“Sounds like it was way more than justnice,” Piper mumbles. She and Pearl break into snickering again.
Lucky stands up straight, squaring his shoulders, and flips his hand at them. “It ain’t funny, ladies.”
“Oh, itisfunny, Lucky.” Pearl laughs again and then breaths a long sigh. “It’s a pity I’m way too old and frail for sex that’s so wild furniture gets broken.”
There’s another brief silence before Piper snorts and laughs loudly. Pearl breaks into more laughter, and I can’t help laughing with them. The two women and I are now giggling loudly and uncontrollably, and Lucky’s still just standing there with his clenched jaw and disgruntled expression. But that doesn’t last long. A few seconds later, he appears to be forcing himself to scowl until he cracks a grin, chuckling under his breath, and then he marches across the room toward the bed again.
He crouches next to me, sweeping my hair away from my face and peppering my neck and cheeks with kisses before pressing a long kiss to my mouth. Heat floods the spot between my thighs at the memory of everything that happened less than an hour ago, but a different type of warmth creeps into my chest; a strange, giddy, simple happiness.
I smile at him after he breaks the kiss. “I like not fighting with you.”
He strokes my cheek, causing my smile to persist. “I like not fighting with you either.”
Pearl and Piper snicker again, and then Pearl sighs. “What is it about spring that causes everybody to just fall in love?”
Lucky stands upright and arches an eyebrow. “You’re projecting, my dear.”
“Ah-ah-ahh…” Pearl clicks her tongue. “I don’t think I am.”
“I don’t think you are either,” Piper agrees.
“Ladies,honestly,” Lucky clips, pointing two fingers at them, “just because youtwo—”
“‘Kay, all done.” Piper slides off the bed, gathering the first aid supplies and then offering her hand to Pearl to help her stand. “Try keep those bandaids dry, and if you two are gonna do it again, make sure you’re on top.”
She and Pearl shuffle out of the room, pulling the door shut.
Lucky stands a few feet from the bed, shoulders thrown back and hands deep in his pockets while he arches one eyebrow at me. “Yeah, make sure you’re on top, Ava doll.”
Heat creeps onto my cheeks, and I cover the exposed half of my face with my hand while I snicker again. I peek at him through the cracks between my fingers and see that he’s smiling warmly. I pat the bed next to me, and he strolls over. He lies down on his side close to me, propping his head on his fist while he looks at me through lidded, content eyes.
We lie there in silence for a few beats, and he glances at my back, gingerly drawing his palm over the base of my spine.
After a few seconds, he rapidly blinks and shakes his head in disgust, mumbling, “Fuck me.”
“I will,” I tease, “but you know...I have to be on top.”
Lucky cuts his eyes back to my face, smirking. He carefully drapes his arm over the top of my shoulders and cups the back of my head, gingerly stroking my hair. “I want you to move into my room.”
I can’t stop the skeptical narrow of my eyes. “Why?”
“You’re trapped here for a while longer, and I need to make sure I keep distracting you from how much you hate that.” He shrugs one shoulder. “And hopefully, the rest of those distractions don’t result in you shredding your friggin’ back again.”
I smile. “I wish you wouldn’t beat yourself up over this. It’s really not a big deal.”
“Well.” He presses his lips tightly together as his gaze flits across the ceiling for a second before he looks at me again. “I’ve never hurt anyone, Ava. Not even by accident. I never meant to hurt you.” He pauses. “I was jealous and lost sight of who you are to me. People like you are why I was able to escape from hell. And you specifically are why this whole damned ordeal isn’t gonna send me back to hell.”
I finger the frayed thread on his collar where the buttons used to be. “And is hell where you got the PTSD you won’t tell me about? You know, since we’re not friends and all.”
His thumb draws a line back and forth at my temple. “I think we are friends now.” He kisses my forehead. “And I will tell you about it some time. Just not right now.”
“No?”
“Nah.” Lucky kisses my forehead again before shifting to lie on his back, and then he slips his hands under my arms and gently hoists my torso up to lie on his chest. “Nah, right now, you’re gonna rest right here with me.”
“I see.” I turn my head to rest my chin on his sternum and look at him. “You don’t really strike me as the type who likes to cuddle after sex.”
One side of his mouth quirks up. “Normally, I don’t.”
