Page 78 of By His Play

I knew what she wanted. It was written over every inch of her.

But I couldn’t.

Not there.

If we…

Fuck.

I drag my hand down my face, unable to believe that I’m contemplating this.

I’ve never thought about doing anything with Effie before. Sure, she’s beautiful and sexy and a whole host of other attractive things. But she’s Effie. She’s been my best friend forever.

Does she even really want me? Or am I just an easy distraction for her?

If I were to throw caution to the wind, would she regret it in the morning?

Would it change everything we know about life? And not for the better...

She sure didn’t react very well to what happened this morning.

Not that she’s in any kind of mental state to deal with this huge change.

Hell, I’m not exactly in the right frame of mind either.

I curl my fists, remembering how close I came to knocking her father out earlier.

The way he spoke to her...

My teeth grind.

No one gets to speak to my girl like that.

With a renewed fire burning through my veins, I throw my door open and climb out.

“Effie?” I call once I’ve locked us inside Grams’ home.

I expect her to have shut herself in her bedroom, but to my surprise, when she responds, her voice comes from the kitchen.

“Yeah.”

My brows pinch, but I don’t stop to question it. Instead, I stalk through to where she is.

“What are you doing?” I balk when I come to a stop in the doorway.

She’s already shed her dress and is standing in one of my T-shirts. It swamps her, but it looks sexy as hell. Of course, it helps that it has my name and number on it.

She’s not playing fair.

“I just need something,” she explains as she messily pours vodka into glasses.

They’re not shot glasses; they’re tumblers. I dread to think how much she’s just poured.

“Haven’t you already had enough?” I ask, thinking of the numerous glasses of prosecco I’ve seen her drink today.

“Just one,” she states before lifting the glass to her lips.

“Or five,” I point out, eyeing the glass.

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