Parrish snorts, stroking his hand over my hair. He yanks on one of the pins, pulling it out and tossing it onto his bed. He continues with his work, using both of those gorgeous, gorgeous hands of his to free my hair and then combs it loosely with his fingers. There’s enough product in there to destroy the ozone layer (just kidding, the hairspray was CFC-free), but still.
I’m looking up and into his eyes, thrilling at his touch, wishing I could have more of it.
I have a feeling he’s thinking the same thing.
“You were sorely missed,” Maxx agrees, and I glance back as he leans against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, his gaze drifting over to GG. “Do you like our new bunny friend, who so happens to be named Gamer Girl? He’s a boy, by the way. I know because he humps me every chance he gets.”
“Also, he jizzes on him,” Chasm adds, lifting up the unlit cigarette for emphasis.
“No, he does not,” Maxx replies, and the two of them give each other faux glares.
Parrish seems quiet, contemplative, as he swings his almond eyes over to the rabbit’s cage. GG is sniffing the air, whiskers twitching, pink eyes shiny in the half-light from the bedside lamp.
“Want to tell me how you acquired said bunny? And then named it after my girlfriend?” Parrish asks, sliding his hands down my back. He’s looking right at me, like he wants to hear my explanation of the situation.
“It’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to things we need to tell you,” I start, and that’s when the nervousness hits me like a freight train. Parrish knows about Chasm, but he does not know about Maxx. “I’m not sure how much you know about what’s happening, but after Justin stopped asking you to give me directives, he was just texting orders to me.”
“Orders to follow or he would kill me?” Parrish clarifies, and I nod. He exhales sharply and tucks some hair behind my ear. “You really should’ve let me die.”
I ignore that, but Chasm doesn’t. He scowls and moves over to stand beside us, pointing at his friend with the cigarette.
“Don’t even get started with that shit. You know what she tried to do for you, right? She offered her life up in exchange for yours. And I was mad then. I’m getting furious now. Self-sacrifice is annoying. Don’t suggest stupid things.”
He turns away and moves over to the window, shoving it open and then peeking his head out to see where, exactly, the camera is located.
“You tried to what?” Parrish hisses, but I brush him off, putting my hands over the bandages on his chest and frowning.
“Justin—that is, my biological father—asked me to leave a dead a bunny at the bottom of its cage. I fucked around a little and had Chasm bring me a frozen bunny from the pet store, like the ones people purchase to feed large snakes.” I exhale as I stroke my fingers down his bandaged chest and he reaches up to capture my hands in his, frowning when I cringe a bit over my broken fingers. I missed him so much, those sunburst tats on the backs of his hands, his inked fingers, his smile, his smell, his voice, his … everything. “So we brought this one home.”
“He asked you to kill a rabbit?” Parrish asks, his voice cold and angry. If he’s this mad now, wait until he hears what else he asked us to do.
“We named it Gamer Girl in your honor,” I tell him, knowing I should probably give him some space but unable to pull myself away. Parrish doesn’t want to let me go either, it seems.
That, at least, puts a small smile on his face. It only lasts for a second before slipping away, and then he’s pulling back from me. Parrish grabs my hand again and leads me over to the bed. He crawls on first, giving a small groan of pain as he settles into the pillows, and then offers his hand out again, drawing me close to him.
Maxx sits down on the end of the bed while Chas tries to figure out how to smoke without getting caught by Tess.
“Your sister is safe for now,” Parrish says quietly, listening for Paul’s and Tess’ voices from down the hall. We can’t hear what they’re saying, so we should be okay as long as we’re careful. “The Slayer gave me two options: tell the full truth if I wanted, and let Maxine die. Or, I could tell the authorities what he wanted me to tell them, and she’d be safe so long as you kept following his orders. I chose the latter.”
“He wanted you to tell everyone you were held captive by the Seattle Slayer?” Maxx clarifies and Parrish nods. He keeps staring at me. That’s when I realize that he still thinks of us as, like, a couple. I have to tell him about Maxx. Tonight. Before anything happens between us; Parrish has a right to know what he’s getting into.
