Chapter Fifteen
Special ferret and friends
Nox
“How much time we got?”
None. We don’t have any time left. But I’ll be damned if I lose Lily now. I just f*cking got her.
Turning to Rock, I lie, “Some. Any news?”
“Actually, yeah.” He looks me right in the eye. “You’re not gonna like it.”
A stabbing pain shoots through my chest. It’s someone they know. My poker face in place, I ask, “What is it?”
“Gotta understand, dude. There was no reason to look before, but Mitch got an anonymous tip and…” He trails off.
My stomach flips. Biting the inside of my cheek, I nod for him to tell me.
Rock shakes his head and mutters, “This is hard, man.”
Rage builds in the center of me. I’m ready to knock skulls. Forcing a chuckle, I roll my eyes, “F*ck, Rock, tell me already!”
“Jamie Harrison.”
…The f*ck he just say?
I’m sure I heard wrong. But Rock repeats himself, “Jamie f*cking Harrison. For real, bro.”
Whoa. Definitely didn’t see that coming.
Ciaran Flynn is going to need some serious help after all this is over. We’re talking trust issues for life.
He took in the boys when their father died and this is the thanks he gets? Just goes to show, you can’t put your trust into anyone.
Lily. My princess. She’s gonna be devastated.
If I were to do what I really wanted to do right now, I’d go downstairs, take a van, and drive. I’d drive all the way back to California to the residence of Jamie Harrison, knock on his door, and when the weak, sly f*cker answered the door…
Boom.
Off with his f*cking head.
But I can’t do that. I promised to watch Lily and that’s what I’m gonna do. I have two minds about telling her though.
My body sinks deeper into my chair. I have to tell her. Eventually. When she needs to know.
I’ve spent too long in silence. Rock watches me carefully. With a single nod, I stand and ask, “Feel like sparring?”
***
Lily
Boo and I walk past the workout room and hear, “I’m warnin’ you, man.”
That’s Nox. And it sounds heated.
My eyes widen in interest. I look up and see Boo holding the very same expression. She crooks her finger and I follow her to the almost closed door. We peek in and watch the clowns at work.
Rock pops him in the nose while bouncing around, “Or what? You’ll tell on me to your girlfriend?”
Ouch, Rock! That was mean!
Boo giggles quietly and whispers, “He doesn’t mean it, Dee. Just watch.”
Nox’s face turns hard. His eye twitches.
Oh shit.
“Say it again,” he says in dead calm. “I dare ya.” Shaking his head, he adds, “I love you like a brother, man. But I swear to God, I’ll drop you so hard, so fast, you won’t know what hit you.”
Rock continues to bounce on the balls of his feet, feigning punches. He smiles harshly, “Quit f*cking around already. I know you wanna punch me, so do it.” He stops bouncing. “Unless you’re a p-ssy.”
Nox’s eyes flash and I bite my lip to hold in my laughter.
Walking backwards, he starts undoing his boxing gloves. I think it’s over, so I move to walk away, but Boo stops me with a hand on my shoulder, looking all too excited. She mouths, “Watch.”
Rock smiles in victory and undoes his gloves, too. They both kick off their shoes and peel off their sweaty socks and meet in the center of the room. Rock grins, “Rules?”
Nox bounces up and down on the spot, shaking out his arms in an attempt to loosen up. He states, “One weapon.”
Rock’s face falls. “One f*ckin’ weapon? No way. At least two.”
Nox chuckles, “Always tryna hustle. You wanna do this? We do it my way. One weapon.”
I have no idea what’s going on. My face bunches in confusion while Boo’s body shakes with laughter by my side.
Rock scowls, “Close your eyes, bitch.”
Placing his hands on his hips, Nox closes his eyes and Rock runs over to his bag. Fiddling through it, he takes an object out and places it in his palm, hidden from view. He’s too far away to see what it is, anyway.
Rock walks back to the center and announces, “Your turn.”
Rock closes his eyes, and I watch Nox walk over to his shoes. He pulls something out and places it in his shorts’ pocket before returning to the center of the room.
They stand a few feet apart. Rock says, “High school wrestling rules.”
Nox barks out a laugh, “No f*cking way! This is street or nothing. Your choice.”
Rock whines, “Street’s whack!”
Nox prods, “If you’re too weak to handle it, we’ll call it a day.” I have to slap a hand over my mouth to control my giggles when Nox walks forward to Rock, places a hand on his shoulder, and asks in complete seriousness, “How about I run you a nice bubble bath?”
Rock shrugs his hand off harshly. “F*ck you, motherf*cker!”
Boo and I remain hidden, bodies shaking in silent laughter. It’s like watching a documentary. Seeing the way wild animals behave when they think no one’s watching.
Nox laughs at his friend. “C’mon. One match. Street. One weapon.” Turning to Rock, he says, “Ready?”
Rock remains sullen for a whole ten seconds before he moves into a grappling stance and utters, “Let’s get it on, bitch.”
Nox chooses a boxing stance and mutters, “Oh, hush now. I don’t wanna hear how you talk to Boo in bed.”
Rock immediately responds, “My woman is a lady, so you better shut your mouth.”
My mouth parts. Placing a hand to my chest, I look up at Boo. She watches Rock through misty eyes.
Rock, you sweetheart!
And Nox smirks, basking in the glow of finally getting one back at Rock. He counts them in, “On three. One. Two. Three.”
They lunge at each other, then grapple, stepping in and out of each other’s space. Nox low kicks at Rock’s knee, but Rock is quick.
Rock high kicks at Nox’s face, but barely skims his ear. My man is pretty quick, too.
When Nox tries to catch Rock, Rock somehow reverses the move and I’m surprised when he catches Nox into a headlock.
It’s kind of alarming, actually.
Ever since I’ve been here, I’ve thought of Nox as a superhero. Nothing bad ever happens to them. They get caught; they fight, and they win every episode.
My heart sinks at the thought of Nox being nothing more than human. Humans can get hurt. They bleed, grow old, and die.
Inside this house, it feels like time stands still. Maybe we can live here together forever?
I’ll have to enquire about this at a more appropriate time.
Rock squeezes his throat closed and mocks in a deep voice that sounds just like Nox, “Street rules or nothin’.”
Nox’s face turns a nice shade of maroon as Rock cuts off his air.
And it’s freaking me out.
Rock doesn’t look like he’ll let up anytime soon. Just then, Nox reaches into his pocket and pulls out his weapon. He shoves it into Rocks mouth and pushes his jaw up to hold it in. Rock’s eyes widen and we hear him yelling through gritted teeth. We can’t make out the words though, being that he’s temporarily gagged.
Not another second passes before Rock releases Nox and gags, then dry heaves. Spitting out the weapon, he coughs and gags again. “You dirty, dirty f*cker. A f*cking sock? A sweaty sock?” Gagging at a steady pace, he wipes at his tongue.
Nox coughs and laughs at the same time. Rubbing his neck with his palm, he wheezes, “Street rules, bitch. I win.”
While the guys pant and heave on the floor of the workout room, Boo silently motions for me to come with her.
She leads me to the kitchen and when we enter, we look at each other and release the laughter we’ve been holding back from what we just witnessed. Wiping away tears of mirth, we start lunch.
“What do you feel like today?”
Opening the fridge, I search for something I haven’t had in a while. “I don’t know. I want something different today. Like an old favorite.”
Boo’s eyes widen. “Peanut butter and jelly?”
Oh, yum!
I feign disinterest. “Depends. What kind of jelly we got?”
Please say grape! Please say grape!
Spinning on her heel, she turns to the pantry and peers inside. “Hmmm. We have strawberry.”
Bummer.
“And grape.”
SCORE!
“Put me down for two with grape jelly, me thinks.”
She nods in agreement. “Me too.” Looking around the kitchen, she utters, “This’ll only take a minute to get ready. You wanna let the guys know?”
“Sure.”
I walk up the stairs and my calves ache and burn with every stiff step I take. A workout with Nox is hell, but I see my body changing. My muscle definition has started to show and I like it. When I reach the final step, I mentally pat myself on the back for not crawling.
Seeing Rock in the hall, I yell out, “PB and J for lunch. Boo says to come down asap.”
At hearing PB and J, he shakes his butt suggestively as if doing a touchdown victory dance, and I chuckle. No one ever accused Rock of being shy.
Shaking my head at his craziness, I walk past him when I hear, “You know, I haven’t seen him this happy in…well, ever.”
Turning, Rock leans on the wall wearing a sweet smile, “And I’ve never seen you glow like you do these days. So I’m gonna say this is a good thing. You won’t get trouble from me, but Boo…she worries. So don’t give her too much shit for trying to be sane, okay?”
Always looking out for his woman. I love that.
Nodding, I tell him, “I know, Rock. And I get why she’s wanting us to be cautious, but honestly, I’ve been cautious my whole life, and right now I just want to be with Nox.”
Seeming to like my answer, his eyes crinkle, then he turns and walks down the stairs.
I make my way into our bedroom and see clothes tossed onto the chair by the bathroom. I call out, “Nox?”
The shower turns on and he calls back, “In here.”
I walk into the open bathroom and freeze. I freeze because Nox is showering. He is showering naked. And I can see his pee-pee.
This is the first time I’ve seen his special ferret , and it’s got my brain frazzled.
Standing under the spray of the water, he runs his hands over his face to wipe the water off, opens his eyes, and sees me standing there. He asks, “You need something, princess?
But all my brain is interested in is staring openly at his junk.
He tries again. “Baby, what’s up?”
This snaps me out of it. Sort of. But not really. Swallowing hard, my eyes drift down past his stomach again and I murmur, “Boo asked me to tell you that lunch will be ready in a few.”
Soaping up and washing himself, he replies, “What’re we having?”
“Penis butter and jelly .”
Holy shit!
Slapping a hand to my forehead, I cringe. “Peanut butter and jelly.”
I see him smirk, but he doesn’t say a thing.
Smart man.
“Sounds good. Gimme a sec,” he says.
And I’m good with waiting. The view is spectacular.
Still eyeing his long, thick semi-erect penis, I ask distractedly, “What do you want to dick?”
Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!
“What do you want to drink?” I quickly add.
Body shaking with silent laughter, he can’t hide his amusement. “A coke will do.”
Oh dear Lord, his dick is getting bigger! It’s inflating like a balloon.
How on earth does it fit?
My eyes widen at the show I’m getting. I feel like I should be in biology class or something.
I repeat his order. “Sure, babe. One cock. I mean cock. I mean coke!”
Flushing bright red, I exit the bathroom in a rush to the sound of Nox’s laughter.
Gettin’ real tired of your shit, Nox!
***
Nox
You know what’s beautiful?
Lily.
I watch her get ready for bed, and the sight of her is heart stopping. But my mind wanders.
Mechanically undressing, I walk into the bathroom and splash ice-cold water onto my face. I shouldn’t do it. Really, I shouldn’t. But something pushes me.
I don’t like secrets.
I watch her closely. My mind tries to capture her. An image that I can take with me when this is all over.
Looking at Lily is like looking into a flame. There’s a glow surrounding her, and it burns so bright that it hurts to look at her for a long while.
But that while?
It’s worth the hurt.
Dressed in a black tank and panties, she smiles up at me and try as I f*cking might, I can’t return it. I can’t return it because I’ve got to do something really shitty right now. Something that will change her, yet again.
Climbing into bed, I sit facing her. Her face searches mine before I see worry seep into her eyes.
I have to tell her.
It’s time.
“Lily, there’s something I have to tell you…”