Page 139 of Playing Dirty

Ah, fuck.

“I mean, they didn’t know it was him until that day we were onFaceTime in St. Louis.” I run my tongue along my teeth and mutter, “Please don’t be mad.”

It takes a second, but a hellish grin creeps over his face. “Only if you don’t get mad that I called your denial from the very beginning.”

How did I know this would come up?

“You’re an insufferable know-it-all, and I have no clue how Holden puts up with you,” I say with a laugh. “Seriously, though. You’re really not mad about all this?”

His brow lifts. “Would it be enough to make you stop seeing him if I was?”

No.

The gut reaction is immediate, and my attention drops to the counter as I shake my head the slightest bit.

“Then why are you asking?” He gives me a gentle smile before adding, “If you’re happy, that’s all I really care about. Even if your happiness makes you a traitor to everything Leighton stands for.”

I let out a groan, which quickly mixes with a laugh. “And the rest of the guys? Are they pissed?”

“T, the only thing everyone cares about is that you’re okay.”

“Seriously?”

“Okay, Wy is a little peeved that this whole” —he motions around wildly— “secret affair probably ruined our chances for City Rivals now that you’re out of commission. But besides that, no.”

“Well, they can blame the truck driver for that one.”

“Wouldn’t have been in the car if you weren’t living out that sexy stepbro fantasy,” he reminds me.

“Yet another thing I’m never gonna live down,” I mumble under my breath.

“Oh, believe me. The ribbing has just begun if you’re gonna be totinghim around the house until our lease is up,” he threatens playfully, a smirk resting on his lips. “Not to mention, if they end up finding our goddamn pennant because he’s on campus all the time, I’m going to lose my shit.”

“I don’t think you need to worry about that,” I say slowly.

Phoenix’s brows draw together, and he stares at me like I’ve just told him to solve a quantum physics equation in his head.

“Why would you…” He trails off, his brown eyes becoming large enough to pop out of his damn skull. “You know where it is, don’t you?”

I reach down and pat the duffle bag sitting on the stool beside me.

He blinks, his gaze darting between the bag and my face at supersonic speed. I think I’ve stunned him into silence until he finally manages a choked, “Oh my God. You’re serious.”

“You should know by now, there’s nothing I take more seriously than the Penny Play,” I tease before motioning toward the bag. “Go ahead, see for yourself.”

Phoenix is around the island in half a second, his fingers clasping the zipper before he’s even finished pulling the bag up onto the counter. But he pauses for a second, a brief flicker of distrust crossing his features while he narrows his eyes at me.

“If this is a trick, I will never—”

“Just shut up and look.”

He’s a damn kid on Christmas morning, yanking the bag open as fast as possible as soon as it’s unzipped.

And there it is: the Blackmore championship pennant.

At least what’s left of it after being shredded by metal and glass. There’s a pretty massive blood stain on it too, courtesy of yours truly, but nowhere in the rules is something like a car accident accounted for so…

Phoenix pulls it out of the bag and runs his fingers over thefabric. He slowly spreads it out over the countertop, as if not trusting it’s really the pennant until he sees it in its entirety. But then the Blackmore logo appears, and he looks up at me in awe.