Page 65 of A Very Happy Thanksgiving
“I don’t care.”
“Really? The Stockholm syndrome is wearing off?”
“They’ll grow back.”
I started down the stairs, trying to block out the memories. Marc nibbling my bottom lip. The way he brushed my hair away from my face before he kissed me. That magic tongue between my?—
“Guess I’ll leave your Thanksgiving gift with Kitty.”
No, gifts weren’t a traditional part of Thanksgiving, but Huck loved unwrapping shit, so they’d become a part of ours. Especially since Dad died. When he was alive, he used to give us regular lectures on the dangers of materialism, right before he bought himself a new set of golf clubs or upgraded his car.
“You don’t have to keep buying me stuff.”
“C’mon, give me that. I like shopping for you.”
True. And now that we’d reconnected, however tenuously, that meant I’d have to buy him a gift in return, didn’t it? Maybe I could delegate the task to Marcel? No, that would be a cop-out. Which meant I’d have to go to the mall, and I hated the mall.
“Well, I can’t stop you.”
“Really? After what I’ve seen over the past few days, I suspect you could if you put your mind to it.”
“So you want me to handcuff you?”
“To the bed, preferably.”
“Nice try.”
It would be so easy to jog to my room, fetch a pair of steel bracelets, and ride the best dick I’d ever had for the rest of the night. But I cared about the man too. And I didn’t want to get his hopes up.
I couldn’t give him what he needed.
“Good night, Marc.”
We reached his room, and I was not going inside.
He kissed my forehead, my cheek, my neck, those lips lingering as heat flashed through me.
Asshole.
“Good night, Phae.”
Then it was his turn to shut me out. I leaned against the cool wooden door, fanning myself as regret warred with common sense.
Emmy meandered past, a drink in one hand and a cell phone in the other. “Oh, just go inside. You know you want to.”
“Shut up.”
“Is that a hickey on your neck?”
Fuck, was it?
“I’m still armed.”
“Hey, me too. Wanna spar in the hallway? It might help to get rid of that sexual tension.”
“Leave me alone. Don’t you think my week’s been bad enough already?”
Man, Emmy was a pain in the ass. I sagged against the door again, but this time…I heard voices?
