Page 17 of Venomous as a Snake

Me: How’d you know?

Blondie: What am I wearing?

When I take too long to respond, Kody video calls me. Tired eyes peer at me through the screen, the purples and blues of her irises glowing in the flickering light of her television.

“My shirt,” I answer instead of greeting her. “At least, I hope that’s mine.”

She hums. “What if it’s not?”

“Tempting,” I drawl. “What outcome are you searching for?”

“Well, you did send a box of naked men to my doorstep with the promise of orgasms and food,” she smarts.

I smile at her response. “I did do that, didn’t I?”

Her teasing is immediate. “Mmm. What will you do when I get bored and jump on one of your offers?”

“Kill them.”

“Feisty.”

“Territorial.”

“Hiding something,” she pops back. “Otherwise you would be here.”

The smile melts off my face as I ruffle my hair. “Are you stalking me now?”

“I’m an ambush predator, Drew. I wait patiently for my prey to slither by. There’s no need to stalk you when—”

“You know I’ll be by soon?” I guess.

“When I know you well enough to know if you weren’t hiding something, you’d already be here,” Kody finishes. “But you can’t do that, because if you did, then you’d spill your tea.”

“It’s a surprise.”

She scoffs. “You’re a liar.”

“Blondie.” I sigh. “Will you just trust me?”

“Trust you,” she repeats softly, like she can’t believe I would ask her such an asinine question. “I do, but I also miss you. Whatever you’re hiding is keeping us apart, and I fought—”

“Hey. Don’t,” I gently soothe. “I am hiding something, but I promise it’s nothing bad.”

She blows out a sharp breath, letting me know she’ll drop it. For now. I know she fought to be with us, and my intentions aren’t to keep us apart. They’re to bring us all together. I just need Walker to stop being a dick before she gives up on him.

“Please tell me you’re not pregnant,” she whispers with a grin. “I love you, but I don’t know if I’m ready for that.”

“I’m not, but I hear practice makes perfect.”

“Who are you practicing with?” she inquires, a haughty smirk lifting the right side of her lips.

I shrug. “Mostly myself…”

“Mostly?”

“I dabble here and there,” I reply evasively. “Porn has gotten boring.”

She giggles. “What? No Fleshlight?”