“Just be careful.” Atticus leaned against her, his words just for them. “I don’t want you to get in over your head.” He paused, mulling something over, before whispering in her ear. “Does Ivy know?”
Sammie’s heart sank, and that pride morphed into guilt. “I haven’t… no, she doesn’t know.”
“Are you going to tell her?”
She shook her head. “I’m afraid it will hurt her.”
Atticus frowned. “She’s your best friend, Sammie. I think keeping something this big a secret from her will hurt her more.”
His words were an echo of the ones that had been quietly ringing in the back of her mind for days. “I’m just trying to respect her feelings!”
“Oh, come on.” Her brother rolled his eyes. “You don’t know if Kai’s right, if she actually evenhasfeelings for you. Get over yourself.”
“You’re an ass.” Sammie shoved him off her.
“Down B!” Bowen was shouting now, and Kai had stood quietly from the chair he’d been crouched in, stepping closer to the television. “Ivy, down B before he hits you again!”
Lightning split the screen, slicing right through Marth as Pikachu fell toward the bottom of the stage. Kai slumped back into his chair as his character was shot off into the distance, just in time for Ivy to steal the win. She jumped up with a rowdy whoop, high-fiving Bowen.
“This is the first time I’ve ever seen him lose,” Atticus said wistfully. “He’s so cute when he pouts.”
“Gross.” Sammie pushed her brother further away. “Go comfort him in his defeat.”
Atticus rose with a chuckle, planting himself on the arm of Kai’s chair, ruffling his hair and earning a scowl that held no heat.
They were happy, her brother and Kai. As much as Sammie enjoyed teasing him, she was glad Atticus had found someone who loved him back just as much.
“I’m gonna sit the next one out.” Ivy sank back onto the couch, pale cheeks rosy with leftover excitement.
“You in, Sammie?” Eric asked from the floor, loading up another round. She shook her head. Watching everyone crash out as they lost to Ivy or Kai was more fun than actually playing.
“So.” Ivy leaned close, taking a long drink from her water bottle. “You. Kieran. What’s the deal?”
Sammie’s mind went blank. How the fuck did Ivyknow?
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The lie fell out of Sammie before she could think better of it.
Ivy shrugged. Her hair was down from her usual ponytail, dark frizzy curls that she never bothered to style fell past her shoulders, crowding around her face. Her eyes bored into Sammie as she tucked her hair behind her ears. “In the team chat, Kieran asked if you’d be here tonight. The guys were giving him a hard time about it. Just thought maybe he’d said something to you.”
Oh. So she didn’t knowknow. She just thought something normal, something decidedly not porn-related, might be going on between Sammie and Kieran.
“No.” Well, now Sammiehadto stick with the lie. “There’s nothing going on between us.” Fuck, she was a terrible liar. It didn’t suit her. Sammie could already feel sweat pricking the back of her neck, heat washing over her cheeks.
Ivy watched her for a long moment, and Sammie wished in those few seconds that shedidbelieve in a god just so she’d havesomeoneto pray to for salvation. “Well…” Ivy let the word drag out, chewing on her thoughts. She glanced away, toward the group of men caught up in another game. Kieran was already out, thrown off screen by someone’s Kirby. He was still watching the game, but occasionally he would glance Sammie’s way. The heat of his gaze burned her, even as she tried to ignore it. “Maybe he’s going to ask you out.”
Ivy’s words were like a bucket of ice water dumped over Sammie’s head.
“That’s not happening.” That much wasn’t a lie. Kieran had made it clear that he didn’t want more than friendship with Sammie, and that what they were doing together was justbusiness. The contract that he’d slipped to her when he’d first arrived at Atticus’ door was proof of that much.
“Never say never,” Ivy said with a shrug, reaching up to finally tie her hair back.
Sammie didn’t know what to think, what to believe. Maybe Atticus was right, maybe she really was overthinking Ivy’s feelings. Maybe she was being unfair, making assumptions. Maybe she reallyshouldjust give in and confide in her friend.
It was there, on the tip of her tongue. She could just do it, just let everything that was happening with Kieran spill out of her, consequences be damned. Ivy was her friend before anything. Surely that meant more than any love lost between them?
“Ivy, please!” Bowen was suddenly there, kneeling before them. “You’re the only one who can keep Kai from killing us all, we don’t stand a chance without you.” He was giving her his best puppy dog eyes, jutting his bottom lip out in a pout. Ivy rolled her eyes, but picked up her controller.
“Okay boys,” she said, and the moment for Sammie to confess slipped away as the game’s musical score swelled. Ivy was locked in, ready to keep playing, and Kai looked as though he could beat her by sheer force of will, his stare glued to the screen as Atticus played with his hair. “Let’s take him down.”
