Chapter 1
“You’re cheating,” Jesse yells as he sits up straighter and focuses harder on the screen before him. He scoots forward on the couch and leans onto his knees, hoping that getting closer to the TV is going to help him win
“Am not,” I argue as I continue pressing the buttons on the PlayStation controller like a boss while whooping his ass. “I can’t help it that I’m better than you.”
“Bullshit,” he demands while trying to make his assassin shoot me down. “No one is better than me.”
My ninja princess performs a beautiful fan kick that has his assassin’s gun flying right out of his hands. I laugh as she charges forward and throat punches him before swiftly kicking his ass. “That was a dick move,” Jesse grunts as he tries to recover his character.
“So was trying to shoot me,” I tell him as my phone sounds on the coffee table for the hundredth time.
“You deserved it,” he grins, chuckling to himself. “Try and get out of this one.”
His character throws a grenade my way and I laugh as my ninja princess pulls out a sword and uses it as a baseball bat to launch the grenade right back at him.
“Fuck,” he grunts as my laughter becomes too much.
My eyes pool with tears and makes the TV go all blurry. “Shit,” I laugh while trying to use the backs of my hands to wipe the tears away without losing the game. I blink my eyes over and over again, but it’s not working. All I manage to do is give Jesse an opening to decapitate me. “Not fair,” I demand. “I couldn’t see.”
“Nope,” he cackles. “It’s not my fault you cry like a girl.”
I roll my eyes and toss the controller on the couch beside me before grabbing my phone off the coffee table. I find four unread text messages. Three from my best friend Brooke, and one from my mom.
I go to read them when Jesse starts setting up for a new game. “How’d you get so good at this?” he questions. “I thought for sure it’d be an easy win. I had a plan. I was going to rub it in your face and gloat about it all night.”
I can’t help but grin as I roll my eyes. “I bought a PlayStation for dad last year, thinking it could give us something to do together, but he pushed it aside and said ‘I don’t have time for this childish nonsense’,” I tell him while mimicking my father’s voice. “So, me and mom started playing, and I swear, she’s so good at it. She must practice every day while I’m at school.”
“Shit,” he groans. “Your mom is so fucking hot. If she wasn’t my mom’s best friend, I’d be trying to hit that.”
“Ugh,” I cringe, hating that he forgets that I’m not actually one of the boys. I grab a cushion off the couch and launch it at his face. My aim is perfect and the cushion smacks him right in the middle of the face, the best part, he never saw it coming.
“What was that for?” he grunts as he rips his eyes off the screen.
“For putting the image of you trying to get with my mom in my head,” I tell him. “I’m going to have nightmares for weeks.”
He shrugs his shoulders and laughs. “Don’t worry, I’ll be dreaming about it too,” he says with a dirty wink, making my skin crawl.
“You’re so gross.”
A sparkle hits his eyes and I know that whatever he’s about to say is going to make him giggle like a little school girl. “It was worth it to know you’ll be dreaming about me while you’re sleeping in my brother’s arms.”
Just as I thought, he bursts into laughter while I do my best to hold mine in. “You’re such an idiot,” I grin as I get back to checking my messages.
Brooke – What are you doing? I’m so bored! Maxen has a family lunch and I’m stuck grocery shopping with my mom.
Brooke – OHHHHHH YEAH!!!!!! PARTY AT PHOENIX’S PLACE TONIGHT!!! You in???
Mom – Hi honey, just checking in. Haven’t heard from you today. Love you xxx.
Brooke – HELLO!!! You’re such a skank ass bitch! Stop screwing your boyfriend and talk to me!!! Are we partying with the cheerleaders or what?
I look up at Jesse. “What’s going on tonight?” I ask. “Brooke says Phoenix is having a party.”
Jesse pulls his phone out of his pocket and checks something before looking back up at me. “Looks like it,” he says as he hashes out a text on his phone. “I wouldn’t mind a bit of Phoenix tonight. She likes to get wild. She’s a screamer too.”
“That was information I didn’t need to know.”
At that, Jesse looks up again and looks around the massive den. “What happened to Nate?”