Page 74 of End Game

Nico is tapping away at his phone, and I wonder who he’s texting.

“Come on, babe. Let’s go get you something to drink.” Now I hear Frank talking to her, trying to calm her down, and all I can think isThis poor dude.

“Do not call me babe!” she shrieks in response, followed by more banging on the door.

Nico shakes his head. “He doesn’t know what he’s getting into.”

Most likely she’s going to trick him into thinking that she cares and hurt him in the end. But if I were to warn him about Portia? He wouldn’t listen. He’s probably mad at me and Nico, thinking we started some sort of secret relationship right under his nose, which wasn’t what happened.

How can I tell him that? And what am I going to do right now, stuck in Nico’s bedroom while his ex is trying to bang down the door?

Talk about ruining my Saturday night.

Chapter Twenty-Five

NICO

I’m constantly texting Coop, practically begging him to get rid of Portia and kick her out of our house for good. He’s trying, but he also feels like a jackass telling her to leave. Frank is defending her to Coop, and he feels caught in the middle. I get it.

But she’s relentless and won’t leave us alone. She’s still banging on my bedroom door every few minutes, screeching my name. Doesn’t matter that Coop is trying to entice her with alcohol. She won’t even listen to Dollar as he tries to sweet-talk her into leaving with him.

She’s lost it. More like she lost it at seeing Everleigh kiss me, which, not gonna lie, was surprising.

And pretty fucking good once I took over.

It was a bold move on Everleigh’s part, and while I was enjoying it, I felt kind of bad when we kissed in front of Portia and Dollar. I’m sure he’s hurt, believing we were hooking up behind his back.

That makes me feel like shit. I love giving Frank a lot of crap, and yeah, he bugs me sometimes, but he’s a good dude. A good friend.

Now he probably thinks I’m a terrible friend. At the very least, a big ol’ liar. That sucks. I don’t want whatever’s happening between us to mess with the team dynamics. Right now, everything’s going goodfor all of us. I can’t risk an argument with Dollar throwing the team off-balance.

Sliding out of the chat with Coop, I send Dollar a quick text.

Me: We need to talk.

I wait for his response, which comes sooner than I thought.

Dollar$: There’s nothing to talk about. You two make a great couple. Hope you’re happy with her.

He says nothing else.

“Shit,” I mutter, shoving my phone into my jeans pocket.

“What’s wrong?”

I turn to face Everleigh. She looks stressed the fuck out, and I feel terrible for dragging her into this. Even if she was a willing participant with that kiss.

My mind drifts to that too-quick moment. How soft her lips were. How sweet she tasted. Just like I remembered. I would’ve kept it going on longer, but she ended it first.

It’s still my fault that we’re locked away in my bedroom.

“Dollar is mad at me,” I tell her, deciding to be honest.

“He’s probably mad at me too,” she says with a sigh, collapsing on the edge of my bed. “He looked so hurt when he thought we were together.”

“Now everyone probably thinks we’re together,” I say, curious to see her reaction.

“I’m sure they find that hard to believe,” she retorts, wrapping her arms around her middle like she’s cold.

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