Free The Games We Play Vol. 2 (Riley Grayson) by Elizabeth Nelson

snapped.
    “Did you see the way his girlfriend looked at you when he said you looked good?” Hilary laughed again.
    “Yeah.” Ali nodded and joined in with the laughter until they both degraded into fits of giggles that neither of them could control. Not that they were trying all that hard. It felt good to cut loose like this, to not care what anyone thought. To not care what they thought. “I was expecting her to pull out my hair and scratch me with her claws or something.”
    “Oh God.” Hilary laughed even harder, wiping tears from her eyes. “Don’t worry, I would’ve had your back.”
    “The bitch would’ve bitch slapped you, too!” Ali gasped for breath. She laughed so hard she had tears in her eyes and a pain in her side. But damn, it was fun to be so carefree with Hilary like this. Ali hadn’t realized until this moment just how caught up she’d been with Pat. Her world had revolved around him, what he wanted, she did without question. Now it was like Ali was rediscovering her best friend all over again. It was fantastic.
    Hilary looped her arm through Ali’s. “Let’s get out of here and find someplace fun to go.”
    “Sounds like a plan. But we have to make sure wherever we go, they have a lot of alcohol. I’m gonna need it tonight to rid myself of the image of the two of them.”
    “Oh, don’t you worry, honey. I’m going to get you piss ass, fall down drunk. You won’t even remember your own name.” Hilary grinned and led Ali down the street to a different bar. That was the beauty of living around here—the streets were lined with bars, making it easy to bar hop without having to drive anywhere.

CHAPTER 9
     
    Riley checked himself in the mirror one final time and straightened his tie. He hadn’t dressed in a full suit, but he had opted for a button up shirt, dress pants and a tie. Veronica hadn’t bothered to tell him where they were going, and it wasn’t so clear whether this was more business than pleasure or what, so he didn’t have a frame of reference for how he was supposed to dress. But regardless, he didn’t want to give Veronica the wrong impression: in Riley’s mind, tonight was a celebratory business dinner. It was not a date.
    He put on a spray of cologne and then left the bathroom just as the car pulled up outside of his house. Grabbing his cell phone, he left without telling his father—not that he’d care. He was too busy getting ready for his long night at work.
    Riley looked at himself one last time in the mirror and off he went.
    Stepping outside, Riley was shocked to see a full blown limo stopped in front of his house. A friggin’ limo? Wow. He approached, and the driver opened the door with a smile. Alright, this was his lucky day. “Good evening, Mr. Grayson.”
    Riley nodded and climbed into the car. Sitting in the seat opposite him was Veronica. She was in a slinky, black, sequined dress. Her hair was swept up into some sort of twisty bun on the top of her head. Strands of diamonds adorned her neck and wrists. She looked absolutely gorgeous. Riley couldn’t deny that. Even his dick couldn’t deny it, but he reminded himself he couldn’t do anything with her. It was a bad idea. Not to mention he was waiting for another night with Ali. Ali was his focus. Keep focused Riley. Don’t do anything stupid.
    “Riley.” Veronica smiled. “You look very handsome.”
    “Thanks. You look pretty incredible, too.” He settled into the seat and the car pulled away and merged with traffic.
    Veronica grabbed the bottle of champagne from a bucket of ice and popped it open. She poured two glasses and handed one to Riley. Holding hers up, she said, “To a job very well done, and to many more.”
    Riley tapped his glass to hers and took a sip. It was bitter but he did his best to hide his distaste. He didn’t want to appear ungrateful. But he also didn’t want her to think he was interested in anything more than a professional relationship. He had been, once,