He laughed. “A step in the right direction. Usually, you say you’ll kill me yourself.”
She shrugged. “Suppose I chicken out? If I told Diesel or Daddy to kill you because you hurt me, I’d guarantee your death.”
He hugged her again. “Then, babe, you’re stuck with me forever.”
April 6th
The moment Rebel escorted Jana to the clubhouse’s backyard, she knew they’d overdressed, but instead of going home to put on a bathing suit, Rebel guided Jana to an empty table on the perimeter of the volleyball court. For those who wanted music and anything other than beer, they could go inside to enjoy the DJ and the bar. That’s where the Terrible Triplets had parked themselves.
Taking a seat, Rebel looked at one of the kegs with longing, but since Momma and Daddy were on a date, and Diesel was a fucking cyclops, she didn’t press her luck.
“I’m here, Diesel,” Jana called, drawing Kaia, CJ, and Torrin’s attention, though the man she loved so much didn’t look her way. He was too busy laughing with a circle of bitches to notice his fiancée.
Rebel rolled her eyes.
Dejected, Jana stumbled past the chair Rebel pointed to and plopped on one of the blankets on the ground.
Kaia jogged over and nodded to Jana before smiling at Rebel. “Hey, babe.”
Rebel kissed Kaia’s cheek. “Hey,” she said “Ready to beat Diesel?”
He laughed. “Always.”
“CJ is really competitive when he plays any game against Diesel,” Rebel explained. “Follow his lead and you’ll be fine.”
“Do the other guys follow what CJ does?”
Rebel glanced at the guys on both sides of the net. CJ’s team included him, Kaia, Grant, Bishop, Kenny, Kayce, and Ryan. Rory and Devon sat on the sidelines, probably as substitutes or as rotation players. Diesel’s team was made up of him, Torrin, Narci, Huck, Seven, Zephyr, Pike, and Potter.
“Your team’s short by one,” she said. “You don’t have enough players on the sidelines.”
“We invited some of our other friends, but no one showed up,” Kaia said.
“Diesel’s a dirty fucking player,” she warned, getting to her feet and nodding toward the guys. “I have an idea.”
“You always do,” he said with another smile and grabbed her hand, escorting her to CJ. “Reb has an idea on our dilemma.”
CJ drank from the bottle of beer he held. “I already know what it is and even if you enter the game, we still wouldn’t have ten players, Reb.”
“But we would have nine,” Ryan said. “Reb’s a good player.
“If Reb’s playing, why not ask Jana to join in, Kaia?” Devon called, drawing everyone’s attention.
“Only girls without tops and in thongs can play, Reb,” Torrin said, smirking. “Sorry, babe.”
The mocking laughter annoyed her. Tuning them out, she looked at CJ. “It’s up to you, brother—”
“As well as me,” Diesel barked. “Since I organized the game.”
“Yeah, well, send one of your fucking players to CJ’s team, fuckface, to make it even.”
“I vote to let Rebel play,” Ryan said, and glanced in Jana’s direction. “You, too.”
“I don’t play sports,” Jana croaked.
Since this was a losing battle, Rebel huffed and stomped back to the table.
Without warning, Fia, Tauriel, and seven other club girls sat at Rebel’s table ninety minutes later, a bunch of topless heifers she really didn’t want near her. Why the fuck was she being hit with every situation that required maturity? She really enjoyed being a spoiled brat because the high road was so fucking exhausting.
