Page 39 of Power Play
Me: Why are you apologizing for your sister's shitty behavior?
Lacey: Because I should have warned you.
Me: It's happened before?
I watch the three blue dots appear and disappear.
Me: Come to my room.
The three blue dots appear and disappear again, before a moment later there's a soft knock on my door.
Lacey stands there, in light blue pajamas, looking sheepish. Her shoulders are curled inward, and her hands are clasped, her head down even as she looks up at me.
This is withdrawn, Lacey, and I fucking hate it. My Lacey is happy and fun and is comfortable and confident. The Lacey from our one night together shines so brightly it's almost hard to look at her. But you can't help but warm yourself in her sunshine.
"Hey, beautiful."
I want to ravage her. I want to pin her against the wall and fuck her brutally. I had thought that first night might have been too rough for her, but she took it all and thanked me for it after.
"Sit on the couch, real quick, darling. I'm going to go get Ben and Jonesy. I have a feeling they need to hear about this, too."
She gives a sad nod before I stomp out into the hallway and bang on their door. Thank fuck they'd started sharing a hotel room.
Ben opens the door, topless, wearing only grey sweatpants - a woman's kryptonite - hair disheveled, wiping sleep from his eyes. Ismile, eager to see Lacey's face when I present her with her two other boyfriends, shirtless in sweats.
"'Sup, boss?" he says groggily.
"Get Jones and come to my room."
He nods before closing the door. I rejoin Lacey in my room and sit next to her on the couch, pulling her onto my lap.
I stroke my hand up and down her thigh. I don't have the words right now to comfort her, to bring back My Lacey.
The boys shuffle in, still clearly very much asleep.
"Sit down, boys. Earlier tonight, Tracey snuck into my room and crawled into my bed naked." I can feel Lacey wince with her entire body, her shoulders curling in even more, as if she could make herself smaller.
"Fuck, Lace, are you okay?" Ben says, kneeling next to her and taking her face in his hands.
She nods, but it's small.
"She didn't get far before I kicked her out, but she threatened to do the same to both of you. I just want you two to be aware." I pin Jonesy with a glare, letting him know I think he's the fuck up.
Ben runs a hand through his hair. "Lace, you've got to put a stop to this. Report her to the owner so, he fires her."
She shakes her head. "Look, I know she's an issue, but she's my sister. I don't want to get her fired, I just..." she trails off.
"She's done this before?" I ask Ben.
He nods. "Every time Lacey had a boyfriend before me, and after me, if I had to guess, Tracey would seduce him. Everything Lacey has, Tracey tries to take."
"Fuck, maybe I should file a sexual harassment complaint."
Lacey turns to me and places a hand against my chest.
"You can't, please. I know she's got some sort of mental health issue going on, but she's my sister. I really just want to see her happy. And I think she genuinely likes doing the social media for the team. We just..."
She hangs her head, resigned.
