Page 107 of Overexposed

I swiped at the tear that escaped and shifted my gaze to Gem. “But you hate the attention.” They’d all made that clear, evenif I couldn’t see it for myself. Gem liked occasionally playing Shadow Seven, but he hated being in the spotlight as Gemini.

“True. We’ll figure that part out. Maybe I’ll shave my head and get a tattoo. I can still double for Sev when he needs it. They have CGI; they can airbrush out what they don’t like.” He blew out a breath. “The only thing that makes this all work though is if you say yes.”

I wanted to say yes.

“But,” Seven interjected, “we know exactly how stubborn you are, so here’s the deal, Stray. You and me, one-on-one, pool. I win, you give us six months to prove this works.”

“And if I win?”

“You get whatever you want,” he said. “But I’m not planning to let you win.”

Letme win?

I pursed my lips. “WhateverI want?”

“Whatever you want.”

I could always stay anyway—afterI kicked his ass.

“Deal.”

chapter

thirty-nine

Stella

Three months, two weeks, and four days later…

“Rack them up, boys,” I said, polishing the tip of my brand-new cue stick. It was a gift from Gem for ouralmost five-month anniversary. I wasn’t entirely sure that was a thing, but I kind of liked it.

The look on Ollie’s and Seven’s faces would have been worth the gift even if I hadn’t already loved the deep blue marble pattern on the handle offset by the silver bands. It was perfectly balanced and felt just right in my hand.

The amused smile on Gem’s face when I pulled out the stick-polishing cloth had sent me into a fit of giggles. Laughter that only grew when Sevenglaredso hard at his brother he looked like he was going to have an aneurysm. Gem never missed an opportunity to remind them that it wasourpool game that brought me into their crazy lives in the first place. It was also thoughtful as hell.

Ollie had his phone in his hand, and I had a feeling from the intensity of his thumbs flying over the screen that he was looking for a way to one-up Gem. The competition between the three of them was something they tookveryseriously. Almosttoo serious, sometimes, but they had so much fun and were far too entertaining for me to truly mind.

“Ahem,” I said, bumping Seven with my hip. “Are you having a stroke, Demon Spawn?” That effectively yanked his attention off Gem and put a stop to the silent but amusing contortions they were using to argue with each other versus their words.

Their “twin shit” as Ollie liked to call it.

“No, Stray,” Seven practically growled, wrapping his hand around my nape to drag me to him as he dipped his head and gave me a long andverythorough kiss. Shivers raced over my skin and my nipples beaded to hard points. Seven had been gone for the past three weeks for reshoots on a film in the UK, and I’d missed him like crazy. He’d tried to take me along but lost a pool game to Ollie and then to Gem so two-to-one, I stayed here.

Against my lips, he said, “Don’t tempt me into tossing the rules out. I could just as easily tie you to my bed and deny you orgasms until you agree to join me when I head back to set.”

Holy fuck. That threat went straight to my cunt and I was clenching around emptiness even as I fisted his shirt.

“Don’t threaten me with a good time, Harrison,” I warned him, and he grinned. Then he bit my lip sharp enough to sting. “Don’t think you get to duck out of this game either.”

“Not going to happen. I plan to win today.” We were three-and-three. “It’s the tie-breaking game, after all.”

With that, he let me go and headed over to the table. The room suddenly felt chillier as he racked the balls. Gem threaded his arms around my middle and pulled me back against him.

“Are you going to put us out of our misery?” he asked against my ear.

“Hey, I wasn’t the one who said best two out of three, then best three out of five, then best four out of seven.” I’d won that first game fair and square. “And I wasn’t the one who then had to leave for a few weeks.” Which officially put our bet on hold.

Ollie glanced up from his phone and grinned. “We didn’t mind the last three weeks of sleepovers.”

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