Page 125 of The Wrong Play

Then he gagged. Loudly.

“Nope. Absolutely not,” he announced before marching straight toward me. Before I could protest, he scooped me up effortlessly and slung me over his shoulder like I weighed nothing.

“Jace! Put me down!” I yelped, pounding at his back.

He ignored me completely, adjusting his grip like I was a damn duffel bag. “Buckle up, buttercup. You’re staying with me.”

CHAPTER 22

RILEY

The second Jace carried me over the threshold like some old-fashioned groom, I knew I was in trouble.

Not the kind of trouble where you get caught sneaking back into your dorm after curfew. But the kind of trouble where the ground beneath you shifts, where you look around and realize you’ve walked straight into the lion’s den. And the lion? He was grinning like he’d already won.

Jace kicked the door shut behind him, his grip on me firm like he thought I’d try to bolt. To be fair, I probably should have. Instead, I was too busy processing the absolute absurdity of my life. I had bed bugs. My dorm was unlivable. My weird-ass roommate had screamed herself into a concussion. And now, I was being princess-carried into the home of the man who was way too happy for a college junior about to have a live-in girlfriend.

Matty was slumped on the couch, a bag of chips open on his lap. He took one look at me, one at Jace, and exhaled like he had seen this coming from a mile away.

“Dude.” Matty’s tone was pure resignation. “You actually did it. You kidnapped her.”

Jace smirked, finally setting me down, but not before his fingers flexed like he was reluctant to let go. “She came willingly.”

Matty gave me a look that said,Did you, though?

I ignored it because if I thought too hard about how fast all of this had happened, I might actually scream.

Jace didn’t give me time to process anything. He took my hand and pulled me toward the hallway. “Come on, Riley-girl. Let’s get you settled.”

“Do you have a guest room?” I asked, because as bad as it was to be moving into his house…it was definitely too much for me to be in his space every day sharing his room.

“Nope.” He led me into his room and did a littleta-damove.

Jace didn’t hesitate. The second we stepped inside, he strode over to the dresser and got to work. I hovered near the doorway, watching as he grabbed my bag, unzipped it, and started pulling out my clothes, neatly stacking them in one of the open drawers.

“Wow,” I muttered, crossing my arms. “No fear at all, huh?”

He barely glanced at me, his smirk pure arrogance. “Fear of what?”

I gestured vaguely. “I don’t know…the possibility that my stuff is now riddled with microscopic parasites?”

Jace scoffed, completely unconcerned. “Nah.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Nah?”

He shot me a look over his shoulder, like I’d just said the most ridiculous thing in the world. “Not worried about it.”

I frowned. “You’re not worried about bed bugs?”

“Not even a little.”

That was…odd. Most people would at least be mildly concerned. Hell, I was concerned. I’d spent the entire drive over mentally cataloging everything I owned, trying to determine what could be salvaged if the infestation had made it into mythings. But Jace? Zero hesitation. Like he knew something I didn’t.

A strange feeling slithered down my spine, but before I could dwell on it, he kept unpacking, pulling out my socks, my shirts, my sleep shorts—each one folded and placed away like he’d done this a million times.

That was when I saw it.

Not the drawer he was filling. The one he wasn’t.

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