Page 61 of Her Sloth

“Nikki here?” I ask.

“NICKS!” my brother shouts. “Breakfast and your presence is wanted.”

“I could have done that myself,” I say.

“But you didn’t,” he says as he takes bacon, ham, and butter from the fridge.

Nikki comes down with just panties on, silences me with a finger when I open my mouth, pours herself a coffee, gets a beer, empties that too, and only then turns to Jackson.

“What?” she asks.

“My sister wants your presence,” he says, slapping her ass.

This is a madhouse, I tell myself and groan internally.

“Hi Nikki,” says Addy and hugs her. Naked as she is, with Nikki’s boobs pressing into her⁠—

“Will you get fucking dressed?” I curse at Nikki.

“What’s up with you?” she asks, not seeing any issue.

“Too much naked skin for this morning, I believe,” whispers Addy to Nikki, but I heard it all. They both laugh.

“Fuck you,” I say angrily and turn away. “Also, it’s fucking afternoon, and we have a plan to make.”

“What did you do with her?” asks Nikki Addy.

“Nothing—well, might have beat her again,” Addy says with a big grin on her face.

“So that’s what the mood is all about,” Nikki says, walks over to me and pats my shoulder. “Grumpy gremlin can’t lose.”

“Get dressed or grumpy gremlin will lose her mind,” I say threateningly.

Nikki chuckles and gets upstairs.

“She’s way too hot for your brother,” says Addy close to my ear.

She is too close. Too close with her scent and her daring comments and her looks and her⁠—

“I need more beer,” I say, stomp off and get another one from the fridge. I need more people in her, something that distracts me from her.

“I’m the other,” I say. “We have things to do.”

17

AUDREY

PLAYLIST: LAST RESORT – PAPA ROACH

“Ready?” asks Cass as we turn into Wall Street.

Nikki and I are behind her in the Mustang. The construction truck with Jackson and Ahmed inside is already parking—they’re coordinating and watching from the sky with two drones.

Blair and the rest of the inner circle are lurking in the surrounding areas, ready for the call.

“Ready,” I say, putting on my mask. “Nikki?”

“So fucking ready,” she says, causing a grin to appear on my face.