Power Play (Nashville Assassins Next Generation 2)

I kiss her jaw, leaning my nose against her cheek.

“They got into it once because my dad wanted to wrap our Christmas presents in our favorite cartoons, but Mom freaked out because it didn’t match the holiday décor. He won, but only ’cause Mom let him.”

She smiles, and I feel breathless. “That’s funny.”

“They are ridiculous, but we really sound like them. How’d that happen?”

I don’t know, but I love it. “Probably came with the love territory.”

“Ha, you’re probably right,” she says softly, sliding her hand up and along my face. She runs her fingers through the hair on my jaw, and I nibble at her fingers.

“An infection?” I ask, and she groans loudly.

“Yes, they don’t know what kind, so I’m on antibiotics. And if that doesn’t clear it up, then we’ll do blood work. I hate when this happens.”

“It happens often?”

“Sometimes. Especially if I’m not taking care of myself in the sense of working out and eating right. I’ve had an abundance of cookies lately.”

“They make you happy,” I counter, and she grins.

“But they make me sick too,” she says sadly. “I’ll be okay. I’ll clean up my eating and figure out when I can work out.”

“We can run around downtown in the mornings.”

“Yeah,” she agrees and then exhales. “I hate running.”

“I hate running in the cold, but I’ll do it with you.”

She kisses my nose. “You’re too good to me, Boon.”

I squeeze her a little tighter, and everything inside me wants to physically fight this infection. I know that’s a silly thought and unrealistic, but I don’t want her sick.

“I really don’t want to go on this road trip.”

“The bed bugs won’t make this worse.”

She gives me a look. “What if they’re the ones that caused it?”

I snort as I reach for the shampoo. I know it’s hair-washing day. She has it on a schedule, which I never knew girls did. Julia sure didn’t. But apparently Posey does it this way so her hair doesn’t fall out. With her weak thyroid, she tends to lose a lot of hair. I didn’t realize how bad it was until I washed her hair last week and so much of it came out in my hands. I’d also never washed a girl’s hair before, but I really like it.

“Get your mom to book you a penthouse or something.”

She scoffs. “Wouldn’t that be feeding into your mom’s notion that we’re made of money? ‘Oh, poor little rich girl is scared of bed bugs. Let’s get her a penthouse.’”

I shrug as I squirt the shampoo into my hand. “If it helps you sleep, who cares what she thinks?”

She doesn’t answer me, and then she sits up so I can start to wash her hair. “So, you’re not upset with me, right?”

“Not at all. I talked to my mom, though. I think it’s all a big misunderstanding. I asked her to call you.”

I notice the tension in her shoulders then. “I hate that it all played out like it did. I really wanted her to like me.”

I kiss her shoulder. “Wasn’t it you who said it didn’t matter who liked whom, as long as we love each other?”

She looks back at me. She has soap on her nose and a gleam in her eye. “I did say that.”

“Then it sounds good to me.”

“But it’s always been you and her—”

“And now, it’s me and you,” I declare, running my fingers along her scalp. “It’ll all work out. I love you, and I know my mom will come around.”

She doesn’t say anything. After rinsing out her hair, I start to put in the conditioner, and she turns to look at me. I try to ignore her ass rubbing against my cock, especially with the seriousness in her eyes, but man it’s hard. Literally. “I don’t want you to resent me if she doesn’t.”

“Won’t happen,” I say simply, wiping some of the soap off her face. “I’m confident she’ll come around, and if she doesn’t, oh well. You’re it for me, Posey. I found my person. I can’t ignore that.”

She blinks and then nods. “Agreed.”

I pinch her chin. “Don’t worry.”

“Okay.”

“I love you,” I say, poking her nose, and she grins.

“I love you,” she says back, but instead of poking my nose, she grips my balls. I about fly out of the bath, my eyes widening as I’m met with her laughter. Instead of getting freaky like I’d rather she did, she continues to laugh as she leans into me, wrapping her arms around my neck and nestling her head under my chin.

“So rude.”

“Was it, though? It was funny.”

Which reminds me. “Nico Merryweather called us toddlers.”

She snorts. “Not the finest taunt, I feel.”

“Right? Aiden didn’t think it was funny.”

She sighs dramatically. “He’s so ridiculous when it comes to Nico. Shelli wasn’t even any kind of into him. They were just fucking.”