Page 49 of Extraction Play
She hadn’t understood how lacking she’d been until she experienced it.
The front door creaked, and Eva shot up.
Shit, she wasn’t wearing a stitch right now—she also wasn’t on the couch where Micah would expect her. There weren’t a ton of rooms in this condo. Her adrenaline kick-started, and she slipped out of the bed.
“Pixie,” she hissed, jabbing her in the side.
Pixie’s eyes flew open, and she floundered in the sheets for a moment.
“Micah’s home,” Eva whispered. She grabbed her clothes from last night off the floor, hoping to figure out a way to keep her brother in the dark. That was a can of worms neither of them was ready to open yet. She yanked on her skirt and shirt, only bothering with a button or two. Footsteps thumped in the main area, which meant he might be searching around the condo for her.
Pixie sat up in the bed, her blue eyes wide. Eva lifted her finger to her lips in a “be quiet” gesture and slipped out the door. The bathroom was one past Pixie’s, closer to the main living area. She didn’t dare look up to see if Micah strolled by or in eyesight or anything. Eva grasped the handle of the bathroom door and yanked at it.
“There you are,” Micah said.
“Was just using the bathroom,” Eva said, sweat breaking out on her temple. She must have looked a mess with her mussed hair, her shirt half-buttoned, and her skirt wrinkled. Nothing like her normal state of presentable.
“I’m guessing there was a lot of that?” Micah asked, his nose wrinkling. “Considering you’re still wearing last night’s clothes, the two of you must’ve really been sick. Not going to lie, I thought you were just covering for Pixie. She seemed shaken.”
Damn Micah for being so astute. Acid pooled in her stomach at lying to him more. After all, he was the one who’d welcomed her here, who had put her up after their parents had cut them out and she no longer had a home to return to.
“Yeah, you were better off at Parker’s.” Eva made a beeline for the suitcase that had become a fixture beside their couch. Her life had been in pieces for a few weeks now, and the idea of that stretching much longer soured her stomach. Everything else she owned was crammed into the back seat of her car. She tugged out a pair of yoga pants and a tee, going for casual since she didn’t have hard and fast plans today.
“I can make some soup if you guys need it,” Micah offered, and guilt twisted in her gut.
“Nah, I’m just going to drown myself in tea. Let me get changed, and you can catch me up on last night.” She hustled to the bathroom, needing to be alone for a second, if only to calm down her heart that thumped far too hard.
When she shut the door behind her, her shoulders sagged in relief. Fuck, that had been a close call. What the hell was she doing? Her brother had started opening up to her bit by bit, and she even crashed on his couch. Fucking his best friend shouldn’t even be on her radar. Yet she couldn’t pull herself away from Pixie.
After discovering everything Pixie had been through, she was bound to her with intricate rope ties, and she didn’t want to extricate herself. Eva pulled on her yoga pants, then the tee, splashed some cold water on her face, and ran a brush through her hair, hoping for the best.
When she stepped out of the bathroom, her nerves had settled a little. Micah leaned against the counter in the kitchen, the kettle on. Eva grabbed two mugs from the cupboard and set them on the counter. Micah’s stare burned into her, but she ignored it, pretending everything was fine. It had to be fine.
She couldn’t fathom the alternative.
“Do you still drink Earl Grey like an old lady?” Micah asked as he rummaged through their tea jar. Seeing those tea bags in disarray in the jar made Eva’s fingers itch to order them. Guaranteed, this belonged to Pixie. It had her brand of charming chaos stamped over it.
“Don’t shame me for my excellent taste,” Eva said, plucking a bag from the mess.
The door creaked from the hallway, and Pixie stepped out. All she wore was an oversized pink tee that slipped off one shoulder and came to her thighs. Lust pulsed through Eva at the memory of having those delicious curves under her command last night. The confidence that had run through Eva was something she sorely wanted to hold on to, something that had been elusive as of late.
“Joining our tea party?” Micah took out another mug for Pixie. The electric kettle finished boiling with a click.
Pixie nodded. Jasmine wafted from her, and Eva’s pulse raced a little faster. She was more than aware of the way Pixie’s arm brushed against hers when she reached for the tea jar.
Except this was the last person she should hook up with.
Eva straightened and snagged the electric kettle after Micah finished with it to tend to her tea. The kiss of the steam was exactly what she needed, like a smack to the face.
While Eva had taken care of Pixie afterward in the shower and they’d murmured to each other in bed, both of them had passed out quickly. Regret squeezed her chest tight because there wasso much more she’d wanted to say. To check in to make sure Pixie was feeling fine after the play they’d done, after the past wounds Pixie had shared. To offer a little of her soul up in exchange, a little piece of her history to even the scales.
However, with Micah home early, they’d have to dance around all that. Because Pixie hadn’t even told her best friend about how she’d grown up or the situation with her mother. The lost look she sometimes caught on Pixie’s face made so much more sense now. Even around her closest friends, she was unmoored.
Eva could relate. She’d been hiding from others for so long she’d almost believed the front she put on.
“Come sit on the couch with me.” Micah walked out of the kitchen and over to the loveseat. “I drank too much at the bar, and I don’t want to be standing right now.”
“Lightweight,” Eva teased as she followed him, the cup of Earl Grey in hand. She sank into what had become her spot on the couch, since that was where she’d slept since she arrived—apart from last night. The first sip of the tea scorched her tongue, but it served her right for lying to her goddamn brother. She didn’t regret helping Pixie out, and she couldn’t find it in her to regret how they’d clashed together multiple times now.