Page 22 of A Little Red
“Come on, tired girl,” he said, standing up and taking the dishes to the sink, “time for bed.”
“You don’t get to boss me around,” she said, sleepily. “We’re inmyapartment.”
“Fine, you can boss me around. But we’re still on for the textbook thing, right?” he asked, as she slid her arms around his neck and snuggled against his chest.
“I was thinking a nice thick copy of the Wall Street Journal. I think the textbook I kept is like three inches thick. And maybe tomorrow night.”
He chuckled. “Might be a good idea,” he agreed.
“What time do you have to be back at your place for clothes?” she asked around another yawn as they moved into her bedroom that was mostly taken up by her bed.
“I don’t. I grabbed my emergency bag out of the car. It’s got everything.”
She looked up at him and her expression was very sad. “Did you pack it for her hotness Anna Allanach?”
Liam let out a growl of anger at his brother’s flapping tongue. “No,” he said firmly. “It’s always in my car. That’s why it’s an emergency bag. It’s for emergencies. Anna Allanach is not an emergency. She is a friend of the family. Paxton and I went to dinner with her because she’s visiting from out of town.”
“Your brother didn’t make it sound like that.”
“My brother likes to joke,” he said sourly, not adding that his mother and Anna had both been pushing the relationship for years. “It’s not a thing. Anna is a perfectly nice, attractive girl, who lacks…” He tried to figure out what Anna lacked. But since he hadn’t been able to articulate it for the last few years he didn’t think he could figure it out now.
“Textbooks?” asked Scarlet and he laughed.
“Yes,” he agreed, kissing her.
“OK,” she said and turned to the bed, stripping off her tank-top.
“Jesus fucking Christ!”
“Shit,” said Scarlet, whirling around.
“That is a fucking boot print!” She opened and shut her mouth. “There is a boot print on your back, Scarlet!”
“Yes,” she agreed.
“This is why you wouldn’t let me undress you last night, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” she said.
“No more protests. You are going tonomore protests.”
“I’m going to one next week. They’re threatening to remove endangered species protections from eighteen species including the Red Wolf.”
“What?”
“There are only twenty breeding pairs left in the wild. We have to speak up.”
“I…”
“They’re an apex predator. They’re a pivotal point in the eco system. We need wolves.”
“Well, I mean, I’m obviously in favor of wolves. There should definitely be more wolves. But I can’t have people kicking you!”
“It’s just a sign-waving protest,” said Scarlet, taking off her shorts and climbing into bed. “Kicking very rarely happens. You can come if you want.”
“I don’t…” Liam shook his head. He felt like he’d somehow lost control of the situation. “Maybe.”
He crawled into bed with her, spooning around her and trying not to rest his arm on any bruises. His last thought before falling asleep was that Scarlet was not the person he’d assumed her to be, and while he couldn’t have been happier about all the ways he’d been wrong, her life was also a lot more dangerous.
