“Good.” She placed her hand on either side of his jaw and kissed him. Suddenly, the idea of taking it slow or waiting to make sure she was really okay evaporated from his weak, pathetic mind. He kissed her back and began to lower her to the bed when a knock on the door stopped him.
Livy pulled out of their kiss and snarled, “What?”
Jake opened the door enough just to stick his head in. “Decent?”
“Do you mean morally?”
Livy’s cousin rolled his eyes. “Put your clothes back on, ho.”
Growling, Livy tugged on her sweatpants and shirt. She stood. “What is it?”
Jake pushed the door open and stepped in, revealing a tired-looking Toni standing behind him.
The two women stared at each other for a long moment until Toni burst out with, “You bitch!”
That seemed a surprising reaction to Vic, but Livy turning to him, and accusing, “You called her?”
“I did not! But I’m not surprised she found out since Ric Van Holtz had Coop, Kyle, and Cherise sent back to Washington as soon as everything happened.”
“Wait a minute.” Toni stepped farther into the room. “What was Kyle doing here? He was supposed to be in Italy.”
“Do you see what you started?”
Vic reared back at Livy’s accusation. “Me? What did I do?”
“He didn’t call Toni,” Jake cut in. “I did.”
“And why would you do that?” Livy demanded.
“Because,” Toni answered for Jake, “I told him when we were sixteen, if he ever hid anything from me when you got yourself into trouble, I would hunt him down and cut his balls off!”
“And you believed her?” Livy asked her cousin.
“Yes,” Jake answered bluntly. “Yes, I did. When it comes to you two”—he waved a finger between the females—“I don’t get in the way. A rational man never would.”
“I can’t believe you didn’t call me, Livy!”
“Coop and Cherise were here to watch Kyle, and Coop told me your parents knew everything!”
“I’m not talking about that idiot Kyle. I’m talking about you. How could you not tell me about your father? About being shot? About everything?”
Livy gave a small shrug. “I didn’t want you to worry.”
“And you!” Toni snapped at Vic. “How could you not tell me what was going on?”
“Why do I keep getting dragged back into this?”
“Just don’t think for a second that because of your freakish size—”
“Freakish?”
“—and obscenely thick neck—”
“Well, that’s not necessary!”
“—that I won’t hunt you down, too, and cut your balls right off!”
“Hey, Vic,” Jake said calmly, “why don’t we see if anyone left us some honey to eat? Downstairs. Far away from here.”
Deciding it was best to leave before things got any stranger, Vic got up and walked out of the room. When Vic reached the stairs at the end of the hallway, Jake turned to him.
“Are you serious about my cousin?”
Vic didn’t see the point in being vague. “Very.”
“Then a little advice. When it comes to those two, just say, ‘Hey, why don’t I go get us some honey?’ Then leave the room.”
“But I—”
“No, no. There’s no debating this. This is a standard plan I’ve had in place for years from hard-earned lessons.”
“It’s just that—”
“No, no. You’re still doing that bear thing.”
“Bear thing?”
“Going with logic. There’s no logic when a jackal and a honey badger are friends. In the wild . . . they eat each other’s cubs. In suburban Washington, they watch out for each other’s siblings and violently threaten or attack those they feel may have emotionally harmed their best friend. So I’m telling you, ’cause I like you, and because I can tell how you feel about my cousin . . . next time, just smile and say . . . ?”
Vic stared down at him.
“And say . . . ?” Jake prompted again.
Vic sighed and parroted, “ ‘Hey, why don’t I go get us some honey?’ ”
“Good man.” Jake patted his arm. “There might be hope for you yet.”
“Please don’t cry,” Livy begged as the two women held on to each other. “I’m okay. I promise.”
“I can’t believe you didn’t call me!”
“You were in Siberia. Not Brooklyn. Siberia.”
Toni pulled back, wiping her eyes with the backs of her hands. “You found out about your dad before I went to Siberia, though. Didn’t you?”
“I didn’t tell anyone about that. Not even Vic. I did, however, yell at my mother.”
“Please tell me she didn’t actually kill the person we put in that grave.”
Livy went to the nightstand and grabbed a tissue from the box. “She swears whoever it was, was already dead. I decided not to push her on it.”
Gently, Livy wiped her friend’s face. “I’ll be honest, Toni. I didn’t know what to do. I never liked my old man, but . . . to see him like that.”
Toni took the tissue, blew her nose. “What did you do?”
“You mean other than getting shot?” Livy shrugged and sat down on the edge of the bed. “I beat up Melly, got thrown into jail, and Vic took me to a bear-only town called Honeyville. Then I jousted.”
“You have always wanted to try that.”
“I was really good against the cats. The bears kicked my ass, though.”
Toni sat down on the bed next to Livy. “Did Vic joust?”
“No. He would have been great, too, but he was too busy yelling at me about how dangerous and stupid it was for me to joust.”
“He yelled at you because he’s in love with you.”
Livy lifted her feet, studied her bare toes. “Did you know Honeyville has over three hundred and seventy types of honey? I think I tried almost all of them.”
“So you’re going to pretend I didn’t just say what I just said?”
“Pretty much.”
“Avoidance is still your friend, I see.”
“How else do you think I’ve managed to survive with this family?”
“You’ll have to face it eventually,” Toni singsonged to her.
“You’re gonna have to shut up,” Livy singsonged back.
Toni put her arm around Livy, and placed her head on her friend’s shoulder. “I’m so very glad you didn’t manage to get yourself killed.”
“That’s the nicest way to blame the victim I’ve ever heard.”
“I’m really good at that. So did Kyle ask Vic to pose naked?”
“Yes. But I can’t blame the kid. The man has amazing cheekbones.”
Jocelyn pushed open the door to her cousin’s bedroom and sighed. “Help me,” she ordered Jake and Shen.
Jake responded immediately, but Shen stopped in the doorway and stared. “Is she dead?”
“No,” Jocelyn said casually as she crouched down. “Just drunk off her ass.”
“Another fight with the boyfriend she stalks?” Jake asked.
“No. He’s the stalked fiancé now.”
“Maybe we should call an ambulance . . . or something.”
“Not necessary.” Jocelyn stood. “Just pick her up, Shen.”
“Pick her up?”
“Pick her up.”
Sighing, Shen reached out and lifted Melly onto his shoulder. She seemed to barely weigh anything, and it was terribly easy. But then Jake said, “If she starts squirming, drop her. She’s about to piss on you.”
“And if she grunts,” Jocelyn added, “throw her. She’s about to shit or projectile vomit.”
Horrified, Shen practically ran to the room they’d set up for Melly. Easels and paints and the brilliant lighting from the above skylight made the room perfect for an artist. But he had a hard time believing the woman over his shoulder was an artist.