Page 121 of The Surprise Play

“Poor thing.” Nylah shakes her head. “I turned in time for the aftermath, but she was just on her hands and knees, face bright red. She must have been so embarrassed.”

“Yeah, she embarrasses easily.” I wince, pulling snacks out of the pantry and loading up.

Walking past the fridge, I wrestle a couple of drinks out of the door, then grab an ice pack from the freezer as well.

“Catch you guys later.”

“You’re not gonna come down and socialize once she’spatched up?” Nylah’s tone is teasing, and I spin back to watch that smirk on her face grow a little bigger.

I grin back at her, shaking my head and announcing to the room. “I’m keeping her all to myself tonight, guys.”

“Ooooo.” Nylah laughs. “Someone’s gettin’ lucky.”

Carson pops up from his seat, reaching her in two quick strides and lightly smacking that cheeky ass of hers. “I hope you’re talking about me, kitten.”

She gives him a baleful look and then tips her head, tapping her chin. “The question we need to ask ourselves is… has Carson done enough to get some lovin’ tonight?”

Carson lets out a low growl, pulling her against him and nibbling her neck.

She starts to giggle while Tyrell gags and complains. “I’m making food here, people.” Holding up his knife, he points it at them in warning. “If you start doing it in here, there will be a formal protest, you feel me? I ain’t playin’. No sex in shared spaces. That’s a house rule!”

I snort when Carson amps it up and Nylah starts moaning like she’s having an orgasm.

“Get out of the kitchen!” Tyrell yells as I laugh and take the stairs two at a time.

Satch is waiting for me on the bed, her bloody sweats folded neatly on the floor and my throw wrapped around her.

“Is everything okay down there?” She looks past me with a nervous wince.

“Yeah.” I flick the door shut with my foot. “Carson and Nylah are just ragging on Tyrell while he’s trying to cook. The guy always gets stressed in the kitchen. But Grady, who usually loves to cook, has been kind of off lately, so we’re having to step up.”

“What’s wrong with Grady?” Satch shifts on the bed while I unload my armful of supplies, handing her the ice pack. “What’s this for?”

“Nylah said you hurt your hands.” I take her fingers, studying her palms and lightly brushing my fingers over the red hue on her skin before grabbing a T-shirt off my floor and wrapping it around the ice pack. “Here, hold this for me, will ya?”

I gently press her palms on either side of the ice pack and turn my attention to her knee, softly telling her what I know about Grady.

“I think he broke up with his longtime girlfriend, and he’s taking it pretty hard. I’ve never seen him go through a hard time before, but from what I can tell… he obviously likes to work through stuff on his own. He hasn’t really let any of us in, and I’m not sure how hard to push him.”

“He’ll come to you when he’s ready.” Satch smiles down at me. “Some of us prefer a little privacy when we’re hurting.”

I pause for a second to gaze up at her face before skimming my knuckles down her cheek… then shifting the throw blanket off her leg.

CHAPTER 36

ELIZABETH

My breath catches as my aching knee is exposed to the air.

Taking off my sweats without hurting that graze was impossible, and in the end, I just had to wrestle them off and grit my teeth through the discomfort.

As soon as that gray fabric was puddled at my feet, I winced at my boring beige underwear and quickly wrapped the blanket around me.

I then folded my sweats and started the painful wait, listening to noises downstairs. The rising and falling of voices. The laughter.

For a second, I couldn’t help wondering if they were laughing about me. The hippo who fell over and cracked the pavement.

Closing my eyes, I try not to relive Katrina’s taunts. She used to love blaming every crack in the sidewalk on me.