Page 86 of Stabby Little

Tuesday, June 9th

"Tell me how it went."

I settle into the sofa with Sparrow and Finn. I balance a bowl of buttery microwave popcorn on my lap. We're having a movie night/slumber party and we plan for it to last until morning.

Our captors didn't let us watch the type of movies we preferred in the warehouse. They only allowedTexas Chainsaw MassacreandSaw.

Right now, we're doing a children's movie marathon with tons of boxes of Zebra cakes. Our stuffies are here to enjoy it with us.

I pop a piece of popcorn in my mouth. "It was great. Exactly the way it used to be."

Sparrow nudges my rib cage. "Was he as cute as you remember?"

I glare at Sparrow. "Is that some kind of trick question?"

"You haven't told us anything." Sparrow returns my glare. "I tried to ask you at breakfast yesterday, but you shut me down."

"I was making an omelet."

"And?"

"The eggs required my complete concentration."

"I'm just saying," Sparrow says, taking a sip of his energy drink. I told my friends that Miles and I used to stay up all night binging energy drinks and snacks when we were boys. They wanted to try it to get us amped up for the movies. "You've spoken about Grant for years. We need to know the details."

"I agree." Finn steals a piece of my popcorn and eats it. Freaking thief. "I jerked you off while pretending to be Grant many times. It's only fair that you tell us about your first meeting."

"I said it was fine."

"You're leaving too much to the imagination."

I turn to my friends with a helpless expression on my face. "I don't know what you want me to say. He invited me inside, made me hot cocoa, and showed me his investigation room. It was all very prim and proper."

Sparrow makes a face. "Investigation room?"

"I didn't realize this was an interrogation."

"I'm not interrogating you." Sparrow shakes his head to make me think he's not lying. "I've never heard of an investigation room. I'm curious."

"He strung pictures of me up on the wall with red yarn. It looked like something out of a crime show."

I've watched a few weekday crime shows while researching the names in my little black book. They’re not bad.

“As interesting as that is,” Finn drawls through a mouthful of the popcorn, “I'd prefer to hear if you kissed.”

“Could you chew before speaking?" I shake my head in disappointment. "I can hear you masticating."

"I love that word."

"It sounds like masturbating," Finn drawls.

I place my black dragon stuffy on my lap. "That's why I used it. Astute observation."

"You're stalling." Sparrow hands me a Zebra cake. "You're trying to get out of telling us about Grant."

I shrug. "I already told you everything there is to know. He invited me inside, we spoke a bit, he told me that he and his wife aren't together anymore, and I left."

Finn's jaw drops. "You're kidding."

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