Page 97 of Twisted Play

With a sharp nod, Violetta led the way out of the lecture hall, only to stop abruptly when she saw my—I didn’t know what to call Tristan and Cole, actually.

Boyfriends? No.

Lovers? Be still my heart.

Owners? Fuck that.

“Sparrow,” Cole purred, his eyes dragging up and down my body, catching on the hemline of my shorts, up my hips and my waist, through my torso, and then snagging again on the way my t-shirt hugged my breasts. His eyes darkened, and he licked his lips, utterly unaware of how obscene it was. Or maybe he knew exactly how it made my body light up with equal parts desire and shame. “You look good.”

A group of women passed by, gorgeous, confident, and looking at us like they didn’t quite understand why Cole was paying me so much attention.

Suddenly, desperately, I needed to prove them wrong, needed to wrest back control. Cole fucking Carter was looking at me like he wanted to eat me for lunch. I straightened and eyed him with the same hungry look. Stress relief sounded fucking great right now.

He leaned against the wall, one foot against it with his knee bent, his arms crossed over his chest, a cruel smile painted over his features. Tristan smiled, his entire facelighting up like he was happy to see me, like it had before this dark deal began. My chest ached at the memory of his warmth, now tainted by blackmail.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Cole continued.

“Lunch,” I said, looking him up and down with the same boldness he looked at me with, maintaining my facade of confidence, even as anxiety clawed at my insides.

His lips tilted up and, fuck, butterflies went wild in my stomach.

“Eat with us,” he said, shoving off the wall.

Violetta’s gaze ping-ponged between the three of us, but she didn’t leave my side. Instead, she twined her fingers in mine.

“Good morning, boys,” she said. Everyone in the group chat knew we’d hooked up over the weekend, but they didn’t know I’d agreed to let these assholes do whatever they wanted to my body in exchange for keeping my secrets.

Cole’s gaze raked over her body, and I hated the tight feeling it left in my chest, my confidence plunging as quickly as it’d come.

“Nice to see you again, Violetta,” Tristan said, offering his hand to shake like the biggest, most adorable dork in the world.

Cole grunted then turned his gaze back to me, scorching me with its heat, and all of a sudden, that confidence was back.

Violetta hummed, ignoring the tension. “You’re welcome to join us for lunch,” she said.

Tristan lifted my tote bag off my shoulder, then wrapped his arm around my waist, stroking his fingers over my hip before dragging me against him. “I love those shorts,” he murmured into my hair. “Like I could slide my fingers right up them and see how wet your pussy is for me.”

Shocked, I looked up at him, only for the pressure of his arm on my back to move me forward.

“Please don’t,” I breathed. “She doesn’t know.”

“Doesn’t know what, kitten?” The bitterness in Tristan’s voice broke my heart. He hadn’t asked for this, and Cole had dragged him in—and I wasn’t strong enough to say no, just like I wasn’t strong enough to say no to Alek or Carter. My skin felt too tight, like my secrets might burst out of me at any moment.

“Stop it,” I breathed as his fingers tugged into my hip.

“Does she not know we’re fucking? That you looked at Cole like you were desperate for him to find an empty classroom and bend you over the professor’s desk?”

Oh.Oh.I’d hurt his feelings. “Both of you,” I whispered, turning my face into his chest so the words wouldn’t carry.

“What’s that?”

“I was desperate for both of you,” I repeated, heat rising to my cheeks, humiliated he was making me repeat it.

Tristan just hummed. “Too bad you’re not in charge here.”

“If that ain’t the fuckin’ truth,” I muttered to myself, pleased when it startled a delighted laugh out of him. For just a moment, I entertained the fantasy that we were a normal couple, held together by affection and not blackmail.

Behind me, Cole chatted with Vi, but I never forgot for a moment the way his gaze trained on my ass, eating me up with every step forward. I tamped down on the self-consciousness as my thighs rubbed together. He wanted me. They both wanted me. As I was.