8. Kiera
KIERA
Viv backed away from Dom, standing in front of us with a clap. “Why don’t you all get settled upstairs while I try to scrounge up some lunch for us. Had to have been a long trip from New York, I’m sure you’re beat.”
I held in a scoff. That was one way to put it. If the travel hadn’t been enough to exhaust me, the emotional whiplash of the last thirty minutes had done a number on me.
“Any rooms in particular?” Dom asked.
“Just not mine,” Viv quipped. “But it’ll be pretty obvious to you which are guest rooms. There’s only two of ‘em, but if you don’t mind sharing fulls, you can double up? Or maybe I can dig up some extra bedding from the attic.”
“We don’t mind sharing.” Spencer smiled, earning a subtle kick from Dom.
“Perfect,” Viv smiled, heading for the kitchen. “Just let me know if you need anything.”
As the rest of us shuffled toward the door, Leo lingered just behind. “Are you sure we can’t help with lunch, ma’am?” It was clear that she felt wrong having any woman, let alone Dom’s own mother, be stuck alone in the kitchen.
But Viv just laughed. “Nonsense sweetie. I don’t think I could open the oven with you standing in there. Go, make yourselves comfy. My home is yours.”
Shooing Leo toward the door, Viv ducked into the kitchen, a couple of loud clangs announcing her intention to make something much more elaborate than any of us needed.
“You’ve just gotta let her do her thing,” I whispered, pulling Leo’s attention back to the task at hand. “She likes to host, I’m sure she’s thrilled at the opportunity.”
“Mmmmm….” Leo grumbled, sparing one more backward glance to the kitchen before swinging open the porch door for me. Up ahead, Dom and Spence had already popped open the trunk of the Cadillac and started hauling out our matching black duffel bags while Lady ran around underfoot.
I saw the one with my luggage tag already draped over Spencer’s shoulder opposite her own. Dom carried one bag, grumbling at Leo as she slammed the trunk shut. “I’m not carrying your shit, ‘Princess.’”
Spencer shrugged her shoulders mischievously at Leo. “Sorry, I’ve got my hands full.”
Leo rolled her eyes as she bounded down the porch steps. “Don’t worry, I wasn’t expecting either of you to be helpful.”
While Leo went to retrieve her bag, stopping to give Lady a pet, Spence quickly filled her place on the porch beside me, holding open the door for me with a little curtsey. “M’lady.”
I stepped back inside, holding back a laugh as Spencer let the screen door slam in Dom’s face and guided me up the stairs. As unassuming as this place seemed from the outside, it was clear that a lot of care went into the interior.
The polished oak banister was smooth beneath my fingertips, not a smudge in sight. Upstairs was far less curated. Designed for guests that she never expected to have, two bedrooms next to each other with neutral decor. Even so, the furniture was well built, sturdy and beautiful in its simplicity.
Clearly she had a design budget, something a dead person could only arrange with the Oracle’s assistance. How important did she have to be to those birds in order to secure that arrangement?
But as well designed as the space was, it was still small. The first bedroom was to the right, immediately off the landing, with its twin squeezed in snugly beside it. On the left, two more little rooms managed to fit: a bathroom and a wash closet, if I had to guess.
“Which do you want?” Spencer asked. It was a simple question, but the stakes felt heightened by Dom’s footsteps pounding up the steps behind us like a countdown.
Peeking briefly between the two, I pointed to the one on the right, closer to the stairs. It was bright with an A-line roof and skylight, and if I had to guess, it was just a little bit bigger than the other.
“Shotgun!” Spence called down the stairs, throwing her bag down beside mine in the rightmost room.
To my relief, Dom didn’t contest the choice, barely even shoving past Spencer on her way to the opposite bedroom.
At least I won’t have to worry about her slitting my throat while I sleep. But poor Leo…
Leo trudged up the stairs just behind Dom, bringing up the rear. I didn’t envy having to bunk up with Dom — didn’t take her for much of a snuggler. But as Leo reached the top of the stairs, I was surprised when she dropped her bag beside mine.
“No way you guys are having a sleepover without me,” she scoffed.
“It’s a full.” I tilted my head, “There won’t be enough room.”
Spencer laughed, wrapping her toned arms around me from behind. “Then we’ll just have to get real close, Bunny.”
I rolled my eyes at the ridiculous proposition, trying to ignore the thrum of excitement Spencer’s rumbling chuckle sent through my chest. It would be a lie to say a cozy night with my two lovers wasn’t an enticing prospect. I could use some comfort in this strange new place.
But before I could respond, Leo lurched forward a step, shouldered from behind by Dom as she turned toward the stairs. “If you three insist on sleeping inside each other’s skin, that’s fine with me, but could you keep it to your room? Some of us are trying to use the hallway.”
“What the fuck?” Leo glowered, rolling her shoulder.
Spencer just laughed though. “Aw, what’s the matter Dom? Cranky we’d rather share a bed with Kiera than tuck you in tonight?”
Her lip curled as she paused on the steps. “Couldn’t be further from the truth. Keep your little plaything away from my room.”
Heat flushed my cheeks. “I don’t need to be ‘kept’ anywhere! You couldn’t pay me to step into that lair of yours!”
The words tumbled down the stairs behind her unacknowledged, leaving me seething on the landing. “Ugh, she’s such a dick! What is wrong with her?”
But as I wheeled around to seek comfort from my angels, I caught a glance of shared concern between them. It didn’t take a genius to guess what was written all over their faces: were Dom and I seriously still fighting like this?
It was a fair question, one I’d had myself.
After uncovering our pasts and being… intimate, I’d have thought that the ice queen would have thawed just a little bit.
But she was all sharp edges and cutting words, and beyond the icy walls she’d built around her heart, I wasn’t sure that there was anything soft still left.
I shifted on my heels, trying to come up with some excuse for our bickering. But before I could proffer some flimsy defense, I was saved by Viv’s voice drifting up the staircase. “Lunch is ready when you are!”