“Good. Leave it.”
“You’re so nasty,” she giggles.
I shrug.
“You like it.”
She hums but doesn’t deny it.
“There’s no way you move like that,” she says, sounding a little more like herself.
“Let me fuck you and find out.”
She laughs, a sweet, innocent sound as if she hadn’t just siphoned every drop out of me from miles away.
“In your dreams, Cross.”
“Every night, Ashbourne.”
She’s silent for a moment, but I can still hear the smile through the phone when she speaks again.
“Where are you?” she asks.
“The Manor.”
“Home?”
No. Not home. Not even close.
“When will you be back?”
“Tonight.”
I have no plans on staying here any longer than I need to.
“Okay,” she mutters. “Be?—”
Her words are cut off by Mother’s voice shouting my name, and I sigh.
“I have to go,” I say. “Are you going to be okay until I get back?”
“Yeah, I’m?—”
“Don’t. Say that.”
She giggles again.
“Yes.” She says, more sure. “That was more than enough.”
“Keep it. Just in case.”
She pretends to hesitate for a moment, but I know how much she likes her new toy when all she says is, “Okay.”
“Goodnight, princess.”
“Goodnight, Elliot.”
There’s a shuffling of fabric as she prepares to hang up, but I’m not ready yet.
