Page 46 of The Blood Widow

“Cole, can we not today? Beaut is a friend. You know if brownies are given food, they go crazy cleaning. I’d rather she didn’t, but I’m not going to insult her.”

He moved away from me at my icy tone. “Whatever, I didn’t come to argue. I want to know where you’re going, and I’m going to help you move.” I froze. He sat down in one of the chairs.

I rubbed my temples. A migraine was clawing its way forward. Before he began again, I gulped down my coffee. The hot liquid burned my throat in the best way. “Good, then we stop with this awkwardness and go back to how things were before and work together to find Brian.”

“Before? Before what? Before I got to feel what it’s like to be inside you? Or how your face is most beautiful after I’ve made you come? Or maybe before I fell for you. Or how I found out from someone else that you loved me, but pushed me away to keep me safe?”

Fuck my life.

I needed something stronger than coffee. Damn him. This was a cruel punishment, but I guess I deserved it.

“Listen, I’m s?—”

He banged on the table. “Don’t say you’re sorry again. Maybe tell me something real. Tell me why you think you don’t deserve love. Why push us away? Three men at your side isn’t one. We can survive.”

I opened my mouth to say something when the fire alarm blared from my room. My stomach dropped as I went on high alert. When no one crashed through the windows or anything, my brain registered what had to have happened.

“Beaut,” I groaned and power-walked toward my room to see smoke engulfing the space.

“Oh, fairy farts, stop the noise. This isn’t that much fire,” Beaut chastised the alarm.

Smoke traveled out of my room eagerly touching all the walls as if laughing at her. My pile of clothes and bed were on fire. “Seriously?”

Her little body snapped in my direction. The shocked eyes locked on mine.

“What? Oh my, who could have done this? Quick, flappy tits, get some water. I’ll save you.”

Cole ran into my room with a pot full of water as I went into the bathroom. He must have turned off the alarm too because it went quiet. I knew for a fact the thing would go on forever from the last time I tried to cook.

I grabbed the fire extinguisher from under the sink. The weight reminded me I needed to refill it.

A big splash sounded, and Beaut screamed. “You overgrown donkey peen! You drenched me on purpose.”

As they argued, I extinguished the fire. The chill from the fire extinguisher’s foam felt great.

I groaned at the damage as I scanned the room after. My bed was charred. Completely ruined. The floor was also deeply scarred everywhere. And the smell would stay in this room forever. The burnt wood and carpet smell mixed with unfilteredwater—almost like chlorine—wasn’t the best thing that had ever graced my nose, but not the worst.

“Oh look, I saved you,” Beaut said.

I narrowed my eyes down at Beaut, who sat crossed legged on the edge of the destroyed bed. “It’s okay, no need to thank me?—”

Cole cut her off. “You crazy-ass brownie, you could have done some real damage.”

She scowled at him ready to argue. They both were.

“You.” I pointed to Cole. “Go sit in the living room.”

I pointed my finger at Beaut. “You, explain yourself. Why were you setting my house on fire?”

She huffed and waited until Cole left. Which took a few minutes because he wanted to glare at Beaut for a while before leaving.

She got up and paced. “I was trying to help and get rid of your clothes.” She stared at her thumbs. She was getting rid of my burn pile.

“Beaut, you have to put the clothes in the tub or garbage first and turn off the alarm.” I knelt and rested my head on a part of my bed that wasn’t burnt.

I learned a long time ago that getting mad over objects was pointless. Stuff could be replaced, but people couldn’t. I wasn’t even mad. If anything, seeing her so close to the fire had scared me.

“You realize you could have gotten hurt, right? I know you're tough, but fire is deadly to everyone.” My voice was as soft and kind as I could make it. The smoke still lingering in the air made me cough. It was hard to sound caring when I was choking.

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