Chapter 26
Piper
“What the absolute fuck?” says Quill again.
I don’t think I’ve ever been more embarrassed before. Or more nervous, realizing how angry Quill is from the tensing of his back.
I’m aware I just broke my resolution not to apologize, so another apology isn’t going to make a difference. “Sorry,” I mumble to them both. “I should have told you, Quill. I was so happy to see you, and then we—”
“Turn around,” says Quill to Josh.
“Uh…” Josh is still frozen, his eyes looking everywhere but at us.
“Turn the fuck around.”
“Oh. Uh, right. Right.”
He startles out of his trance and whips right around, facing the house.
“Did you see anything?”
“No. No!”
“You better not have seen a fucking thing,” growls Quill. “If I find out you caught so much as one look at any part of my girl’s body, I will scoop those two motherfucking eyeballs right out of your skull and stomp them under my foot.”
“Uh, okay. Okay. Fuck. I didn’t see a thing. I swear to God.”
Josh is quaking like a leaf, and my sense of justice overrides my nerves and embarrassment. “Quill,” I snap, “he saved your life. He saved both of our lives.”
“Yeah, and that’s the only reason I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt,” answers Quill, his voice soft as he directs it to me. “Put your clothes on, cricket.”
I scramble to pick up the clothes Quill had tossed on the ground, though he doesn’t give me much freedom to move, his arms still reaching behind him to shield me. As if he’s worried Josh will somehow manage to see me despite being turned the other way.
“So what is this?” he questions, once I’m fully dressed, pulling me back into his lap. “We’re stuck in fucking Oregon with Josh?”
“Be nice,” I chide him. “He shot one of the underbosses of the underboss.”
“Huh?”
“Someone important, working for Coltello. He shot someone important, and that put a target on his back.”
“Right.”
“So he had no choice but to go into hiding with us.”
“He could have gone into hiding somewhere else,” grumbles Quill. “It’s getting in the way of me fucking you around-the-clock.”
“I’ll be so discreet, you won’t even notice me!” promises Josh, in a squeaky sort of voice.
“Stop, Quill. It’s fine. Turn around, Josh. He won’t bite you. He’s just an asshole.”
Josh doesn’t move, his eyes still firmly fixed on the house, until Quill growls, “Well, you heard her. What are you waiting for?”
Josh sighs audibly then turns back around to face us.
“It’s all my fault,” I say hastily. “I thought Josh had gone fishing, and I figured he’d be gone for a while, and then I got so distracted with you, Quill, that…”
Quill cuts me off by pressing his lips to mine and tightening his arms around me. “Even if you don’t say sorry, acting apologetic counts, you know.”
“Does it get me a kiss, though?” I put my arms around his neck, pulling him down to me.
Another peck on the lips, and then he says, “It gets you a smack on the ass, that’s what it does.”
“Quill!”
I’m back to hiding my face against him, and though I can’t see Josh’s, I have a feeling it’s just as red as mine.
Quill turns back to Josh, and I watch their interaction nervously. “What’s this about fucking fishing?” he asks.
“Uhm,” stammers Josh. “I just thought I’d try. I always wanted to fish in the winter. You find a hole in the ice, stick your fishing rod in, and then—well, it didn’t work.”
“So we have to go full survival mode? Fishing for food?”
“No, no,” I interrupt. “Logan left the fridge fully stocked. Josh can go down to the town, an hour away, if we need groceries. He’s less recognizable than we are.”
“Hm.” Quill looks pensive. “I don’t like the idea of hiding.”
“Come on, it’ll be fun,” I plead. “There’s lots of activities to do. Sledding, ice skating over the lake if it completely freezes over, hiking in the woods, there’s even a stable with some horses we could ride…”
“I’d much rather ride you.”
“Quill!”
“And I guess if by sledding you mean, fucking in a sled, and if by hiking you mean—”
“Okay, okay, I get it. Can you not in front of Josh, though?”
At that, Quill’s hand slips under the hem of my sweater and shirt, but he doesn’t go further than my stomach. “Josh is going to have to get used to this, because I have three years of not fucking you to make up for.”
I can’t help but squirm in his lap. His words excite me, but the prospect of our stay in Oregon excites me too, though not in the same way.
The last time I took a vacation was before fifth grade, back in California.
My parents couldn’t afford to once we moved back to Astley.
The thought of staying in this house surrounded by nature, and being there with Quill and my friend, no matter how awkward it may be between them…
it’s like a breath of fresh air. The first happy thing that’s happened to me since I found my parents dead. No, even before that.
“So how long are we going to be stuck in fucking Oregon?” Quill grumbles.
I glance up at him, worried that unlike me, he hates being here. I can’t really tell from his expression. “I don’t know,” I admit. “Logan left us a burner phone, but he said he probably wouldn’t call, it’s just in case. He’s going to return as soon as he can.”
“Right. After he saves Seraphina. How long is that going to take?”
I shrug. “Not sure. He didn’t sound too hopeful that she was still alive.”
“That’s annoying,” he mutters, and I’m forcibly reminded of what a psychopath he is. How little he cares about anyone, except me. But I guess I’m just as crazy as him, because as long as he cares about me, the rest doesn’t matter.
“But it’ll give us time to be together,” I insist. “We can relax and just enjoy ourselves.”
“I’m going to be enjoying you, alright.”
This time I roll my eyes instead of blushing, having gotten used to the fact that this is apparently going to be his thing from now on: making innuendos in front of Josh just to keep him looking uncomfortable.
“Fine,” concedes Quill at last. “I guess it won’t be so bad.
But I’ve never hidden before. I’m not a fucking coward.
” His hold tightens around me, and I tense as he accidentally presses down on some of my bruises.
Noticing my reaction, he loosens his arms at once, and buries his face in my hair.
“I’d do a lot more than that for you, though, cricket. ”
I sigh happily against him.
“I’m hungry,” he says abruptly. “What are you making us for lunch, Quill? Or is it dinner?”
“Quill!” I protest. “Josh isn’t going to be waiting on you. I’ll cook something. What do you want?”
I get off his lap, but he pulls me right back to him as he stands up. “No. I know all about those science experiments you call cooking. I’ll do it. But come with me. Not letting you out of my sight again.”
He takes my hand in his, and I follow him happily toward the house. As we pass Josh, he lashes out, “Well, what are you standing there for, weirdo?”
“Uh… uhm… I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to go, or—”
“Don’t pay him any attention, Josh,” I try to reassure him. “Quill just loves acting like a psycho, but the truth is—ow, okay, okay, I’m coming!”
Quill has just smacked my ass to make me hurry, and I scurry along after him, grinning apologetically to Josh.
_
“What are you in the mood for, cricket?”
After opening all the cupboards, Quill is now staring in the fridge.
I know this place is small for him, but I’m not used to such a nice, big kitchen.
And I know what Quill probably thinks of this kind of decor, but my vintage Nancy Drew-loving heart is definitely appreciative of all the old-fashioned furniture, the cute ruffled curtains on the windows, the light yellow paint on the kitchen walls that makes for a nice change from the bare timber in the rest of the house.
I can imagine I’m in one of those vacation resorts Nancy Drew used to go to, where she’d inevitably come across some new mystery.
Hopefully there are no mysteries lurking around here though, because I’m about all mystery-ed out.
“Whatever you’re in the mood for,” I answer him. “You’re the hungry one.”
I’m sitting on the counter he lifted me up on, as if he’s worried otherwise I’ll run off.
But I’m very happy to just sit and watch.
He looks a bit out of place in the cheerful kitchen with the scar glowing on his face, the tattoos fully visible on his chest and arms, still wearing only his boxers.
I’m certainly not about to complain about him walking around half-naked, though.
His biceps flexed when he opened the fridge door, and I’d definitely prefer something that he wouldn’t find in that fridge anyway.
“I’ve never known you to not be hungry,” declares Quill.
“Fine. Steak.”
I guess I am hungry after all, because my mouth waters when he takes out three thick steaks then grabs a frying pan from the cupboard.
“Might as well make some for Josh too,” he shrugs, sounding annoyed at his own thoughtfulness. “But he’s not eating with us.”
“Quill! That’s not nice. He saved us. We’re the reason he’s in this situation to begin with. Don’t leave him out.”
“We’re not having a threesome, if that’s what you mean,” he grumbles, turning on the gas stove.
“Idiot.” I roll my eyes. “I mean, let’s not make his stay miserable. Let’s include him when we’re not… you know. Doing other stuff.”
“I’m not counting on that happening all too often.” He lets fall the three rib-eye steaks into the large pan, and soon, the kitchen is filled with a fragrant smell. “What else?”
“Huh?”
“What should I make apart from the steak?”
“Just steak is fine.”
“Gotta get those food groups in, Piper,” he chides, and I snort.
“I’ve gotten enough of the dad talk recently, with Logan. I think I’m all daddied out.”
“Daddied out, hm?” Quill leaves his steaks for a minute to come toward me, trapping me between his muscular arms. “Want me to show you what kind of a daddy I can be?”
“Quill!”