Page 67 of Play The Game

“Trouble, Wolf?” he asks, smug and playful as always.

I smirk, and I’m sure he can hear it in my voice. “Hello, Jackson. It’s your dear friend Lips here. Viola is all packed up and ready to have a sleepover at your place though she’s unhappy that our mutual friend Illi will be driving her over.”

The Coyote groans. “Seriously? You’re trying to get him to drive her?”

“You do understand I’m at school and have no car, right?” I snark, and he laughs at me.

“C’mon, Lips, we both know your little harem has plenty of vehicles for you to borrow. Alexander has eight Ferraris, for fuck’s sake.”

Eight?! Jesus.

“That’s beside the point. Tell her to get in,” I hiss, and hand Viola the phone.

She looks at it like I’m handing her a snake or some shit, and I try to make my smile sweet. Avery cackles at me so I clearly fucking failed.

While she’s busy arguing with her maybe-boyfriend, I sidle up to Illi and bump my shoulder against him like we’re close or some shit. “How’s things?”

He smirks. “Great. I’ve killed eleven guys this week for our little crew. I took on a job up the coast while I was there with Iris, too, so send me your account details so I can tithe to you.”

Tithe, the cheeky shithead. I snort at him. “Fuck off, I’m not taking your money. Consider it payment for running around after me.”

He laughs. “Kid, I live for this shit. I even got to torture the last guy. I julienned him as if I were a sous chef and he was nothing but a fucking carrot. I’ll send you the tape, looks fucking sick.”

Avery gags dramatically from where she’s eavesdropping and Illi roars with laughter at her. Their easy acceptance of each other is such a fucking gift to me, I wish the guys would take a leaf out of Aves’ book and just welcome him into the fold. It’s not like he wants to move in, he’s got an amazing apartment overlooking the docks in a shady warehouse so he can… work from home if required. He does that a little less now Odie lives there too.

“I’ve moved Odie to a safe house, kid. Since the video of you getting freaky with the mob boy started circulating, the lowlifes have been coming at us in droves.”

I freeze. Video circulating? Illi notices and swears under his breath. “I thought you knew about it? Sorry. You got more enemies than the Jackal, I’m guessing?”

Avery snorts. “Lips collects them, like trinkets and pets. Nothing she loves more than pissing people off by living her very best life.”

I groan at her. “I’m just trying to survive! Fuck. Okay, What do you need from me, Illi? Name it, it’s yours.”

He scoffs at me and bumps shoulders. “Whatever. I’m your brother remember? I’ll drop the prissy girl off at the Coyote’s bunker and then I’ll go hunting. Maybe it’s time to take the fight to D’Ardo. Stop defending and start attacking. Speaking of that, any of your boys good with a gun?”

I swallow. “Harley and Ash are. I’m not sure about Blaise. I’ll check.”

I wait until family dinner on Friday to bring up the gun question.

Avery cooks a stir fry and for once I take Ash up on his offer of whiskey to go with our meal. I feel like a nice buzz will help me with the headache this is going to cause me. I wait until the table is quiet, the guys all shoveling the food into their mouths like they’re starved Mounty street girls, and then I ask Blaise.

The guys all pause their eating. Avery continues, unruffled and smug because she knew it was coming. There’s nothing that girl loves more than to be in on the joke.

He blinks at me owlishly, and Harley swears viciously. “What the fuck has happened now? We aren’t going to make it to fucking graduation at this rate.”

Avery laughs, flicking her wrist at him the way a cat plays with its prey. “We’re doing a fine job. And you can’t talk, it’s your fan club that is causing all the issues. The video being leaked reeks of Annabelle. Or possibly Ms. Turner. They both stink of desperation so it can be hard to differentiate sometimes.”

Blaise snickers at the dark look Harley gives her, but she’s right. I stay out of it, as always, and nudge Blaise with my foot under the table.

He gives me a little mocking smirk. “Footsies during dinner with Avery? Star, I would have never pegged you as the type to flirt with danger.”

Ash chuckles at my withering look, and Harley mutters, “She does more than fucking flirt with it.”

I roll my eyes at them all. “Just answer the question, Morrison. Do you know how to use a gun? Properly, not just point and pull the trigger. I mean like, assemble, reload, clean, the whole fucking shebang.”

He looks uneasy at me again. “I do. I’d rather not though. I’m more a beat-the-life-out-of-them kind of guy.”

Ash flicks a sliver of carrot at him. “That isn’t any better so don’t think you have the moral high ground. You’re saying you want to feel the life leave your victim rather than have the clinical, impersonal kill.”