Page 6 of Wicked Games We Play

The line stayed silent for several seconds and if I hadn’t been looking down at the phone’s screen, I would have thought she hung up. Finally, she blew out another loud breath, sending a wave of static-like sound through the speaker.

“Take him in Officer, I’m not coming to get him. Blaze, if you can hear me, we’ll be having a nice long chat when they let you out of holding.” Blaze’s eyes turned into saucers at the same moment the line went dead.

Laughter erupted from Aaron. That certainly wasn’t what either of us was expecting. I guess it was show time then. Hopefully, this would scare the kid straight.

“You have the right to remain silent…” I began, sharing a look with Aaron as I pulled the handcuffs from my back pocket. We both tried not to laugh as I continued reciting his Miranda rights and placed the handcuffs on his wrists. He was shaking like a leaf and looked near tears as I grasped his shoulders, guiding him toward the back of the squad car.

“It’ll be okay, kid, you’ll be fine. We won’t stick you in the same cell as Big Richard,” Aaron told him, a hit of sarcasm that only I would pick up on in his tone. I roared with laughter and closed the door, locking Blaze in the back.

Only when the door was closed and I turned my back did I flash Aaron a genuine smile. “Big Dick? Clever.” He smirked and caught the keys that I tossed him. “You drive. I need to check my messages while we’re on the road.”

Once in the squad car, I pulled my phone out of my pocket, swiping to open my messages. My favorite pair of tits illuminated the screen, held delicately in a bra so sexy I could feel my dick twitch with appreciation.

I had been in love with Lily since I was seventeen years old. Okay, maybe not love, but I had certainly been on the cusp of young love back in the day, and it had settled on infatuation and lust over the years.

Lily had been the one that got away. We met at a party that she had been at with her friends, both of us standing on the sidelines watching rather than partaking in the idiocy that ensued around us. As the party raged on through the night, we got lost in each other and talked about everything we could think of.

I remember that night like it was yesterday, because it was the first time in my entire life that a sense of peace washed over me. It had felt like everything clicked together—as cliché as that sounds—everything just felt right. We spent months texting and talking on the phone, stealing moments at parties, and sneaking out at night to spend hours in each other’s company, cloaked by darkness at the park. Neither of us ever crossed over the friendship line physically, but our text messages weren’t as PG. We had just started venturing into sexting territory when I begged her to give me a chance.

I had finally found my balls and asked her to break up with her boyfriend to be with me instead, and she had actually fucking agreed to it. And then, life became an absolute dumpster fire.

Lily’s boyfriend knocked her up. Suddenly, and unsurprisingly, she stayed with him. I held out the hope that she would come to her senses and realize that he wasn’t the one for her, but then he went and fucked my life up royally by asking her to marry him. They got married a few months after graduation.

She never gave me the chance to show her it didn’t matter to me if she had a kid, I would have been there for them both. Instead of moving on like any other man would have done, I have lived my life in the shadows, waiting and biding my time until they divorced.

Because Iknewthey would divorce. Not that I wanted her to be another statistic, but because I could see even back then that they were all wrong for each other.

Over the years, I’ve had my fair share of one-night stands and even a few fleeting relationships, but I never fully let go of the idea of one day having Lily for myself. I didn’t play fair, and instead of letting her be happy without me I would send her messages from time to time, reminding her of what she was missing. It was safe to assume she never told her ex, though, because he never came looking for me.

When I reconnected with my former best friend, Elle, I thought maybe I could finally throw in the towel and build my life with her—chalk up my infatuation with Lily as a very long bout of temporary insanity. We dated for a while and during that time I had done a good job of letting my fingers rest, resisting the temptation to text Lily for months. But when she didn’t show up at our ten-year high school reunion, all will-power went out the window.

Rage and possessiveness ricocheted through my core when Ryder showed up and started making eyes at my girlfriend, Elle. It only took me a few hours to realize I misplaced that anger at how I actually felt about him being with Lily, and nothing to do with Elle.

Then, I felt nothing but guilt.

Elle’s heart broke the same day mine did all those years ago, and for her, Ryder was the one that got away. So while I was projecting my alpha male bullshit onto my relationship with Elle, the truth was, I knew she was never mine to begin with.

Much like Lily was neverhis.

What a fickle bitch life could be.

* * *

The day draggedon at work and by the time I finally made it through my front door and propped my feet up on the couch with a beer in my hand, I was beat. Every bone in my body begged me to lie down and shut my eyes, but I knew if I didn’t force myself to eat something and shower, I’d regret it come morning. There was no such thing as a power nap in my world, although I wish I was one of the lucky ones who actually could nap without feeling like a Mack truck had hit them after.

After the TV powered to life, I flipped through the home screen and found the movie I had been watching a few days before, clicking play before tossing the remote aside. I lifted my hips to pull my phone from my back pocket and immediately went to the text messages with Lily. I still hadn’t responded to her last message, the picture of her delectable breasts in a barely there bra that I longed to remove. The sight had me practically salivating.

It had been hours since she sent it and I knew I should have responded, yet I didn’t. Half the fun was making her wonder if I had received it, what I had thought about it, and how I would respond. A smirk crept across my face as I slid my thumb in downward motions to scroll through the plethora of messages we had sent. Several months’ worth illuminated the screen in a blur until I stopped scrolling, letting the messages stop where they wanted to, like a makeshift game of Russian Roulette.

DECEMBER 15

Me: What’s on your Christmas list this year?

Lily: Honestly? Nothing. I just hope I can make it through the holiday without having a complete breakdown.

Me: Jordan with his dad on Christmas?

Lily: We’re going to spend the holiday all together.

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