Reindeer Games 2 - Toys for Good Girls by Mykles Jet Page B

reindeer and headed straight for Lon. The little man was about her size, but he seemed smaller as she marched up to him. When he glanced over her head, she knew Wod wasn’t far behind her. That was fine. She had no intention of hurting Lon, but she’d find out what he knew.
    “Where is your friend?”
    Huge blue eyes blinked at her. “Uh…”
    “It’s been over two weeks. If he doesn’t want to see me, fine, but where the fuck is he?”
    “Um…” Lon’s gaze darted up over Tanty’s left shoulder again as he backed up a step.
    “Uh, he’s…”
    Wod circled Tanty to wind an arm around his boyfriend’s shoulders. “He’s holed up at his house.”
    Tanty watched Lon shoot Wod a sharp look. She narrowed her gaze. “Still? Why?” Wod and Lon stared at each other, the first coldly calm and the other fairly pleading.
    Tanty balled her fists and just stopped herself from stomping her foot. “Tell me.” Wod opened his mouth, but Lon slapped his chest. That made the taller male shake his head. Brown eyes focused on Tanty. “You should go see for yourself.” Lon’s fingers dug into Wod’s bare chest. “Wod!”
    With narrowed eyes, Tanty kept looking from one man to the other. “What’s going on?”
    “To be honest, I don’t know it all. Lon’s sworn to secrecy.” He grimaced, and it wasn’t because Lon slapped his chest again. And again. “But it can’t be good.” “Wod! You can’t tell her that.”
    Wod held tight to his squirming partner but kept eye contact with Tanty. She saw that he was throwing her a bone even if she didn’t know what it was. “He didn’t let me in when I went before.”
    Wod nodded. “Force it.”
    Tanty’s eyes went as wide as Lon’s, but she didn’t sink into a tirade of frustrated—if mild—cursing like Lon. She stared at Wod long enough to realize he was serious. Then she nodded. “Okay. I’ll do that.”
    “No!” Lon tried to break away and follow her when she headed for her stall, but Wod stopped him. “Tanty, wait.”
    She probably should wait. Lon was frantic for a reason. But Wod had never led her astray.
    She trusted him. If he implied there was something at Bok’s house she needed to see, then there was something at Bok’s house she needed to see.
    It was an overcast afternoon with a good chance of snow that night. Tanty strolled up the path to Bok’s door like she didn’t have a care in the world. Her hair was loose and long, her dress was short and tight, and both were exactly the same color. The tights that banded her legs up to her thighs were purple and orange stripes. She’d dressed in her favorite colors, trying to keep herself in a good, open mood.
    She knocked.
    A strange, repetitive, mechanical noise from within slowed and stopped.
    She knocked again.
    More movement inside, soft shuffling she decided was footsteps. She stepped to the side and pressed against the wall so she couldn’t be seen through the peephole. When she was pretty sure Bok was behind the door, she reached over to knock yet again.
    “Who is it?”
    She knocked once more.
    There was some irritated grumbling. Then an inhospitable, “I’m not playing. Go away.” Tanty crossed her arms and thought about it as the sounds inside indicated Bok was leaving the door. She could try the game again, or she could reveal herself. Decisions, decisions.
    After a few moments’ thought, she stepped back in front of the door and knocked again.
    This time, he’d see her through the peephole.
    He saw her. She could hear him breathing. Something scratched the other side of the door softly.
    She stared at the little hole and raised an eyebrow. “Bok, let me in.” Silence.
    She crossed her arms and let her annoyance show. “I know you’re there. I can hear you.”
    “What are you doing here?”
    Calmly, she lifted a hand to inspect her fingernails. “You owe me an explanation.”
    “I what?”
    “You owe me an explanation.”
    “For what?”
    She waved a hand at the door.