Pranked (74 page)

Wyatt seemed to only be half-listening. He was still checking out the petite blonde, his eyes narrowed as if memorizing every aspect of her. “Wonder what the hell they’re doin’ here.”

“Yeah, thought they were, like… insular, or some shit. Isolationist,” Reid said. That surprised me. I didn’t think he knew a damn thing about anything that existed outside the sphere of things that directly involved him.

“They are,” I replied. “Normally. But here they are.” I tipped back my tumbler, knocking back the remainder of my whiskey. “Why don’t we go ask them?”

Reid snorted at me derisively. “What, just like that? Aren’t they über-religious, or something? They’re not gonna fall for some cheesy pick-up line like ‘What’s a girl like you doing in a place like this?’ Do they even speak English?”

Ah, and there it was—Reid’s competitive streak. The one I’d been banking on. I stood up. “Good question. I think I’m gonna find out.”

Wyatt turned to me, his brow furrowed, incredulous. “You’re serious? Reid’s right. Girls like that, they’re…” He paused, regarding his chosen again. “…out of our league. Shit, they’re playing a whole different game.”

Reid’s lip curled. “Speak for yourself.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Wyatt snapped. “But look at ‘em. Except for the tall one, they look like goddamn nuns. We’d be barkin’ up the wrong tree.”

I chuckled, finger-combing my hair. “Maybe you two losers would be. But not me.” I flashed Reid my most shit-eating grin. “I don’t strike out.”

I saw Reid tighten his jaw. “That’s because you don’t swing for the stands,” he sneered, “or the curve balls. You take the low, slow pitch every time.”

I lifted my brows in an infuriating show of mock concern. “What’s wrong, Reid? You afraid of a little competition? Does it piss you off that I could walk over there, right now, and have all three girls eating out of the palm of my hand, just like that?” When I snapped my fingers, I made sure to do it close to Reid’s face. If that didn’t get him, nothing would.

“Fuck off,” he hissed, standing up so fast he damn near knocked over his chair. “There’s a lot of words I’d use to describe you, Ash, but ‘competition’ isn’t one of them.”

Bingo. I had my brother exactly where I wanted him. Part of me almost felt bad for playing him this way—but fuck it, Reid was kind of a douche. He deserved to get knocked down a few pegs.

“Oh, really?” I said as coolly as I could manage. It was hard not to break into a triumphant smile. “Don’t suppose you’d care to bet on it?”

“On what?” Wyatt asked, turning his attention to us again. “On all three of them?”

Finally, I’d picked up the last piece of the puzzle I needed to get us all involved in the arrangement I’d made with Hannah. Sure, this was a shitty way to do it, but it was working spectacularly. And with how easily I’d drawn them into my plans, I was sure I could monitor each of them to ensure nobody got hurt. Least of all those poor girls.

Hey, I never said Reid was the only one who was too damn cocky for his own good.

“Nah, that’d be way too hard for you two,” I answered. “We’ll go for one each. Whoever gets one of those three girls into bed first, wins.” It sounded absurd the moment I said it, and yet Reid leapt at the opportunity.

“Wins what?” he asked.

I shrugged disinterestedly. “Respect. Bragging rights. Shit, if it’s you, Reid, I won’t call you a pussy for a whole year. How’s that sound? If you don’t, though, it’s
all
I’m gonna call you. Same goes for if you don’t take the bet.”

Reid scoffed. “You can’t possibly be serious.”

I looked him dead in his eyes. “I’m dead serious.
Pussy.
”

He ran a hand through his hair and glanced back at the bar. I could tell he was thinking on it. And I knew what conclusion he’d eventually come to. He’d take me up on this ridiculous wager—his pride wouldn’t have it any other way. It didn’t matter that it was juvenile and stupid and just plain wrong. All that mattered was that there was something in it for him. And I knew that would be enough.

“Whatever,” he grumbled at length. “I call dibs on the one with the freckles.”

“The tall one,” I said quickly—maybe too quickly, in retrospect, but I didn’t want Wyatt getting any ideas, “in normal chick clothes.” I turned to my youngest brother. “What about you, Wyatt? You in?”

“Deck seems kinda stacked, doesn’t it?” he answered warily, but his gaze was locked on the blue-eyed girl. “I mean, we get the nuns, you get the normal one. The fuck’s up with that?”

“I have it on good authority she’s a tough nut to crack,” I replied, and that was entirely true. She was; even though I’d already had sex with her, I had the feeling that getting any further with Hannah than that was going to be an enormous challenge. One that I hoped I was up for. But shit, why did I care? Outside of fulfilling my end of the deal, why should it matter if I ended up figuring her out? My interest in her was unnerving me, but I couldn’t let it show. Not now, when I was just getting these two assholes to come around.

“I’ll tone down my game to give you two a better chance,” I added. “How’s that?”

“Bullshit,” said Reid. “Bullshit, is what it is.”

“Does that mean you don’t want in, then?” I asked him, leering at all three women in a way I knew would drive Reid up the wall. “’Cause if you don’t, a two-for-one special would suit me just fine.”

Sure enough, he clenched his fists. “I said the one with the freckles.”

Now things were getting serious. Reid was getting worked up past the point of usefulness; when he growled, it was like someone sucked all the warmth out of the room. I was overplaying my hand, and I knew it. I dropped my gaze and turned to Wyatt, clapping him on the shoulder with a shadow of my former grin.

“Well, guess that leaves you with blondie,” I told him. Usually he’d gripe about going last, but tonight, maybe he sensed Reid’s top was about to blow, because he just nodded, shrugged, and drained the last of his god-awful “beer.”

“Now that it’s all settled,” I said, “I’d say all that’s left to do is for us to meet our marks.” For good measure, I threw in one last jab—just to make sure Wyatt and Reid both had plenty of incentive to show me up and give it their all. “You two sure you’re ready for this? I’d hate to throw you to the wolves…”

Reid chuckled. It was a dark, mirthless sound. “Those aren’t wolves, Ash,” he said. “They’re sheep. Lost little lambs come in from the cold. And I’m going in for the kill.” He pushed away from the table. “Whenever you two ladies wanna join me…”

And that was that. The beginning of an ill-fated bet. The start of a journey that, had you told me I’d embark on it just a few weeks earlier, I would’ve laughed in your face.

As I trailed behind my brothers and approached the bar, I caught Hannah’s eye and offered her a slight nod, just enough of a gesture to know that our mission had been accomplished. In return, she smiled and winked. The way it hardened my cock once more inside my jeans, I knew I was in trouble.

At the time, I had no idea how true that was.

E
ver wanted
to immortalize yourself or someone you love by having your name used in a novel? Well if so, have I got a contest for you!

In order to find out a little bit more about what my readers like and don’t like, I’ve put together a really quick survey - it shouldn’t even take you 5 minutes to complete, but it will give me a good idea about future direction in my writing. And as an added incentive, I’ve added a place at the end for you to suggest a character name - it can be just a first name, just a last name, or both.

After a few weeks of running the survey, I’ll randomly select AT LEAST one character name from pool of everyone that has completed it and use that character name in my next book. I may even pick more than one, depending on my needs. The winning character name(s) and some of the results of the survey will be shared with my
mailing list
, so make sure to join if you’re interested in finding out if you won early. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait until my next book is out to see if your suggestion was used!

The fine print: By submitting a name, you’re granting Sienna Valentine all rights to use that name for any purpose and completely free. Sienna reserves the right to veto a name and redraw if the name chosen at random is something Sienna considers unusable for any reason. Reasons might include (but are not limited to): Name submitted is simply a bunch of random letters, numbers or words, or the name is profane or offensive, trademarked, or otherwise unusable.

(Just to be clear, I’m not looking to just veto names until I find one I like, I’m just trying to make sure my next book doesn’t end up having to use a character named “Djksdc shitforbrains” or something like that.)