Page 37 of Deadly North
My face cracks into a yawn. “Trust me, I’m beat enough that I could sleep anywhere right now. I’ll be fine.”
“Come to the apartment and sleep, though.”
“You asking?”
“I’m supposed to be taking care of you.”
I cock my head, decide to take a chance. “If that’s the case, can the patient make a request?”
Gigi lifts a brow at me. “Depends on what it is.”
I grab her hand and pull her toward me. “Well, I was just thinkin’, if we’re gonna talk about our fight tomorrow, I’m assuming we’ll manage to kiss and make up then. So, maybe we can do the making up part now. Kinda like dessert before the meal.”
“Are you serious?”
“As a heart attack.” I graze her lips with mine. Gigi kisses me back for a second, then pulls away.
“You’re not supposed to do anything strenuous!” she protests. “I’m supposed to be making sure you don’t!”
“I won’t tell anyone if you won’t,” I growl. “C’mon. You can be gentle with me.”
Gigi laughs and climbs into my lap. “This is a very bad idea.”
“Nah. It’s the best idea I’ve had in a while.”
My mouth comes down on hers. Instantly, it’s like I’ve been in the desert for days and she’s just offered me a drink. My whole body comes to life, my headache receding into the background so that I barely even feel it. All there is is the softness of her lips, the perfume of her hair, the way she wiggles in my lap against my hardening erection. Gigi is like coming home, and suddenly I’m so relieved to have her back that my throat starts to sting.
The front door flies open with a crash, startling us out of our kiss. It’s Fury. At first, his face is a mask of concern, but when he registers Gigi in my lap, his expression turns to match his name.
“What the fuck is going on here?” he shouts at me.
I wince at the volume of his voice. Gigi flies off of my lap. “Connor! Stop shouting!” she cries
“Dude, can you yell a little quieter?” I say, grimacing.
“Fuck you, Mack!” he yells even louder. “What the fuck are you doing with her?”
Gigi recovers quickly from her shock. “Stop it, I said!” she hisses at her brother. “He’s got a concussion!”
“Stop trying to protect him!” Fury shouts.
“Okay, seriously,” I mutter. “Could we do this at a lower volume, though?”
“What are you doing here, Connor?” Gigi demands, fists on her hips.
Fury looks incredulous. “Wishbone called me. Told me what happened to Mack. Jesus, excuse me for caring!” He turns to me, jabbing a fist in my face. “Are you messing with my baby sister?”
“Uh… Yeah. I am. Sorry about that.”
Fury is on the verge of exploding. “You have stepped way over the fuckin’ line, brother! If you weren’t concussed, I’d beat the living hell out of you right now! Consider this a rain check for your second concussion, you piece of shit.”
Gigi pushes between us, placing herself between Fury and me. “Shut it, you asshole. I’m a big girl. I get to make my own decisions about who I sleep with.”
“Fucking Christ, youslept with her already?” he yells at me, making my ears ring.
I squeeze my eyes shut, resisting the urge to hold my head together with my hands. I’m exhausted. Tired of hiding, tired of fighting. Fuck it. Time to come clean.
“Yeah, we did. More than once, in fact.” I open my eyes and hold out my hands in a gesture of peace. “Look, Fury, I’m sorry. I broke your trust. I didn’t mean for this to happen between G and me. But I’m not sorry it happened. And I’m good with you wantin’ to fight me about it later. But right now, I think we got more important things on the table.”