Page 40 of Counter Bet

“She’s staying with me. My dad’s never home, and mom is too spaced out on her meds to care or notice. Dallas will be safe here.”

“What if her uncle reports her missing?”

I give Matt a pointed look. “He hits her. She’s not going back there. Dallas is nearly eighteen. Her uncle won’t care. Trust me.” I look at Josh and then Matt. “We’re going to pay Greg a little visit. Make sure he never lays another finger on our girl.”

Josh rubs his hands together in anticipation. “Hell yeah, that’s what I’m talking about!”

“We want in on that too,” Nina announces from the doorway, patting down her windswept black bob.

I look over in surprise. “Didn’t hear you come in.”

The door opens behind her, and April walks through, carrying a heavy-looking duffel bag. She drops it on the coffee table. “I’m going to overlook the fact that you fuckers didn’t send out an SOS in the group chat. We had to receive a message directly from Steph.”

Matt groans, but April cuts in before he has a chance to reply.

“No fucking excuses, Matt. The chat is there. Use it!”

“You women use the group chat as a fucking gossip central. We can’t get a word in otherwise. An SOS would get lost amongst all the talk of shoes and manicures,” Josh points out.

April glares at him, then unzips the duffel bag.

Nina scoffs as she walks up behind Josh and slaps him on the back of the head.

I chuckle. Nina has a lot of fire in her.

“When do we ever talk about shoes and manicures?”

“Anyway,” April says, dragging the word out, smiling mischievously. “You’re stealing my thunder with your whining. I brought toys to the party.”

I whoop and holler along with the boys when she pulls out baseball bats and hands us one each.

April grins as we inspect the clubs, clearly pleased with herself.

“I love how fucking vicious you are, baby. It makes me hard,” Matt says, pointing the bat at her.

She shoots him a look of distaste. “Not happening.” Their sexually charged banter is highly amusing. It’s a mystery why they skirt around each other.

Nina makes herself comfortable on Josh’s lap. She puts his bat down on the floor and says in a sugary tone, “While you boys were too busy sucking each other’s dicks, we did some digging. We know where Greg is tonight.”

“Isn’t he down at the local pub where he always is?” Josh asks before grimacing in pain when Nina pulls his ear.

“Did you say something?”

“No?”

Matt jumps up, interrupting their banter. He grabs April’s hand and drags her along behind him.

She tries and fails to dislodge her hand from his. “Matt, you shit, let go of me!”

“Nope,” he says, popping the ‘P’ as they walk out. Their voices carry up the driveway. “No time to waste. I’m about to risk my life, baby, and you’re going to reward me on your knees afterward for my bravery. But not before I make you scream my name. Ladies come first.”

“How chivalrous!” April hisses, sounding like an angry alley cat.

“At least he’s generous,” Nina jests, making us chuckle.

“I bet you twenty that she fucks him tonight,” Josh says, slapping Nina’s ass as she rises to her feet.

Nina picks up the bat off the floor, glancing over her shoulder. “I highly doubt that. They’ve done this dance for-fucking-ever. I can’t see tonight being the straw that breaks the camel’s back.”

“You never know,” I cut in as I make my way over to the door. “Blood and adrenaline are the best kinds of aphrodisiacs.”

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