Page 58 of Counter Bet

Dallas.

“Here,” Ben says, handing me the controller. “You and Matt are up.”

We’re playing Halo in his living room.

“Just one second. Let me get some snacks first.” I lean over the coffee table littered with chip bowls and empty candy wrappers and grab a bowl of Jalapeno cheddar balls.

“They’re for everyone, you know,” Steph laughs, quirking an eyebrow.

“I’m not sharing these. You know I’m like a mama bear around Jalapeno flavored cheddar balls.” I gesture to the bowls on the coffee table. “There are five other bowls there. Don’t be greedy.” I lean back and pop a cheddar ball in my mouth.

I’ve healed from my physical injuries, but there’s no cure for the shame. I’m grateful it only happened one time. If Ben hadn’t got me out and offered me a place to stay…

I shudder.

It’s been two weeks since that night. Ben offered to sleep on the couch in his bedroom, but it sags in the middle and is too small for his tall frame, so we share his bed. It’s cramped, but I don’t mind. Anything is better than my uncle’s place.

“Are you okay?” Ben asks, his brows furrowed.

I swallow the cheese ball down. It tastes like ash. “I’m fine.”

Ben hasn’t touched me sexually since that night, and I know it’s because of a certain blonde.

I pick my character on screen and smile as I recall how sketchy he was when he returned from taking her to the lookout spot the other day. It’s not like him to protect the women he fucks, but he’s been surprisingly tight-lipped about what happened between them, which tells me two things. Something did happen. And he likes her.

He may have even fallen for her.

I don’t know what it is about Emily, but she’s slowly digging her claws deeper into us both.

“When are you bringing Princess around for the threesome? We added more money to the pot the other day,” Josh says, interrupting my thoughts.

Oh, yes. The bet.

Nina, slouching on the couch, rolls her head. “I told you. She’ll never go for it. She’s too fucking prissy.”

Josh chuckles, running a hand through his tousled black hair. “More money for me when she spreads those fine legs.”

“It’s in the bag,” Ben cuts in, surprising me. He’s lying on the floor next to my feet.

“Yeah? When? You’ve not grown soft on us and changed your mind, have you?”

“Yeah? When Ben?” April taunts from her spot on the floor between Matt’s legs. The two of them finally hooked up.

Ben scoffs and sits up, pulling his t-shirt down. He reaches for the rolled joint on top of the coffee table, lights it up, and speaks with the joint hanging off his bottom lip. “I’m just warming her up a little.” He smirks, then takes a deep drag and motions for me to lean down.

I do.

He grabs the back of my neck, brings me close, and blows smoke into my mouth. I inhale. I hold it in my lungs before blowing it out in his smirking face. He grins, so I push his face back with my hand.

Ben falls back on the floor and chuckles to himself, then takes another drag. The tip glows orange.

“I heard you took her out for a romantic trip to the lookout,” Steph says, wagging her eyebrows. In her hands is a bottle of tequila.

Ben blows out a cloud of smoke and shrugs. “She was bored.”

“Bored? Uh-huh.” Steph looks at me. “What about you then, Dallas? What’s your excuse for kissing her at the skatepark?”

I glare at her. Why does she have to drop me in it?

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