“But this is hardly action, Doc,” she said as their voices faded away down the hallway. “Lounging around? Listening toyour buddies fuck their girls whenever they come by? That’s not gettinginon the action. That’slisteningto the action.”
Doc barked with laughter. “Are you saying you wanna get laid by one of my men?”
“What!? No!”
“Ew,” I muttered.
“Come on,” Marla whispered as she helped me to my feet, “let’s get to walking again. My stomach is about to grumble.”
That pulled my attention away from a conversation I didn’t want to listen to. It grated on my nerves, hearing the two of them together. Doc and Anna.
The easy way they talked, like they’d been doing it for years. Like there wasn’t a single gap in their rhythm.
“Wait, you get hunger pangs now?” I asked. “Regular ones? Or is this just a one-off sort of deal you’re just now feeling?”
Marla smiled as she threaded my arm with hers. “That I do.”
I squealed as I held her close, squeezing her arm like I hugged her. “Does Ranger know? We should tell him.”
She giggled as we walked out the back door of the room. “I told him last night, actually. When I felt hungry just before dinnertime.”
I don’t know why, but my heart sank. “Good, good. I’m glad he knows.”
We walked in silence for a while, and I thought about how much changed on a dime. Marla and I were always each other’s person, you know? I was the first to know all things in her life, just as she was the first person to know all things in mine. I guess at some point in time, I dropped to second place. Not that Ranger wasn’t a good guy or anything. I just…
I don’t know.
And of course, like they haunted the fucking mansion together, just as Marla and I slinked into the kitchen, Doc and Annaliese came back around.
With Annaliese giggling up a storm.
“Doc, you’re insane,” she said as their shadows passed by the kitchen. “There’s no way in hell you just did that off the top of your head. I want a calculator. Where’s a calculator?”
“I’m serious,” Doc said. “Five thousand two hundred and eighty-six times one hundred and twenty-seven is six hundred, seventy two thousand, five hundred and ninety-two.”
“You got a calculator in the kitchen? That’s where I always keep my calc—oh, hey girls!”
Anna rounded into the kitchen with a bright smile on her face that I just wanted to punch. Doc was right behind her, hovering over her like the shadow he was. What was it about her that attracted Doc to her side? Was it the neck tattoo that disappeared into the collar of her shirt? Was it how short she was? How loud?
“Lizzie,” Doc said as he slipped by her, coming toward me, “you okay? How’s your walking going?”
I hated how my gut kicked in his presence. “I’m fine. Marla’s hungry, so we’re getting a snack.”
Doc’s eyes bounced between us. “Wait, you’re experiencing hunger?”
Marla beamed and nodded. “Yeah, I am. Regularly now, at least.”
“Hah HAH!” Doc exclaimed as he clapped his hands. “That’s fantastic. I’m going to go note that in your chart.” He started out of the kitchen before double-backing, coming straight up to me. “How many laps have you done today?”
I held up the number two with my fingers.
Doc nodded. “What all have you eaten?”
Anna peeked out from around him. “She had half a bowl of oatmeal this morning, and a few bites of a cookie of some sort.”
I shot her a look. “I also had an orange juice.”
“Good, good,” Doc said with a nod of his head as his eyes volleyed between me and Marla. “Can I get you girls anything?”
