Page 83 of Oath
After the eighthor ninth ambush of the week—I’d lost count—I almost had an epic meltdown. Even on shoots that took hours with the grittiest and most irritating photographers that stripped your soul of any kind of feeling, I’d never had a diva meltdown.
No, that came whenLegend, of all people, rigged the hallway to spray shaving cream all over me when I opened my bedroom door. It was creative, I’d give him that. I rarely slept in my room or slept in there alone, last night had been an anomaly. But there I was, wanting coffee and hosed down in shaving cream that smelled minty fucking fresh.
A big plop of it dropped from my cheek to my shoulder, then slid down my bare arm to hit the floor. Bones frowned at me from the doorway to his room. I wasn’t sure if he was on his way back in there or on his way out.
“We have a workout this morning,” he said. The bruises that had littered his face had diminished from ugly blue-black to yellow-green. The ones on his body were still a little closer to the purple-green. Unfortunately, his burns were likely to scar in the handful of places he’d gotten them.
Not that he cared.
“You don’t say,” I said in a voice so calm, I barely recognized it. Ignoring the shaving cream that continued to drip off me, I passed Bones and then descended the steps. The quiet hum of conversation in the kitchen cut off abruptly at my arrival.
Legend’s eyes actually widened and Voodoo struggled to not spit out his coffee. Ignoring all of them, I headed for the espresso machine to make my own coffee.
“Gracie?”
“Yes, Legend?” I asked before starting the grinder to turn the beans into grounds.
He didn’t say anything until I had finished and tamped it into place. “You’re dripping… stuff.”
“Really?” I glanced at him over my shoulder and maintained a straight face as another glop rolled down my forehead, then along my nose to drip off onto the floor. “Wonder what happened?”
AB coughed. “You want one of us to make that while you…?”
When I shifted to look at him, he mimed zipping his lips. Satisfied, I returned to making my coffee. I didn’t say anything when Legend set the oat milk next to me. I maintained my silence while the guys shuffled, and shared looks, and whatever secret communications they could manage while I had my back turned.
When my coffee was ready, I took a long drink with my eyes closed. The magic of caffeine, it was real. Another sip, then I took a breath before I pivoted to face them.
“Gentlemen,” I began and AB mouthed “oh shit” even as Voodoo straightened and Bones instantly went wary. I couldn’t see Legend from this angle. There was more foam melting down that side of my face. “Would one of you care to explain what exactly it is you think Mark Sinclair is going to do in that meeting that requires just this muchpreparation?”
I was extremely proud of myself.
I. Did. Not. Yell.
Not a single one of them answered, though all three of my four culprits focused on Legend. His trap, so his explanation. Fine.
I turned to look at him as well.
“Well,” he said, almost too casually. “We don’t know what he might be hiding or what skills he hasn’t advertised. Maybe he is a five-thousand-dollar stuffed suit and maybe he’s a whackjob inArmani, we don’t know. With that in mind, we want to keep you sharp.”
“I’m not a scalpel,” I said, well snapped. Another deep breath. “I’m a model.”
“Not anymore,” AB murmured from behind me.
“You need to be ready for anything,” Bones said. “When we’re sure, then we’ll continue with the plan for you to see him.”
At this rate, I would never be judged “ready” at least not by them. No, they were back to AB digging. I got that. Bones definitely needed time to heal, but the mission appeared to be delay, delay, delay.
Time to change their minds or at least their plans.
It started with a Post-it note.Small, neon pink, stuck to the inside of Bones' protein tub. I’d written just four words:
You missed leg day.
It was childish, yes. Petty? Absolutely. But the next morning, Bones stood there, spoon halfway to his mouth, staring into the powder like he’d just found out the container was full of arsenic. He looked up. I smiled over my coffee. Said nothing.
One point for me.
Legend was harder.
