Page 92 of Wicked Little Game
“Shut the fuck up, idiot. He’s talking shit, doesn’t want to admit we found him behind a dumpster. Our little stray. ButI’m gonna tell Charlie that you said he’s the best.” Logan roughly ruffles Max’s blonde hair.
“That’s it, I’m cutting it off again. You don’t deserve it when you’re so mean to me. And I’m not a stray.”
“You’re too sensitive, sunshine. And you are, bite like one too.” Logan shows me his arm and the red bite mark on it. It looks new, as if it happened just a few hours ago.
“Yeah, I bite. But he deserved it,” Max tries to reason as if I would scold him for biting Logan. I won’t, I would bite Samuel too if I could physically overpower him.
“And you guys are actual soldiers?”
They nod, looking at me slightly confused.
“Task Force Phoenix,” Max says. “I voted for Task Force 69 but they said that’s a stupid name.”
“Because it is. Still better than Task Force Tortoise or whatever Rockwell suggested.”
“Tartaros,” Max corrects him. “But yeah, sounds too much like tortoise.”
He turns his phone on again, showing me more messages.
Max, problem
She made lasagna
Why’s that a problem
I don’t think I can hate her any longer
Because of the lasagna?
Must be a damn good one
God, I wish Rockwell had sent me
You know I love lasagna
Why do I even talk to you
A warm feeling spreads in my stomach upon reading those texts, and I quickly shove it away again. But then my brain decides to make the situation even worse.
“Who’s Carla?” I blurt out and both guys look at me as if I just said something really horrible before they look at each other.
“She’s Sam’s ex. But it’s probably better if he tells you himself,” Logan says, and Max just nods. That’s weird because so far, he didn’t seem like someone who respects personal boundaries.
That either means it’s something horrible, or something that would hurt me, and he doesn’t want to be the harbinger of bad news.
“Look, more messages,” Max distracts me and somehow, it works.
You know that Stockholm syndrome thing
How do I know if I have that
I fucked up
The mission?
Not the stupid mission, you moron
What else could you fuck up
