Chapter 390: Everyone Want a Piece

The bus pulled into the manor driveway a little after midnight, the bass of a song already audible from inside the vehicle, filtering through the closed windows. The whole team was packed in the back, still electrified by the match, laughs and conversations overlapping without anyone really trying to lower their voice.

Saya was sitting all the way in the back, a little apart as always, watching the manor take shape through the window, its lights already visible from far away, almost spilling into the garden.

The staff member driving parked in front of the main entrance, cutting the engine with one last mechanical sigh.

"Last stop, ladies... Hm! And Mister Blaze, of course," he announced, before leaving immediately, letting the group get off alone into the night.

The music hit first, a heavy, driving rhythm echoing from inside the manor, colored lights sweeping the ground-floor windows, even filtering out into the garden where a few silhouettes were already dancing on the terrace.

Zayela, Sarra, Lina and Amara were waiting for them on the front steps, cries of joy exploding as soon as the group became visible.

"FINALLY!" Lina yelled, bouncing in place. "You took your time!"

Jaz, first up the steps, raised both fists in the air.

"Oh, we took forever... and it’s not about to stop! THE PARTY STARTS NOW!" she bellowed, triggering another wave of screams and applause.

The inside of the manor had been transformed for the occasion, light strings hanging everywhere, an entire table covered in drinks and food, music echoing from speakers set up in almost every room. The group scattered quickly, each girl finding her place in that gala atmosphere.

Saya stayed near the entrance for a moment, watching all that chaos with a slight hesitation, before Hina grabbed her by the arm, a glass already in hand.

"You," Hina said, a mischievous smile on her lips, "you drink."

"I—"

"Shut up and drink," Kai cut in, appearing on the other side with a second glass, pushing it into her free hand. "You played like a maniac tonight. Like, really. We respect that."

Rumi, who had joined them, nodded, an approving smile on her lips.

"Seriously, you got up like twelve times. You were so annoying I thought I’d lost my touch. Anyway, we have to test that tomorrow."

Saya blinked, a little surprised by this new tone, so different from the cold bullying on the court.

She looked for her words and found none.

"Come on," Kai insisted, pointing at the glass. "You’ve still got room."

Saya hesitated one more second before bringing the glass to her lips, swallowing a sip that pulled a grimace out of her. It wasn’t constraint that made her keep going, but something more... something less... She had a hard time putting it correctly. It was that unexpected feeling of being accepted, even through those little affectionate jabs, that pushed her to empty the rest of the glass under Rumi and Kai’s cheers.

After a match in hell where she had definitively buried her career and those of her teammates, and probably Vargas’s life, the last thing she expected was this. Belonging to something. Having a role to play. A use. And being recognized by the ones she used to envy.

She didn’t like the taste of the wine, but she savored it like the thing she wanted most in the world.

On his side, Zayela had found Nash near the drinks table, pressing herself against him with that feline attitude that characterized her — but this time, she took the time to talk before her hands started wandering.

"I really watched everything," she said, her voice more composed than usual. "Every quarter. And I’m so proud and happy for you."

Nash looked at her, a little surprised by that different tone.

"It must have been hard, huh? Seeing your former teammates again. Considering how you forgave Saya, I imagine somewhere you still have a bit of compassion for them," Zayela continued. "But I’m happy because..." she searched for her words for a moment, "I saw the kid they kicked out like a dog, coming back and proving, in front of everyone, that he was right from the start. I saw your face at one point, between the first and second quarter. You didn’t look like you were savoring a victory. You looked like you were closing a door. And that’s the most important part."

Nash stayed silent for a moment, then nodded.

"Yeah," he finally admitted. "That’s exactly it. It feels weird, but... I’m fine. That’s what I wanted since that day. I trained for that day. So yes, I’m fully satisfied."

Zayela smiled, satisfied, before finally getting closer, her hands taking their usual path again. "Then tonight, we close that door with you. Properly."

The two of them stayed suspended for a moment, alone in the middle of the festivities, that little island of calm in the heart of the surrounding chaos.

It was a staggering silhouette that broke the moment, Sarra completely missing her balance as she approached, one foot catching the other. Nash reached out on reflex, catching her just before she collapsed, his hands closing on her hips to stabilize her.

"Oops," Sarra said, a laugh a little too loud escaping her, her cheeks flushed from the wine, her eyes half glassy. She made no effort to straighten up completely, instead letting herself go against his chest, her arms wrapping around his neck. "I almost ate shit in front of everyone. Like, what a shame."

"Easy," Nash said, an amused smile on his lips, holding her firmly.

Sarra looked up at him, a smile forming on her face, before barely straightening — just enough to let her hand slide down his chest, lingering on every contour of his muscles, almost hypnotized by her own exploration.

"You know," she murmured, her voice thick, "I’ve never really had the chance to... enjoy. You. Since we’ve been under the same roof." Her hand went down further, stopping just above his belt, her fingers slowly tracing the relief of his abs through the fabric. "Like... all those things we usually do..."

She pressed a little more against him, her chest crushing against his torso, her hips coming to stick to his, her lips approaching very close to his without ever quite touching them.

Zayela, on the other side, watched the scene with one eyebrow raised and a smile getting wider and wider, exchanging an amused look with Nash over Sarra’s shoulder.

"She’s completely wasted," Zayela murmured, holding back a laugh.

"Completely," Nash confirmed, just as amused, without making the slightest move to push Sarra’s wandering hands away.

Rather than cooling things down, Zayela seemed to find an invitation in it. She moved closer in turn, slipping behind Nash this time, her generous chest coming to crush against his back, every curve pressing against him through the thin fabric of her top, while Sarra, in front, did exactly the same thing, sticking to him with her whole bust, that soft, warm weight wrapping him from both sides at once.

"You’re so... hot," Sarra murmured against his chest, rubbing slowly against him, her breasts sliding against his stomach with every movement.

Behind him, Zayela let out a low little laugh, her hands coming to rest on his hips while she kept pressing her own chest against his back.

"Two against one," she said against his ear. "Does that work for tonight’s menu?"

Nash felt his body answer before he took a position, sandwiched between those two chests that seemed to compete for attention, each one trying to get noticed more than the other. The temptation to simply take both of them somewhere quieter crossed his mind. That would have been an excellent night, without the slightest doubt.

But he had something else planned. And that thought, unlike the physical temptation, refused to let him go.

The general atmosphere kept rising, the group mixing into a familiar collective heat. Jaz and Alicia had dragged a good part of the room into an improvised dance in the middle of the living room, Kai soon joining them, a glass in hand, laughing at the top of her lungs. Nia had sat on Nash’s lap at one point, sliding a hand under his T-shirt while continuing to talk with Alicia over his shoulder, as if the two activities had absolutely nothing incompatible about them.

The collective energy climbed, every contact, every laugh adding its own layer to that electric atmosphere that was starting, once again, to tip toward something more intense.

That was the exact moment Victoria appeared at the top of the stairs.

She was wearing a dark silk robe, barely tied, letting it slide over her shoulders with elegance, each step bringing her down slowly, without hurry.

Silence spread almost instantly through the room, one by one, every conversation dying as the looks turned toward the stairs.

"Sorry to ruin the party," Victoria said, coming down the last steps, a smile stretching slowly across her lips. "But I’m going to have to borrow Nash." Her smile widened. "For the whole night."

A total silence followed, before a collective "EEEEH?!" exploded through the entire living room, several voices overlapping at once.

On the Baby-Boom side, a concert of theatrical protests broke out immediately.

"But it’s not a party without Nash!" Mai moaned, almost desperate. "We just got here!"

"The whole night?!" Chio repeated, mouth wide open. "Like, literally the whole whole night?"

But it was especially on Jaz, Nia and Alicia’s side that the shock seemed the most total, the three of them exchanging stunned looks.

"Wait," Nia said, her voice jumping an octave, "are you saying that even you, YOU, sleep with him?!"

"You’re very late, my dear," Victoria answered, a calm smile on her lips, visibly not feeling obligated to specify further.

"And nobody saw anything?!" Nia insisted, incredulous. "Like, NOBODY?!"

Kai looked at the scene with a mix of amusement and more measured surprise. "Wait, you didn’t know?" she asked Nia. "Like seriously, you didn’t pick up on anything this whole time?"

"Since when?!" Nia exclaimed. "Since when is this like official?!"

Alicia just let out a small laugh, not really surprised.

"That still explains a lot of things," she repeated, a half-smile on her lips.

Zayela, on the other hand, showed not the slightest surprise, simply nodding toward Victoria.

"Don’t worry, I’ll leave him to you tonight. We prepped him well." She turned toward Nash, giving him a small affectionate tap on the chest. "Go. We’ll still be here tomorrow."

Sarra let out a small sulky pout, visibly disappointed to see the evening slipping away from her.

"But I wasn’t done—"

"I’ll take care of you two later," Nash promised, a reassuring smile on his lips, placing a quick kiss on Sarra’s forehead, which seemed to be enough for her, a slightly drunk smile reappearing on her face.

A little apart from all that agitation, Miko had noticed Rei’s unusual silence, planted near a window, her gaze fixed on the scene unfolding near the stairs.

"You okay?" Miko asked, approaching.

"Yeah," Rei answered, a little too fast.

Miko frowned, not fooled for a second. "You’ve had a weird face since we got back. Is it because of Nash?"

"No," Rei said, looking away, her voice a little too firm to be really convincing. "It’s nothing."

Miko didn’t insist further, but her gaze stayed on her friend a moment longer, before Rei walked away, deliberately ending the conversation.

Victoria took Nash’s hand without another word, already pulling him toward the staircase leading to her quarters.

The noise of the party faded gradually behind them as they climbed, the music becoming muffled, distant, little by little replaced by the softer silence of the upper floors of the manor.

"This amuses you, huh," Nash said, a half-smile on his lips, following her down the hallway. "Surprising all of them like that."

"A little," Victoria admitted, without turning around. "I’ll admit I’ve been waiting for this moment for a little while."

"And Nia asking you for an exact date," he added, amused. "You’re really not going to give her one?"

"Never," Victoria answered, a smile stretching across her lips. "I prefer keeping a little mystery."

They stopped in front of her door, the silence almost total now, only disturbed by the distant echo of the bass still beating somewhere under their feet.

Victoria finally turned toward him, her hand on the handle, a gleam in her eyes that no longer had anything of the impassive businesswoman she had been displaying a few minutes earlier.

"And now, you’re mine," she said simply, opening the door.