Page 10 of Vivian

Ace pulled out a deck of cards from his back pocket.

“How about Three’s?” I suggested.

“Never heard of it,” Brendon grumbled. “War, or maybe, poker?”

“Strip poker?” Ace waggled his eyebrows.

I laughed, “Why not? Brendon is into ménage.”

Brendon’s cheeks pinked, “I am leaving.”

“No!” I reached out to grab his hand. The only problem was my speed was a lot faster than I was used to, and I ended up grabbing his shirt instead and ripping it.

Brendon looked down at the hole where his delicious abs were peeking out at me.

“What do you have against my clothes?”

Ace snorted, “You dress like a pretentious fuck.”

It was true, Brendon might have longer shaggier hair. But his clothes were total prep. I wouldn’t doubt if his t-shirts and boxers were ironed before he put them on. Seeing as how I was in his clothing still, I was thankful that he took such good care of this things.

But then, he probably didn’t do any of it. His mother was the Queen of Doom! Okay, so she was the Queen of the hive. Likely he had never done a chore in his life.

Ace, on the other hand, wore faded jeans that hugged his ass perfectly and a t-shirt that showed just how fit his arms and abs were. The two of them together were any girl’s wet-dream. Usually, I would be stumbling over my words trying to make heads or tails of my conversation. Maybe it was the crazy way we met or the fact that I had already humped Brendon.

I wasn’t as nervous with them as I was with other guys.

We started a game of Three’s, and the guys complained the entire time that I was making the rules up.

“Seriously?” Brendon wrinkled his handsome brow, “An eight skips the person next to you, but a nine makes it so they have to lay one down lower. A ten clears the deck, and a three is a mirror card. I think you are making this up; this can’t be a real game.”

I grinned at him, “Nope, it’s real. My best friend Joanie’s cousins came from England, and they taught it to us. Of course, they didn’t call it Three’s. They said the real name they couldn’t say in front of their aunt. Who knows what it is really called?”

We spent the next twenty minutes coming up with obscene names that could take the place of Three’s. It wasn’t precisely where I wanted to be, but I have to say that I was having fun. Ace poked fun at Brendon, and he gave it back to Ace just as hard.

I liked the friendship between them. It was so easy and reminded me of Joanie.

“What’s wrong?”

Brendon’s quiet question broke my thoughts.

I shook my head, “Just thinking about my best friend, Joanie. When do you think I will be safe enough to go around her again?”

Ace looked at Brendon, and in his expression, I knew the answer.

Never.

Suddenly the game and the fun time we were having faded.

“Will I ever get to see my parents?” I asked in a small voice. “Can I explain to them where I am or what happened?”

Ace sighed, “I am sorry, Viv. It just isn’t possible.”

I nodded woodenly and moved back on the bed. Rolling on my side, I curled up in a ball; I wasn’t crying, I don’t think that I had tears yet. I was so overwhelmed with the finality of it all.

Ace left, and Brendon surprised me by sitting on the bed. He didn’t say anything, but I felt his hand on my back. That’s when the tears came.

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