Page 40 of Wicked Devotion
“I need to talk to Max about it. Lundsford’s not going to wait forever. Max isn’t the only promising candidate.”
“Good,” I reply while I focus on the slosh of the amber liquid inside my glass.
“Has anyone ever told you that you can be a goddamn pain in the ass, Cabrera?”
“It’s kinda hard to say anything when your tongue’s missing. Does that answer your question?”
“Max and Mrs. Holton are sleeping in your room now?” he asks in an attempt to switch the topic.
“Have a problem with it?”
“Would it make any difference if I told you I’m not happyabout it?”
“No.”
“Is it something serious? If it is, we’ll have to—“
“It’s not,” I interrupt him. “Soon enough, he’ll find something else to keep himself busy.”
As if I don’t see how Max’s obsession with Lily is getting worse with every passing day.
“And what about you? Didn’t seem too averse to her earlier,” Rockwell says, hiding his grin behind his beer. “Not to mention that you almost got into a fight with me just to keep her on base.”
“Got plenty of other reasons to start a fight with you,” I say, leaning back into the cushions. “Besides, she really isn’t safe out there. I don’t think any of us wants to read a newspaper article about her dismembered body being found in some lake.”
“I hate that this isn’t even the worst-case scenario,” he mumbles, glancing down at his watch.
“Let’s go to sleep, son. It’s getting late,” he says as he stands up from his recliner, giving me a soft pat on the shoulder before he brings his empty bottles to the kitchen and leaves for his room.
I keep on sitting in the dark, empty rec room for quite a while. The last thing I want to do is go back to my room, where I probably have to watch Max and Lily cuddle. I wish I knew why it bothers me so much, but at the same time, I refuse to think about it for too long.
Everything’s just so fucking tense.
Since Sanders showed up a little more than eight months ago, it’s like a smoldering fire burns beneath our feet. Flames lick up every now and then when things start to relax. A reminder of the shit that’s going on, but never long enough to really scorch us. I can’t shake the feeling that everything is about to blow up all around us and that those flames are going to burn us alive.
But maybe that’s just my past speaking. I need a distraction,and it’s the perfect chance for Lily to show she’s good for something apart from causing chaos.
16
LOGAN
Lily knocks on my office door at 10:07am sharp. When I told her not to come a minute sooner or later, I just said it to mess with her. Her obedience is impressive, and the thought of her pacing around the hallway, checking the clock over and over, is enough to get me hard.
“Hi,” she says with a shy smile on her lips, closing the door behind her, and it’s only when I’ve finished cleaning the last specks of dust from my boots that I properly acknowledge her.
“So, about your paperwork…”
Adorable how she struggles to stand the silence.
“I obviously don’t know anything about military protocols or how to write a proper report, but I can type really fast, in case you wanna dictate something. I’m good with spreadsheets, I know my way around a printer, I could proofread your stuff, or if you need me to research something—“
“Sweetheart, I’m going to stop you right there,” I say, taking my feet off the table.
Lily pulls her lower lip between her teeth to nibble on it,reassuring me that keeping her mouth busy is a good idea as I beckon her over to my side of the desk.
“Do you have a dog?” she asks upon seeing the folded blanket lying underneath my desk, looking a little confused.
It takes me a while to answer her because I have to suppress my laughter, and I think it’s the way Lily says shit like this with the most innocent expression on her face that always gets me.
