Page 39 of Pay for Your Lies

I turn towards Nera. “Do you know what his deal with her is?”

“Nope. She’s never told me the whole story.” She answers, shaking her head.

“Alright, Six,” I tell her, turning back towards her, “Mandatory discussion point over brunch is Phoenix.”

“Only if we open up the floor to the Rhys topic.” She counters, a notable adversary.

“He’s not a topic. There’s nothing to say.”

“Alright,” Nera says, stepping in, “Six, you get the champagne. Thayer, you get the food basket together.” She takes out her phone and starts typing, “Meanwhile, I will put together our agenda items for today. Starting with ‘Why Does Phoenix Hate Sixtine?”, followed by ‘Is Thayer About To Give In To Rhys’ Advances?’–”

“She is not!” I interject.

“–And of course closing with ‘Does Bellamy Need to Be Rescued Via Covert Ops Mission?’” She finishes, locking her phone and setting it down emphatically to cue the task is complete.

Six raises a dubious eyebrow in her direction and crosses her arms. “Don’t think you’re getting out of this unscathed, Ner. You can add ‘Who’s The Guy Nera Texts All The Time?’ to close us out.” She tells her with a sly smile.

“Well played.” Nera says, inclining her head in mock respect.

Six laughs and shoves her shoulder playfully.

“Seriously though, Six. We’ll kick the boys out anyway. It’s not like we wanted Rogue or Rhys there either.” Nera says.

It’s hard not to react to his name in some small way. Even after last night when he told me he’d be fucking anyone he pleased.

Great.

Brilliant.

Awesome for him, don’t mind at all.

Except that it’s been on my mind since. Only because he’d said the words to me like they were a punishment, like I’d care.

Of course that’d make them play in a neverending loop coupled with images of him fucking someone else.

He’d walked away after that and I’d gone home and laid awake in bed well into the night, just staring at my ceiling.

I had a weird taste in my mouth that I refused to acknowledge. It tasted almost… bitter.

“Fine, alright. But if he murders me I need you guys to see to it that he does some real jail time,d’accord? I don’t want to peek in from the afterlife and see that he got away with it.”

“Please, I’d kill him with my sword.”

“I’d stomp him to death with my cleats.”

“Is it weird that you guys are turning me on a little bit?” She answers, and the three of us fall over in peals of laughter.

???

Over at Rogue’s house, we successfully convince him to both let us stay over and kick him out of his own kitchen.

It was surprisingly easy to accomplish, most likely because he had sex with Bellamy for the first time last night and was in a resulting good mood.

Or at least his version of one.

The look in his eye is wolfish and so damn pleased as he looks at her. Like a hunter who caught and trapped his prey and now gets to keep it forever.

Once he leaves, we sit at the table and serve ourselves and chat, happy to catch up.

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