CHAPTER FIFTEEN
RAZOR
Raising my knuckles, I knock firm enough to rattle the wood, but soft enough to not draw attention.
Bunny’s changing into something that’s surely gonna make me rip it off her, so I have to be assertive and quick.
Duse opens their bedroom door, instantly narrowing her eyes and pursing her lips, stepping far enough to the side for me to see Gwen aggressively tugging her hair rollers out from their bed.
“Yeah?” Duse rasps.
Annoyance shifts my eyes to hers, resting against the doorframe to lean in through the crack. “The fuck did I say?”
Tossing a sassy palm up, she slams it down to her hip and angles her head. “That wasn’t my fault, Razor. And it’s not my fault Bunny doesn’t know.”
Gwen tosses a roller to the carpet, leaning back on an arm without a single fuck in the world, just relishing in being oblivious.
It kind of ticks me off even more. All I’ve asked of everyone is to shut their fucking mouths and let me handle it.
In time. I need some more time.
And Gwen’s big ass mouth just snuck shit inside Bunny’s head.
“This is your warning, Duse. Don’t piss me off,” I say calmly, retracting from the nerves burning her cheeks.
Turning back through the kitchen, their door latches shut behind me, as if I’m gonna swivel the hell around like a slasher.
I shake my head, huffing out my irritation and heading toward Bunny coming out of her room.
She frowns, tugging her hair out from the strap of her distressed tank top.
My eyes are dilating. The swell has my vision clearing on her, and all the frustration I was experiencing is dissolving without a trace.
It’s innate to smile at her. And It’s a natural response to succumb to the trance she puts me in.
Out of all the drugs I’ve taken—she’s my favorite.
She better not pull back from me. I’d hate for everyone to see the day I’m withdrawing from Bunny.
It’d be much worse than last time. Since I’ve actually gotten her on my tongue and am not surviving solely off sick fantasies while she…
Never mind. It’s fine. I got her now.
Slipping my hands around her waist, I tug her into me, so she doesn’t see my smile fading.
Her sneakers scuff the carpet, and she swallows a yelp, bracing a strong grip to my upper arms and snapping her big eyes upward.
That hole is bothering me.
I catch it while looking down at her. The jagged rips exposing the compressed wood beneath the shitty white paint have me doubling back to my toxic tendencies with an internalized sigh. For just a moment. Then I’m setting my attention on the confused hum nesting on the back of her tongue.
“I’m replacing that.”
“Hm?” She quirks a brow, slowly turning back to the hole I put in her door. “Oh… Yeah, that would, uh… be good.” Twitching another frown my way, she steps back, raking her fingers down my arms. “I told Ora I tripped and broke the door with my head.”
My vision narrows. “She did not believe that.”
“No,” she agrees, raising her black fingernails to hide a coy smile.
Fuck, she’s tearing me up.
I’m like a kid getting a king-sized candy bar during Trick-or-Treating. My stomach is flipping, and currents are warming my chest.
Ignoring the front door screaming open, I grab her hand from her face and lace our fingers tightly, keeping my focus on the pretty blush blooming through her suntan while guiding her to the extra beams of heat coming in with Cash’s eruptive huff.
“I don’t know why you’re trippin’,” Aries flames him.
Scooting around them, my feet park in the doorway, turning back to Cash flopping down on the couch with a puff that his neck rolling my direction.
“What?” I ask him.
He shakes his head, locking his hands on top of his drenched hair. “I can’t do that shit, Raze. That’s fuckin’ nuts.”
Aries collapses next him, leaning sideways into the cushion and bringing a knee up to her chest. “He’s a baby.”
I blink, waiting for some clarity that I don’t have to do tricks for.
Cash wipes down his face, his distress causing Bunny to shift closer into my side, her free hand gravitating straight to her mouth for an anxious bite at her nails.
I reach around her while Aries grills Cash some more and gently grab her wrist, pulling her fingers from her teeth and directing her arm straight down.
“Sorry,” she murmurs, immediately fiddling with the hem of her shorts.
I’d rather see that cute display of being soft than watch her fingers bleed or her teeth chip away.
“Bro, they’re already filling the bleachers,” Cash gestures back toward the park.
“Okay? And?” my brows pinch. “That’s great. We get to keep the money.”
Bunny winces, squirming even harder and restricting the blood flow in my hand.
I give her a pacifying squeeze, catching her eyes long enough to assure her with a slight head shake.
“What are they doin’? Just gonna sit there for hours until showtime? That doesn’t make any fuckin’ sense!” Cash panics, spearing the room with his own issues that he does a damn good job at nurturing.
“Why does it matter?” Aries probes, rolling her eyes.
I’m great at tuning out the poppy music and whooshing and the screams and shrieks that come from Vore. But the air is thick in here right now. It’s a megaphone for the obnoxious sounds of people enjoying their lives.
All because Mr. OCD doesn’t have his usual order and routine.
Cash shoots upright and starts stammering, stiffening his palms up with his shot attention disassociating on the floor.
I sigh, tossing a placating hand up to wave the flag on his fucking meltdown. “If it’s too much pressure, don’t do it. They’re coming to see Bunny in the Globe anyway.”
“Uhh…” Aries points to Bunny. “Is Bunny gonna be cool with that?”
Does not appear that way. No.
She’s blanched and staring off, and her hand is going limp in mine like she’s passing away from the visual of filled bleachers paying to see her.
“She’ll be fine,” I insist, getting a grip back on her clammy palm. “I’ll be with her.”
Dear fucking God, little bunny, you better be fine.
“Nah, man, I can’t do that. We’re Muerte De Tres. Not Muerte De, uh… Dos or, uh… Uno,” Cash says, his gears slowly turning to finish.
Two years. We came up with the name two years ago when…
Actually, that’s none of your business. I still don’t know who you are.
“Razor?” Bunny tugs on my arm, shooting me through the chest with worry paralyzing her glossy eyes. “I haven’t even gotten in the Globe yet. I-I-I don’t-”
“There she goes,” Aries huffs.
“Aries,” I warn, shifting a barbed look her way. “Not helping. At all.”
Aries’ shoulders drop, a deep sigh closing her eyes.
“You’re right.” Focusing on my scared little bunny, she slips off the couch and passes Cash standing with locked knees, his hand working overtime to pet his own head, and she softens her naturally hard face, resting down on her knees in front of Bunny while grabbing her hand. “What did I tell you, baby bunny?”
Aries doesn’t paternalize for anyone. Not a single fucking person would make her fall to her knees with a gentle voice.
Except Bunny.
Not gonna lie, it kind of bites my eyes a little. Especially with how responsive Bunny is to it.
“Uh…” Bunny sighs, looking up at the ceiling and trilling her lips. “Punch that bitch in the face and own my shit.”
“You’re damn right, girl,” Aries smiles, and lightly shakes Bunny’s arm in approval. “Let’s kick some ass and get that bag.”
I don’t know how long I’ve been grinning. Long enough for my cheeks to ache.
It rips around my teeth, catching the steady inhale Bunny drags through her nose, the courage going straight to her spine and straightening her shoulders up into something strong.
“Yeah, money’s good. Money’s great,” Cash hums—still zoning off. “That’s a better idea.”
My smile drops, my brows dipping right at him. “Than?”
“Huh?” he flicks over at me, his stare hollow.
“Better than what?” I ask.
“Cash, baby,” Aries huffs, rolling her eyes and laggardly getting up to her feet.
Releasing Bunny’s hand, she turns around and folds her arms up at Cash.
“You’re not gonna accidentally set the place on fire or cut your arm off to get out of this.
You’re doing it. And you’ll live. And then we’ll get back here, and you’ll get to count stacks between my legs. ”
His brows shoot up, and he purses his lips, his hand falling deadweight from his head.
I honestly fade out from what happens next. The image of my girl on her back, in my bed, surrounded by money, her legs drawn over my shoulders and my hands anchoring her hips… Oh, fuck. My tongue. My mouth. Just going wherever it wants.
“Yep!” With the glaze still on my eyes, I’m shoving the screen door out of my way and dragging Bunny behind me. “You’re a fuckin’ star, baby. We’re gonna show the world.”
“Razorrr,” she whines.
A bit too identical to how she sounds when I’m making her a wet fucking mess.
It really doesn’t take anything for her to turn me on, but the little whimpers mixed with her scamper tight to my side down the porch stairs… Everything just—phew, desperation is beating the fuck out of my nerve endings.
Now I’m thinking about fucking her raw on a bed of cash.
Actual cash. Not Cash.
Ugh, God. I’ve made myself sick. My stomach’s knotting and my upper lip’s curling from the invasive image.
“Razorrr,” she whines again.
Slowing my fast steps, I sink away the disgust and flick down to the water rising in her eyes, the physical toll of angst washing away the color from her face. “Baby,” I croon, shifting around to drop to my knees in front of her. “What are you so afraid of?”
Swallowing hard, tears slip over her waterlines, and she bounces her leg with a quivering frown. “I can’t do it.”
I don’t give two shits about the performance. Money? That’d be nice. That’s what we need. But we can get it another way.
The worry that’s tightening my ribs and softening my eyes is for her.
I just want to see her shine. I want her to be confidently gentle with brave shoulders, for her to smile and cry and feel everything she feels without it deteriorating her.
He did this to her. He fucking…
I’ve said too much to you.
“You can’t or you won’t?” I ask her.
Using the hand I’m not holding on to, she wipes her cheeks and looks away, the pace of her leg slowly drawing back from the edge of causing an earthquake. “I can. And I will.”
Pride slashes a smile on my face. “That’s my girl.”