He told me he didn’t need it. But why does everyone else know that he needs it?
Why do they press him to take it? Does it get worse?
“Come on,” Duse whispers, ushering Gwen back to the living room.
Aries gives me a brief unreadable look, tapping a forefinger on the door and slipping out into the hallway.
Razor making slight movement pulls my focus back to him. I tuck my towel tighter, shivering, still trying to swallow properly through the thick pulse in my throat.
“Bunny?” He shoots upright in a panic, his strained and bloodshot eyes seeking me out.
Finding me in the same spot he set me down in, he sighs relievedly, lunging my direction, his hands caging my thighs before Ora has the chance to move.
I feel bad she’s essentially getting shoved out of the way, but him immediately wantingmepurges the tears I vaulted in my chest, the ruinous need for him locking my arms around his neck as fear bleeds down my cheeks.
He hugs me back, tucking his head beneath my chin, his hands spreading brutely across my back. “I need this.”
Raking my fingers into his hair, I hold him tight, cracking my watery eyes open to everyone else silently leaving the room.
Ora turns the light off, grabbing the door and looking back at me over her shoulder.
She doesn’t have to say anything. The severity sobering her face is enough for me to hear the warning.
Once the door’s shut, I hug him just a little harder, the decline of his heartbeat drumming against my stomach.
Still holding on to me, he shifts upward, leaning his weight to the side and pulling me over with him.
I feel my towel drift, the dog ear underneath my arm slipping out, but laying on my side next to him and cradling his head against my chest is too sweet to sour with anxiety.
“Do you wanna talk about it?” I ask quietly.
He shakes his head against me, his face rubbing along my skin. “No… Talking about it keeps it alive.”
I sigh, combing my fingers through his hair. “Letting it decay inside you isn’t healthy.”
Moving slightly, he kisses my neck, kickstarting a flutter that ruptures in my stomach, his palm drifting down my bare back. “Then I guess we’ll both be rotten.”
Light breaks through my eyes, wedging my lids open to cream paint. The absence of a damp, hot body against mine spikes my pulse, my eyes flashing wide and focusing on the sticky note thumbtacked to the wall in front of myface.
I prop myself up, leaning onto one arm to tear the note from the thumbtack. I cannot gauge whether it’s a threat, or a warning, or a promise. And I don’t know where he would have gone. It can’t be later than ten a.m. What would he be doing so early? I’m the one that used to be up and out of the house before everyone.
Moving his sheets off my legs, I slip off his bed with the note he left, taking a moment to adjust the shirt he gave me to sleep in before leaving the room.
Grease is popping in a pan in the kitchen, the thick scent of bacon weaving through fresh coffee and floating throughout the living room and hallway. Immediately, I’m making up an image of Razor in the kitchen. He has his abs out and his sweatpants are slung low, and he’s too invested in flipping pancakes to see me coming, so I’m able to sneak up behind him and wrap my arms around his waist.
So… you can imagine the slight disappointment needling into my stomach as I turn into the living room and see Duse and Gwen cooking while Aries smokes a cigarette on the counter.
“Morning, baby bunny,” Aries exhales, a light stream of smoke puffing from her lips.
Still in the world of cooking, Duse and Gwen give me a grin, both greeting me like I’m the one that had a psychotic episode last night.
“Good morning… When did we get groceries?” I lazily gesture Razor’s note to the busy stove, stopping next to the table to take a seat on top of it.
“This morning,” Duse answers, taking a quick sip from her mug and rushing to get back to scrambling eggs.
Leaning over the sink, Aries ashes her cigarette out the hole in the window screen. “The guys went out early. They were loud as fuck. I’m surprised it didn’t wake you up.”
“Sounded like they were haulin’ a body,” Gwen drawls, scratching at one of her rollers. “So loud.”
