Page 86 of Brutal Little Secrets

I don’t shift my gaze from Chase’s, and he grins. I’ve watched him play, and if he’s playing to win, he’ll be focused.

“Fine. You’re on.”

Someone has reset the table for the next game. Hawk takes one end, and Chase takes the other. Hawk reaches in his pocket and holds out his keys to me.

“Here, Annie, hold my keys. Don’t want anything to disrupt my game.”

I take them from him and turn to Chase. He takes his keys out of his pocket and hands them to me. I nearly grin at how easy that turned out to be. But we have plans.

I open my purse and put both sets of keys inside. The guys move into position and people gather around to watch. Mostly Anteros kids but a few hockey players stand on Hawk’s side.

“Best three out of five.” Hawk bounces the ball, and it lands in the cup. A small cheer fills the air.

Chase fishes out the ball and downs the beer. “Fine.”

I watch as they slowly go through both sets of cups. There isn’t much beer in each cup. Hawk winks at me as he bounces the ball and it lands in Chase’s last cup.

While they’re resetting the game, I go to Chase. “I need to go to the bathroom. I’ll be back.”

He nods and glares at Hawk. “Don’t worry. I’ll win for you, babe.”

I let thebabeslide since he’s had alcohol. When I touch his arm, he puts his hand on mine.

“I’m definitely winning that kiss.”

I give him a smile before moving through the crowd. The party isn’t as out of control as Fletcher’s was, but there are still a lot of people. So much could go wrong with this plan, but everything in me is alert and aware. When I enter the house, Cam meets me and guides me through a quieter section of the house and out a side door. My helmet sits on a chair next to the door. He grabs it and puts it on me.

My heart is racing. Damon’s already on the bike with it running.

“I’ll text if something happens and you need to get back.” His brown eyes search mine before he lowers my face shield.

I climb on the back of Damon’s bike and wrap around him. He goes faster than he usually does when I’m on the back of his bike. I cling to him as he leans into turns and shoots down empty roads. It’s like that first time with Hawk all over again.

Everything inside me braces for impact, even though Damon would never do anything to hurt me.

When we stop at Chase’s house, I climb off and remove my helmet. Damon sets it with his on the bike and looks at his phone. My hands feel clammy as I glance around to make sure no one is out and sees us. Damon holds out his other hand, and I take Chase’s keys out of my purse. I almost fumble them as I put them in his hand.

He catches them and my hand. Our gazes lock and I take a deep breath to help with my nerves. His phone beeps and he releases me.

“Okay, we’re clear.” He pockets his phone and takes my hand, leading me to the house.

My heart beats so fast. We could get caught. Any number of things could go wrong, but this is what we need to do for Damon to get his revenge. I hate what Chase did to him and what Chase tried to do to me.

Damon unlocks the door, and I take the lead, hurrying up the stairs and taking a few turns before we get to Chase’s bedroom. When we step in, it’s just like I remember it. Very masculine with his stuff everywhere. But tidy, probably because of the maids.

Damon moves to the corners. “See what you can find while I set these up.”

I nod and go to Chase’s nightstand. The drawer is filled with condoms and lube and other things I’d rather not think about along with a few magazines. Reluctantly, I take the magazines and flip through them to make sure he didn’t leave a note or something in them.

As Damon positions the camera, he checks the angle on his phone. It’s weird being back in here. Over the summer, I figured eventually this might be where I lost my virginity.

Chase’s cologne fills the space. Would he have made it soft and gentle? Would I have liked that? Or would I have been so nervous it just would have been painful anyway?

I shake my head and walk over to Chase’s desk. Damon catches my hip and tips my chin up so our eyes lock. “Did you expect to have sex in this room with Chase?”

I shrug and heat floods my cheeks. Now I know I was a fool. “He was my boyfriend.”

Damon rubs his thumb over my bottom lip. “It’s a shame.”