Page 11 of Happy Krampus Xmas & the Meet Not Cute
The AI proceeds to take me out of the house through the back door without being caught by any of the fleeing house staff on the way.
The cold winter weather welcomes me outside, making me shiver. I drop the wet sheet on the ground and run toward Ollie.He’s waiting for me on top of the concrete perimeter wall. He easily pulls me up and drops me on the other side in a pile of snow, then he jumps into Rague’s arms while I straighten myself up, shaking off the snow and the icy cold. My shoulder fucking hurts, and I keep coughing. I’m wet and freezing.
Time flies when you do something you like, right? Right now it’s falling from the sky…plummeting to its death.
We hear the sirens’ noise, and as people spill out and gather around the front of the house, we run toward the hill. Hidden by some trees is the kidnapping van, and once again, it will go back to the base empty as fuck.
Ollie slides the van’s door open and hands me my change of clothes. I undress and put on my fisherman sweater and gray leggings with the green down jacket and scarf. I run my fingers through my damp curls a couple of times and then I let out a long sigh, leaning my body back against the car.
Rague has a maniacal smile on his face, eyes zeroed in on the flames trying to reach the dark sky. The fire is raging, the house looks like a blazing inferno.
“How are you?” Ollie asks.
“I want to crack you open and suck the air out of your lungs.” I cough again, but the fresh, clean air on this hill is doing miracles.
“You look like a bag of dicks!” Ollie doesn’t try to sugarcoat it.
“The tracksuit took the worst of it.” I grab it from the van’s floor.
I try very hard to ignore his humming taunt. Even though atinypart of me really needs to check my messy appearance in a mirror.
Big part now.
Big and fat.
Sod it!I turn the car’s side mirror to catch my reflection.
“You’re batshit crazy. Even disheveled, I’m spectacular!” I counter.
“Do you feel dizzy or woozy?” Ollie cups my face too dramatically to be real worry.
“Quit fucking with me!” I bat his hand away.
“You are an idiot!” he snaps at me, pointing his finger at my face.
“How dare you!” I clip, swatting his hand. Ollie pinches my arm in retaliation, and I push on his chest. Then we start a sort of smacking battle, twisting and turning our bodies to avoid the light, but stinging hits. I dodge a slap, rolling my aching shoulder back, the jerky movement makes me see stars.
“Stop…whatever this is! I know anger expressed is anger extinguished, but this is embarrassing,” Rague interjects, wrapping a heavy arm around Ollie to lift him up and away from me, while placing his large hand over my head to hold me still while I still try to hit him. Okay,thisis embarrassing!
I yank his hand away and huff all my fury. “Don’t recite Gran’s sayings; it's a low blow.”
“You said that same phrase to me months ago, to help me.” I remember I did; Rague is right. “I’m trying to return the favor now.”
Fuck! I hate how good he is. He kills people and can turn into a blood-thirsty monster, but he is such a decent person.
“You always fight dirty,” Ollie barks at me, while frantically wiggling in his husband’s arms.
I try to defuse the situation with a joke. “How dirty are we talking about…?”An abrupt shiver of disgust runs down my body. “Nope, can’t flirt with you. It’s unnatural.”
“Close to incestuous,” he utters with a scrunched-up face. Then his gaze moves to the red stain on the tracksuit I dropped on the ground. “Are you hurt?”
“It’s tomato sauce.”
“Tomato… And what’s around your mouth?”
“Chocolate cake.” I wipe my lips with my fingers. “What?” I ask defensively, when Ollie continues studying me with a judgmental look. “The maggot was dead. The delicious-looking cake was there screaming to be eaten.”
“Okay, out with it!” he orders me, and I know it’ll end in another pinch fight if I don’t tell him.
