Play With Me

have
a ladder.” My shoulders slumped in defeat.
    “Why?”
    “Why what?”
    “Why does he
climb through your window?” The question was a snarl, and his brows furrowed.
    “Can we please
stay focused? I’m grounded and I need to break into my own house.”
    He glared at me.
Then with his jaw tight, he nodded. “All right. Come on.” He pulled at my top
and hauled me across the street. I could only hope that my mom wasn’t peeking
out the window.
    As we rounded
the house and I could hide beside the shed, I felt a little safer. Still, there
was this problem with getting on top of it.
    Ryan scanned the
tree. “I believe Mitchell climbs up there to get onto the roof?”
    “Um, yes. But
you aren’t asking me to climb a tree now, are you?”
    He gave a light
snort. Then he tested the edge of the shed’s roof by jumping and hanging on to
it. It was solid. “Come here, Matthews,” he ordered as he planted himself in a
wide stance with his back to the shed’s door.
    “What are you
doing?”
    “Giving you a
lift.” He laced his fingers in front of his hips. Obviously, I should step in
there.
     “No way.”
    “Don’t be a
baby. I already proved I can carry you, remember? Twice.”
    He was right.
Still, that didn’t take the queasy feeling out of my stomach. If at all, the
memory increased my flurry. In the end, with my mom downstairs, I figured I had
not much of a choice. With a resigned sigh, I stepped toward him and held on to
his shoulders while he bent his knees to make it easier for me to place my foot
into the hold he provided.
    “Ready?” he teased
as we were on eyelevel.
    “Not at all,” I
replied a little shaky.
    “See you
tomorrow.” Then he shot me up into space. I had no time to think, which might
have been a good thing, but just grabbed onto the roof’s edge and hoisted
myself over with Ryan’s help.
    From there it
was an easy walk to get back into my room. Once my feet were planted on the
solid floor, I turned toward him. My knees still wobbly from the adventure and
the fear of getting caught, I grimaced. “I don’t think we should do this again.”
    “Why not?”
    “I’m dead if my
parents catch me.” And it wasn’t really a matter of if but of when .
    “They won’t.”
    “What if?”
    “Matthews, they
won’t. Now shut up and get under the shower.”
    Agh, he really
didn’t understand my dilemma. I gritted my teeth. “I’m not coming tomorrow.
There’s training anyway. I won’t survive two rounds of torture on the same day.”
    “Yeah. Right.”
He laughed. “Wednesday. Five o’. Be dressed this time. And, Matthews—don’t make
me climb up there and fetch you.”
    Though my body
screamed at the torture Ryan had put me through this morning, my mind spun with
a strange anticipation. He was going to train with me again. I smiled to myself
as I headed for the shower. Damn, I never knew I was that much of a masochist.
    The hot spray of
water loosened my burning muscles. I could have spent the whole day in there.
Ah heck, being grounded, I didn’t have much else to do anyway, so I enjoyed an
extended treat in the shower. When the water finally turned cold on me, I
slipped out, wrapped my body into a soft, white towel, and walked back to my
room.
    As I opened the
door, a shriek escaped me.
    “What the hell
are you doing here?”
    “Waiting on your
merciful return from the bathroom.” Tony grinned from where he lay on my bed.
    I shot a glance
over my shoulder, hoping my mom hadn’t heard my scream.
    “Don’t panic,
Beth already knows I’m here.”
    “What? Why?” I
closed the door and clutched the towel tighter to my chest.
    “I went
downstairs to look for you when you weren’t in your room. She actually made me
eat breakfast with her.”
    Yeah, I stood
quite a while under that shower. Since my mom seemed fine with him being in my
room in spite of me being grounded, I relaxed. And soaked in the joy of seeing
Tony this morning. He wore my favorite—dark blue jeans, a cobalt blue tee, and
an unbuttoned shirt over it. His feet dangled off my bed, bobbing up and down.
    “Did Hunter come
to apologize?”
    My brows quirked
as his casual tone dragged me out of my staring. “Sorry?”
    “I saw him walk
away from your house today. Bit early to come pay you a visit. So did he
apologize for crawling into the same bed with you?”
    Only then did I
remember that I was in fact royally pissed at Tony. “I don’t see how this is
any of your concern. Anyway, it’s