Dangerous Fling (Dangerous Noise 4)

"You started it," he says.

"Brat!" she teases.

"Speak for yourself."

"I miss Vi. Put her on," she says.

"You saw her yesterday," he says.

"And I still like talking to her more than I like talking to you," she says.

My shoulders relax. They're back to their normal teasing. They're going to this dinner without a fight.

Maybe this is going to be okay.

There's a sound upstairs. The door opens. Footsteps move into the hallway. The bathroom. The sink runs.

"I'll see you Friday. I gotta go," I say.

"Restraints or riding crop?" Ethan teases.

"No comment." She's not ready for either yet. But I do have a lot of fucking ideas.

"Ew." Piper squeals again.

"Don't knock it till you've tried it, Pipes," Ethan says.

She groans another ew.

"You should see the way Violet squirms when I—"

"TOO MANY DETAILS!" She takes a deep breath. "Bye, Mal. Play nice. Or… whatever you say that means play nice in your world. She seems good for you. Don't fuck it up."

"You taking life wisdom from Joel now?" Ethan asks.

"So what if I am?"

"How long do you have for me to answer that question?"

I chuckle. This is good. Normal. Happy. "See you guys." I hang up the phone.

Everything is good.

Everyone is happy.

But the tension is still in my chest. Hell, it's spreading out to my fingers and toes.

It eases as Lacey steps into the hallway. She tugs at her t-shirt, well, my t-shirt technically.

"You don't mind, do you?" She moves into the main room.

"You won't be wearing it for long."

She smiles. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Perfect."