Page 104 of Wild Like Us
So I stay.
Sulli looks between us. “Do you really want popsicle dicks?”
Banks cracks a smile, his eyes saying words he once told me:Hell have mercy on my soul.
Yeah, the dirty response isrightthere, and I just say it, “Depends on how much you like sucking popsicles, string bean.”
She slugs my arm.
Pain shoots through my elbow, and I wince for real.
“Oh fuck—I’m so, so sorry, Kits.” Her hands fly to her mouth, then hover over my elbow I’m favoring. “It was just instinct—like I was on automatic. I didn’t think.Fuck.” She groans at herself.
“It’s okay.” I fling a strand of her hair at her face.
Amid her dirt-splotched cheeks, she turns an embarrassed shade of red.
Banks checks my elbow bandages. “It’s not bleeding.”
I slip him athanksthrough my eyes.
He nods.
“Maybe you should recheck?” Sulli asks Banks. “Give it a closer fucking look?”
He does, more for her peace of mind. “He’s good to go.”
“But where will I go?” I tease and throw off my baseball hat.
“To hell, probably,” Banks quips. “See ya there.”
We smile, and our eyes plant on Sulli as I say, “Are we going to drag her down with us?”
“Only if she wants to go.”
Sulli is still hyper-focused on my elbow. “How can you guys crack jokes right now?” She doesn’t give us time to respond. “Does your arm hurt more, Kits? Be honest with me.”
“Not much more than it did, and hey, you’re the one who threw out the first joke.”
Her face twists in confusion.
“Popsicle dicks,” I tell her.
“I was being serious.” She wipes a smudge of dirt off her cheek. “You can’t deny that your dicks won’t freeze if you take bottled water showers out here.”
Banks runs a hand across his jaw. “I didn’t deny a thing.”
She holds onto her arms and shivers.She’s cold.I’m about to go really serious and stop the chatter, but she continues fast, “There’s enough warm water if we all just take a shower together.”
Shower together?
I didn’t think we’d go in that direction. My lips flat-line, and I look over her shoulder to Banks again. His eyes are on me.
A thousand questions spinning between us. Can we all three take a shower together? Yesterday, I would’ve probably said no.
But I’m spent. Exhausted. Emotionally, mentally, physically. I want the warm shower. I want Sulli to feel solid. I want Banks to not think about his brother he lost.
I want to shed the night. I want it gone and soaked in the water that falls to the earth.
