The Punk and the Plaything (When Rivals Play #3) - B.B. Reid Page 0,126

in her back pocket. The only things I had left to give were my balls and my ego. I’d needed the former to tell her that I loved her, but after she hadn’t said it back, the latter was now in serious need of repair.

I lost my train of thought, staring at Bee’s ass as she climbed into the front passenger seat. I can wait a little longer. Ever started to follow Four and Vaughn into the back seat when I stopped him.

“What’s up?” he asked after following me out of hearing distance of the Jeep.

“I wanted to thank you for being there for Bee when I was… being an idiot.”

I wouldn’t make the excuse that I couldn’t have known. Bee had just been betrayed by the two people she trusted above all to protect her. Of course, she was afraid to tell me what was happening. She’d felt ashamed and utterly alone, and I’d selfishly piled all of my feelings on top of hers as if they’d mattered more. If I had been more patient and less a puppet to my emotions, she would have come to me—eventually. Instead of waiting, I pushed her away and shut her out. The way I’d handled things made me think Bee was on to something.

If you knew the match you were holding wouldn’t just flame but would start a fire so wild nothing on earth could tame it, would you light it?

Too often, I’d given in to my emotions. If I had known Bee’s fate back then, I might have taken her and ran. How far would a thirteen- and fourteen-year-old have gotten? It couldn’t have been very far. Or maybe I would have stayed and started a war with her father that I couldn’t win. They were two possibilities with the same tragic ending.

Bee could try to shoulder the blame all she wanted, but for the rest of our lives together, the burden of those five years we lost would be mine and mine alone to carry.

“I’m not going to say you’re welcome because I didn’t do it for you,” Ever replied. “I did it for Bee, and I didn’t give a shit how you felt about it.”

I simply stared at him for a few seconds. Four had turned him into such a sap that sometimes I forget how huge a prick my cousin could be.

“If you say so.” I knew Ever well enough to know he’d been torn. However, my feelings for Bee wouldn’t allow me to be upset over the fact that Ever had been willing to sacrifice our relationship to protect her. She’d always come first. “Just tell me one thing,” I demanded.

“What?” he growled irritably.

“Whose idea was it for the two of you to kiss that night?” I asked, referring to the Halloween I’d caught them about to kiss.

“Mine.”

I pinned him with my stare for the longest time but never once did his golden gaze waver. Bee had given me the exact same answer when I asked her. Knowing they were protecting each other from losing me forever, I accepted the fact that I’d never know, and maybe it was for the best. The only truth that mattered now was knowing neither of them harbored secret feelings.

“Gee, thanks, man. I hope I can do the same for you someday.”

Ever’s sour expression almost folded me in half.

Thanks to those two and their “bright ideas,” I now knew how Four looked naked, how she liked to be fucked, and the sounds she made when she came. Of course, that meant Ever now knew the same about Bee.

I started to knock his teeth down his throat on general principle when the sound of a car approaching stole our attention. I sighed when a silver BMW came into view. The windows were tinted, but I already knew who was inside.

“Before we go, there’s one more thing I need you to do for me.”

Ever didn’t respond as he watched the car door open, and the driver stepped out. “What the hell is Portland doing here?” Ever snapped.

Jason was watching us warily as he slowly made his way over. He had every right to be cautious, especially with the way Ever was tracking his every move.

“He’s here to talk.”

“Talk? Talk about what? You do know he’s the one who told Elliot where Bee was on graduation day?”

I clapped his shoulder. “Then I won’t have to explain the split lip.”

Jason stood in front of us now with his shoulders hunched forward and his hands