“There is no word that fits, but I forbid you from ever saying Tavish’s name again.”
“Working together makes each of ussafer! Safer, Leland! Safer!” I exclaim, but I can tell he’s already moved on from this topic. Honestly, why do I even try when it comes to this man? He’s always just off doing his own thing.
Leland hums in thought. “We’ll use Tavish’s body to keep you safe. I bet his body is as dense as his brain, so there’s no way a bullet is going through him and hitting you.”
Why do I even try?
I just sigh and head toward the bathroom to brush my teeth while Leland continues to cling to me.
“I’m not hugging people who won’t listen to me,” I state.
“I understand. But you will grow to love your hamster cage. I will make it fun, I promise. I’ll sprinkle little things in there to keep you entertained for hours. You. Will.Love it.”
“I have a weird feeling I won’t,” I say as I reach the bathroom, Leland still clinging to me, even while we take a quick shower. And even once I escape, it becomes clear I’m not getting away from this, so I ready his toothbrush and aim it for his mouth. He seems to think I should also brush his teeth so he can avoid removing a single hand from me, but it’s definitely not going to happen, so I force the toothbrush into his mouth and leave him to it.
I brush my own teeth while he sacrifices one hand to brush his, but now he’s realizing that there’s no good way to spit out the toothpaste while hanging on to me like this.
“Cup your hand,” he mutters through the toothpaste.
“You arenotspitting that into my hand. You are out of control. First, thinking you’re going to lock me up, and second, thinking I’d willingly let you spit toothpaste into my hand.”
He finally pulls free to spit out the toothpaste. “Didn’t know you were so against spitting, my love.”
“I wouldloveto know if I actually cupped my hand whether you’d have spit into it.”
Leland grins at me. “Only one way to find out.”
I hold my hand out, even though he’s already spit out his toothpaste. He takes my hand and leans forward, looking like he’s going to kiss it, before sticking his tongue out and licking it.
“Why?”
“I don’t know, Jackson. A kiss seemed like too much.”
“But a lick wasn’t?” I ask as I wipe it off on him.
That makes him laugh and hurry off to the bedroom.
“You’re not even going to question why Micah is here?” I ask.
“It’s like a fly that you ignore in the hope it just goes away. And if it doesn’t, that’s when you dig out the flyswatter and just dispose of it.”
“Don’t dispose of your friends. We’ve talked about this. Do you want me to ask him?”
“I mean, if you’re bored, you can,” he says as he climbs into bed and turns out the light before I can even reach the bed.
I walk over and slide in next to him, but I only make it ten minutes before I slip out, pull on some sweats, and head out the door. There’s no way Leland hasn’t heard me and there’s no way Lelandwouldn’tbe nosy… unless he knows something I don’t. And what if it’s something extremely concerning? Which is how I end up so paranoid I can’t sleep.
I move down the stairs and reach the living room where Micah isdeadasleep. Like… who the hell falls asleep that quickly on someone else’s couch? And he’s crammed into such an uncomfortable position.
“Hey there, bucko. Do you like watching strange men sleep?” a creepy voice says from behind me.
I jump and spin around because of course the voice didn’t come from Micah but from Leland, who I hadn’t even heard follow me. “My heart.”
“All for me,” he says, like I was declaring my love for him and not indicating that he nearly gave me a heart attack.
“Hey tiny nuts, wake up,” Leland calls as he throws a pillow at Micah. He catches it without even opening his eyes, which is… dare I say, ridiculously impressive?
“What?” he groans.
