His laughter fills the otherwise empty hallway of the courthouse, and just like that, we go home with a future for all of us ahead of us.
Somewhere in the process of having celebratory drinks at the breakfast bar, we lost Jonah. He’s somewhere in the house, or at least, I haven’t heard him leave so I’m assuming he’s still here. Which is odd, because he’s usually the first to pour drinks and make sure everyone is having a good time.
When I stand up to go look for him, O also stands up. I cock my head to him, silently asking him what he’s doing. He just gives me a heated look and a smile that makes my temperature rise. He doesn’t say anything, but follows my footsteps.
I can’t find Jonah anywhere downstairs, so I start climbing up to the first floor. O is right on my tail and swats my ass as I walk right in front of him.
I knock on Jonah’s door and open it without waiting for an answer, but it’s empty. This is weird. My mind starts going to weird places. What if the man Parker worked for took Jonah? My heart starts racing, and I feel anxiety coming on.
I don’t hear any shower running anywhere in the house, so that’s a no-go. I’ve never seen Jonah take a bath, so I guess that’s out of the question. I seriously doubt he’s hiding in the supply cupboard.
Where the hell is he?
I need to get a tracker thingie inside of these boys. Hell, we all need one. We could’ve saved Meggy within the hour if she’d have a tracker. This seems to be the best idea I’ve ever had.
O seems to notice what’s going on inside my head. “What’s up?”
“Where’s Jonah? What if he got kidnapped and is lying somewhere in a ditch, hurt and bleeding, or dead?”
O scoffs. “He probably took off for a run.”
Or, well, yeah, maybe he did that. That’s a way more logical explanation, right? Perhaps I should hold off on telling them about my tracker idea.
“That is actually a very good explanation,” I tell O. My muscles relax, and I’m able to breathe at a normal pace again.
He presses his body against mine while his hands grab my waist. He looks more happy than I’ve seen him ever since I moved home. Celia and the court date have really been putting a number on him. He starts moving forward, making sure I have to move along with him, as he pushes himself in the direction of his bedroom. Before my back hits the door, he opens it up.
“Took you long enough,” a voice says.
I yelp and jump up. It’s not a cute yelp, or a warrior yelp. In terms of yelps, it’s a bit botchy to be honest. When I turn around, I see Jonah under the covers of O’s bed. You know there’s three primal reactions when you startle? You either laugh, you cry, or you get angry. I’m going with the latter today. Pointing my finger at him like, ‘I’m a witch and I will curse you’-style, I start yelling.
“You! First you give me anxiety! Make me want to force everyone to get a tracker, and then you startle me by… what the hell is it you’re doing, actually?”
He laughs. “A tracker?”
“Not the point! What are you doing?”
He gives me his most charismatic smile. “I figured you’d end up in O’s bedroom tonight at some point, and I think he’s had enough time alone with you, so I’d force myself onto you.”
“Ugh, such a romantic,” O jokes.
Me? I swallow. Because yeah, I’m fine with this. I’m absolutely fine that the two boys I made play with my barbies when we were seven are about to share me. Then a trickle of doubt seeps in. Will O be able to share? He hasn’t really yet.
But before I can overthink anything, he pushes me further into his room, steps inside and closes the door behind him. With his front to my back, he pushes me onto the bed and I gracefully fall on it. No matter what it really looked like, I’m going with gracefully. On my side, I observe the scene that’s unfolding in front of me while O strips down to his underwear and climbs in the bed next to me.
I don’t even get a chance to overthink this as O starts kissing my shoulder and starts to undress me, while Jonah kisses my neck from behind. The buttons of my shirt are opened up pretty quickly and hands are roaming over my body. When O sees the pretty bra he bought me I’m wearing, he makes some kind of guttural sound that would have me thinking he’s in pain if I didn’t know any better.
Jonah opens my pants from behind me and shimmies it down when I lift my hip off the mattress. Left in my underwear, O lets his eyes roam over me, leaving me feeling like I’m The Empress of the whole galaxy.
Jonah’s hands touch me everywhere, caressing every piece of my skin. When he starts to unhook my bra, O protests.
“Trust me, I’ve got a plan,” he tells O, and somehow that makes me feel more anxious if anything. It’s a happy kind of anxiety though.
“You want to tell me this plan?” O asks as his hands seem to find my boobs like they’re magnets.
“No, I think this will be way more fun when you don’t know what’s going on.” I can’t see Jonah’s face, but I can feel his smirk.
“I’m not liking this plan already,” O grunts, making me chuckle. What I’ve learned these last few weeks is that he loves being bossy in the bedroom, and Jonah stealing his thunder is probably not sitting well with him.