Page 74 of Puck Blocked
“You are amazing.” I bite into the candy bar. “And you bring chocolate. Which makes you even more amazing.”
The door opens and Liliana, Travis, and Liam walk into my room. “You started a party without me? Rude,” Liliana says with a fake scowl on her face.
“You’re late. So who’s the rude one?” Aliyah counters. “And these are not for you.” She points an accusatory finger at her husband.
“What did I ever do to you to deserve this torture, Mrs. King? I can’t go the next sixty years without snacks, babe.” Liam sits on the bed, his arms crossed and an exaggerated pout on his face.
“Only sixty years?” Aliyah laughs. “Liam, I’m going to find you in heaven, and even then, I’ll monitor your sugar intake.”
“You should let him have a snack, Lia. He gets grumpy if he goes too long without a sugar burst,” Travis says.
“Okay, fine. Liam King, you can eat whatever snacks you want. But you’re bunking with O’Neil. I’m not staying awake all night dealing with your hyperactive brain when you’re trying to burn off that sugar high.”
“That’s not happening,” Travis growls, snatching a packet of cookies out of Liam’s hands.
“You really get hyperactive?” I ask Liam. I mean, can the guy get any more extra than he already is?
“No,” Liam says, at the same time everyone else responds with a solid, “Yes.”
“Well, okay then. I’d totally give you snacks, but Aliyah’s the boss,” I tell Liam.
“A hot boss.” He grins before snatching her up. “We’ll be right back. My wife and I need to have words,” Liam says before walking out the door with a disgruntled Aliyah in his arms.
“They won’t be back anytime soon.” Liliana laughs.
“It’s okay. More snacks for us.” I hold up another chocolate bar, offering it to her.
“Thanks. I like your thinking,” she says.
“I’m gonna head back to our room, babe. Call me if you need anything.” Travis kisses Liliana before walking out.
“And then there were two.” Liliana taps her chocolate bar against mine as if we were holding champagne glasses instead of sweets.
I reach for the remote, flick on the television, and scroll until I find a sappy Hallmark movie. I don’t know how long Luke is going to be, but I want to try to be awake when he gets back.
I wake up to whispered voices. Opening my eyes, I see two males talking to each other at the door. Luke and Gray. I look to my left, where Liliana was sitting, but the bed is empty, bar all the snack wrappers we left scattered around.
Shit. I need to clean the mess. Luke shouldn’t have to come back to this giant mess. I push up and start collecting the trash, my hands a frenzied rush to make sure I get them all.
I look up when I hear the door close, and Luke walks towards me. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I fell asleep. I didn’t mean to. I’m cleaning it up,” I rush out. I can feel the panic rising within me.
“It’s okay. I’ve got it, Tanna.” Luke collects whatever I didn’t grab and then reaches out and takes the bits I’m holding in my hands. He dumps everything into the trash can before yanking his shirt over his head.
My gaze catches on my name scripted across his ribs. I’ve seen it a million times now, but that doesn’t change how amazed I am that he actually did that for me. A little bit of the panic settles in my chest. “I really am sorry,” I tell him.
Luke gets into bed. He pulls the covers back and shifts until he’s right next to me. “Come on, lie down. It’s late, Tanna,” he says. I climb in next to him and scoot my body against his. “I love you.” He kisses me briefly. “Always.”
“I love you,” I tell him. “What happened? At the farm? Did you see her?”
“I did. But we didn’t go in. I watched from outside for a bit. We decided to go back tomorrow. There were a lot of people there. Gray’s called his father and he’s sending a few more guys up here.”
“Is it dangerous, Luke? I don’t want you to put yourself in harm’s way for me.”
“It’s not dangerous. I’ll be fine. I’m going to talk to your mom. Get her to stop all this ritual bullshit and let her know that she’s not ever going to get to you,” he says.
I’m not stupid. I know he’s going to kill her or someone is going to kill her. Luke won’t just let her keep plotting and planning. I’m not a hundred percent sure how I feel about knowing that my mother is going to die.
If I’m being honest with myself, she died a long time ago to me. I don’t have a relationship with her, and I don’t want one anymore. That doesn’t mean I’m not saddened by it though. I want that life I dreamed of having, and I’m not going to let anything or anybody stop me from having it.
