Page 2 of Play For Me

“That’s what I said!” Vega is just tipsy enough to giggle even as she continues to soothe Violet.

I gesture to the couch and Cade goes still. I watch as his eyes narrow, jaw going rigid. “I’ll go for the face,” he says in a low voice. “You kick him in the balls.”

“Sounds good to me,” I mutter, already moving to pull my hair back into a ponytail.

“Okay, we’re not doing that,” Vega says, releasing Violet to slide between the two of us. “The semester hasn’t even started yet and I’m not calling your fathers for bail money tonight.”

“You can call my brothers then,” I growl. “I’m sure one of them will be good for it.”

“I just want to go home,” Violet hiccups.

“We’re not doing that, either,” Vega tells her. “What we’re going to do is go over there and tell that guy he’s an asshole, then the four of us are going to drink and dance and have a great fucking time.”

“I really don’t want?—”

Vega turns to Violet, eyes flashing. “You are a Ransome, Violet,” she says sternly. “We do not go hide out and wallow when someone treats us badly.” She grins, the expression unsettlingly sinister on her lovely face. “We stand tall and show them what they’re missing.”

I breathe out a sigh of relief when Violet laughs at that. I know this idiot wasn’t the love of her life or anything. This heartbreak won’t be permanent. But I still don’t like seeing her upset.

To say my cousins and I are close is an understatement. The five of us—Violet’s twin brother, Ash, is off being pretentious at a coffee house poetry reading—were born within a few months of each other, so we’ve literally been together our whole lives. Add in the fact that our unusual families have always spent a shit ton of time together, and our group is basically inseparable.

When someone fucks with one of us, they get to deal withallof us.

As the stupid asshole on the couch is about to learn. “You ready?” I ask Violet. She takes several deep breaths while Vega wipes under Vi’s eyes and fluffs her hair for her.

“Gorgeous,” Vega says approvingly. “What a dumb loser that guy is.”

“Let’s go tell him that,” I say, grabbing her hand.

Violet doesn’t need to be dragged along and I’m so freaking proud of her when she takes the lead, marching across the room to the couch. She doesn’t wait for Travis to notice her. She leans right in and taps him on the shoulder, calm as anything.

“Vi!” His eyes go all big and scared. “What are you doing here? I thought you had that poetry thing with your brother.”

She smiles down at him. “I decided to come to the party, instead. Imagine my surprise when I saw you mauling some other girl’s face off.” She gives the make-out partner a little wave. “No offense, girlie. I’m betting you didn’t know what a two-timing asshole this guy is.”

“I definitely did not,” the girl says, glaring at the guy who just had his tongue down her throat.

Violettsks. “Yeah, huge manwhore as it turns out.”

“Vi, it’s not what you?—”

“Shut the fuck up,” Cade snaps.

But Violet remains smiling, her attention on the girl. “Honestly, I kind of saved you from some disappointment here. He’s totally boring in bed. Couldn’t find my clit with a map.”

Cade groans next to me. “Seriously Vi?” Vega laughs in delight.

“You can do way better,” Violet continues. She straightens, staring right at the dumb fucker. “And so can I.”

Then she turns on her heel, curtain of golden-brown curls swinging behind her, and marches off like a queen.

“Hell yeah!” Vega cries, following her. Cade, the diabolical bastard that he is, leans down and offers a hand to the fuming girl still glaring at Travis. “How ’bout you and I go get a drink,” he says in that sly, charming voice of his that girls somehow always seem to get taken in by. “Wash the taste of this loser away, yeah?”

Once they’re gone, I lean down so I’m right in Travis’s face. He looks shell-shocked, like he’s not exactly sure what just happened. “You got so lucky tonight,” I tell him. “My cousins didn’t want me to kick your ass.”

“CeCe—” he starts but I hold up a hand.

“Shut the fuck up, Travis. You fumbled the best girl at this university. And I promise you this—if you ever even talk to her again, there isn’t anyone at this school who could keep me from wrecking you. Do you understand?”