Page 1 of Bleeding Hearts
PROLOGUE
Iknow who is calling before I even pick up the phone. I can feel Bones’s gaze on me, but I keep my eyes on the table as I answer. We meet every Sunday to catch up and spend time together, but even with the sun shining, today seems darker, or maybe that’s just me.
“Tonight. Don’t tell them I let you know. The abandoned beach on the south side at nine.”
“Tonight?” I meet Bones’s confused gaze once more. My brother and our friends next to us are oblivious. “I’ll be there.”
The line goes dead, and Bones reads my expression with a wary look of his own.
“It’s starting?” he asks quietly, sparing the others a look. I know why—it’s Silent Rose business. Evan knows some of it, but not all, since he’s busy with work. Besides, I volunteered for this. I can do this, and Bones’s trust in me makes me feel stronger than ever.
“Yes, tonight. Don’t worry, I’ve got this, Bones,” I promise. It’s not just for Silent Rose, but for Lally too. She is in too deep. She’s been pulling away ever since . . . well, that night, but recently, it’s like she’s gone off the deep end, and I’m worriedshe’s going to end up dead, just like Tommy, especially after we learned what she signed up for.
“Be safe, okay? I know we asked you as a part of Silent Rose, but don’t put yourself in danger,” he begs. Bones used to terrify me, but he’s such a kind person, always caring for others. Skylar did that to him, showing him it’s okay to feel and love.
“What are you talking about?” Evan asks curiously, and I almost jump out of my seat. I’m not good at lying, but this is something I need to do alone. I know they’d help if I asked, but they have already done so much. Their lives are just getting back to normal.
“Oh, nothing,” I blurt, and then I grab the phone and ask Evan about his internship to distract him. I feel Alek watching me, but I avoid his gaze, knowing he will see right through me. It’s one of the reasons I haven’t been home much recently.
“How’s Lally?” Alek asks.
I freeze, glancing at him then Evan. “Um, she’s okay,” I murmur. I can’t tell them. I know they are concerned, and Lally and Evan are best friends, but he doesn’t seem to notice she’s struggling.
Nobody does but me.
I won’t lose her. I refuse.
She has tried to push me away and make me hate her, but it won’t work. I’m not the same little girl I was when we met, and I know what I want—her—which means I have to lie to everyone else.
I have to enter the games.
I have to become a competitor in Risk.
CHAPTER ONE
Six months ago . . .
“Oh god.” Her moan fills my room, her pink nails digging into my floral bedspread as her back arches, pushing her chest closer to me. Her magnetic eyes open and clash with mine, her pretty lips bruised and parted from my kiss.
She’s so fucking beautiful.
Her skin tastes like the sweetest berries mixed with flowers, and it drives me insane. She looks fucking good in my sheets, her hair tousled from my hands.
I slide lower, dragging my tongue over her quivering belly to the waistband of her panties before licking along the edge. I keep my eyes on her as she pants below me, her grip tightening on my poor bedspread as she watches me.
“Lally, please,” she whispers hoarsely.
“I’ve got you, baby girl,” I murmur as I tug her panties down with my teeth to mid-thigh, where her skirt is puddled as well since neither of us could wait. We were watching a movie, and then we were on each other. All the sexual tension and weeks offlirting had finally came to a head, and before I knew it, my lips were on hers and my hands were shoved up her skirt.
I can’t help but stop for a moment as I get my first look at her pretty pussy. Her shapely thighs are splayed for me, exposing her slick cunt, pretty and pink, begging for my tongue. “Lally.” I can hear the embarrassment in her tone as she tries to shut her thighs, so I press my hands against both to prevent her from doing so.
“Don’t stop me from looking at what’s mine,” I tell her, and her eyes widen before she gives me a jerky nod. I lean down and blow a breath across her glistening flesh, watching her shiver below me before I sweep my tongue from her swollen clit down to her pretty ass.
Her hips arch off the bed, her gasp filling the air as I lick my way up and circle her swollen clit. I plan to take my time and focus on nothing but her.
I want Alice. I have since the moment I met her, and if this happened with us before . . . well, it would be different.
I would be different.
