A Shot of Pretty Poison (Pretty Poison Trilogy #3)

by Kelsey Clayton

Fucking Riley. The super cute bartender who has a massive boner for my husband.

Cam must’ve woken up and chosen violence that morning. “Where is everyone?” I ask. She doesn’t even look at me as she answers. “Upstairs.” Strange. I head toward the stairs when Riley stops me. “Pretty sure you’re not allowed up there.” My jaw falls open in disbelief. Did she really just say that? “My brother owns half of this place, and the one who owns the other half was balls deep in my pussy last night. Pretty sure that means I can do whatever the fuck I please.”

While you’re getting your dick wet in storage closets, I’ve got my eyes on all the people closest to you. Still want to ignore me? This is your warning not to.

“I’m going to become exactly the monster you thought I was,” he growls. “I’ll rip their fucking head off and dump their body in the same place I—” Shit, Riley! In a move out of sheer panic, I lunge at him—shutting him up by pressing my lips to his. His hands grip my waist as I pull him against me by the back of his neck. Riley makes a noise of disgust while Mali huffs out a laugh, but all I can focus on is the way it feels to have his mouth on mine again. He whimpers into the kiss, tightening his hold on me and bringing me impossibly closer. Since the day I came back, I never got that coming home feeling. But right now, standing here and kissing him like this, it’s so goddamn strong. It’s like remembering how to breathe or settling into a warm bed after the worst day of your life.

“You almost said what happened with you know who in front of Riley.” His eyes widen in shock. “Seriously?” We all nod. “Fuck.” “Don’t worry,” Mali chuckles. “Laiken did a pretty good job at shutting you up.” He laughs, but we both know how awkward this is.

“I’m jealous of all the fucking people who got to see you every goddamn minute that I didn’t. And to see you texting someone else, even if it wasn’t your boyfriend, sucks because I still don’t even have your phone number anymore.” Honestly, that didn’t even occur to me. A group text was sent to us, which means he could’ve gotten it off that. But it would be just like Hayes for him to wait until he got it from me. Not our stalker. Not my brother. Me. So, I pull my phone back out and dial the number I’ve had memorized before I bring it to my ear. The ringing comes from Hayes’s pocket, and I can’t tell if he’s amused or fed up with my shit. “Are you going to answer that?” I tease. He rolls his eyes, reaching into his pocket. When he finally takes it out, he presses to answer the call. He puts the phone to his ear but says nothing as he stares back at me. “Now you have my number,” I tell him

Though, after growing up with Cam and hanging around his friends, I’ve built up a pretty impressive tolerance for liquor. I can even go shot for shot with Hayes without tapping out. Ugh, Hayes.

“No,” I slur. “The door is just mean and won’t open. Open, Mr. Door!” I light up at the sound of the door unlocking, but then it opens, and an exhausted Hayes stands on the other side of it. Why hello, handsome man.

“Oh my God, I’m sorry. I…I just…” She looks at me and I can see the sadness all over her face. “I just came home.” Home.

“I don’t hate you, baby,” I whisper. “I just hate that I wasn’t enough.”

“Thanks,” she tells me, as her hand drags across the bed. “You know, if you want, you could join me in here.”

FULLY EXPECTED CAM to be at the gym. He usually is every morning by five. So, imagine my surprise when I got there and realized his Jeep wasn’t in the parking lot. Instead, I found it at his place. And when I used my key to get in, he was still sound asleep in his bed… With Mali right beside him.

Watching the two of them is like watching a carousel that just won’t stop. It’s not constant, but every now and then, they end up sleeping together. And the next day, neither of them act like anything happened at all.

“Again with this?” I ask her as she gets back into bed. “Seriously?” “Go away!” Cam grumbles, throwing his arm over Mali and trying to pull her back down.

stand in the doorway as I wait, just shaking my head at Mali so she knows that I’m judging her. “Fuck off, Mr. Sex in Storage Rooms.” I can’t help but laugh. “Well played.” She grins proudly. “Hayes, zero. Mali seventy-two.”

“No,” he says. “I know what you’re about to say, and I don’t want to hear a word about it.” I open the passenger side of his Jeep and climb in. “That’s fine. As long as you don’t ask why Laiken is asleep in my bed.”

Hope you don’t mind. I needed to borrow this one. But don’t worry, you’ll see him again soon. ;)

“He’s my husband.”

THE WHOLE WAY TO the bar, I drill into Nolan’s head the importance of her not mentioning anything about meeting Mali prior to her coming here.

“Laiken’s my sister.” “Oh, my bad,” he says. “Hey. If I play my cards right, I could end up being your brother- in-law someday.”

“Barkeep, you sure this beer is okay? It doesn’t taste right.” Hayes presses his lips together and hums. “Huh. Must not have rinsed all the cleaner out of the lines. Sorry about that.”

“Nah, for real. I could kick anyone’s ass at pool! I’m legit.” Mali looks at me and smirks, and I already know where she’s going with this. “Why don’t you put your money where your mouth is then?”

“Good idea!” He puts his beer down on the counter, and Hayes goes to grab the cleaner again before Cam stops him. “I’ll put a hundred dollars on the fact that I can win against anyone in this room.” Yeah, all right. Fuck it. It’s been a while since I made someone feel like a little bitch. And this guy seems like he could benefit from being humbled. “I’ll take that bet,” I tell him.

Finn thinks he’s doing me a favor by offering to let me break, but really, he’s just signing his death certificate. Before he even has a chance to go, nearly all the balls I have are in the pockets. Finn’s eyes narrow on me. “You little liar.” “I didn’t lie,” I say sweetly. “I told you not to worry about me.” Scoffing, he shakes his head and takes his turn. He’s not bad, I’ll give him that. I’m not saying he’s good enough to warrant all of his shit talking, but I’ve seen worse players. Still, he’s got nothing on me.

Nolan looks at me skeptically. “Is there anything else I don’t know about you? Because it’s been one surprise after another today. First, the fact that you’re married, and now this?” Shit. Here we go. Hayes hums sarcastically, looking across the table at me. “That’s funny. I thought you hated keeping us a secret, Rochester.” The tension in the room is so thick, I could wrap it around my throat and choke myself with it. But it lightens slightly when Finn finally puts the pieces together. “Wait, you two are married?” Hayes smirks at him, and as he wraps his hand around his beer, I see it. The L that’s inked into his ring finger. But while mine has faded a bit, his is still so damn clear. He tips his beer at Finn with a cocky expression on his face. “Cheers.”

“Everyone was just having a good time and cheering her on, but there was one guy who was a total pig. He tried going up to her and putting money in her waistband. But before he could get his hands on her, Mali punched him so hard across the face. They dragged her out of there kicking and screaming.”

“You two keep so many secrets for each other, but what about the one you’re keeping from her?” Mali’s breath hitches. “Hayes, please.” “What? Go ahead,” he taunts. “Tell her all about how you’ve been fucking her brother.”

“Of course, you didn’t,” she says, a little softer this time. “But you’ve been so wrapped up in your own shit that you haven’t even noticed I’m dealing with my own. What Hayes said? It’s only part of it.” “What do you mean?”

“Cam? I’m in love with him. But it’s never been the right time for us, and after this, I don’t know if it ever will be.”

“What’s going on with you and Laiken, anyways?” she questions, and I know she’s been itching to ask me that. I purse my lips, acting obtuse. “Nothing.” An amused glint appears in her eyes. “You know, there was another time when you told me there was nothing going on between you two. I believe it was when I found her coming out of your room early one morning. Is it that kind of nothing?”

“You’re not going to nut punch me for outing you two to Laiken, are you?” I ask hesitantly. She chuckles, shaking her head. “She’s not mad. I mean, she literally married her brother’s best friend. That would be a little hypocritical of her, don’t you think?” “That’s fair.”

There, in the middle of the bar, is the body of the hacker. He’s almost completely buried under a pile of dirt, with his head posed to be sticking out. And I’m guessing the worms and maggots that crawl around are just for special effect. As my jaw drops, Cam hands me the note that was lying on the table by the door.

Let’s see you get rid of this one.

“You and I both know it’s not Mali she needs right now.” He takes the garbage bag out of my hand. “You’re going to be useless until she’s okay anyway, so there’s no point of fighting me on it.”

Getting up, I take off the gloves and throw them away. Laiken is crying in Mali’s arms when I get over to them. Mali looks at me and I nod, silently telling her that it’s fine. She carefully turns Laiken and passes her to me. Her head rests against my chest, and I run my hand up and down her back. There’s nothing I can say. I can’t tell her that it’s all right because it’s not. There’s a dead body in my fucking bar right now. I can’t tell her she’s okay because she’s not okay. She’s facing even more trauma. The only thing I can do is hold her close.

“Now is when I should probably mention that Hayes is my husband.” I shouldn’t love the sound of that rolling off her tongue, or the way she says it like she still has a claim over me.

“Yeah, you’re going to enjoy that husband of yours. I get it. It’s no wonder your songs are so damn good when your muse looks like that.”

Neither of us make a move to turn away, and I glance down at her lips instinctively. Like I said—lack of all self-control. There’s no way to tell who starts leaning in first, just that it happens. My forehead hits hers, and our breaths mix together. The tension between us crackles as the anticipation makes my heart pound against my chest. If we do this, I don’t think there’s any going back for me.

But I’m not sure anything can stop me now as my lips ghost across hers. …Except maybe her brother walking through the front door.

Her eyes linger on each spot, like she can’t look at it and not remember all the sexual things we’ve done all over this place. I know because I do it, too.

She’s standing in front of the stairs as I step up behind her, pressing my front against her back. “You’re thinking about it, aren’t you?” Her breath hitches. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” “Sure you do,” I murmur. “You’re thinking about how we stood right here as I bent you over and buried myself inside of you.” Putting my hands on her shoulders, I spin us around so she’s facing the kitchen. “And when you look at that island, you picture the way I sat you on it and ate you out until you screamed.” I glide my hand down her arm, and her head falls back against my chest. Her breathing quickens. From this angle, I can see right down her shirt, and I am dying to get my mouth on her. “Imagine if we went upstairs,” I tease. “The things you’d remember then.”

grip her waist and she jumps into my arms again before I carry her over to the fireplace. One of the reasons I bought this house was because of her love for that damn mantel. Well, let’s see how much she loves it now. She squeals as I lift her up and sit her on top of it. “Hayes, this thing is going to break.” “I don’t give a fuck,” I growl.

Her voice goes up an octave, and all it takes is one deep thrust of my hand and a hard suck on her clit, and she’s fucking gone. Just as the mantel gives way. The left half of it rips straight out of the wall, swinging down as only the right side holds it up. Everything that was on top crashes to the floor, but I manage to keep Laiken upright, with her back pressed into the stone of the fireplace. But we’re far from done yet as she quivers against me.

Except…it’s closer to her. So, that’s exactly where I go.

“No,” she tells me. “I don’t! Because you’re not there!” “Maybe that’s it!” I shout. “Has it ever crossed your mind that maybe your life is so fucking great there because I’m not in it? Face it, Laiken. You’re better off without me.” She shakes her head. “Fuck that. I don’t believe that shit at all.” “You don’t have to. The proof is right in front of your face.” Turning around, she takes two steps away from me then stops. Her fingers lace into her hair and she tugs on it, groaning in frustration. “Urgh! You’re so fucking…urgh!” She lets go and rests her hands on the counter. “I’m not going to stand here and listen to you insinuate that you’re bad for me! That’s bullshit, and you fucking know it!” “Who knows. Maybe I do,” I say, sounding completely defeated. “Or maybe I’m just mentally preparing for the inevitable day that you leave again.” “Then why don’t you just ask me to stay?” she yells. “Because I don’t know if I want you to!”

There is nothing more baffling than the mood swings of Hayes Beckett Wilder. One minute he’s looking at me like I’m the greatest thing to ever walk the face of the earth, and the next, he’s cold enough to give me frostbite. It’s like how we started, but so much worse.

“Cam fingered me on the way to Hayes’s to get my car this morning.”

She looks so damn proud of herself, humming to herself like she didn’t just overshare about her sex life with my brother. Imagine if Hayes went up to Cam and said, hey bro, fucked your sister’s mouth today. The hacker wouldn’t be the only body getting dumped tonight, that’s for sure.

“I don’t know, Mal. What if he decides he can’t ever trust me again? What if we really are over?” She gives me a sympathetic smile as she plays with my hair. “If you two are over, I’ll be entirely convinced that love isn’t real.”

He immediately starts looking around like a rookie FBI agent while Mali tries not to laugh. “Easy, Magnum P.I. No one was here.” “Dude, did you not see the fucking mantel?” he presses. “It’s ripped halfway out of the goddamn wall.” She scrunches her nose as she looks at him. “Babe, trust me. You do not want to keep going on this topic.” It takes a second for the pieces to fall into place for Cam, but you can see the moment they do because he goes from worried to revolted in an instant. “There it is,” Mali says with a nod. Hayes looks over at me with his brows raised. “You told her?” I chuckle and nod, but it’s Mali who answers. “I’m impressed, Wilder. I didn’t think you had it in you.” She turns to Cam. “You need to step up your game.” “Oh, I get it,” Cam whines as he stares up at the ceiling. “This is hell. I’m living in purgatory.” “It could be worse,” she teases, messing with him some more. “I could tell you about how they fucked twice in the bar, too.” Cam rushes to press his fingers into his ears. “I repent, I repent, I repent!”