not listening and haven’t been for the last five minutes.
“I’m listening,” I snarl.
“You’re the one calling me, busting my chops. Placing blame where there’s no blame to be placed. Shit got fucked up, but your man is alive. Why don’t you be a good woman and take care of him instead of calling me, chewing my ear off about shit I can’t change?”
I open my mouth and then snap it shut as the bed creaks behind me.
“Princess,” Mammoth whispers, and I freeze.
I slowly peer over my shoulder, dropping my hand to my side, trying to hide the phone, and smile. “Hey, baby.”
“Who are you talking to?” Mammoth stretches, and every muscle in his body flexes underneath his ink-stained skin. He winces when he moves his arm, and the reality of the gunshot slams back into him.
“No one,” I whisper, staying where I am. “Go back to sleep.”
“Put the phone down,” he says, patting the bed, eyes flickering between my hand and my face. “I need my woman.”
“You’re hurt,” I tell him as Morris chirps in the background at a low rumble.
Please don’t hear Morris’s voice.
Please don’t hear Morris’s voice.
“End the call, Tamara,” Mammoth demands, his eyes sliding to my leg where the phone is pressed to muffle Morris’s slew of curse words. “Now.”
Shit.
He heard Morris’s voice.
He doesn’t have to say it; I can tell by the icy look in his gray eyes.
“Grumpy,” I mumble under my breath as I lift the phone and see a blank screen. I hold out my hand, showing Mammoth the screen, still digging in my heels about the phone call. “See. No one’s there.” Somehow, I say those words with a smile.
He shakes his head, narrowing his eyes. “I may have been shot, but I’m not deaf. I heard his voice.”
“His?” I ask, tiptoeing toward my guy, trying my best to play stupid.
“I know you called Morris. I heard his voice.”
Busted.
Shit.
“He just called to see how you were,” I lie, still smiling like an idiot as I place my phone on the nightstand and plant my ass next to Mammoth on the bed. “I told him you were resting and that I didn’t want anyone to bother you.”
He reaches out with his good arm, hooking me by the waist and hauling me backward like I weigh nothing. “Princess, you’re a shit liar.”
“I never lie,” I lie again, but I’m not backing down.
I’ve never been known for my ability to admit when I’m wrong. Once I dig in my heels, they’re stuck, and there’s no going back. It’s a family trait—or maybe more of a flaw—but it’s the Gallo in me.
He stares at me and doesn’t even crack a smile. “Want to repeat that?”
“No,” I snap.
The corner of his mouth turns up as he tightens his hand at the top of my hip. “What am I going to do with you?”
“I can think of a few things.” I smirk, waggling my eyebrows. “It’s a shame you’re injured, though.”
Always wanting to prove me wrong, he pulls me farther back until my body is flush against his. “My shoulder may be injured, but the rest of me isn’t.”
I turn my face up, staring into his gray eyes. “It’s only been a few days, and the doctor said you need to be careful so you don’t rip the staples.”
He runs his fingers down the side of my arm, causing my skin to break out in goose bumps. “What does my shoulder have to do with my cock?”
“No strenuous activity, buster. Not until you’re cleared by your doctor.” I place my hand on his chest, toying with his piercing.
He moves his fingers from my back to my spine, making a beeline for my ass. “You know what isn’t strenuous?”
“What?” I ask, squirming when his fingertips move over the swell of my ass.
“You ridin’ my cock.”
I giggle and slap his chest. “Stop. We’re not fucking.”
“Sit on my face, then.”
I shake my head, biting down on my lip. God, I’d do anything to be riding his face right now instead of arguing about Morris while he has a hole in his body.
“A few more days, okay?” I beg, wanting him to have every chance to heal without any complications. “You want another pill? It’ll help you sleep and get your mind off things.”
“Have you ever taken one of those things?” he asks, brushing his lips against the skin of my forehead and breathing me in.
“No. Not those specifically, but something like them.”
“Those pills…” He pauses and sighs. “They give me the craziest