“No, not that.” I swatted his hand aside. “Get up. This is serious.” I leaned over and bit down on his neck a little harder than usual.
“Ow! Vampire, what the fu?—”
I clamped a palm over his mouth. “Shhh!”
He nodded and then we both looked over at the group on the ground. Nickie seemed to stir for a moment, popping up and staring straight ahead. Her eyes were open but she wasn’t responsive. She chuckled in her sleep and laid back down.
“What the fuck are you doing, Rudy?” Que hissed at me, fully awake and ruffled now.
“Sorry,” I mumbled, getting up and dressing myself before chucking his clothes and a coat at him. “We need to go for a walk.”
He stared at me, clearly confused. But it didn’t take him long to read my expression. His entire demeanor shifted and he got to his feet without another word.
A few minutes later, we were sneaking out the back door. Que ran behind me and yanked my shoulder damn near out of its socket, causing my jumpsuit to jingle.
Que paused, looking down and quirking one of his polished brows at me. “Uh, you know I love your dick and all but… why is there a jingle in your balls?”
Normally I’d laugh and make him fish for the answer. Right now, I was too on edge. Shoving a hand into my underwear, I retrieved the car fob and dangled it in front of Que’s eyes. “Nickie isn’t as innocent as you thought. And now I’m gonna prove it.”
CHAPTER 28
NICKIE
Aloud bang on the front door startled me awake. I glanced out Granny’s bay window and saw that the wind was picking up, rattling the cabin and causing branches to blow this way and that, while the chimney moaned and groaned.
I stretched out my arms and pushed up from the floor with a yawn, smacking my lips a few times when I noticed a sour taste in my mouth. Then I took a deep breath and scrunched up my face at the icky smell coming from beside me.
“Bad boys,” I scolded, bopping Dane on the forehead when I spotted the yellow puddle next to him. It was seeping into the hardwood and stinking up Granny’s fancy rug. If my daddy were here, he’d rub Daney’s nose in it.
Dane yipped and shot up. “Where’s the fire!”
“There’s no fire. You had an accident.” I pointed to the pee. He grumbled an apology, rolled over, and fell back to sleep. Boys were so gross.
Fine, you can stay stinky.
I shook my head, took another long breath through my nose, and caught a whiff of something else. “Oh, Gran. Ew.”
I waved a hand over my face, the scent of the amazing food I prepared earlier tonight overpowered by a disgusting odor. Sighing, I got to my feet and walked by each of the guys, kissing them on the head one by one, and tucking them in with their blankets.
Hmm, guess you could say I was oddly attached to this group of misfits. They felt like everything I loved most about the holidays. Candy canes and fresh-baked cookies and Christmas movies and singing and dancing and sexand pot… all rolled-up in one.
“Whelp, I guess this couldn’t last forever, could it, Gran?” I huffed as I padded towards the hallway, noting that the couch was missing the two lumps that had fallen asleep on top of it.
Oh where, oh where did my reindeer go?
I hummed the tune to myself, a little skip in my step when I looked over at Gran’s knitting room, sighed again, and kept walking. Que and Rudy were probably holed up in there together and they didn’t even think to invite me.
Rude.
I paused when I made it to the closet, rummaging around the shelves and tossing random pill bottles over my head.
“Bingo!” I giggled, popped the lid of Granny’s poop medicine, and held it up to my mouth, guzzling more than half of the nasty-tasting liquid inside. Then I snatched everything I needed from the kitchen and finally made my way to the bathroom.
I dropped one of Granny’s tin bowls in to the mouth ofthe toilet and took a seat. After a lot of hunching over, my thighs achy and my asshole burning, the medicine finally started to get to work. My tummy grumbled like the Grinch, all kinds of decorating happening in the tin and toilet, until my prize popped free and clattered at the bottom.
“There you are!” I sang out as I scooped up the key from its brown, watery grave.
I took it with me into the shower and got us both squeaky clean before I held it out in front of me. Then I walked up to Gran’s bedroom, taking one last peek down the hall over to where the boys were piled up on the floor behind me, unlocked her door, and tiptoed inside.
