Page 47 of PET

ZEKE LUNGREN

SittingacrossfromChristianand Billie, I shove the Lo Mein noodles into my mouth and watch them like a hawk. They’re guilty of something—it’s written all over their faces. Both of their hair is wet, and they won’t hold eye contact for over three seconds. Well, Billie won’t. Christian keeps snickering and grinning at her.

They fucked, didn’t they?

Son of a bitch. I can’t be mad. I’d be a hypocrite if I blew up on him for doing the same thing I’ve been doing. We really need to sit down and figure out what the hell we agree on when it comes to Billie again, because if we don’t, I have a bad feeling it’s going to get ugly.

I keep my eyes on them, noticing Billie’s cheeks getting redder when she looks at me. I want to confront them—call them out on their lies—but I fucking don’t.

The shrilly ringtone from Christian’s phone breaks my thoughts and finally fills the awkward silence. He looks at the screen, pinching his brows before he answers.

“What?” he answers with annoyance dripping from his tone. “Yeah, I already did it. What the hell do you want from me? A fucking play-by-play?” His jaw tightens before he finishes the call with, “Yeah, I got it.” He hangs up and whispers ‘bitch’ beneath his breath.

That was Dana, wasn’t it? It’s what I wanted to ask, but I don’t want him to know that I know his secret. I wouldn’t be able to use it against him later if I needed to. Not only do I have dirt on his father, but now I have something against Christian, too.

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, right?

If someone told me a year ago that my best friend—my brother—would become my enemy now, I’d have punched them in the face.

Glancing at Billie, I realize it wasn’t her that started this. Her presence in our life has uncovered it. I chomp on another mouth full of Lo Mein as I stare at Christian, holding his hard glare as he smirks back at me.Dick.

“Was that your dad?” Billie asks, cutting the tension in the room with her sweet voice.

Christian laughs and shakes his head. “No, that was—” His glare whips back to mine, and I can see he’s battling with the truth. “Nobody,” he ends up saying.

I smile, feeling victorious when I realize he’s pushed himself into a corner. It’s going to blow up in his face when Billie finds out he’s been working secretly with Dana—the same bitch who was banging Holden. Not that I don’t like Everlee, but Billie has a thicker backbone, and it’ll be the girl fight of the century when Billie finds out.

Shoving his takeout carton away, Christian stands and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. “I gotta run. You two can chill here or whatever.”

Where’s he off to? I don’t mind having more alone time with Billie, but what the fuck? He’s had his ankle bracelet off for five minutes. I know he raced the Barrett brothers again last night—I was in the massive crowd watching. Pride was what I felt when Christian crossed the finish line first, but that doesn’t mean I trust the dickhead right now.

He leans over and kisses the top of Billie’s head, squeezing her neck like she submits to him, while shoving it in my face. The plastic fork cracks under the pressure I put it under, squeezing it as hard as I’d squeeze his fucking neck.Get your goddamn hands off of her, is what I want to say.

Her gaze whips to mine and I can feel how torn she is between us. The pink in her cheeks tells me she liked what Christian just did to her, but her eyes say she isn’t used to having two guys at once.

Who the fuck agreed to this again?

Christian’s retreating back has my hand letting up on the fork. I’m not hungry anymore, shoving my takeout box to the side before I pull my ball cap from my head and shove my hair back before I put it back on. Her expression is sexy, and I realize she was just watching me. I smirk and lean my elbows on the table.

“Like something you see, little slut?”

Her eyes light up as she shifts in her seat, the pink in her cheeks darkening. “There’s nothing hotter than a guy in a hat,” she whispers.

I smirk, loving the fact that girls have the cutest turn-ons sometimes. Who knew a hat would make her excited?

“Get over here and I’ll show you something you’ll never forget,” I tell her in a low, raspy voice as I lean back in my chair and challenge her.

I’m surprised when she moves without a second to think about it. She rounds the long dinner table and stops right beside me. I scoot back and pat the table in front of me. Biting her bottom lip, she moves in front of me before I grab her thighs and lift her onto the table as she whimpers.

My hands grip her thighs, shoving them open. I see she’s wearing black panties, but she won’t be for long. Her flesh is warm, goosebumps lining her legs as I caress my hands upwards, worshiping her. She’s watching my every move, not moving to stop me in the slightest when I grab the hem of her panties and stand.

We’re face to face as I lean over her, pressing my cheek against hers. I love the little whimper she lets out when she lifts her hips. Her panties are off in a flash and safely placed in my jeans pocket for later. Ya know, in case I fuck her some place publicly and I need to shove them in her mouth to block her moans.

“Zeke,” she whispers my name, but I don’t miss how she sounds unsure.

Turning my face, I kiss the corner of her mouth, inviting her to take some control back. She turns her head—just like I knew she would—and kisses me hard. I moan into her mouth as my hands find the tops of her thighs again, holding them open.

I break away from her kiss reluctantly as I kick my chair out of the way. It slides across the marble floors and slams against the wainscoting. I hold her knees open as I drop to mine. The brim of my hat blocks my eyes from her when I lean forward and kiss the inside of her left thigh. She moans above me, her hands finding mine.

---