Page 70 of Twisted Play (Cruel Games #1)

“Coach?” Tristan asked quietly, and cracks formed in my heart. “Are you sure she’s okay? She’s not in her room either.”

The men stood silently, and I slowly sat up, clutching the blanket to my chest, terrified of the pain I was about to cause all three of them.

“Do you have someone in there?” Tristan asked, his voice teasing, but Cole was already pushing past Alek, shoving into the room like he owned it.

He stopped dead when he saw me sitting on the couch, my shoulders bare, and my hair a mess from sleep and Alek’s fingers.

“Eva?” His gaze flew between me and Alek, his expression shifting from relief to confusion to wild and hurt and completely out of control. “What are you doing here?”

“Why are you naked?” Tristan added, his voice smaller, wounded in a way that made my chest ache.

I looked at Alek, panic clawing up my throat. How did one introduce one’s blackmailers to each other? How could I explain?

“Come in,” Alek said dryly, shutting the door behind them. He grabbed a button-down shirt from a nearby chair and tossed it to me.

I slipped it on quickly, not bothering to hide the way I breathed in his scent—spicy and comforting in a way that made my chest tight.

“What the fuck is going on?” Cole demanded, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.

“You will speak respectfully to her, or you will not speak at all,” Alek snapped, and butterflies exploded in my stomach.

When had anyone ever defended me?

Cole looked abashed for half a second, then turned that heated stare back on me. I could see the hurt bleeding through his anger, the way his whole body was coiled with tension.

“Eva, why are you naked in Coach’s room? ”

Because I’m falling apart. Because your blackmail is destroying me, and I needed to quiet the panic. Because I’m sick and fucked up and I crave his control as much as I crave your cruelty.

“I’m sure there’s an explanation,” Tristan said quietly, wrapping his arm around Cole’s waist. But his eyes were hurt too, confused I’d left them without a word.

“Are you cheating on us with fucking Coach?” Cole asked.

“Or are you cheating on Coach with us?” Tristan added.

I said nothing, shivering under the combined weight of their stares, about to shatter into a thousand pieces.

If I told the guys that Alek was using me too, they’d lose their minds.

If I told Alek that Cole and Tristan were blackmailing me, he’d explode.

And if I told any of them what I’d already done for Carter?—

Cole swore softly, his tone vicious and hurt.

“Don’t,” Alek said, his voice sharp.

“Aren’t you angry she was cheating on you?” Cole snapped.

I jerked back as if slapped. How dare he?

Alek chuckled, one side of his mouth tilting up in a rueful smile. “Do you think there’s a single person involved with the team who didn’t know you were fucking Eva?”

I winced, hating that he’d reduced my relationship with Cole and Tristan to such simple terms, true or not.

“Is that how you got the job, Eva? Any other perks come with fucking the coach?”

My lower lip trembled at Cole’s cruelty, twice as hurtful because I’d been blackmailed into applying for the job and then had to trade sexual favors to get it.

“Why does everyone blame women for sleeping their way to the top, and not the men who withhold opportunities until women fuck them?” I said.

Tristan’s eyes widened, and his gaze ping-ponged between me and Coach. “Eva, are you saying?—?”

“I’m here because I want to be,” I interrupted, unwilling to watch the relationship between these men unravel as they discovered all my secrets. “And you can stay, or you can go, but this—” this has nothing to do with our deal , “—this is for me.”

My gaze flicked to Alek’s, pleading. Please don’t make me go. Please give me this one thing.

“That goes for you too, Sir.”

I could see the thought in the amused quirk of his lips—that this was his room, that if anyone was leaving, it would be me. Then his expression softened.

“All right, malyshka. Your rules.”

Relief made me weak, but it was short-lived.

“That wasn’t our deal,” Cole said through gritted teeth.

Tristan smacked him on the back of the head even as Alek’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

“What deal?” Alek asked, his voice dropping to that tone that meant someone was about to be in serious trouble.

“That’s right, Cole,” Tristan said with false cheer. “What deal?”

The silence stretched, heavy with unspoken secrets.

Cole scoffed, his jaw ticking with barely controlled fury. “This doesn’t change anything.”

I could feel Alek’s protectiveness ramping up, could see him putting together pieces of a puzzle that would destroy everything. But what choice did I have? Tomorrow it would all come out anyway. Tomorrow they’d know exactly what kind of person I really was.

I reached out and threaded my fingers through Cole’s, bringing his hand to my face. His skin was warm, familiar, and I pressed a soft kiss to his palm.

“Give me this weekend,” I whispered, my voice breaking. “No questions.” Even though I knew all I really had was tonight.

Cole’s expression cracked, and the pain in his eyes broke me a little bit more. “Eva, I can’t.”

Alek laid a heavy hand on Cole’s shoulder. “You can’t what? Respect your sub’s wishes?”

My eyes flew to Alek’s. Was that what I was?

His submissive? Their submissive? Longing, as unexpected as it was intense, settled in my soul.

If only it were true. The thought of sinking into their safety arrowed through me, imagining turning off the motor in my head because I could trust that all three of them would care for me.

They would only care as long as my secrets stayed secret.

“Cole,” Tristan said quietly, moving behind him, wrapping his arms around Cole’s waist and hooking his chin over Cole’s shoulder, their cheeks pressed together. “Remember when I said I’d take her any way I could have her?”

My eyes shot to Tristan’s, but his gaze was trained on his best friend.

“I meant it,” Tristan continued.

Cole closed his eyes.

“Please,” I whispered before I could stop myself. Give me one night.

He swallowed hard then slid a hand over my cheek and down to my throat, his expression not softening one bit as he tightened his fingers—a threat and a promise. “All right, sparrow. But this changes nothing after this weekend.”

Lies.

Tristan settled to one side of me on the couch as Alek’s hand found my hair again, his hip practically touching Cole’s.

This changes everything.

But tonight—tonight, I had all three of them. Tonight, I could pretend a dead phone, floors below us, sitting on Cole’s dresser, didn’t hide evidence of my betrayal.

Tonight, I deserved this.

And that was the biggest lie of all.