“Can… can we talk?” Jenny asks Bethany, although she looks hesitantly at me.
“Of course.” If Bethany is aware of Jenny’s objection toward me listening, she doesn’t show it. Instead she drags the bench at the end of the bed closer to the chair by the dresser and pats it, welcoming her to sit.
“If you want me to go,” I speak up, “I can grab you something to eat while you two talk?”
Jenny’s gaze flicks between the two of us before she shakes her head. “You’ve already given me dinner, and a place to sleep… and clothes.” She goes on and the baggy long-sleeve shirt pools around her thin wrist. “I don’t need anything else.”
As I stand to go the bathroom and busy myself so they have some semblance of privacy, Jenny adds, “Thank you.” A tight smile and a nod is given to Jenny, but Bethany reaches for my hand and squeezes it before I can walk away.
I nearly think she wants me to stay, but she releases me with a thank you.
My hand is still warm from her touch when I turn on the faucet. Even over the sound of the water splashing in the sink, I can hear Jenny asks her questions about me.
Does she trust me?
What is she doing with me?
And finally, does she love me?
All of which are answered with many words, but the first of them each time is yes.
“You led him to me,” Bethany informs her sister and I remember the first time I saw her. Across the bar, my fiery girl, picking a fight with whoever she could because she was hurting and needed help. Fighting is all either of us knew.
I scrub my face, feeling the roughness along my jaw and listen intently even though I hadn’t planned on eavesdropping.
“The only clues you gave me before you left were The Red Room and the Cross brothers. So I went there, searching for you.”
Opening the cabinet to get my razor and shaving cream, I grab the bottle of pills and stare at them until they fall from my hand into the bottom of the trashcan beneath the sink. The inhale I take is deep and cathartic, but it doesn’t stop the twisted hurt that will always come when I think about that time in my life. I don’t need the constant reminder though.
Gripping my razor, I use the back of my hand to close the cabinet door. Jenny’s reflection is clear in the mirror. A disturbed look plays on her face when she tells Bethany, “Marcus told me to. He said to make sure you heard me say it.”
Staring down at the rippling water, I listen to her explain that she’s sorry. She’s sorry for everything.
I don’t shave. I don’t move, other than bracing one hand on each side of the sink and staring down, wondering what Marcus planned, how he thought ahead and what he thought would happen.
It’s not until Jenny says good night and I feel Bethany’s hand on my back that I bring myself to look at Bethany in the mirror.
“You okay?” she whispers against my back and I almost tell her that I’m fine. Instead I answer, “I hate hearing his name.”
“Marcus?” she asks and I nod.
“Seth will find him,” she answers me and plants a small kiss on my back through my white t-shirt when I turn off the faucet.
She watches me as I dry my face and thanks me for giving her sister space.
The smile on my lips falters until she reaches out, grabbing my hand and kissing it.
“Isn’t that what a man is supposed to do?” I toy with her. “Kneel and kiss the back of a lady’s hand.”
A glimmer of surprise filters in her eyes as she says, “I thought it’s what ladies did to the knights? I thought they kissed the back of their hands when they saved them.”
Even though I’m still, she moves, pushing herself between me and the sink and reaching up to kiss me. It’s always the same with her. The first is quick and teasing and then she gives me what I need, deep and slow. As I groan into her mouth, she lets out a soft sigh of affection and balls my shirt in her fist, bringing me closer to her.
“So needy,” I tell her, my voice low and playful before tugging her bottom lip between my teeth and then letting her go.
I move my hands from her hips to her ass and pick her up, loving the gasp and then the squeal she gives me when I toss her on our bed.
The air heats as I kick off my pants and watch her right herself on the bed, her gaze wandering down my body until I climb on the bed to join her.
With both of her hands in my hair and mine bracing me on the bed as I lean over her, forcing her to lie down, she kisses me with soft, quick kisses all over my lips. I smile as she does it, short pecks moving in a clockwise motion.