Perfectly Toxic (Sterling Shore 9)

BELLA: Sure you are… (Heavy sarcasm there.) It was the road-head, wasn’t it? Stalker.

This time, my laughter catches me off guard, but I clear my throat while shaking my head, resuming the conversation at hand, though it’s veered off course now.

ETHAN: Busted. Anyway, send me the damn dirty pic.

BELLA: Blowjobs are powerful. I tried not to work that mojo on you too soon. I knew you’d be a goner if I did. *Sigh* A dirty pic would just tip you over the edge, and I can’t have you TOO obsessed with me, now can I?

Rolling my eyes, I put my phone down, just in time to see everyone in the room is watching me with undisguised amusement. Motherfucker…

“You always grin at your phone like a little girl?” Maverick drawls, while Wren turns his head away to hide his silent laughter.

Fuckers.

“Bella must have some damn good shit if you’re cheesing like a bitch on poker night,” Maverick goes on, making a sound and gesture like he’s cracking a whip.

I flip him off. “You’re the one who wants to crash girls’ night. Not me.”

“We all notice how you didn’t object, which you normally would,” Wren points out, smirking at me.

“And you’d be making fun of us for chasing our girls too,” Rye adds, which earns him a glare from me.

Dale says nothing, but he walks away as his shoulders shake with silent laughter.

Dane stretches back, and he quirks an eyebrow at me. “Oh, how the mighty have fallen,” he says.

“And they don’t get back up. Just a warning,” Kade Colton chimes in.

“Welcome to hell,” Kode Sterling states with twitching lips.

One by one, they all take their turns. Tag is the only one not here not to get a jab in, since he’s dealing with his new baby and can’t be pried away right now.

“Are you assholes finished yet?” I ask while they’re all laughing too hard to catch a breath, enjoying the hell out of this.

“For now,” Wren says, still laughing as he shakes his head.

My phone vibrates in my hand, and I start to not check it. However, the temptation is too great, so I discreetly glance at my lap to see Bella has sent another message.

BELLA: I’ve decided to risk the possible obsession you’ll suffer. I’ll send you a real dirty pic. Just make sure no one sees it. I mean it. For YOUR eyes only.

ME: Like I want anyone else seeing? Send it. Now.

The guys are too busy laughing to notice I’ve once again been texting. On poker night. After giving them hell for being glued to their phones so many times before.

Damn her.

I wait.

And wait.

And wait.

Finally, a phone buzzes, and I look down… But it’s not mine.

Internally groaning—because I hate suspense, and Bella may very well just be fucking with me—I look up at Wren, who is checking his phone.

His eyes widen, and his laughter ceases. He drops his phone like it’s on fire, and Maverick has it snatched up before anyone else can see it.

“Holy fucking shit. No wonder you’re a grinning bastard,” Maverick says as Wren scrambles to get the phone back.