Page 50 of The Off-Limits Play

I think kitchen duties and flying bread rolls would be the least of my worries if he found out I was making out with Carson McAvoy on his motorcycle just a couple nights ago.

My lips fight a grin, which I quickly hide by stuffing another forkful of carrots into my mouth.

CHAPTER18

CARSON

The thing about sharing a house with four other guys is that you don’t always get a say in what happens. It’s been a tense week as Sienna and Zander get over what happened with Zoey. The kid doesn’t seem too traumatized. I guess she trusted her Uncle Russell and didn’t realize he was being a deranged fruitcake until he wouldn’t let her run to Mommy.

Yeah, I’ve heard all the details. Zander’s version was slightly different from Grady’s, and Wily’s was a little different from theirs. It all depended on the amount of emotion involved. So I’m taking Grady’s as the most accurate account, because he’s the most levelheaded guy in the house, usually.

Wily also showed me the video, which I didn’t actually want to see, but he made me sit through it anyway. Anger coursed through me, and I wished I could have been there. I would have smashed Russell’s face in. That fucker, trying to take little Zoey away. I was pissed. Maybe it’s a good thing I wasn’t there. Zander was way too nice to the guy.

If Zoey was my daughter, I would have cracked his skull.

Like your dad did?

I flinch, sitting up a little straighter and not wanting to think about my old man right now. It was self-defense. Fucking self-defense, and they treated him like a hardened criminal.

Snatching the remote off the coffee table, I switch the TV on. I want to watch the next episode ofReacher, but I can’t do that down here when Zoey’s awake. I can hear her singing in the kitchen while her mom prepares food for today’s lunch. Yeah, the entire Hockey House crew is coming over. Sienna wanted to thank them for helping get Zoey back, and rather than just meeting at Offside and buying them a beer, her genius idea was to invite the whole fucking crew to our place, girlfriends and everything.

It’s a pain in the ass.

Soon enough, this house is going to be crawling with people I barely know, and it’s not like a party where I can invite a girl up to my room and have some fun or hide in the kitchen or a corner of the living room, downing beers and watching the chaos unfold. This is like some wholesome family picnic, and it’s making my stomach churn already.

Can’t believe Sienna and Zoey are moving in for good.

It’s not right.

This is a college house filled with college guys. It’s not a fucking daycare center. I can’t even fucking watchReacheron the main TV. If I want to do anything, I have to do it up in my room with the door closed, and it’s fucking annoying.

My mood is turning darker and saltier by the second, but I know that’s not the only thing bothering me.

It’s Sunday.

I’mnotsupposed to go to the Lido this afternoon for another sci-fi movie, but of course I looked up the showtime. I know Nylah will be waiting for me, and I really shouldn’t go. But it’s all I can fucking think about.

Well, that and her luscious mouth and body.

That kiss. Those kisses.

They were fucking fire, and I want more.

But—

“Baybeeee shawk, do, do, do, do.” Zoey wanders into the room singing.

Great, now I’m gonna have the most painful song in the universe stuck in my head.

“Baybeee shawk.” She giggles and skips toward me. She’s holding a phone, which I assume is Sienna’s, and walking straight for me.

I glance at Grady, who’s sitting in the beanbag, texting. He’s fighting a grin as I squirm in my seat the closer Zoey gets. She keeps coming for me and, without missing a beat, climbs right up onto my lap.

“Seriously?” I glare at Grady when he starts to laugh. “It’s like cats who know you’re not a cat person.”

My supposed friend snorts and laughs again when Zoey rests her head back against my chest and holds up the phone. “Selfee!”

I force a closed-mouth smile, then flip the bird above her head just before she clicks.

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