Almost Easy

Just A Game

Zoey's POV

I'm not quite sure how the night ended up like it did but let's just say, the ending was totally unexpected. One minute I'm walking hand and hand out of the bar with Brian and next he's inviting Johnny and Lacey to stay at his house.

Apparently they were headed to a hotel because of plumbing problem at his place that made it uninhabitable at least till the next day. I smiled and agreed for them to come with us as Brian extended the invitation. I was grateful that I was smart enough to make the bed in McKenna's room this morning. When we finally got into the house, Brian and I made sure Johnny and Lacey were settled before heading to the main bedroom.

I grabbed a pair of fluffy pajama shorts and my favorite UCLA tee from the suitcase that Brian left in his bedroom and rushed to the bathroom. I stalled as long as I could, brushing my teeth, plucking my eyebrows and washing my face, just hoping Brian would be tipsy enough to just pass out in bed. As I came out, I spotted him, not passed out, but lying sprawled on the bed, the nightstand lamp on the table casting a golden glow over him. He'd propped his shoulders against the headboard, cocked one knee, and dangled the other calf over the side of the bed. As he lifted a beer bottle to his lips, his T-shirt rode up to reveal a taut wedge of muscle above the low-riding jeans.

"I can't believe you gave my bed away," I complained.

"It's not like you were going to sleep in there tonight anyway."

I grabbed a pillow and the throw blanket from his bed and tossed it on his bedroom sofa.

"You're not sleeping there,"he said firmly.

"Do you want to sleep here?" I motioned to the couch.

"I'm not sleeping there either," he shook his head back and forth while sipping his beer. "Neither of us are."

I could feel my eyebrows pull together in a frown."Oh really. And why not?"

"Because I'll be damned if I let Johnny and Lacey see that my new wife is sleeping on the couch."

Then maybe you shouldn't have invited them, I thought but didn't say. "And you expect them to come into your bedroom in the middle of the night?"

"You obviously have never spent a night with Avenged Sevenfold, especially Johnny and Jimmy."

"And what? You guys jump into each other's beds. That's craziness."

"Yeah well, there's no way I'm taking the chance of Johnny seeing that my beloved doesn't sleep with me."

"In case you've forgotten, I'm not really your beloved," I countered.

"For now, you are."

"Brian, I don't think it's a good idea that we sleep in the same bed. It's counterproductive. We should definitely keep this a friends scenario till our time is up."

"I don't need a friend. What I need is somebody to sleep with." He gazed at me over the rim of the beer bottle. "I'll pay you."

I blinked. "You want to pay me to sleep with you?"

He nodded slowly "Nobody's ever accused me of being cheap, either."

I pressed my palm to my chest before grabbing his beer bottle and taking a sip. "Hold on. This is such a proud moment that I want to savor it."

"What's your problem?" he asked, all innocence when I handed it back.

"A man I once thought respected me is offering me money to sleep with him. Let's start with that."

"Sleep, Zoey. Get your mind out of the gutter."

"Right. Like we slept last time?"