Page 123 of The Wrong Play

Matty groaned and flopped back onto the couch. “For the hundredth time, Darla’s mouth did not touch my cock. And also, you better pray I never do fall in love. Because if I become like you—something that will never happen, mind you—we’ll be lost and probably all end up in prison.”

I ignored him, clicking through the checkout process. “Standard shipping or overnight?”

Matty covered his face with both hands. “Oh my God.”

“Overnight it is.”

I hitconfirm, then sat back, feeling deeply, profoundly satisfied.

Matty peeked at me from between his fingers. “You do realize that when Riley finds out, she’s going to actually murder you, right?”

Parker leaned on the table next to me, grinning as he looked at the screen. “You meanifshe finds out.”

I also grinned. “Ifis my new favorite word.”

Matty let out a long sigh, staring at the ceiling. “I’m totally going to have to use the tracker again.”

RILEY

I dragged myself into the room, every muscle in my body aching. I was still recovering from my episode, and even though I was a lot better—thanks to Jace—I wasn’t back to normal. Or at leastmynormal…which was still much more exhausted than most people.

Now that I’d opened up to Jace…now that I told him that Ilovedhim…a strange terror had taken over my insides. Like any moment he might find out about Callum and change his mind.I’d been tempted to tell him about it while we lay on his bed yesterday, tempted to test how far that “always” extended…but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

Jace…was becoming a necessity, a tether to what felt like my own personal miracle when the rest of my world felt like it was slipping through my fingers. He was the sun cutting through my storm clouds, a god I wanted to worship even as I feared what it meant to need him.

I just needed sleep, I decided. I needed to let the darkness pull me under for a few hours, and when I woke up…my head would be on straight, and I wouldn’t be so weirdly terrified.

Emma was staring at a textbook and not me at the moment, so I might as well take advantage of it.

I yanked my covers down, desperate to disappear beneath them—until I saw it.

Something small and dark. Andscuttling.

I shrieked, scrambling backward so fast I nearly fell off the bed. My pulse was pounding in my ears as I watched the tiny shape disappearing into the folds of my sheets.

“No, no, no,” I muttered, pressing a hand to my chest, forcing myself to breathe. “Woman up, Riley. It’s probably just lint. Lint with legs. Lint that moves.”

I glanced over to see Emma…watching me.

Because, of course, she was. Now I’d gotten her freaking attention.

“I thought I saw something in my bed,” I offered lamely, even though I didn’t owe her an explanation. Not since she’d solidified herself as the world’s worst roommate a hundred times over after that party.

When she didn’t say anything, I turned back to the bed, tempted to just sleep on the floor rather than deal with this.

I leaned forward and peeled the covers back again. My stomach twisted.

Definitely not lint. It was small, oval-shaped, and a sickening reddish-brown. Okay, but it wasn’t moving.

Any relief went away when I pulled the cover back and saw a whole bunch of the same spindly-legged creatures.

I was going to be sick.

“Ahh,” I screamed. Across the room, Emma was moving off her bed. “What—” she murmured, before stiffening. Her eyes flew open. “What is that?!” she shrieked, flinging herself upright, her hands slapping wildly at her arms and legs like she was being electrocuted.

“Oh my gosh. They’re on your bed too?” I gasped, standing on my tiptoes like that would protect me from the infestation currently happening.

“THEY’RE ON ME! THEY’RE ON ME!” she wailed, still swatting at herself.

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