Page 20 of Play for Power (Central Sparks #3)

vat of bleach dick-bag daniel

Rosie

“ M onday night catch-up is taking on a new twist, I like it.” I smile at the girls as they walk through the door and meet me on the couch, Casey carrying a tray of food to the oven on her way.

“Well, if the guys get to have their own catch-up, it’s only fair that we do too,” Casey chirps.

“Except, like big dummies, they are out in public instead of eating Casey’s pasta with wine and cozy blankets,” Addison muses as she grabs wine glasses from the kitchen, familiar in her old space.

“Oh, I could die in this blanket right now,” Stella mumbles from where she has burrowed herself in the couch.

“Your winged eyeliner is bomb, don’t get me wrong, but the naked look is good on you too.” I flick a hand in Stella’s direction.

“If you want to see a tit, babe, just ask, I’m not shy.” There is a hum of silence before we are all laughing together. Casey has the timer turned on, heating the pasta and grabbing a bottle of wine, and before long, the four of us are on the couch, a glass of wine in hand and under a blanket.

“How’s the dull dick going?” Casey muses through a smirk.

“Yeah, what is with that? I never got the full story,” Addison asks.

“It’s nothing.”

“Don’t you hold out on me, Garcia. It wasn’t that long ago you had me hauled on this very couch begging me for details.”

“Me, too, you never let me get away with a thing,” Casey scolds me with a smile.

“Oh, I’m the lucky one who escaped Rosie’s sleuthing?” Stella adds.

“Don’t jinx yourself, she is ruthless,” Casey whispers to Stella, and the girls giggle.

“It’s nothing. I got Viv, she is all the lovin’ I need.

” I hum, letting my head fall back. “Really though, it’s just exhausting out there.

It’s either pigs who commit borderline assault, or they get so attached they cling to me.

I just want something easy, no strings, but with a good dicking.

” That gets me a string of giggles, but the ghost of Caleb’s words hit me out of nowhere: You know I can give you everything you need, without the strings. So why won’t you let me?

He could, too, I have experienced firsthand the kind of orgasms Caleb Smith can dish out…I just can’t work out why I am hesitating.

“Any New York boys catch your fancy, Stells?” I ask to get the spotlight off me.

“Oh, I’m off men. For at least the next century.”

“Oh, batting for the other team?” Addison wiggles her eyebrows.

“Ha! If only. Women would be less complex.” She huffs.

“I don’t know about that. I’m bat shit crazy,” I say through a mouthful of wine. “And then there is Addison.”

“Hey! I’m an angel.”

“Or are you the devil? Walls are thin, babe. You have no idea how happy I am to have this apartment to myself now.” I roll my eyes as she and Casey descend into giggles.

“Yeah, what was that like? Both your best friends getting railed a couple doors down. That would be depressing,” Stella queries, like she is actually interested.

“Weird dynamic for sure, not depressing though…just kind of…gross.”

“Hey, we make love, there is nothing gross about that,” Casey scolds me, and thankfully we are interrupted by the buzz of the oven, and she gets up to sort it out.

“Anyway, men rule much of the world, let’s not give them the one girls’ night we have. Stells?—”

“Knew this was coming.” She grimaces and buries herself further into the couch.

“Hear me out, you can’t blame me for being curious.

You kind of came out of nowhere. I love having you around, it feels like you balance us out.

” I gesture to sunshine Casey and crazy-rage-girl Addison, then myself, the obvious queen of our group.

“I just want to know more about you. You certainly have the guys scared within an inch of their life.”

She hums a low laugh before she sits up. “They are a good bunch of guys. That’s hard to find. You girls are really lucky.” Well…that was surprisingly sincere. Stella looks at the three of us as we freeze in our spots, not really sure what to do with that.

Casey, of course, is the first to break the weird silence. “They are fab. Annoying and impossibly protective.” She gives Addison a look, who raises her glass in agreement. “But they are great. You and Lucas are close?”

“Yeah, he’s been amazing since I moved here. Gave me a shot at the bar…well, thanks to you, Addy.” Both the emotionally challenged weirdos smile awkwardly and drink their wine. It makes me chuckle.

“This is so weird, can you just tell us something super bizarre so we can gawk for a few minutes and then move on to cooler topics?” Addison sits up straighter, ready for a story.

Stella twirls her long black ponytail around her hand a couple times before huffing a huge breath, making quick eye contact with the three of us as Casey brings down the tray of warmed pasta and four bowls. “Okay, well, I…” She clears her throat.

Casey leans forward and rests a hand on her thigh. “You don’t have to tell us anything if you’re not comfortable, Stella.”

“We aren’t going anywhere though, if you do need someone to talk to,” Addison chimes in.

“What they said, but also, I really want the details.” Addy and Casey hit me with matching looks of exasperation. “What, I’m not going to lie, how does that build trust?”

That seems to loosen Stella up a bit. She chuckles, looking up to the ceiling and then back to us.

“Umm…okay, well, I’ve been alone for a while.

I came from a small town with a lot of nothing and nobodies.

This dynamic”—she gestures to us—“is new to me, and I’m not a trusting person.

I’ve never really had girlfriends—or friends of any kind.

A girl has to keep her secrets, something has to fuel our power, right?

” She bites on her lip, avoiding eye contact, but the three of us seem to be on the same wavelength, not wanting to say anything that might interrupt her.

It doesn’t do us much good. Stella wasn’t joking about keeping her secrets.

“This…it’s nice. I’m grateful to you girls for the friendship but also the…

security.” It wasn’t scandalous or heavily detailed by any means, but from the way her shoulders droop and she avoids eye contact, from the way her knee bounces and she plays with her fingernails, for whatever reason, that was hard enough for her to admit.

“You plan on staying at Bozzelli’s?” I query.

“It’s good for me, for right now. It’s stable and I work with a lot of people… good people. Plus, it feels…safe, you know? Security, there’s, like, cameras, or whatever. And Lucas”—she waves a hand like it’s self-explanatory—“he’s, like, a tatted-up doberman in human form.”

“Facts,” Addison and Casey agree.

“Yeah, but with the mind of a child,” I counter.

“Most men have the mind of a child.” Addison chuckles.

“Yeah, but you should see him when he walks into the bar with his freaking bike helmet on.” Stella fans her face.

“Ohhhh, so you are into Lucas!” I squeal and clap my hands, but she proceeds to spit her wine and shake her hand.

“Oh, no, no, no. Lucas is great, nice guy. I can appreciate he is, well, man meat, for sure. Edible, by any standards, I’m sure men switch teams just for him?—”

“I like you.” I point at Stella and she smirks, looking to her lap shyly.

“But it’s platonic. He was my first close friend in the city and that’s all it’s really been. I couldn’t be interested if I tried, honestly.”

Ugh, boring.

“Okay, can we pause interrogation and eat this freaking pasta! I am starving,” Addison begs, and we chuckle, diving into the bowls and pasta.

Sitting back in my cushion, I look to the girls, and it feels…nice to have them back here. Even better that we added a person to our little group.

Something like warmth spreads over my chest. This is all the family I’ll ever need, I’m sure of it.

“So, do you remember Dave?” Halle’s sickly sweet voice hits me from where she is skipping up the escalator of our building, meeting me at the coffee stand.

“You mean your buildings super?” I turn to look at her and note the lollipop hanging out the side of her mouth, which gleamed a smile, sharp and knowing. She slurps and pops the lollipop out of her mouth.

“Uh-huh. He stayed over.” She waggles her eyebrows, hitting me with her devious smile.

“You fucked your super?!” I whisper-shout my shock, and she descends into giggles.

“Girl, I told you he was packing.”

“But he’s your super!” I cringe and give her my look of disgust.

“Rosie, your rich girl is showing.” I give her my best are you serious? stare before taking the coffees from the barista.

“That was not a rich-girl reaction. That was a normal woman’s reaction because the dude is like forty. Isn’t he a dad?”

“Not his kids. Turns out they are his ex’s kids,” she provides, taking her coffee from my hand while still sucking on her fucking lollipop.

I turn and stare blankly at her. “He told you that?” She nods. “He told you his ex’s kids were not his…and you believed him?” I give her the eyes that should hopefully communicate the common sense she seems to have skipped over.

“Wait…no.” She shakes her head.

“Yes.”

“No…what man would lie about that?” Oh dear.

“Halle, babes. A man who wants to fuck a tall, hot bimbo with 32DDs. Not to mention, he is in your apartment all the time to fix that broken bathroom pipe. How often do you pack away your bedside toys or hide the lingerie in the bathroom?” I give her another look and she turns pale.

“ No, ” she whispers.

“Yes.” I dip my head with regretful confirmation.

“Dammit,” she scolds herself and tosses her lollipop in the bin as we make our way to the elevators. “He was a great lay too. Ugh, men. Why do they have to… men all the time?”

“Beats me, girl.”

“So, how’s things with the bread maker?”

“Huh?” The elevator dings on our level and Halle holds her tongue until we are past reception and making our way to our cubicles.

“You know, Mr. Thirteen, the baker’s dozen?”

“Ugh, you’re gross.”