Page 124 of Deceptive Games

“How the fuck do you know her?” I scoffed, breaking up their argument. “You only know her as that pre-teen girl whose father was a piece of shit. She’d show up at home with bruises, hadn’t eaten for days, and you thinkshe’sthe problem here?”

“She always was trouble. She’d dress you up in her princess dresses, give you drugs, and?—”

“I was a kid playing dress up, for starters, but for your information, that weed you found was some I’d stolen from you,” I said dryly, embarrassment washing over her. “Rory’s never asked for a cent from me.”

“Just you wait. She’s going to get knocked up and trap you,” she said with disgust, glaring at Rory, who grimaced.

“You think I’d want to give you grand babies? I’d get an abortion before letting that happen. No offense,” she said quickly as she looked up at me.

“You think I want to carry on my family name? It’s an embarrassment,” I muttered, starting Mom on another rant about disrespect and how I needed to marry the nice girl she’d picked for me.

When she started threatening to tear Rory apart publicly, Josie stepped in again.

“You kids can go home. You don’t need to hear this,” she said calmly.

“Lukas is coming home with me!” Mom shouted, but Josie stepped into her path to block her.

“No, he’s not. You and I need to have a discussion about slander and defamation. You think I’m going to let you destroy Rory’s reputation? I’ll destroy everything you hold dear to you if you even try. Do not fuck with my family, Karen.”

Rory was frozen as she watched the exchange, but Caden took her hand and dragged her from the room as we made our escape.

Jensen fell into step beside me, letting Caden and Tyler walk ahead with Rory.

“I’m sorry,” I mumbled, hating that he’d had to deal with her bullshit.

“Don’t. It’s not your fault she’s crazy,” he said lightly, dropping an arm around my shoulders. I automatically tensed, but he just tightened his hold, speaking quietly. “I’ve got you, remember? No matter what, you’re my best friend.”

I relaxed into him a little, seeking his comfort like I always did.

We’d crashed in the same bed together all week, offering silent comfort just by keeping each other company, but part of me craved more. It was the same feeling I got when I kissed Rory.

“Meet me at Caden’s. Don’t go home,” Jensen said firmly, waiting for me to nod before letting me go as we reached our cars. I kept walking to Rory, and she winced when she looked at me.

“I see she hasn’t changed much.”

“I’m so sorry you had to hear that,” I started, but she shook her head.

“Her words don’t mean shit to me, Luke. You know my feelings for you aren’t a way to trap you, so that’s all I care about,” she smiled, giving me a kiss. “You’re coming to the house, right?”

“I’ll follow you,” I promised, giving her a wink to reassure her.

Mom would be tied up with Josie for hours now, so I could chill out until they parted ways. Then my phone was likely to start blowing up again.

I sighed, climbing into my car and waiting for the others to start pulling out before I did, noticing Jensen waited for me toleave first. He thought I was going to make a break for it and wanted to keep his eyes on me.

Why did that make me smile?

We’d needed this. I felt like I’d barely seen the guys, other than Jensen, over the past week. Sure, we hung out at school, but things had felt off lately, and we hadn’t just had a night to lay around the house drinking beer.

Rory was straddling Tyler on the couch, eating his damn face and not watching the movie in the slightest, while Jensen and Caden were having a deep conversation about fuck knows what on one of the other couches.

Tyler noticed me watching them and motioned for me to join them, so I climbed from the recliner and dropped down beside them.

As much as I loved fucking her alone, being able to watch her reactions to someone else’s touch was mesmerizing. She ground against Tyler’s lap as she made out with him, a full body shudder rolling through her as he dipped his hand into her sleep shorts.

I knew the second he pushed his fingers inside her because I could hear how wet she was.

She squirmed from whatever he was doing, my cock waking up as he pulled his soaked fingers from her and shoved them into her mouth.