Page 56 of This Is War: All's Fair Duet
Trip motions with both hands for the room to calm down. It takes a solid minute, but when we do, he wets his lips like he’s about to dig into his favorite meal. “The game won’t go on forever, only about a half hour, then you’ll be free to join the party upstairs, as always. We’ll play four rounds, two pairs chosen foreach. Every seven minutes, all players take a shot, whether or not they’re selected to participate in the next round. And”—his eyes twinkle with absolute mirth—“we have our own interesting twist on it. You’ll also get an envelope before you go in. Do what’s on the card, and you both get a hundred bucks each. Don’t, and you get an extra shot on your way out. That’s it. Pretty simple.”
A low rumble ripples through the crowd of trapped partygoers as they realize all the ramifications of what he’s saying.
Rya’s hand shoots up in the air. By the look on her face, she didn’t know she was going to do that, but she quickly recovers. “I have auditions coming up. Four shots is a lot for me. Is there any wiggle room there?”
Trip strokes his chin with one hand. “Yeah.” He nods. “After you’ve had at least two, from there on out, if you can convince someone else to take yours for you, you’re covered.” Lips twisting, he shoots her a sardonic smile. “Good enough, princess?”
Her jaw locks up, brows furrowing as she stares into Trip’s sly eyes. “Yeah. Thanks for being lenient.” Her words are grateful. Her tone, not so much. And I can already tell the Tri-Beta president doesn’t appreciate it.
“Careful,” Trip grinds out, “you don’t want to provoke me, sweetheart. You might not like the repercussions.”
A growl bursts from me as, unthinking, I bite out, “Back off, Trip.”
In my peripheral vision, I note that Rya’s pretty green eyes have flicked in my direction, but I’m too busy staring daggers at Trip. His chest dips, unfettered glee in his steady gaze. His eyes swiftly ping from me to Rya and then to Jaxon. “Interesting.”
Oh,fuck.The last thing we need is to have Trip up his interest in the odd triangular mess that exists among the three of us. From the stony expression on Jaxon’s face, he’s with me concerning Trip’s attitude toward Rya, but also mildly perturbed I spoke up… and he didn’t. My suspicions are further confirmed when he lets go of Rya’s hand only to throw a possessive arm around her shoulders.
And thank goodness, before Trip can comment further, some clueless girl interrupts with wild eyes. “There are twelve of us. Sounds like some of us might have to do this twice?”
Trip snickers, tapping his chin. This asshole is clearly making up the torture as he goes. I’d question why, but I’m fairly certain it’s simply for his amusement. He winks at the girl. “Could be. Because names will go back into the bowl every time. So… you could definitely get called up for all four rounds.”
Rya’s face turns white as a sheet. Something tells me, we’re in for it tonight.
Trip lifts his shot glass. “Okay, time to begin. Don’t worry, I’ll be drinking right along with you. Round one has begun.”
I grit my teeth, a sinking feeling in my stomach telling me there is plenty to fucking worry about.
31
JAXON
Trip seemshell-bent on being a colossal dick tonight. I watch one person after another lift their shot glass to their lips and down the alcohol provided. Rya swivels, facing me with her lip caught between her teeth.
“Cheers?” she says with a hint of question in her voice and a glance over my shoulder—and I’d be an idiot if I didn’t understand that her eyes have been drawn to Logan where he and Levi are seated. There’s also no denying she’s uncomfortable. It’s all due to her friend watching her with disapproving eyes. I’d actually been surprised when she hadn’t pulled her hand from mine the second she saw him, but she hadn’t. She’s clung to me like a lifeline.Because she’s mine. Not yours.A possessive growl rumbles inside my chest where only I can hear it.
Out of nowhere, the truth smacks me upside the head.I need this girl for more than revenge. Being with her this past week has filled some of the fractures inside me. Rya is quickly becoming someone I’d do almost anything for.
I’m betting that’s not going to go over well with Logan. From the looks of it, simply seeing the two of us together has him stewing. And I don’t know if it’s the loss of Rya that is his only issue. I scrape my teeth over my lip, chewing on it for a moment as the thought forms in my head. Logan can’t disguise—not from me, anyway—the way his eyes slowly roam over me. The hard swallow down his corded throat. The grinding of his jaw. When his cheeks pick up a reddish hue, I have my answer. He’s thinking of the groans and sweat and our bodies hot and hard against each other.
Recognizing I’ve been caught up in the dizzying memory, I bring my hand to Rya’s chin, tucking a few fingers under it so she’ll look at me. For a split second, I glance over at Logan and, in order to save myself from my own thoughts, I focus on how to make him hurt. Whispering softly, I seek to reassure her and irritate him all at once. I tilt her face and touch her lips with mine, knowing Logan is watching.How’s it feel to not have either of us?“You’re okay, Rya. We’ll do this. According to his fucking stupid rules, two shots. Then I’ll take the rest. And lots of water when we’re done.”
She releases a pent-up breath, her green eyes searching mine. “You’d do that for me?”
I nod. “There’s no way I’ll have to drink more than the night of our run-in with that fifth of rum.” A blush washes over her face, and it’s so fucking beautiful, I begin to hope I get locked into a closet with her for this stupid fucking game. “Besides, I will gladly take one for the team if it means I don’t have to clean you up after goingExorciston me again.”
Her lips tremble, but she smiles, swatting at my chest, then clinks her glass to mine, and we both toss the shots back. The vodka goes down easy.
“This is some good shit,” says Hazel, voicing my exact thoughts. “Not a problem, I could drink more.”
“Okay, here we go,” Trip calls out. “Our first pairing is Steven and Annabeth.” The entire group scans the room until two people step awkwardly forward. It’s clear they don’t know each other, but our host wastes no time handing over an envelope to them. The girl opens it, and it’s easy to see, even in the dim lighting of the room, she’s embarrassed. She hands it off to her newly appointed partner, and his eyes bug out.
“Yeah, okay,” he manages to stammer before Trip intervenes again.
“Our next two victims”—he rummages in the bowl, pulling out two additional slips of paper—“are Hazel…”
“Eek!” Hazel shrieks, slapping her hands over her mouth, and diving against Rya on the couch. “Oh my god,” she giggles and stands.
“And Rya!”
