Page 40 of Into the Fire

Iyawned and looked down at my watch. It was well after eleven. Enzo had taken Rosalie out on their date. Us guys had been left home to play video games. I’d smoked Cole’s ass in a football game three times already, and he was currently nursing his loss in a corner with a piece of cake while E lounged on the couch with a book in his hands.

“Hey, E?” I called out. “Want to get beaten?”

He snorted and looked at me from over his book. “That depends. Do I get cake too when I lose? Cole wouldn’t let me have any when I asked.”

I glanced to Cole who was mauling his piece, a sour look on his face.

“I don’t know. Looks like he’s gone feral.”

“Then let’s order a pizza,” E said, closing his book.

“I could go for pizza,” Cole called out, finishing his piece of chocolate cake.

I laughed. “You just had three pieces of cake. You sure you have room for pizza?”

“Plenty. E, you can have some cake if you want it. I was just nursing my wounds.”

E rolled his eyes but got up and went into the kitchen, presumably to get cake.

I pulled my phone out and opened the tracking app we used to see Enzo and Rosalie were still at the restaurant he was taking her to. She’d been so excited to go out with him tonight. It had made me genuinely smile as she’d come downstairs wearing a pretty red dress, her hair in a tight updo, and the diamond earrings Enzo had given her in her ears.

At the same time, a pang had shot through my heart as he’d taken her hand, all decked out in a suit and tie. It was like watching the future happen. She’d be his wife, and he’d be carting her off to all sorts of big, rich people events while I hung out in a hotel room from wherever the fuck I was in the country after playing some ball.

I’d been over these thoughts a million and ten times in my head the last few weeks. I was well aware that I’d given my blessing on the entire thing, but a guy could fucking hurt if he needed to. People didn’t understand that I wasn’t some emotionless machine who was capable of letting the pain of the entire situation roll off me. Rosie was my best friend. She was where my future was headed. We may have gone off-track at some point, but she was, and would always be, endgame for me.

So to know those plans of her having my last name were derailed, fucking hurt. Sure, we’d agreed she wouldn’t marry any of us and that had afforded me comfort, but now she’d change her name and legally be someone else’s. Sue me for fucking hurting over it.

“They’re still at the restaurant,” I said. Enzo had his guys watching, so I felt comfortable that they were safe. Plus, Enzo was a fucking beast, so I knew he’d take care of her if shit went down.

“Good. They’ve been getting along a lot better lately,” Cole said. “I’m fucking glad. Had me worried there for a minute.”

“Me too,” I muttered.

I rubbed my eyes as Cole proceeded to order the pizza. I still needed to speak to Enzo about this entire De Santis ordeal I was going through. I just didn’t know how to approach the subject. I doubt he’d be pissed, so that wasn’t it. Maybe I was still dealing with it myself and once I had, I’d be able to speak more about it. Having Rosalie know at least put me at ease a little.

“OK, I ordered in a couple of large pies,” Cole said. “I got some of that bomb-ass cheese bread too.”

I tossed him the controller as E came back into the room with a slice of chocolate cake and sat beside me.

“Again?” I asked, hoping to keep my mind off shit I couldn’t control.

“Eh, you’re lucky I like getting spanked, Evans,” Cole said, picking up the controller and selecting his team.

I grinned at him, my worries already disappearing to the back of my mind. “You’re lucky I like to spank.”

He snorted and grinned at me. “Then let the foreplay begin.”

It was wellafter midnight when Enzo and Rosalie came tumbling back into the house, laughing, with their arms around one another.

“Welcome home,” Cole called out from his perch atop the kitchen island as he munched on a slice of cold pizza. “We missed you.”

Rosalie untangled herself from Enzo, who smiled as she rushed to Cole and planted a kiss on his lips.

“You have a good time, Rosebud?” Cole asked, putting his pizza down.

“The best,” she said, a contented look on her pretty face. “Enzo took me dancing after dinner.”

I raised my brows at Enzo, wondering what possessed him to take her to a club instead of spending that alone time, well, alone.

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