Page 75 of Holiday Hostage
Years of laughter had put those lines there, and years of grief and squinting into the sun deepened them into canyons.
“Wouldn’t mind another hunting trip or two in the future. Since you brought it up.”
“Oh, trying to guilt trip me?” I crossed my arms and pretended to consider him with my head tipped to the side.
“I might be able to break away for a while this summer. Two, maybe three days. That’s enough, right?” It wasn’t, and we both knew it.
He slurped coffee and examined me over the rim of the cup. “Sure. Three days, and I’ll be sick of your company. We barely tolerate each other.”
I rolled my eyes. “Right.”
We kept the line going far longer than usual, proving we’d missed each other more than we’d ever admit.
Dad’s hugs were one thing.
Expressing words of love was another. I couldn’t remember the last time he’d said “I love you” but he showed it in countless ways.
I eyed Maverick over Dad’s shoulder when an argument over the rules of a board game Payton and Tarron had found in the hall closet grew heated.
Maverick watched them argue with a grin teasing his lips.
He’d never agree to drawing out a mission, especially not for something selfish like the three of us spending more time with Payton.
She deserved to be home with her father.
That was the mission we’d promised to fulfil.
Maverick had feelings for Payton, too.
It showed in his face every time he looked at her, but it wouldn’t stop him from marching all of them out the front door as soon as the storm lifted.
Only Payton could stop him, and even that was questionable. Did she know the power she held over us?
No. Payton was too good, too pure, to understand what we’d be willing to do for her.
She made her desires in the bedroom known, and I loved that she trusted us enough to speak her mind.
But aborting a mission after making a promise was so off character for us that it fell in the realm of impossible things.
We’d do it for her…if she asked.
22
PAYTON
I wasn’t surprised when the four of us separated before bed last night.
For the first time since being in their company, I slept completely alone.
The bed was too big, though nothing more than a full-size.
More than that, it was too empty.
I’d already grown used to their presence, the comfort of their embraces, as I fell asleep.
Morning broke bright and clear, and I jumped from the bed, eager to see what Reed and the others would have planned for the day.
Sunlight raced across my face when I stretched my arms overhead and rotated my torso.
