“I give you permission,” I say.
“Uh. Permission for what?” Blaze asks.
“To sleep with each other. You’ll be lonely in NewVa without me, and at least one of your Christmases will suck, so go ahead and go on dates and fuck or whatever.” I keep my voice light, even though there’s a hammer inside my chest, trying to destroy my ribcage.
“Go on dates?” Asch repeats with a snort. “Yeah, okay. That’s not happening, Pandora.” He lowers his voice. “And we wouldn’t fuck around without you there.”
“I think we’re both going to be pretty busy with other stuff,” Blaze says, dropping his voice as well. “And it wouldn’t be fun without you.”
Blaze isn’t looking at Asch, so he can’t see it, but for a split second Asch’s smile falters.
I stick my tongue out at them. “Yeah, you two were having boringvanilla sex before I showed up. Anyway. I should go see what my family is up to. Give each other a kiss and pretend it’s from me.”
I hang up before I can see their reactions.
Wow, I’m being a hypocrite. I wouldn’t ask for their permission to do anything with River. I love seeing them touch each other in front of me. We’re all part of this great big poly group.
I need to get over myself, because I’m pretty sure the posters in my room didn’t originally have sinister glowing eyes. How are they glowing when it’s not even that dark in here?
I change into a clean shirt and sweater, then head downstairs.
Mama and Papa are both in the kitchen, Papa’s arms around her from behind while he kisses her neck. I don’t think they’ve noticed me.
“…over the kitchen counter,” Papa is saying. “Gonna fuck you so raw, Mama.”
Yeah, they definitely haven’t noticed me.
“Giulio, we have a guest,” Mama reminds him, but she doesn’t try to pull away from him.
I wonder how long this will go on before they realize I’m standing in the doorway. I mean, it’s kind of their own fault for starting this in the kitchen, with the door open. It’s like Papawantseverybody to see.
“A guest who’s too terrified to come down here without Pandora,” Papa says. He reaches up to cup Mama’s breast through her sweater.
Mama makes a soft sound, but then she goes still. She turns around, and a blush spreads across her cheeks as she sees me standing there. It’s not like it’s the first time I’ve caught my parents getting frisky with each other, but every time, she acts like it’s something new and unusual.
“Pandora!” she says. “How long have you been lurking?”
I grin at her. “Not too long.I’m going to fuck you so raw, Mama. Right in the kitchen! I think that’s unsanitary.”
Papa laughs, while Mama covers her face with her hands. Papa gives her a kiss on the cheek before stepping away. “It’s for the best. I think the salmon is almost done.”
He goes over to the ovens and opens the top one. The smell of garlicky salmon gets stronger, and I almost drool in anticipation of the meal.
“How’s your friend doing?” Mama asks, starting to pull plates from the cupboard.
“She is pretty certain nobody wants her here.” I go to help Mama. “So please, please, Papa, don’t make weird jokes.”
“Uh.” Papa pulls the tray out of the oven. “Defineweird jokes.”
“Ones about sex or being mafia or murdering people or any references to your line of work.” I set the plates on the counter and go for the cutlery. “She’s had it bad. With the Bouchard Syndicate.”
Papa’s expression darkens. “If they try anything?—”
“They won’t try anything while she’s here,” Mama says firmly, cutting Papa off. “You know they wouldn’t dare.” She kisses him on the cheek. “I’ll go set the table.”
She heads to the dining room. I watch Papa cut the salmon into portions and place them on the serving dish.
“Papa…” I look down at my fingers. The hot pink polish is chipped in a few places. Maybe I should take Samantha to one of the local salons.
