Page 66 of All Bets Are Off

His words are like a dark cloud as we are all plunged into the past. From her llama bed sheets, and stuffed animals, to the llama shirts and shorts she owns. I’m pretty sure even all four of us own something llama related thanks to Brielle’s obsession, and right now I know we are all picturing the night we dared her to jump into the pool even though it was freezing cold out. Brielle didn’t even bat an eyelash, just walked to the back door, stripped out of her clothes, revealing llama print panties and strutted outside and jumped right in.

Shelby snorts, “Oh don’t worry, she still has those.” She doesn’t realize the power her words have, how we all stare at her and take them in. Such a simple thing to say, but it feels as if it changes everything.

Especially as I watch the smile stretch across Elias’s face. “I bet she does.”

Her blush scorches now and I find my own smile forming as the feeling of old times washes over for us. Just for a second it feels right, like this is our normal and not some stupid bet, but when the announcers come over the microphone to signal that the race will be starting soon, I’m reminded exactly why we are spending our Friday night together. Not by choice, but by obligation.

The four of us start stretching as everyone around us starts to flex their limbs and prepare for the endurance filled activity we are about to partake in. I try to keep my eyes off Brielle, but when she bends over to touch the floor, I have to bite back my groan. Something that proves easier than I thought when she rises back up and I catch another wince on her face.

Is she hurt? Sick? What the fuck is going on?

She catches me staring at her and she changes her expression quickly, double checking over her ensemble, before moving into another stretch, going slower this time. By the time we have all stretched, the tension is silent and thick, just waiting to boil over, but thankfully the horn sounds and the race begins.

The crowd starts moving and when neither Brielle and Shelby, nor us move, she frowns. “Well go on, go!” She holds her hand out and gestures for us to move ahead but Hudson sweeps his own hand out.

“After you, Sunshine.”

She holds his stare, not wavering under his questioning eyes as he waits for her response, and eventually she huffs, clasping Shelby’s hand in hers and barging between all four of us to go on her way. Of course all four of us move in sync with her, on her heels before she has barely taken two steps, and when she notes us directly behind us she huffs even louder. She tugs on Shelby’s hand and they take off into a run and we do the same.

All of us keep a steady pace behind her and I’m sure the other three are enjoying the scathing looks she keeps sending us every time she turns around and spies us still watching her. I’m sure they notice the way the nightie shifts around her thighs with every step, the way her hair bounces every time she turns to us, the sweat dripping down the side of her neck. All of it intoxicating and enticing, but I also see the strain at the corner of her eyes, the grit of her teeth as she turns our way, the hand that keeps reaching up to hold her side as if she has a stitch. Which is impossible considering Bri and I used to run 10k every Sunday morning, she isn’t exactly unfit, this undie run is a walk in the park for all of us.

So why doesn’t it seem like it is for her?

We run the full course, ending in the middle of the crowd as we make it to the football fields, and everyone is laughing, high fiving, drinking water, and I spy Brielle hanging back like she is trying to disappear into the crowds, still holding onto her side for support. I can’t take it anymore.

I storm towards her and see her eyes widen as I push her back until we are against the bleachers and mostly out of ear shot.

“What the fuck is going on with you?” I don’t mean for my tone to be angry, but the sight of her has me burning up inside. Her face has a light sheen to it, her cheeks flush with exertion, and I can’t help but wonder what she would look like on top of me, riding me until sweat soaked us both. I can’t shake this feeling, it’s never been like this before. Sure, I’ve been attracted to Brielle for a long time, but I have always been able to control it. To maintain my cool, even in close proximity, but right now I feel as if I am losing my grip on it.

Maybe it’s because I no longer know that crossing the line with her is impossible, she made sure of that, and she didn’t just pick one of us. What does that mean for our new dynamic?

She presses her back into the bleachers, desperate to maintain the inch of space between us as she murmurs, “I don’t know what you mean.” Her little act of nonchalance and indifference is wearing thin. I know it’s bullshit, and I am pretty sure she knows I know that, so why does she insist on still trying?

“You know exactly what I mean, Brielle.” Her name rolls off my tongue like a prayer and a demand and she bites her lip under my stare as I lean my palm flat against the wall beside her head. “You disappeared, left us, then showed up here of all places with fucking Crawford on your arm. That’s fine, you want nothing to do with us, whatever, only that lie would be a little more believable if I didn’t know where your mouth has been recently.”

Her blush is instant, so different from the red of her cheeks from the run, it spreads down her neck to her chest, like a greedy trail for my eyes to follow, and when I watch her throat bob as she swallows I have to resist the urge to slide my fingers around her neck.

“I’m fine, Ashton, just let it go.” Her words do nothing to douse the need building inside of me, the need to rip her open and and drown in her secrets, her dreams, her fears, until there isn’t anything I don’t know about her.

I bring my other hand up and curl her hair behind her ear. “You mean like you let us go?” She blanches at my words, but I don’t give her time to wallow under them before I add, “Why did you take the bracelet, Brielle?”

We are so close now I can feel her warm breath as she pants, can feel the motion of the rise and fall of her chest as her breathing picks up, she’s excited, or scared, or both. It’s intoxicating. I can no longer blame Eli and Z for falling to her silent demands, for claiming her despite the wall between us all. If she let me, I’d fuck her right here and now with everyone here to witness it.

As if my corrupt thoughts summon them, I feel the presence of my brothers at my back, no doubt wondering what the fuck I am doing. I don’t even know myself. I just know I need to get to the bottom of this puzzle that she has presented us with, and I am so sure I almost have the right pieces. I just need to keep digging.

“Are you ready, B?” Her roommate’s unsure voice filters into my mind, and I smirk as Bri barely notices, too entranced by my presence to look away. But it doesn’t matter, the look in her eyes right now gives me everything I need.

My Brielle is still here, I just need to drag her back out.

I pull away and smile, turning to Shelby and nodding my head. “Yeah, she’s ready to go.”

Shelby looks at me with accusing eyes, switching her stare back and forth between Bri and I, even glancing at the other three, before Brielle finally relents and nods her head.

“Yeah, let’s go.” She is desperate to get away now, pushing off the bleachers and reaching to link her arm with Shelby’s.

They have barely made it a few steps and I feel Elias burning holes into the side of my head before he turns and calls out to them, “You completed the bet!” She pauses, turning slightly to look at him as he continues, “We will have your reward in a few days.” His tone is sultry, almost flirty, and I can’t help but smile at him as her mouth opens a little as if she is shocked.

She shouldn’t be, this is how it alway goes, one of us takes the bet, if you complete you are rewarded, if not you are punished, then it’s someone else’s turn. She completed the bet and now we must reward her for it, an idea that intrigues me immensely, but I am more focused on the last part.

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