Players (Lessons by Loki) Read Free Page B

attended collage at the same time as Josiah and Chase.”
    He shrugged. “ I am a few years older. I spent four years in the Army before I went to college. It was that only way I could afford to go. And then I was a year ahead of Josiah, who was two years ahead of Chase.”
    Basic facts were simple to find out thanks to social networking, but she really didn’t know them that well. “What’s Josiah’s sister’s name?”
    “Trick question. Josiah’s an only child. Chase, however, has an older brother and two younger sisters. Their names are—”
    She stopped him with an upraised hand. “All right.” She didn’t know the names of Chase’s siblings, but she knew the rest was accurate. “You obviously know them, but what do you want with me?”
    “It’s not what I want. It’s what they want.” He lifted his beer to his lips and took a long drink. “As I’m sure you’ve noticed, your neighbors enjoy the chase. They flirt and seduce with ruthless focus, but once the quarry is caught, they lose interest.”
    “A lot of people are like that. Why should I care what they do in the privacy of their home?”
    “Because you , my dear, are their current quarry.”
    She rolled her eyes and sipped her coffee , allowing the familiar aroma to soothe her. “They’ve each had multiple opportunities to show an interest in me. Trust me, I’m not their type.”
    “It ’s precisely because you’re not their usual type that they’ve focused on you now.”
    Part of her still feared this was some twisted pick -up line, but Loki seemed sincere and what she knew about Chase and Josiah made the rest easy to believe. But why her, and why would Loki warn her? “I don’t understand.”
    “Do you know who Vanessa is?”
    “The skinny brunette Chase has been screwing for the past few months?” Wow that sounded bitchy. Was she perhaps jealous of said brunette?
    The corner of Loki’s lips quirked, indicating he’d picked up on the undertone. “ Vanessa broke up with Chase a few weeks back and he didn’t take it well. Half the fun of being the hunter is deciding when to set your prey free.”
    “And she beat him to the punchline?”
    “Exactly.”
    “What does this have to do with me?”
    “When either Chase or Josiah is depressed they frequently play a game. They choose a person to seduce and wager on the outcome.”
    He’d said person not woman. Were they both bisexual? She’d seen Josiah with men and women, but she’d thought Chase was straight. She shook away the pointless detail and focused on the implications of Loki’s claim. “They’re going to try to seduce me?” She laughed. “They’ve barely given me the time of day for the past five years. Won’t it seem suspicious if they both turn on the charm at exactly the same time?”
    “They’ll find a way. Trust me. They ’re good at this.”
    She sighed. There had been many times over the past five years she’d imagined her handsome neighbors suddenly realizing she was alive, but having a bet at the center of the attention was not what she’d had in mind. “Even if all this is true, why warn me? Why do you care?”
    “These two don’t have boundaries and they don’t care about anyone but themselves.” Bitterness crept into his tone as he went on. “I thought we were friends, but last year they played this game with my sister. She was devastated when she found out. She’s so gun-shy now she barely leaves the house.”
    Pain flashed through his eyes and his mobile lips thinned. He was either the best damn actor she’d ever seen or he meant every word. “How did you find out they ’d turned their sights on me?”
    “I was there when they defined the parameters and locked in the bet. They were both so drunk it was as if I just faded from view.”
    Trepidation prickled the hairs on the back of her neck. She had no reason to doubt him. Everything he said made a twisted sort of sense. Still, something wasn’t right. “You’re still friends with