Page 138 of Wanna Play A Game?

I steel myself. I won’t let Cali go anywhere. She can say all kinds of stupid things, but I’llmakeher fall for us. She might think she has a choice, but that’s the farthest from the truth.

“Cali, let’s go!” Miles shouts and hits the edge of the tank.

Cali glances at me with a small smile, and my tough guy act fades. Lord, Iwanther to want me. How fucked up is that? I’m the biggest glutton for punishment I’ve ever met.

“They’re pretty,” she says softly.

For a second, jealousy runs through me. I want to be able to make her smile like that.

I grab Cali’s chin and tilt her face toward me. She smiles again, but this time, it’s at me, and my heart nearly stops. I lean down to kiss her, brushing my lips to hers. She responds, flicking her tongue out.

And that’s when I taste the alcohol.

It hits me like a bucket of cold water. Suddenly, I’m frozen, and it’s not me and Cali anymore. I’m thrown back to the times my mom would force me to take a shot before sucking off her John’s. My mom’s voice is here, her voice deep from years of smoking.Falling for the girl? How predictable, son. I thought I taught you to play a better game than this.

I stare at Cali, my ears ringing. She looks confused.

My mom’s voice comes crystal clear right by my ear.This whore doesn’t want you. She’s playing you so she can get what she wants and run. All women are the same, Sawyer. They could never love you.

Fuck! My ears ring. My mom can’t be here. She can’t be here right now. I haven’t heard her in so long. I thought she was gone.

Suddenly, I can hear everything all at once. Shouting, my mom laughing, metal banging. A form pushes past me.

I sit back, trying to focus. The alcohol is still in my mouth. Fuck, it’s still in my mouth. I scramble to get down the ladder and barely make it before I hurl everything beside the tank. I’m puking so hard that I can barely breathe. My body shakes, and tears come out of my eyes.

Fuck, why was Cali drinking?

Pure pain cuts through my chest and squeezes until I can’t breathe.

She’s not your mother, Sawyer. She’s not.

I shake my head, my chest tight.

Where did she get the alcohol from?

I can still taste it. Flashbacks roll across my vision. Scene after scene, smell after smell, sound after sound. As fast as they come, I try to push them away. I grip the gravel so hard it digs into my palms.

A rock skitters in front of me, and I glance up. Ryder looks down at me, his gaze concerned. He doesn’t say anything and just holds out a hand to help me up.

I stand, looking around and heaving in a shuddering breath.

“We took care of the trail and the tarp,” Ryder says softly.

I smell alcohol on him, too.

I snap my gaze to his, suddenly focused. “Did you give it to her?” My chest gets tight again. I know Ryder drinks, but it’s on occasion, and he always tells me so I can avoid him if I need to.

He crosses his arms.

I shove his huge shoulders. “Did you give it to her, fucker?”

“If you must know, she demanded it.”

Red-hot anger burns under my skin. He allowed it. Not only did he allow it, he didn’t tell me about it.

“Oh, so you just what,hadto give it to her? The tiny woman with no weapon and no leverage?” I clench my fists. Ryder did this on purpose. He’s trying to get between us.

And that makes me murderously angry.