Two Can Play (Celeste and Dominic) novel Chapter 368

He smiled at her. One second, a faint curve of his mouth. Then the smile was gone.

"It is a shame," he said. "I do not like anyone on my bed when I sleep."

We all stared at him, the words landing in the silence like stones in still water. He looked at us one by one, unhurried, and then he added, "Get ready, girls. Your treatment begins tomorrow."

And with that, he was gone, the door closing behind him with a soft click.

Jasmine stood frozen in the middle of the room, her robe still hanging open, her mouth slightly parted. Then she closed it, pulled the robe shut, and sat down on the bed so hard the mattress bounced.

"He did not even look at me," she said.

"He looked at you."

"He looked through me."

I bit back a smile. "Do not worry. You will get other opportunities. Sparrow is a man whore, Jasmine. Men like him never turn down a warm bed for long."

She nodded miserably and threw herself down on the bed beside Maya. "I got all dressed up for nothing. Do you know how long that bodywash took to work?"

Tasha, who had been watching the whole scene with her hand over her mouth, let out a small laugh. Then she turned to me, and the laughter faded from her face.

"Scarlett, I am sorry about the things Sparrow's grandmother said."

"Why are you apologizing?" I asked. "That woman is nothing but an old hag. If it were not for Sparrow, I would have given her a piece of my mind."

Jasmine froze mid-step.

I got up, my pulse picking up, and walked toward him, certain he wanted to say something to me, a word about the girls, about the treatment, about the plan. I stopped in front of him.

He grabbed my hand, his grip warm and firm and utterly unsurprising.

"Turns out," he said, "I actually need someone to keep my bed warm tonight."

And he dragged me out of the room, my feet scrambling to keep up, the door closing behind us and cutting off whatever sound the girls made in my wake. I turned my head just before it shut, and I saw Jasmine standing there with her robe half-open and her face falling, a sadness that mirrored the one blooming in my own chest.

Not again, I whined inwardly. I just took my last shower for fuck's sake.