Page 48 of Play the Game

It’s only been a couple of days since she’s been my wife and living in my house, yet I already feel her taking up space that isn’t necessarily reserved for her.

Not just in my home but my head too.

“Can I please have my phone?” Scottie’s arms cross over her worn Blue Devils shirt that’s two sizes too big. I drop my gaze to her bare legs, and she’s lucky that I get a glimpse of the tight black shorts she’s wearing underneath. Otherwise, I’d turn her right around and send her upstairs to demand she put some pants on.

The last thing I need is my fake wife walking around the house without pants.

I spin Scottie’s half-broken phone on top of the counter and smirk. “Maybe if you ask me nicely.”

Her eye roll excites me.

My new daily goal is to irritate her and watch her blue eyes fill with annoyance.

“Olson, give me my phone.” Scottie stomps her bare foot against the tiled floors, and I snicker.

I kind of like it when she calls me by my last name.

“Okay.” I sigh.

Scottie’s eyebrows furrow with my non-combative response. Her attention falls to the phone I’ve placed in the center of the island. “That isnotmy phone.”

“It is now.” Her old phone is in my hand, and if I wanted to push her to the brink of violence, I’d snap it in half. I limit myself, though. I do need her help, after all.

“What do you mean?” She reaches toward the device.

I notice that the wedding ring is no longer on her finger, but I don’t say anything. If she only wants to wear the three-karat ring that I let Rhodes’s daughter choose when we’re putting on a show, then so be it.

“My wife can’t have a phone with a cracked screen like that. So I got you a new one.”

Scottie’s faint gasp fills the space between us, but I don’t acknowledge it.

I rap my knuckle against the counter. “I also switched you to my plan, but you have the same number. I just transferred everything over after forging your name on the release form and explaining that you were my wife. All your photos and contacts are on there too.”

Her little jaw slacks in disbelief, but a moment later, she snaps it shut and sends me a glare.

A week ago, it would have pissed me off.

But now, it just amuses me.

“I do not need a new phone!” The device slides against the smooth counter, and I catch it with a quick reflex.Note to self: get her a LifeProof case.

My mouth twitches, and I send it flying back to her. It’s like we’re playing shuffleboard, and she has to know that I never lose at anything. “Yes, you do.”

Angry lines burrow into Scottie’s forehead, and her cute mouth puckers with anger. “I can’t afford a new phone, Emory.” Her cheeks flush.

I blink through the confusion. “Wait, what?”

“If you’re taking this out of my pay, I don’t want it. I can’t afford a new phone. I have other things I need to pay off.”

So she needs money because she’s in a lot of debt?

Scottie shoves the phone back over to me. I trap it beneath my fingers. The counter that separates us is acting like more of a barrier. Anger and embarrassment flow from her body, and I’m in a spiral of fuckery and curiosity.

Grabbing the phone in a tight grip, I round the corner and invade her space. She doesn’t move an inch. The only thing she does is peek at me from the corner of her eye.

“I’m not taking this out of your pay,” I say, voice low.

Her shoulders fall, and her head goes next. If I had to guess, she’s trying to hide her shame from me.

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