Page 68 of The Game You Play (Rixon Raiders 2)

Probably a whole lot more than he’d ever admit.

“So what’s the plan? Try and talk me into giving her a shot and then you hang back in the wings waiting for me to screw it up and swoop in and fix her broken heart?”

It was a joke. An attempt to wipe the smug smile off his face. But it backfired because the second the words left my mouth, I realized it was probably true. I would screw it up and he would be there, waiting to wipe away her tears.

“Admit that you like her, and I’ll back off,” he said. “I know it kills you seeing me flirt with her.”

“You’ve lost your fucking mind.” I barged past him and kept walking. Asher didn’t know the first thing about what I felt.

Dammit, I didn’t even know.

“Jase, man, when are you going to stop and pull your head out of your ass?”

Stopping, I glanced back, eyes narrowed to slits.

“She won’t wait forever.” He just wouldn’t stop pushing. “And yeah, maybe I will be around to help her forget all about you. Then what? You just gonna sit by and watch me move in on your girl?”

My girl?

It shouldn’t have sounded so damn good.

“You’d choose her over me?” I deflected his slip of the tongue.

“What are we, five?” He ran

a hand down his face. “All I’m saying is, you’d better figure out what you want because I’m sure there are plenty of other guys just waiting to take your place.”

“Is that a threat, Bennet?” I stood taller, irritation rippling up my spine.

“You’re a dick, you know that?”

“Never claimed to be anything else.”

“Just don’t destroy her, man. She’s strong but she’s not that strong.” He moved around me, not sparing me a backward glance, while I was left standing there wondering when life got so complicated.

The answer as clear as day.

Felicity fucking Giles.

I was done waiting.

The plan was simple—lure Felicity into meeting me and fuck her clean out of my head. Because Asher was right, she was under my skin. Burying herself deeper and deeper. She’d been the one to tell me she wouldn’t play my games, yet it felt like she was running circles around me. And for as much as I wanted her, wanted to taste her lips again, to soak up the quiet that existed whenever she was around; deep down, I knew this thing between us could never work.

Me: Tonight. You, me, and every item on your list you haven’t completed.

Felicity: I never had you down as a dog lover…

Me: WTF?

Felicity: Nothing, forget I said anything.

Me: You’re so fucking strange.

Felicity: So you like to keep reminding me.

Shit. Not the best way to score brownie points. Considering my reply, I went with the truth, for once.

Me: What if I told you, I like your brand of strange?