Page 106 of Trigger Happy

I spread her legs and nestle my head between her thighs. “That’s the goal.”

“I STILL DON’T feel good about you going out alone on this hike,” I say after making Sabrina come on my lips in record time.

“It’s going to be fine,” she says, grabbing a backpack. “If I have to step on a few rocks while faking some girl bonding about horses and pea protein, then so be it. I need to get her alone to—”

She stops.

“To what?”

“To get more information out of her,” she finishes.

I watch her tornado around the room as she grabs various things and tosses them on the bed, but I like watching her like this, all focused and intent. She’s got this, but it doesn’t change the fact that I’m still worried.

“Remember the code,” I say. “Just text ‘black g-string’ if you need backup, okay? I’ll be there.”

Some of the tension leaves her body. She places her hands on my cheeks and says, “Don’t worry, I came prepared.”

She drops a backpack down, and it shakes the entire mattress.

There’s an explosion of gear sprayed across the comforter. Duct tape, a spare phone battery, floss, a pen looks like it’s actually a covert blade.

She continues stuffing various items into her backpack, muttering “check” every time she packs something. Binoculars. “Check.” Hair ties. “Check.” Burner phone. “Check.” Portable voice distorter. “Check.”

I stare at her, open-mouthed. “Sabrina, you’re going on a hike.”

“Exactly. Anything could happen.” She yanks the last zipper shut before tossing me a habanero beef jerky stick. “Here. That’s for you. It’s the last one, so you better savor it.”

I shake my head, but the corners of my mouth tip up. Only Sabrina.

Striding over, I gently grab her head, angling it up so she knows I mean what I’m about to say. “Be careful out there, all right? There’s something important between my hands, and I kind of want to keep it around.”

She swallows, and something shutters in her eyes. “I didn’t realize my face was so important to you. Guess I’ll cancel that facelift I had scheduled for when I get back to the city.”

She tries to laugh it off, but I won’t let her get away with it. I kiss her good. “Face, brain, that heart-shaped freckle on your left shoulder, it’s all important to me.”

49Sabrina

I should kill her.

Just hold a knife to her throat and demand answers.

Do it, Sabrina.

“My god, it’s hot,” I say instead, huffing up the mountain.

“Take off your puffer,” Bobbi says, her skin luminous. She’s one of those people who glistens instead of sweats.

I would, but I have a gun stashed in the waistband, so I’m stuck sweating it out. “No, the puffer’s like my own wearable sauna. I’ll be toxin-free by the end of this hike.”

Between the puffer, the extra forty pounds strapped to my back, and the delicious ache Lawton left between my thighs, I’m having a hard time breathing. “I get the whole hiking thing, really, I do. Vitamin D. Endorphins. It’s great for your mental health, but don’t you think all these aspens are starting to blur together?”

Yes, the view is gorgeous. Yes, this is the best leg workout I’ve had since that ex-Rockette taught a class at Equinox. But there’s only so much fall foliage a girl can take, and if I’m going to hold a knife to her throat at the end of this hike, I need to save my stamina. We’ve been hiking for almost two hours. Thank god we still have service.

Bobbi continues up the rocky mountainside. “Sure, I’m getting déjà vu, but the good kind.”

I squirt water into my mouth. “What’s the good kind of déjà vu?”

“It’s like when your new boyfriend does the same thing with his tongue your ex used to do. You could ask questions, but it works like a charm, so you just mentally thank the girl who taught him.”