Page 73 of Wristlocked
“You’re welcome, of course, to cover those costs on your own.” The cool amusement in her arched brows shows me what she thinks of my chances in that arena. “But if you want my continued patronage, I expect you to show up when I require your presence.”
“I told her I don’t need more time.” I press a kiss into Gia’s hair, holding her head still so she can’t look up and see the residual panic in my eyes. “I should probably clean out my bank account while I still have it. And get a job.”
Lyot shifts against me, and Gia’s arm tightens across my ribs. No one says anything. We’re in class or training eight to ten hours a day. There’s no job in the world I’m qualified for that can cover my rent in the hours I have left, unless I want to give up sleep. At least not until I turn twenty-one, which is still three months away.
“Anyway, I don’t know how long I’ve got before I get kicked out of my rooms, but if the offer still stands—”
“Come home with me,” Gia says, pushing up to look at my face. “My mom wants to meet you. Again.”
“Even after the last time?” I don’t know why I let my mouth run away with me in the gym that day, except, of course, that’s what I do. And even then, before everything, Gia had her wicked little claws in me.
“Ever since the showcase.” Her hand is still pressed to my chest, and I wonder if she feels how fast my heart is beating.
“Okay.” I close my eyes. “But I should probably grab my shit. Clean up the fucking mess before I get charged for damages or something.”
“Later,” she says. I open my eyes in time to catch her exchanging a glance with Lyot. “There’s something we want to do first.”
“I could probably be convinced.” I drop my hand to her ass and give it a squeeze.
“Not that.” She laughs but squirms against my hip. “Well, maybe that too.”
“Another one of your secret shopping trips? Should I be worried about Lyot’s ass?”
“That would be a first,” Lyot says, tilting his chin to bite my earlobe. “Fucking sadist.”
“You loved it.” I turn my head and look down into the soft storm of his eyes. “You’re one of the monsters now, pretty boy.”So fucking pretty. He closes the fraction of space between us, sucking my lower lip into his mouth and teasing the ring with the tip of his tongue. It’s slow, sensual, and agonizingly sweet.He takes broken things and makes them beautiful.
Am I beautiful? Here, in her arms, with his mouth savoring mine like something precious?
Gia’s fingers feather over the outline of the wings at my neck.
“You’re getting your tattoo finished today,” she murmurs into my skin, and gooseflesh ignites all over my body. Lyot lets me go, and I turn and gather her in my arms, rolling her on top of me. She’s all shining eyes and breathless smile, and I think I’m completely in love with her, this woman who looks at my scars and sees only art.
36
Gia
Ithink I might be happy.
Gale’s finished tattoo is brilliant, and if he’s worried about the future, at least he’s facing it free of Celeste’s chains.
The wounds of Jamie’s betrayal slowly scab over with the passage of time. Anger fades to worry and then eventually to a dull sorrow that Gale buries beneath his cocky charm. I catch him and Lyot talking in hushed corners and leave them to their bond. When the pain overflows, I soothe him in my own way and let my winter clothes cover the marks he leaves behind.
He gets along with my parents, although my dad checks every night before going to bed to make sure Gale is safely ensconced in the downstairs guest room. He’s careful in front of them, as respectful as I’ve ever seen him, and it seems my mom wasn’t bullshitting when she told me how happy they are to see me thriving on the duo straps.
Perhaps more surprisingly,Iget along with my parents, especially after they sit me down one night while my boys are getting takeout to tell me they’re retiring Duo Laurent. I know it won’t completely stop the constant comparisons, but at leastwith them out of the immediate limelight, there might actually be space for something of my own.
If Gale and I can’t entirely hide our mutual obsession, we do manage to keep it relatively chaste whenever they’re in the room. They’ve been watching me and Lyot be casually physical with each other for years, so they’ve had some practice, although that history adds another complication.
I assumed my mom would have shared enough of our conversation at Chauncey’s that my dad wouldn’t be blindsided, but I can tell he doesn’t believe me at first when I tell him things with Lyot are better than ever. The first time Lyot comes over and casually kisses both Gale and me hello, my dad practically has a stroke. After that, he disappears any time the three of us are in the house. When I tease my mom that she married the world’s last French prude, she assures me it’s only because I’m his daughter and launches into a questionable story about touring with a troupe of German acrobats in the nineties that nearly givesmea stroke.
We spend most of our time at Lyot’s. Jo has Gale’s number within ten minutes of meeting him and matches him sass for snark, to everyone’s delight. She also works most days, which means the three of us can steal some privacy.
The first time, I’m actually a little nervous. Lyot and I have alotof history in his room, and I’m not sure how Gale is going to handle it. I shouldn’t have worried, though. Lyot might have spent months being threatened and jealous, but from the minute I unleashed Shadow and made Lyot come with nothing but my voice, Gale has been captivated despite trying to deny it.
“This is it, then?” he asks, throwing himself down on the bed and tucking his hands behind his head. “This is where you two popped your cherries?” He winks at Lyot. “On the bed with a condom like a good boyfriend?”
“If you’re trying to be a dick right now,” Lyot says, stepping up to the bed and eyeing Gale’s sprawled form, “I’m not sure it’s working.”
