Page 6 of Cannon
Please eat.
When I look up again, she’s staring at me instead of getting out her—
“Cannon, I’m not supposed to be looking at screens. Brain rest, remember?”
Ah, fuck.I don’t know why I didn’t think of that. The phone is both a tool for me, and a crutch. And, yeah, people usually take me for a fuckin’ idiot because I don’t speak—much—but I’ve seen a look in her eye when she watches me. She wonders what my deal is. Her mind is always go, go, go, and she takes in every single thing that goes on around her. Which includes me. I know she wants to know why I don’t speak, but I’m not ready for her to know that part of me yet. Because if she knows, she’ll look at me differently. I want her to see me as she currently does. And is it really so bad to be the strongsilenttype? I’d rather her see me in that way than the freak everyone else does the minute they witness one of my episodes.
But oh fucking well. I draw in a ragged breath. “Protein and omega-3s. For recovery.” My voice claws from my throat, raspy and deep like it always is, and I tap the side of my head again for emphasis.
The look on her face is priceless. Her mouth with those plush lips and that soft pink tongue hangs open wide. I’ve shocked the fuck out of her. Well, good. Whatever gets my point across. Shrugging, I cross my arms over my chest and take a step closer as I nod toward the food again.
She blinks several times, her eyes scanning my face. “You—” Her expression is torn between surprise and curiosity. “You spoke.”
I scrape my teeth slowly over my lip, raising my brows as I do. I’m not discussing it right now. It’s possible Elliot reads that very stubborn thought as it passes through my mind because without another word, she sits down, picks up the fork, and slowly begins to work her way through the salmon fillet.
A minute passes, then two. It’s like I’ve stunned Elliot silent. I chuckle internally, both at that and the disgruntled look on her face as she begrudgingly eats. Well, at least she’s eating, despite the attitude problem. She spears a piece of broccoli, but before she brings it to her mouth, her dark eyes flick to mine. “Are you going to hover until you’re satisfied I’ve eaten enough?”
I let out a breath and tilt my head a bit, a tiny smirk pulling at the corner of my lips. Bending at the waist, I wrap my hand around the back of her neck, tugging her face close to mine. At this distance, the lightly scented vanilla-and-sugar bodywash we’d used in the shower last night wafts and winds around my body like a delicious cloud until I finally inhale like a fiend, drawing it up my nose. I want to bury my face in her hair and suck on her neck. Instead, I settle for breathing deeply and skimming my thumb up and down the column of her throat. I stare intently into her eyes.Yes, I’m fucking staying until you put most of that food into your belly.
With an exhaled sigh, she murmurs, “That’s a yes. Okay. Perfect.” She works her jaw back and forth, studying me. “Not going to talk again, though, huh?” Cocking her eyebrow at me, she waits for me to answer.
Nope.
She reaches up and tugs on my arm until I release her neck. Not another word falls from her lips before she turns back to her food, a petulant twist to her mouth. I guess two can play at the silent game.
THREE
KINGSTON
Ever since Elliottold me about Bridger and the notes, my mind has been caught up in sorting all this shit. I want to verify a few details with her before I do anything else, but as I hurry upstairs, my head spins in a different direction. What happened between Elliot and me today… I’d call it a moment of high vulnerability on my part. I’d been in a bad place, then pissed off that she’d found the photo of me and my sister.
Man, she’d let me have it, unwilling to stand there and be a victim of my misery. She stood firm, then walked away. It was like by seeing her turn her back on me, she somehow broke through my walls. And I let her in. For the very first time, I felt like maybe there was someone out there who really understood my pain.
Knowing what I do about Elliot and being able to talk to her about Juliette—finally—had been strangely cathartic for me. I remember exactly what she’d said earlier, word for word.Right now, I need you, and you need me. Kingston. Get lost with me. Please. I need this. I need you. I needus.
I’m so caught up in the memory that two things don’t hit me until I’m directly in front of her door with my hand raised—one, it’s nearly nine o’clock, which could easily mean she’s already asleep, especially since she wasn’t feeling great earlier… and two, the door is probably locked. I raise my hand and rap my knuckles lightly on the wood, not wanting to wake her if she’s passed out. A handful of seconds go by before I try again, but no luck.Dammit.
I close my eyes and take a few calming breaths. I do have a spare key. But fuck. She’d come at me like a hellcat if she knew. And it’s not like I have a reason for being in there if she’s unable to talk to me, anyway.
Fuck it. I’ll have to do this without talking to her again.
I spin on my heel and head back downstairs. I don’t want to wait too much longer to chew these motherfuckers out again. They’ve had nearly a full day’s reprieve since the last time I came at them, and this simply can’t wait any longer.
I almost hope Alec mouths off again because that fucker was still whining about his busted lip first thing this morning. I’m definitely not done with any one of them. And now, we have two other issues—both the Bridger incident and the ugly notes that have come to light. I’m fairly fucking certain they’ve all been on edge, wondering if there will be more where last night’s tirade came from. They aren’t wrong. Only they don’t know that I know about the other stuff. The element of surprise is on my side this time. Maybe I can get one of them to misstep if they aren’t expecting that particular line of questioning. We’ll see in just a few minutes.
I stop off in the kitchen to pull a beer from the fridge before I head into the living room where Archer and Cannon wait for me. “I think she’s asleep.” I scrub my hand over my jaw before sinking onto the seat and taking a long pull from the bottle.
Archer cocks his head to the side. “I fuckin’ think everyone needs to remember she has been concussed for the last eighteen-plus hours.” He side-eyes Cannon and jerks a thumb at our silent friend. “He said she seemed off when he took food up. Didn’t want to eat.” Cannon makes a motion with his hand that Archer should say more. “Right. Didn’t want to eat but hoovered down an entire plate of food once she realized he wasn’t leaving until she did.” Cannon shrugs, an expression on his face that readsI did what I did, and I’m not sorry about itbefore Archer continues. “Mr. Dietary Health over here knows best, and he didnotback down.”
Cannon presses his lips together with a roll of his eyes, then pulls out his phone.
Don’t fucking know what to tell you.
It can probably be chalked up
to the brain bash.
She had her panties in a twist when I left.
