Page 243 of By His Play

Brax shrugs. “You know as well as I do that sometimes, you’ve just got to play dirty.”

“I’ve been ignoring you for a reason,” I mutter, before reaching out and snatching my food from his hand.

I march to the kitchen and pull the containers out while he watches me.

“You can leave now you’ve made your delivery.”

“Not a fucking chance. We need to talk.” He frowns. “You’re bleeding.”

“How is my best friend? I assume you’ve spent all weekend fucking her.” The words are bitter as they leave my lips, but I can’t hold them back.

“You’re a fucking asshole,” he states before pulling out one of my kitchen stools. And as if that isn’t bad enough, he then reaches out and steals one of my spring rolls.

“Haven’t you taken enough?” I bark.

“I haven’t taken fuck all, and you know it. And yeah, as it happens, I have seen Effie this weekend. She’s a fucking mess, in case you were wondering.”

I shake my head.

“Oh, can I?—”

“Fuck off,” I bark, slapping his hand away when he reaches for more of my food.

“Touchy,” he mutters.

“I really fucking hope your eye hurts.”

“Even if it did, I wouldn’t give you the satisfaction of telling the truth.”

“I’m not in the mood for this.”

“Well, that sucks for you, because this is happening.”

“Wonderful,” I breathe before pushing a forkful of egg-fried rice into my mouth.

“Kieran, you’re a fucking idiot. Do you really think me and Effie have been fucking around behind your back?”

I keep eating, refusing to give him an answer.

“She fucking loves you, man. You,” he repeats, just to make sure I heard him. “Even if she was out dating someone, they’d never measure up to you.”

I shake my head, refusing to hear it.

“You two are as bad as each other. Both of you need to put your stubbornness and fears aside and just fucking go for it.”

We fall silent and he watches me eat, thankfully not attempting to steal anything else.

Finally, I lower my fork and stare him dead in the eyes.

“You’re really not fucking her?”

The motherfucker laughs. Right in my fucking face.

“No, Kieran. I’m not fucking Effie. I’ve never fucked Effie, nor will I ever.She’s your girl.”

“She looked like yours the other night.”

“It’s just the fucking media. We went out for dinner after…after work, and she had a couple of cocktails. We were just joking around.

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