Eyes shut, left arm tucked underneath my head, I listened to Braxton’s nails click against her phone screen as she texted her friends. I knew it could be no one else. She didn’t seem to have a lot of people in her corner, and we were planning to change that the moment she let us in.

Houston returned from his shower, and by then, it was two in the morning. I wasn’t even a little bit sleepy, though, and apparently, neither was Braxton. Rich was already snoring loud as fuck, and Houston’s breathing had turned deep.

Perfect.

Keeping my eyes closed, I drew the items I’d hidden from under my pillow. The lube I’d taken from the bedroom. After squirting some into my palm, I pushed my boxers down enough to free my cock.

I didn’t bother drawing the curtains.

I wanted her to see.

Her back was still turned as she faced the wall, but I knew she wouldn’t be like that for long. My mind then conjured her photo as my muse, the memory as vivid as if I still held it in my hand. I kept my rhythm nice and easy, squeezing the head on every upstroke until I began to fantasize, drawing her nipples between my lips.

“Shit,” I let slip when I imagined their taste.

I heard the rustling of sheets and knew that it was her turning over to see. I stroked my dick faster, my hips rising off the bed now and then as I chased my orgasm. I imagined her legs wrapped around me as I slowly slipped inside of her. She’d coat my dick with her arousal, making it easy for me to have my way inside her tight, warm walls. I’d bury myself so deep I’d never be able to find my way out.

“Fuck, Braxton.”

I didn’t even care that she knew it was her I was imagining. It could never be anyone else ever again. No use pretending.

When my movements turned jerky, and I couldn’t control my grunts, I knew there was no turning back. Grabbing the second item I borrowed, I groaned long and hard as I used it to catch my cum.

I heard the growl Braxton tried to conceal when she recognized the purple panties she’d been wearing earlier.

I smiled to myself.

After cleaning my dick off with them and figuring she might want ’em back, I tossed them on the floor before rolling onto my stomach.

Now I could sleep.

You might lose love

It might fade in the wind as if it had never been

You might mourn the good years left behind

You might curse the lonely ones that follow

And when you wake up, you realize

It’s only the beginning

Listening to Houston sing the words I’d written, I thought about my father’s offer for the first time since he made it. I didn’t count Colorado because I’d been bluffing as usual whenever Houston pissed me off.

The bitter truth is that my feet were firmly planted.

I couldn’t walk away from my friends as easily as I’d done my parents. It’s why I hated them so much. I loved them just as deeply.

No matter how much Houston and Rich hurt me, I’d keep coming back for more. The three of us were toxic as fuck, together and apart, but we were all we had. It hadn’t always been like this, and I think remembering all the good is why we stayed through the bad.

Seventy-thousand people were on their feet by the time we walked off the stage at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. It was a rush I never got tired off. We had maybe twenty minutes to collect ourselves before the first round of meet-and-greets began. I was actually looking forward to it since it was the only time we got to see Braxton smile these days.

When she wasn’t cursing one of us in her head, that is.

She hadn’t remarked on the stunt I pulled last night, but I expected no less. I think she figured out that I thrived on attention, so she punished me by depriving me of it. Figures. It was like she’d flipped a switch and became the center of my universe. Everything I am revolved around her. I never even considered trying to undo what she’d done.

Two hours later, the meet-and-greets were over, and Braxton immediately headed back for the bus.

Houston, Rich, and I stayed behind to give her “space.”

We used that time to have a powwow with a few roadies as if they didn’t have an entire stage to tear down.

“Has it been enough time?” I snapped once we were done distracting our crew. They had enough shit on their plate without us adding in our melodrama. “Can we go back to the bus now?”

“Relax,” Houston responded dryly. “It’s only been ten minutes.”

“This is dumb as fuck if you ask me.” I cut my gaze at Rich, who noticed.

“There’s a reason no one asks you.”

Fuck this.

I walked off, and they shouted my name once they realized the direction I was headed. It didn’t take them long before they were hot on my heels. They didn’t try to stop me either—not that they could—when I climbed inside the back of the SUV.

The drive back to the bus was only fifteen minutes, but it felt like fifteen hours. I couldn’t understand why my palms were sweating, and my heart was racing. I only knew the stirring in my gut that told me Braxton was up to no good.

I screwed with her, and she’d been compliant.

I should have known better than to trust it.

She was a devious little thing.

Before the SUV fully rolled to a stop, I was out and taking off for our bus. I could hear a baffled Houston and Rich talking shit behind me, but I paid them no mind. They were unaware of what I’d done last night. If they knew, they’d be going crazy too.

Bounding up the bus’s stairs, I slammed my palm on the button to activate the sliding door. Stepping inside, I peered through the dark interior. It wasn’t until a low whimper drew my attention that I spotted Braxton on the couch, naked as the day she was born, red hair cascading down her back, and straddling my goddam pillow.

I knew it was mine because of the dark-green pillowcase.

“Holy shit,” I heard Rich whisper like a virgin. I don’t know why he bothered to conceal his presence.

Braxton knew we were here.

She planned this.

I watched her ass and tits jiggle every time she moved her hips. My pillow was providing the friction her clit needed as she rode it like a professional jockey. She was at the perfect angle for me to see everything while she performed like we weren’t even here. Hell yes.

“What the hell is she doing?” Houston asked no one in particular.

Without taking my eyes off Braxton, I answered my best friend. “She’s upping the ante.”

I was willing to give whatever at this point to make her mine.

Ours.

Whatever.

I wanted to move in closer, maybe touch her or join in. I knew the second I did that it would be over, so I stayed put.

Meanwhile, Braxton sped up her pace, her cries becoming more desperate as she humped my pillow with reckless abandon. Her small hands clutched the casing, her nails digging in as she held on for dear life.

The only thing that could make this moment more perfect was if she were sitting on my face and not my pillow. Swallowing when my mouth-watered, I admired the moonlight washing over her and the sweat glistening on her skin.

If this was her way of punishing me, she could count on more trouble.

The closer she drew to her orgasm, the more captivated I became. And when she finally reached her peak, I was hard enough to break a brick.

The three of us looked on as she slumped on the couch, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she fought to catch her breath. She wasn’t at all shy or bothered by her nakedness even though we stood fully clothed.

A minute or two must have passed, and no one said a goddamn word. I think Houston and Rich were as speechless as I was. Maybe even more so since they didn’t know the reason behind her stunt.

When she could trust her legs again, Braxton stood, grabbed my pillow, and tossed it at my feet. While she disappeared inside the bunks, I stared at my pillow, admiring the wet spot she’d left behind.

Touché.

I wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep this up.

Loren was too loose a cannon and a terrible influence. He made me want to throw caution to the wind and beg Braxton to give us a second chance.

We hadn’t come to that part of the plan yet.

Right now, we were trying to make her see that she didn’t want to be without us. I knew whatever the reason for Braxton’s behavior tonight, Loren was behind it. And with him off his leash, for every step forward, we were bound to take two steps back.

I heard the shower running when I pushed inside the bunk area and knew Braxton was washing away the remnants of her private show. Spotting a scrap of purple lace on the floor, I swooped them up just as Loren pushed through the door. Feeling my fingers brush something white and sticky, I immediately tossed the material away.

“What the—is that jizz?” I yelped.

Staring at the lace hanging from the toe of Loren’s boot now, I realized they were Braxton’s panties. Why was there cum on Braxton’s panties? I was pissed off, wondering who it had come from since it sure as fuck hadn’t been me. It couldn’t have been Houston or Loren either since we were all in the doghouse together. I don’t recall ever being this angry as I considered the possibility that Braxton had fucked someone else.