Page 57 of Playing Dirty

“You always cave so easily.”

“Because I know how to pick my battles, and this gossip is too juicy for you to go without,” I say on a scoff.

Miles presses his hand to his chest, feigning a sweet innocence he doesn’t really possess. “It’s only taken you years to truly understand me. I’m glad we’ve reached this point in our relationship.”

“I also know you well enough to realize you have an opinion you’re dying to not keep to yourself. So say what you gotta say, jackass. Then we can both move on with our lives.”

“You say that like I’m gonna lecture you. Which I wasn’t planning—”

“Good, because we both know you have no leg to stand on,” I cut in, arching a brow.

His lips twitch and he nods. “Yes, exactly. But I do want to make sure you’re sure this is a good idea.” For the first time all morning, his expression becomes more somber. “I’m your best friend, man. And, I mean, taking out the whole stepbrother and school rivalry part, he’s stillsaid some really fucked-up shit to you.Aboutyou too.”

There’s a beat where I have to swallow down the knot forming in my throat, but it does no good, my response coming out raw and grated anyway.

“Yeah, I know.”

“Then as your best friend—who has never once been the voice of reason—I’m gonna ask you again: Do you think this is a good idea?”

I shake my head. “Not in the slightest.”

But I’m long past the point of pretending like I don’t feel something for him. That hasn’t been an option for a long time—since before I ever knew the way he tasted or the sounds he makes when he comes. Even if I didn’t realize it at the time.

My best friend—though I’m seriously reconsidering that title at the moment—leans back against the counter beside the sink. From his body language alone, eyes staring intently and a slight cock of his head, it’s obvious he’s locked in on the conversation now. And more importantly, he’s not going anywhere until he’s satisfied he’s gotten all the answers.

“Was it just a lapse in judgment? I mean, the last I heard, he left you stranded at the ski resort.”

I roll my eyes, both at his exaggeration and his inability to understand whatI don’t want to talk about itmeans.

“I wasn’tstranded. Mom and Adam were still there.”

He waves me off. “Dress it up however you want, he left you there without a word. So catching him mid-walk of shame out of your bedroom was a plot twist I didn’t see coming.”

Miles’s brown eyes study me, waiting for an answer I really don’t wanna give. Not because of lack of trust, but because I know how stupid it was to let Theo into my bed last night. But to admit it’s not the first time I’ve tasted him? That I’ve fallen into this ploy, driven by lust and desire alone, morethan once?

He’s going to have a hayday with that information.

But regardless, I find myself releasing a long, drawn-out sigh before handing it over anyway.

“We kind of…hooked up in Vermont.”

A slow grin creeps over his face, the one he wears whenever he knows he was right about something, and it instantly irritates me. But not as much as him announcing, “I totally called that.”

“Bullshit you did.”

He rolls his eyes. “Obviously I wasn’t certain, but I had a feelingsomethinghappened between the two of you. Specifically, something that involved using your mouths for more than just picking fights.”

That’s one way of putting it.

“Yeah, well…that’s why he left me ‘stranded,’” I say, using air quotes around the last word. “He had a mild freak-out and bolted.”

His face draws up in a wince. “Oof. That’s…”

“Messy?” I supply, feeling something of a grimace painting itself on my lips too.

“I was gonna go with fucked-up, but messy works too.”

His ridiculous summation is more accurate than I’d like, but I refuse to give him the satisfaction. Not that he really gives me the chance, because he immediately dives into his next inquiry.