Page 72 of Extraction Play
“Kids,” Meg said.
Pixie let out a wet giggle. Her eyes refused to stop leaking, but her heart was so damn light. She couldn’t get over the sheer joy of being among her friends.
“We’re going to get kicked out of here, and when that happens, I don’t know you lot,” Sloan said. “Hottie nurse down at the front desk slipped me his number.”
“Lucky,” Tristan drawled. “He was gorgeous.”
“No one will get kicked out if you can lower the volume,” Meg said, her voice sharp in her Domme-ish way.
“Yes, Mommy,” Fin said.
“Some days I wish you were a sub, just so I could spank the everloving shit out of you,” Meg said.
“You can take it out on me.” Tristan winked. Meg slid her arms around him and pressed a kiss to the side of his neck.
Pixie pulled out of Eva’s embrace and wiped her eyes, wanting to see everyone, to know they weren’t figments of her imagination.
“Micah called them,” Eva said. “He wanted to prove to you how much everyone cares about you, dove.”
Micah’s gaze hadn’t left her, but he also wasn’t rushing her way. Fuck, she didn’t deserve him.
“Hey.” Pixie took the first steps toward her best friend, even if they were a little hesitant. As much as she wanted to address everyone else, she needed to talk to Micah first. She stopped in front of him, brushing away the wetness on her cheeks. “I’m sorry. Not for falling for your sister, because I warned you she was hot as shit, but there was one person I should’ve opened up to a long time ago, and that was you.”
“Ew, that’s my sister.” The teasing note to his voice calmed her at once. “Why keep me at a distance?”
Pixie stared at the ceiling for a second. Her reasons for barricading herself away for years felt stupid now. She’d isolated herself fromeveryone, and for what? “Truth? I just didn’t know how. But I’m learning. And I’m going to get better.”
“You and I are going to have a boba date so you can practice,” Micah said, crossing his arms as if daring her to argue.
“I’d love that.” She sniffed, the tears surfacing again. “I just don’t want to lose you.”
“You won’t,” Micah said as he leaned against Parker’s chest. Parker rested his chin on his shoulder.
“Good, the two of you can drink that vile stuff,” Eva teased, running her fingertips through Pixie’s hair. A shiver ran down her spine.
“Micah mentioned there was talk of moving.” Sloan took the seat beside Parker and Micah.
Payback for holding back on him, of course. Pixie let out a huff of breath. She loved the bratty little shit. Eva wrapped an arm around her shoulder, and she leaned against her, adoring the public affection. They didn’t need to hide anymore, and she would soak this up as much as possible.
“I have an interview for a residency at the Portland Museum of Art,” Pixie said. Fin stage gasped behind her, and Pixie resisted the urge to flip them off. “One I’m going to turn down.”
“If this is a goal of yours though, why not pursue it?” Meg asked. She perched on the side of the rickety hospital chair in true bisexual fashion.
“Because it’s not a goal. I was just looking to run. If I’m being honest, to escape this”—she gestured at the ICU room she’d left—“and because I’d been isolating.”
“We all knew that.” Fin crossed their arms over their chest. “I was two seconds from busting down your door and staging an intervention.”
“They even had the banner made,” Noles said wanly.
“The banner needed a bit of work.” Tristan leaned against one of the chairs. “Not enough glitter glue.”
“You guys are ridiculous.” Pixie scrubbed at her face as if she could erase the trace of the tears that had been pouring down her cheeks. The weight of Eva’s arm around her was a comfort she’d never known, and if this was what having a partner was like, she regretted holding off for so long.
Except maybe then she would never have met Eva. And she didn’t want to imagine a future without this woman.
Eva pressed a soft kiss to her head. “How is your mom doing?”
“Oh, shit, why didn’t we ask that first?” Micah said, wrinkling his nose.