Her face whips around to mine, and she lightly shoves my bicep as we keep walking. “Well, you didn’t do anything awful to me that first night. And Benneti managed to get me here.” She pauses. “And, well…”
“‘And, well’ what?” My brow raises, curious what she’s about to say.
A pretty pink stain covers her cheeks that I can just see by the light of the moon. I side-eye her because it comes to me quickly what she’s probably going to ask me about, and it might work perfectly into the plan.
“Um”—she turns her head, squinting at me a bit—“about you and Benneti…” A tiny smile curves her lips.
Me and Beckham. My jaw works to the side for her benefit—as if I’m really having to consider whether to answer or not—but I’m secretly glad she’s going there, because I know if I do share something with her, especially after she clammed up when I asked her a personal question, that it could help us in the long run. Earning her trust might be easier than we thought. I turn, walking backward so I can observe her reaction to our conversation. “What about us?”
Her teeth scrape over her bottom lip and her nose crinkles. “Well, you know what I saw in the woods.”
I nod, rubbing my hands together as I consider how I want to play this. “Huh. Yeah. That was drunk Benneti. Besides, that’s private. And you and I just met two nights ago.” My lips twitch with amusement as it dawns on her that I’ve used her own words against her. Those luscious lips of hers part in surprise, and she stares at me for a good, long moment before I finally give in. “Just kidding. I’ll tell you.” I remove a tube of flavored lip balm from my pocket and use the time I’m applying it to think.
Her eyes follow my motions, then, when I’m done, she holds out her hand, palm up. “Me too.”
“Well, shit, if we’re going to be sharing lip care products, I guess I may as well tell you everything, huh?”
A beautiful laugh bubbles from her lips. “Yeah, maybe so.” She finishes smoothing it on, then slaps the tube back into my waiting hand.
I tuck it away before shrugging. “The honest truth is that Benneti is Benneti. You’ve already seen it. He’s playful. Flirty. Handsy. He takesnothingseriously. He’s the life of every party. And when I tell you he loves everyone, I mean it. We’ve known each other a long time now. I’m used to it. He’s a man who loves both hot dogs and tacos, if you get my drift.”
She slaps a hand over her mouth, and her sparkling eyes blink up at me. “That’s one way to put it.” A moment later, though, her forehead creases right down the center. “But, in the woods… The two of you—?”
“He was drunk.” I draw in a deep breath. “And I’m—” I pause as my chest constricts. I hadn’t planned to open up quite this much, but again, it’ll be the fastest route to gaining her trust. And while I know where my loyalty lies, I— Fuck, I don’t know why something is tugging at me, making me want to share this part of myself with her.
So, fucking here goes. “Look, we both love women. But Benneti’s a good-looking dude. Sometimes I just go with the flow and see where he takes me.” I press my lips together, trying not to cringe at the way-too-easy explanation of what has become a complicated part of our relationship. “It’s all kinda new, so I’m not ready to share what he and I have with the world, so I’d appreciate it if you kept it to yourself for now.”
“Oh. I’d never out anyone or share things that aren’t my own business.” She raises her hands. “Trust me. I have too much of my own shit to worry about to be talking about other people.”
“Good. Glad we understand each other, then. Greek Row is up ahead. I can’t believe you walked all this way in those fucking heels.”
She grimaces. “They aren’t too bad. But I’d much rather be in a pair of flip-flops, if I’m honest.”
I reach out and lightly tap her nose. “Despite why I was here, I had a good time talking to you.”
“Me too. Thanks for helping me get my mind off things.”
“Sure. Even though you somehow managed to get me to talk about some pretty personal shit. Maybe next time it’s your turn, Legacy.”
ELEVEN
BECKHAM
Jesus.Why had I thought it was a good idea to drink that much? Or for that matter, why had I let Royal have two shots to every one of mine? That was fucking stupid… but at the time, he’d needed it, and there’d been no convincing him otherwise. I swipe back the unruly hair that keeps falling in front of my eyes while babysitting my friend who’s slumped in the back seat beside me.
Under my breath, I mutter, “Hope this helped, buddy, because I don’t know how we’re getting your muscly ass upstairs and into bed.” I’m feeling good. Really fucking good, actually, but for Royal, drinking to excess tonight is a way to mask what he’s truly feeling. A way to dull the pain.
One thing’s for certain, it’d been easy to follow the Sin Keeper’s instructions to watch Echo tonight. But while that entire show she’d put on during the fight had been interesting, I doubt it’s what he was trying to make me see. So, I’ll do my best to stay on her and try to solve the Sin Keeper’s riddle. Who knows what his motives are, honestly. It’s a little odd that Echo is a part of Royal’s history, yet he’s handed her to me on a silver platter. I let my head fall against the back of the seat, my lips twisting. It’s too much to think about with my head swirling the way it is.
Royal groans and mumbles something like “Echo, why?” He’s out of it, but I’m still paying attention. Drunk Royal might share more about both Echo and their past. I have no problem with the fact that he keeps his shit to himself. But, damn. Based on what we witnessed tonight, Echo’s reappearance in his life is going to fuck with himbad.Having her chosen for cage girl duties tonight of all nights while Royal is fighting? That’s seriously some fucked-up shit. I’d love to know who was responsible for that.
Royal was lucky tonight, though, because I fully expected with him so caught up in watching what his princess was doing ringside that Bear’s fists would find their mark and send him to oblivion. It so easily could have been a lights-out situation… and all because he couldn’t keep his eyes off her. His disturbed gaze came back to her over and over again, like magnets to steel.
Royal says nothing else of interest the rest of the way home. I let out a sigh, wondering if Wilder fared better with Echo. Assuming she agreed to let him give her a ride, that is. Whatever had happened between him and our red-headed spitfire, they’d been long gone by the time I’d convinced Royal we should get the fuck out of Dodge.
I draw in a breath as our Uber driver pulls up at the curb in front of SIN, and I’m unable to stop myself from glancing in the direction of the sorority next door. My brain hurtles back to earlier when all those chicks had peeled off their panties—all for an initiation ritual of some fraternity, I guess. But it’d been a girl asking for them. It’d made no sense, but the specifics don’t matter. What does matter is knowing Echo’s thong had ended up in that backpack had given me a semi for the remainder of the evening. As she’d flaunted and flirted her way around that ring for all those horny-as-fuck men, the fact that there hadn’t been so much as a scrap of lace between her legs had been at the forefront of my mind.
And now I imagine Echo is in her room, maybe stripping out of that cage girl outfit. My head is so dizzy with all the details I took in tonight. Thoughts of CJ’s beautiful, pale skin make my dick hard as stone. And those sweet, pink lips have my balls aching with need. The desire to creep over there and have a sneaky little peek burns inside me.
