Playing With Fire. Kayla Perrin

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СКАЧАТЬ punched the class bully in the face for throwing a rock at Zienna’s forehead in third grade. That incident had sealed their status as best friends for life.

      Now, Zienna groaned in frustration when she heard her friend’s cheerful voice begin her short message again. Where on earth could she be at this hour?

      Undeterred, Zienna promptly disconnected, then called the number once more. She would redial one hundred times if that’s how long it took to reach her.

      Three rings later, a groggy-sounding Alexis finally answered the phone. “This had better be good.”

      “I need to come over,” Zienna said without preamble.

      “Now?”

      “Yes, now. I’m going out of my mind, Alex.”

      “Shit, Zee—it’s five-fourteen in the morning.”

      “Which is why you know it’s got to be urgent. I called you hours ago, you didn’t answer.”

      “I ended up going out for a drink with that guy I was telling you about, the one I met online. I forgot my phone at home.”

      Zienna had pulled up to the curb on a street a few over from Nicholas’s house, waiting to reach Alexis. Now that they were talking, she started her car. “I have to tell you what happened. I’m kind of freaking out.”

      “Okay.” Alexis didn’t sound happy, but Zienna knew she wouldn’t abandon her in her hour of need.

      Sure, Zienna could wait until the work day was over and see her friend then. But she’d already had to wait hours, since leaving the restaurant and going to Nicholas’s place. Making love to her man had done nothing to alleviate her stress. And the way her heart was still beating rapidly, Zienna knew that she had to see Alexis now and share with her what had transpired.

      “I’ll see you soon,” she said. “Want me to grab coffee or something?”

      “No. I’m going back to bed once you leave.”

      Zienna ended the call and began to navigate her way through the Lincoln Park neighborhood, where Nicholas lived, toward the West Loop, where Alexis made her home in a trendy loft. It was a vibrant and artistic area, with chic cafés and restaurants, and several warehouses that had been converted to loft-style condominiums.

      As Zienna continued to drive, she wondered why she was so torn up over seeing Wendell again. Seriously, she shouldn’t be this frazzled.

      “You got the shock of your life,” she told herself. “That’s why you’re freaked out.”

      But damn, what were the chances? She had had the hottest sex of her life with Wendell, and it turned out that he was Nicholas’s best friend? Could this situation be any worse?

      The traffic was light at this hour, and Zienna made it to Alexis’s loft within twenty minutes. She parked her car at an available meter and then called her friend’s number.

      “I’m downstairs,” she told her when they connected.

      Zienna hurried out of the car and up the steps of the building. Moments later, the front door opened. Alexis faced her with one hand perched on her hip. She looked none too pleased.

      “You know I hate you right now.” She flashed her the evil eye.

      Zienna breezed into the condo foyer, her heels clicking on the marble floor. “Wendell’s back in town.”

      “What?”

      Zienna didn’t answer, instead walking the short distance to Alexis’s unit. Her friend scurried into the loft behind her and closed the door.

      “Wendell called you?” she asked, then rubbed her eyes with balled fists. “I can see why you were surprised, but girl, it’s not even six in the morning—”

      Zienna’s throat felt tight as she sauntered across the living room toward the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the street. She glanced outside, and wondered how the world could look the same when it had undeniably changed.

      Inhaling deeply, she moved to the nearby armchair and gripped the back of it. “Remember I told you that I suspected that Nicholas wanted to introduce me to his friend tonight? Well, I was right. Wendell’s the friend. Wendell. He’s Nicholas’s best friend.”

      A beat passed. And as Zienna’s words registered, Alexis’s jaw dropped. Then her eyes bulged. “Oh, my God. You’re saying you saw Wendell last night—with Nicholas?”

      “Yes.” Zienna rounded the leather armchair and plopped onto it.

      “Holy shit.” Alexis crossed her arms over her chest. “Does Nicholas know?” She went to the sofa across from Zienna and sat on the arm. “What did Wendell say?”

      “Nicholas doesn’t know, but Wendell— Fuck, he told Nicholas he knew me years ago. That I was the kinesiologist he worked with when he was playing for the Bears.”

      “Okay,” Alexis began slowly. “That’s not so bad, right? I mean, there’s no reason not to say you knew each other.”

      “Except for the fact that Nicholas looked suspicious.”

      “He did?”

      “Yeah, and he made an offhand remark about being surprised Wendell never hit on me. And then it gets better. All this time I thought Wendell didn’t want to commit to anyone...well, it turns out he did want to commit. Only to someone else. Some swimsuit model named Pam.”

      Alexis looked as confused as Zienna had been hours earlier, so she took her time and filled her in on exactly what she’d learned.

      “Damn.” Her friend made a face. “The bastard was friggin’ cheating on you. Or cheating on Pam, it seems.”

      “No matter how you slice it, he was fucking around.”

      “Wow,” Alexis said. “At first I was pissed that you woke me up, but damn, I get it now. Bloody hell.”

      Zienna didn’t smirk the way she normally did when her friend used her latest British curse. Instead she said, “Bloody hell is right. I just about died when Wendell walked through the door.” Looking even sexier than he did four years ago...

      “I can imagine. It took you years to get over him.”

      Hearing her friend say those words gave Zienna pause. Because with that statement, she had summed up what Zienna’s big issue was with Wendell’s reappearance. It had been incredibly hard to shake him from her system, and though she was getting close with Nicholas, there was definitely a part of her that feared seeing Wendell again was going to erase all the progress she’d made.

      And there was an even bigger issue. “What do I do?” she asked. “Nicholas knows that Wendell and I used to work together, but do I tell him about our relationship? Or do I say nothing at all? And if I tell him, is he going to be okay about it, understand that Wendell and I were over a long time ago? Or is it going to cause undue grief? I have no clue what to do.”

      Alexis was silent as she contemplated Zienna’s СКАЧАТЬ