Josh is quaking like a leaf, and my sense of justice overrides my nerves and embarrassment. “Quill,” I snap, “hesavedyour life. He saved both of our lives.”
“Yeah, and that’s the only reason I’m giving him the benefit ofthe doubt,” answers Quill, his voice soft as he directs it to me. “Put your clothes on, cricket.”
I scramble to pick up the clothes Quill had tossed on the ground, though he doesn’t give me much freedom to move, his arms still reaching behind him to shield me. As if he’s worried Josh will somehow manage to see me despite being turned the other way.
“So what is this?” he questions, once I’m fully dressed, pulling me back into his lap. “We’re stuck in fucking Oregon withJosh?”
“Be nice,” I chide him. “He shot one of the underbosses of the underboss.”
“Huh?”
“Someone important, working for Coltello. He shot someone important, and that put a target on his back.”
“Right.”
“So he had no choice but to go into hiding with us.”
“He could have gone into hiding somewhere else,” grumbles Quill. “It’s getting in the way of me fucking you around-the-clock.”
“I’ll be so discreet, you won’t even notice me!” promises Josh, in a squeaky sort of voice.
“Stop, Quill. It’s fine. Turn around, Josh. He won’t bite you. He’s just an asshole.”
Josh doesn’t move, his eyes still firmly fixed on the house, until Quill growls, “Well, you heard her. What are you waiting for?”
Josh sighs audibly then turns back around to face us.
“It’s all my fault,” I say hastily. “I thought Josh had gone fishing, and I figured he’d be gone for a while, and then I got so distracted with you, Quill, that…”
Quill cuts me off by pressing his lips to mine and tightening his arms around me. “Even if you don’t say sorry,actingapologetic counts, you know.”
“Does it get me a kiss, though?” I put my arms around his neck,pulling him down to me.
Another peck on the lips, and then he says, “It gets you a smack on the ass, that’s what it does.”
“Quill!”
I’m back to hiding my face against him, and though I can’t see Josh’s, I have a feeling it’s just as red as mine.
Quill turns back to Josh, and I watch their interaction nervously. “What’s this about fuckingfishing?” he asks.
“Uhm,” stammers Josh. “I just thought I’d try. I always wanted to fish in the winter. You find a hole in the ice, stick your fishing rod in, and then—well, it didn’t work.”
“So we have to go full survival mode? Fishing for food?”
“No, no,” I interrupt. “Logan left the fridge fully stocked. Josh can go down to the town, an hour away, if we need groceries. He’s less recognizable than we are.”
“Hm.” Quill looks pensive. “I don’t like the idea of hiding.”
“Come on, it’ll be fun,” I plead. “There’s lots of activities to do. Sledding, ice skating over the lake if it completely freezes over, hiking in the woods, there’s even a stable with some horses we could ride…”
“I’d much rather ride you.”
“Quill!”
“And I guess if by sledding you mean, fucking in a sled, and if by hiking you mean—”
“Okay, okay, I get it. Can younotin front of Josh, though?”