then a dance or a swim later on? I heard a group was going to swim later, once the organizers leave. I bet they’ll be skinny dipping—”

I don’t get what changed her attitude toward me. If anything, I’d have thought she’d be all over the others since they did fuck. But whatever she’s selling, I’m not fucking buying. Regardless of our deal with Ausra that we won’t hook up with anyone else while we’re playing, I’m really not interested. Not even in payback. I’m about to tell her that, when Ausra comes up to me, wrapping one arm around my waist.

“Hey babe!” She smiles and the brightness of her blue eyes makes the rest of the world disappear.

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