Page 60 of Holly Jolly July

Mariah

When we get to the cabin all I want to do is get out of my tight clothes and into my comfies, curl up with Ellie on the couch,

and watch a Christmas movie (what has she done to me?). Afterward, when I’ve soaked up as much of my time with Ellie as I

can, we can talk about all the things we’ve left unsaid. But not more than one minute after we walk through the door, her

phone rings.

She holds it up to show me the caller ID, even though we both know who it is. Ellie looks at it for a moment, then lifts a

finger toward the ignore button.

“Wait,” I say, stopping her.

She hesitates, looking at me.

If not for all the wine and Ellie’s convincing, I’d never have agreed to pranking Jax. I’d seen the red flags and known what

I was getting in to. I’d proven to myself I could bag the cool, hot guy from my past and leave it at that. I’d started to

catch feelings, sure, and yes, it hurt when I was fooled by him like a naive teenager, but I could have let it go and moved

on with my life. Though I have to admit, pranking Jax was cathartic, like I was finally getting revenge on all the other liars

and cheats I’d encountered in my life.

But Ellie is innocent in this. She’s too sweet, sincere, and trusting for men like Jax. He led her on, let her believe he

could be everything she’d ever hoped for and wanted just to get her into bed. And Ellie is just one of the women he did this to. How many others have to suffer because of his lying schemes?

“Answer it,” I say.

“But it’s our last night together.”

“I think we should see it through.”

Ellie sets her jaw. “I was hoping you might say that. If we can spare just one person from heartbreak then it will have been worth it.” She squeezes my hand before answering the phone, putting it on speaker so we can both hear. “Hey.”

“Hey! You ready if I come over now? I’m just leaving Abbotsford, so it’d be about twenty minutes.”

“Sounds great.”

“Good. It will be a night you won’t forget.”

“Yeah, I’m sure it will be. For both of us.” She hangs up the phone without saying goodbye. “I hope twenty minutes is enough

time. I only have like two ideas.”

A sinister grin spreads over my face. “Lucky for you I came up with a plan.”

Her eyes dance with mischief. “Oh really? Then let’s teach this fuckboy his final lesson. Together.”

Twenty-two minutes later the doorbell rings. I’m at my station, ready to go. Ellie gives me one final look, nervously shaking

out her arms. I return her gaze with a self-assured nod. She exhales slowly, like, this better work , then leaves the kitchen to her station in the bathroom, tiptoeing and ducking past the dangerous parts.

“Come on in!” Ellie shouts.

The door opens slowly, Jax’s head peeking through. “Hello?”

“In the bedroom!” Ellie calls.

I watch from my hiding spot as an eager grin lights up his face. He takes a step in and shuts the door, setting off the first

trap.

A string of lotion-covered condoms is released from where they’ve been pinned, swinging down toward him. The slimy missiles

smack him across the face with loud thwacks as Jax curses, trying to slap them out of the way.

Dodging as many as he can, he takes a few more steps toward the hall, then hits a puddle of lube on the floor.

Losing all grip, Jax slides across the hardwood, arms flailing and feet struggling to stay under him.

He slides right into the hallway, only to land smack-dab into a wall of Saran Wrap coated in a layer of hairspray.

The plastic clings to him, and he struggles to tear it off his face while twisting in a circle and trying to keep his feet under him from the slippery lube.

“Jesus Chr—” Jax reaches for something to keep himself upright and grabs a conspicuously dangling string of Christmas lights.

They pull free from the wall and release the next contraption, a broom hooked up to the ceiling with a paddle attached to

the end. It swings down and smacks him right on the ass.

He yelps, then run-slips away from the attack toward the living room, where he trips on a wire, landing face-first into a

pile of flour. He groans, cursing under his breath, then slowly lifts himself to standing, absolutely covered in white powder.

“Now!” I shout, bursting from my hiding spot behind the tree.

Jax screams, a high-pitched sound unlike anything I thought he was capable of. I shove him backward just as Ellie appears,

dodging the lube on the floor, and pushes the rolling office chair at him from behind. The seat hits his knees and he buckles,

sitting on it. Ellie grabs a string of Christmas lights and we pass it back and forth, wrapping him up nice and tight. Just

to be safe, I grab my pink handcuffs and clap one loop over his wrist and the other onto the plastic arm of the chair.

“What the hell is going on!” Jax shouts, fighting against his sudden restraints.

Ellie and I are huffing, adrenaline coursing through our veins as we stand before him. Ellie places her hands on her hips

and I cross my arms, like we’re some sort of badass girl band.

He pulls at his cuffs, then reaches with his free hand to wipe his face. “Mariah? What are you doing here?”

Ellie and I share a smirk, enjoying the scene before us. Big, badass Matthew Jackson handcuffed to a chair with white powder

all over his face, wrapped up in twinkling red and green lights like the best Christmas present we never knew we needed.

“Can someone explain to me what the fuck is happening?” He fights his restraints and the cords squeak. I panic, not sure if they’ll hold him. We need to move on to phase three of our plan, fast.

“We brought you here to pay for your crimes against femdom,” Ellie explains, pacing slowly in front of him. “It seems you

have a problem, Matt. Or is it Jax?”

Jax’s eyes dart from Ellie to me, his posture shifting slightly as he does, as if he’s not quite sure which rendition of himself

he should be right now. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You’re going to sit there, clearly caught by two women you’ve been playing, and continue to lie to us?” Ellie asks.

He licks his lips, then regrets his decision, spitting out a gob of flour. “That’s not what happened.”

I sneer. “Then explain to us, what did happen?”

“I just—I—it’s not every day you meet—”

“Someone so special, ” Ellie and I parrot in unison.

Ellie mocks him, opening and closing her hand while mouthing blah blah blah . “We heard that one before,” she continues. “Got any more canned lines you feed to every woman who crosses your path?”

I sigh. “Face it, Jax. You’ve been caught. Fess up.”

He puffs out his chest, mouth hanging open, searching for words, and then deflates. “Fine. Okay. I was seeing you both at

the same time. That’s not a crime. But this might be!” He fights the blinking red-and-green-lit cords again. “Let me go!”

“Not so fast.” I press a hand against his chest and force him to make eye contact with me. “Not until you see the error of

your ways.”

“The error of my—” He huffs, annoyed. “Everyone sees multiple people now. It’s not just me! You gonna tie up and torture every

dude you cross paths with?”

I grit my teeth, pissed that it’s not sinking in. “It’s men like you that give other men a bad name.”

Jax shakes his head. “Everything we did was consensual.”

“We never consented to you seeing other people,” I say, pointing between Ellie and me. “In fact, we both talked to you about that separately and you lied.”

He has the audacity to look confused. “Haven’t you ever heard of polyamory?”

Ellie raises her voice, enunciating every word. “There’s a difference between ethical non-monogamy and what it is you do. You? You’re a fuckboy. You do and say whatever it takes to get in someone’s pants. You come up with elaborate bullshit

stories, even modifying your personality, to fit whoever it is you’re trying to lay. You get them all excited about who you

are and keep them hooked until you tire of them, and then you let them go. You see multiple women at a time without their

knowledge, even denying the fact that it’s happening.”

He has enough of a conscience to look a bit sorry, turning his gaze to the floor.

“Admit it,” I spit, my voice cold and harsh.

He huffs again, then says, “Fine. I was seeing you both at the same time, and I lied about it.”

Ellie waits a moment before prompting him. “And? Who else were you seeing?”

“No one.”

“Liar.” I shake my head. “Ellie?”

Ellie gives me a nod. Then, before we can change our minds, we charge him.

Jax mutters a startled “What the fuck!” as I grab his free arm and wrestle it down behind him. Ellie pats at his pants pockets,

feeling for his phone. The old office chair protests, squeaking loudly.

“Ellie!” I groan, struggling to keep Jax’s free arm pinned to his side.

“Almost there,” she grunts. Finally, she wriggles it free from his pocket and takes a step back, panting. I release Jax, who

swipes at us with his free hand, nearly knocking the chair off balance.

“Give it back,” he growls.

Ellie unlocks his phone and shows the screen to him, scrolling past a long line of messages. “Are all these women aware that

you’re seeing other people? Or did you tell them the same things you told us?”

“Did karma bring you all together, too?” I mock, and Ellie snickers.

“How did you know my passcode?” His eyes widen in confusion, then realization slowly dawns. “It was you. Both of you, the

whole time!”

Ellie and I smirk at each other, watching as he pieces the puzzle together.

“The underwear and condoms in my truck... the cheese in my gym bag... the fake mouse! All that shit you did in my house!

Those weird shortcuts in my phone, the scrambled contacts... What the fuck?”

Ellie lowers her face to Matt’s level, inching closer as she speaks. “Admit it. You’re playing all these women, aren’t you?

Feeding them the same bullshit, having crafted it over years and years of fuckboyery, honing your skills with systematic playboydom.”

Ellie’s speech gives me chills; she has natural villainess vibes to her.