Jessie should have walked into his room. He knew better than most that snooping only got someone in trouble. His father once cut off a guy’s left pinkie for snooping.Granted, Eggy also turned around and told someone else what he heard.
And yet?
Jessie tiptoed across the hallway, which was a few feet between his door and Nik’s, where the bathroom took up space. The murmuring was definitely Katarina, but it wasn’t to the little tike. With the door still open a crack, he could hear it clearer as he stepped up beside the door.
“Yes, please…the sooner I’m free of him, the better. I know it’ll be a fight to get Bella free from him. He might not be able to stop the divorce, but he’ll fuck with me if I try to take full custody. So, it’s best to get the divorce in first and fast. Then, when he gets out, I can work on custody…yeah, well, the Lord Commander personally dragged him away. I don’t know who snitched but fuck if I’m not happy. Not a single person stopped him. None of our neighbors said a word…Yeah, I know. Thank you, my love, you’re a miracle worker. Yeah, I’m safe. Hehe—yeah, they’re nice. Compared to Gill? They’re fucking saints.”
Jessie slid away from the door, headed to his room.Gill, huh?He pulled his phone out of his back pocket.Got personally popped by the Lord Commander, did ya, jackass?That kind of thing definitely put someone on the front of some sort of newspaper or blog.Not that it’s my business.It truly wasn’t, but that didn’t stop his nosy ass from scrolling through the daily articles.Gillian Hurley, human, 37, arrested for destruction of property and assault.Jessie furrowed his brow as he took a quick screenshot. Gill was a big guy, blond hair, mean face, but he wasn’t exactly a problem for a succubus.
Succubi were arch-fiends, without all the fame and glory. Everything he knew about them came from unsavory sources. If Katarina wanted to rip his face off and suck out his bone marrow, she could have done it. Which meant the lady in Nik’s room was far nicer than Jessie.
He pocketed his phone and ducked into his room just as he heard Katarina’s voice die off. Closing his bedroom door behind him, he glanced to his bedside table where a bottle of lube sat audaciously next to a dildo.
“I should clean up,” he muttered to himself. “Good call, Nik.”
Jessie took a few minutes to wash, dry, and tuck away the toys where little, curious hands wouldn’t find them. Then, finally, he threw himself into his bed. Sleep took him shortly after.
Cruuuuuuunch.Somethingwasinhis bed.Smack, smack, smack, cruuuuuunch.It wasn’t a person, but it was heavy enough to register in his sleep rattled mind.Crunch!Plus, with some person clearly snarfing down an apple with gusto in his ear…Jessie shifted ever tentatively onto his back. He glanced to the right, and there on the bed was a plate of food next to a platypus, with a tiny terror standing at the side of his bed. Big, glimmering ruby eyes stared up at him.
“Morning, Bella.” Jesie ruffled his face, inching as to not disturb the plate full of pancakes and bacon. Isabella beamed, pulling the apple away from her face.
“Mommy said apples good for tummy.”
“She’s correct, they’re—oh.” He stopped in the middle of his yawn as the apple was shoved in his direction. “I don’t wanna eat your food, tater tot.”
“I’m not a tater!” She giggled.
“Oh, yeah?” He chuckled, setting the plate onto his bedside table so he could sit up without tossing it. “What are you?”
Barnibus lay, judging him from the side of the bed.
“A bug.”
“Bug?” He took up a piece of the bacon and tossed it in his hungry maw. Putting his back against the wall behind his bed, he was finally able to crack his stiff joints.Oh, that feels amazing.
“Yeah, ladybug! Red, spots, fly—bug.” She shrugged before taking a hearty bite into her apple. “Mommy shower.”
“Ah!” He leaned slightly, straining his ears to hear the shower going. While his room had a direct door into the bath, there was another in the hallway. He hadn’t heard the shower flip on, but, then again, he was dead asleep. One of Jessie’s worst qualities, he believed, was the deep sleep.Gonna get me stabbed one of these times.
“Yeah,” Isabella hummed before returning to her apple. “Nik said hi.”
“That’s good. Say, bug, is Nik downstairs?”
“Yeah!”
“Why don’t you go help him in the kitchen, huh? So, I can change and eat breakfast.” He grabbed another piece of bacon off the plate.
The little girl nodded happily. “Okay. Nik’s fluffy.”
“Like a teddy bear,” Jessie snickered.
“Gonna hug him.” Isabella scooped up the platypus in one arm and marched off, apple in hand. Barnibus watched him from the crook of her elbow, as if begging for mercy.Poor thing.He’d won it by accident and given it to Nik absentmindedly. Theyweren’t there for games, he just needed to take cover for a few minutes after some shit went down in the house of mirrors. Barnibus stayed with them the rest of the night. He never imagined the stoic mechanic would keep him.
But Nik’s always been full of surprises.
Jessie flipped the blanket off him the second the girl was out of eye shot then closed his bedroom door gently.Don’t want to raise alarm.He slept in his boxers, so it wasn’t like he was naked with the child in the house.But boxers only cover so much.Especially given his morning wood standing straight up to say hello. Normally he’d throw himself in the shower to freshen up, but as there was a soft melody drifting out of there, he expected he would miss the pit stop.I can grab a shower after work.
Jessie was bare ass, spraying on deodorant when the door clicked open. His hooves were like dead weights as he tried to stumble into his closet or anywhere to avoid the child from seeing. In doing so, he fell to the floor like a sack of potatoes.
