Page 183 of Saving the Halfback

“Hey! My stick bears are—” I squinted my eyes, looking at the pattern in the stars. “Okay, they are a bit like that.”

They all laughed with me.

I listened to Nolan and Chase argue over the constellations, what Chase thought they looked like versus what Nolan knew what they were. Ethan had made Lachlan a s’more and the marshmallow was leaking out all over his fingers, dripping onto his shirt. Lachlan tried to quickly lick it up, but it was still hot. Ethan laughed at him.

Pops jumped up off my leg and lay down next to Ethan on the tailgate. Ethan gave him a graham cracker.

“What will we do about Hadley?” I wondered aloud.

“What do you mean?” Nolan asked.

“Her eyes promised pain when she glared at me nearly the whole game tonight. I don’t think she’s going to leave me alone. Ignoring her won’t exactly help, either.”

“I know what we can do,” Lachlan said, leaning back and grinning as the drugs hit his system.

“No more murder!” Nolan chastised.

“Just a little one.” He shrugged. “No one will know.”

“Ethan, tell him he can’t keep killing our problems,” Nolan demanded.

I sighed. I was going to have to delete some camera footage from tonight. Lachlan had shown me how to delete it completely, so it was wiped off the hard drive.

Ethan shrugged.

“Yeah, Eth isn’t going to help you there.” Chase rolled onto his side. “But I do have some dirt on her dad. He’s in a fairly powerful political position. Bribery, blackmail, and threats may help.”

“How much dirty laundry?” Lachlan asked.

Chase grinned, his eyes twinkling with that mischievous charm that always had me excited to see what he was about to do. “Oh, some pretty good stuff. Likely enough for a couple felony charges as well. He was really set on Hadley marrying me, so he talked,a lot.”

“And you? Was that what you wanted?” I asked.

Chase didn’t hesitate before bending down and capturing my lips with his. “Never,” he said when he pulled back. “I loved you even then. She was just a distraction.” My hand slipped up to the back of his neck, pulling him back down to me. With another grin, he dropped his hand to my hip, and he took my lips again.

“You’ll have to show me what you have. Lachlan and I can put something together and figure out how we go about it,” Nolan said, not in the least bit fazed by what was happening right beside him.

Chase pulled away from me. “Sleep next to me tonight.”

“No way,” Nolan said, “unless you want to cuddle with me too. You get her every day of the week. Weekends are mine and Lachlan’s.”

I laughed, but it was cut off when Lachlan shifted, slowly crawling over me before pausing, his hands on either side of my hips. “What does Bailey want?”

I grinned. “Higher.”

Both Nolan and Lachlan chuckled, but Lachlan shook his head. “Sorry, babe, you’re going to have to tell me.”

I groaned. “I don’t want to choose. Don’t make me choose.” I gave him my best puppy dog eyes.

“Shit.” Lachlan sat back on his haunches, my legs still between his. “Don’t do that to me.”

I intensified the look.

“He’s done for,” Ethan murmured.

“Baby, you can have anyone you want in your bed.” Lachlan took my hand in his. “Just say a name.”

I smiled. “All of you.”

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