Page 115 of Tattletale

He throws me a sharp glance. “I will snitch on your ass ten times a day if it means keeping you safe. And I’ll happily deal with that haughty little attitude of yours until the end of time.” He winks at me.

I’m sure he expects a sassy response in reply, but instead, I poke the cupcake, collecting a dollop of frosting on my fingertip.I hold it out to Lance. He crosses the room in three strides. Within seconds, my finger is in his mouth.

“Delicious,” he says. “It tastes homemade.”

I nod. “Because I made it. The rest are in the fridge.”

“What?” he says, his inflection rising. “Since when do you bake?”

I drop my eyes to my lap, examining my bare thighs. After two weeks of fluid and food, the color has returned to my body, but the bruises are still fading. There are so many bumps and bruises from when Gabriel’s henchman threw me around like a lifeless rag doll. I’ll never know if it was spite or carelessness. He can’t talk. Lance blew his brains out.

“I bake because I can’t shoot anymore.” I flash him a quick smile, then nod toward the cupcake. “This is me, trying to be useful to the team.”

“Okay.” He sighs. “How’d it go in there?” Lance asks.

“I’m not just missing head shots, I’m missing the whole target board. My hand-eye coordination is gone. My Glock doesn’t fit my hand anymore. I’m just…lost.”

“Hey,” Lance murmurs, hooking his finger under my chin. “You’ll get there. I’ll help you.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then you don’t. And I’ll love you just the same.”

I show him a half-hearted smile. “If I’m not an assassin, what am I?”

“You’re so many things. You’re Fiona. And Cricket. Fierce friend. Lovely daughter. Love of my life. And as soon as you’re feeling up to it…my dessert.” I wink at her. “You don’t need a gun to fit in your hand for us to have a good life together, C. I love you.”

“I love you, too.” I smile. “You know I made these because it’s June twenty-seventh. We were supposed to get married today, on your mom’s birthday.”

“I didn’t want to bring it up. You’ve been kind of busy on the road to recovery.”

I lift a brow, knowing full well that by “busy,” Lance means I’ve been sleeping about six hours a day, and then another solid ten hours at night. I’m basically a panda bear. I need naps to recover from my naps. But Lance has loved it, really.

We spend most of our time in bed, catching up on all his must-see movies. I lost my list at Gabriel’s condo. Lance made me a new one, twice as long. I’m not really a movie person, which is good, because every movie we watch comes with the Lance commentary. He chatters the whole way through, pointing out foreshadowing, and complaining about continuity errors. It’s wildly distracting. Though, it’s fine. I’d rather listen to him than the TV.

“The institution is about three hours from here. We could make it before visiting hours are over.”

“It doesn’t work like that, C. Vesper would have to call ahead. We’d have to make sure my mom is having a good day and took her meds. It’s a lot to navigate.”

“But you had your heart set on June twenty-seventh.” I show him a little pout. “I wanted it to be special.”

“Today is special. Tomorrow will be, too. And when we get married, that day will be special as well. Every single day I have with you is pretty extraordinary, Cricket. The idea of losing you made me see that. I won’t ever take it for granted. Not a single day we’re together.”

I let out a heavy exhale. “Dammit.”

“What?”

“Your vows are going to be so much better than mine. I’m going to have to recruit Eden to help me.”

He picks up the cupcake. For a moment, he stares at the vanilla cake with the dented buttercream frosting. Lance smiles at me, beaming with pride, like I just painted the Sistine Chapel.

Boop.He taps the cupcake against my face, the room-temperature icing coats my lips. Lance is still holding the cupcake out menacingly, smiling at his handywork. Before I can lick my lips clean, he does it for me. The tip of his tongue glides over my top lip, then the bottom. He pushes his tongue into my mouth, savoring the sweet kiss. The sensation makes my toes curl. I wrap my legs around his waist, pulling him in closer.

He breaks for air, and the kiss is over far too soon.

“See how this game works?” Lance asks before pulling down the top of my dress, exposing my chest. He dabs each of my nipples with frosting. He engulfs my right nipple, sucking the frosting clean. Then, he attends to the left. “Take your panties off,” he says, twisting his wrist, rotating the cupcake.

“I would…but I’m not wearing any.”

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