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My mouth curved as I debated grabbing another cookie. They were warm, for Pete’s sake. “Mia and I, we beat other people.”
Carly lifted a brow. “You never lose?”
“Sure I do. Just not often. What else is in these cookies besides peanut butter?”
“Cashew butter. It’s my secret ingredient. What about my sister? How often does she lose?”
“I don’t know. We just met—” Yeah, probably not best to tell her little sister that I’d started having sex with Mia within a couple of days. “Recently. But I know she’s good.”
She smirked and wiped her fingers on a dishtowel hooked to her belt. “So you were calling out last night.”
Since I wasn’t sure whether or not that was true, I opted to change direction. “How long has she been asleep?”
“About an hour. She dragged in here with her cheek still bleeding and started cleaning the apartment. I told her I’d take care of it, but she couldn’t settle.”
“Sounds about right.” I went for broke and grabbed an undersized cookie at the edge of the tray. Extra crispy were the best. “Did she take something?”
“Yeah. Ibuprofen, I think, and something to help her sleep. She made me promise I wouldn’t leave and that I’d keep the doors locked.” Carly turned to wash a bowl in the sink. “The pills totally knock her out so she normally doesn’t take sleep stuff when she’s alone.”
“Understandable,” I said without thinking, shrugging at Carly’s sharp look. She must be wondering what Mia had told me. “Mind if I check on her before I go?”
She shrugged. “Sure. I guess. She doesn’t look too good right now.”
I set my glass in the sink. “She’s always beautiful.”
“You’re really gone on her, aren’t you?” She pursed her lips and nodded. “Good. I’m glad. She deserves someone like you.”
“Like me?” A semi-narcissistic, spoiled, rich boy brawler?
“Yes. Someone honorable and decent.” Smiling faintly, she reached up to grab my bicep. “And hella strong.”
Surprised by the sudden tension in my shoulders, I hunched them. “She might disagree with you. She thinks she can kick my ass.”
“Suicide mission,” she said quietly, reaffirming my thoughts.
Part of me wondered if Mia had known all along she would lose against me. If subconsciously she wanted to.
Carly edged back, but I withdrew the gloves from my sweatshirt pocket and pressed them into her hand. “I want you to give her these, but you have to be sneaky about it. She can’t know they came from me. Just pretend they were a gift from some old aunt or something and you hate them, okay?”
She stroked them reverently. “They’re butter-soft. They had to have cost a fortune.” She pulled them on.
“Just make sure she doesn’t connect them to me. And don’t tell her I was here tonight.” When she didn’t respond, I squeezed her fingers, now snugly wrapped in leather. “Promise me, Carly. It’s for her own good.”
“I don’t like lying to my sister.”
“There isn’t any other choice right now. Promise me.”
Nodding, she tugged off the gloves and set them on the solitary free spot on the counter. The rest of it was crammed with bakeware. “I’ll keep your secret, Fox.” Her eyes twinkled. “Sorry, Tray.”
“Uh huh.” I ruffled her hair and she squealed and pushed me back, much like Slater’s little sister did when I messed with her. It made me smile. Some parts of life were still normal. Not everything was tragic.
Just too fucking much.
“Thanks. I’ll only be a couple minutes.”
I headed down the hall to Mia’s room and carefully opened the door. The drawn curtains let in a sliver of light that trailed over the spill of dark hair on her pillow. I wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed with her and bury my face in it while I enfolded her in my arms. I’d never been a snuggler before. Now it was all I wanted.
She shifted onto her back and the nightshirt she wore inched up her thighs, leaving her almost on display. My mouth watered.
