“Lexy is sort of busy.” My jaw tightens because I just called her the very name she demanded I never useagain.
“With what?” Teagan whines, stomping her heels to the floor. “I swear, it will take less than ten minutes of yourtime.”
“Teagan,” I bark louder than I meant to, and my sister freezes solid. I can see Emilia there in her eyes, her own shock and disappointment gutting me without meaningto.
Lex lifts a hand as if to wave me away. “Of course, I will. It’s dead here in the afternoons. Whenever you’re free, give your brother a call, and I’ll meet you down here. I just threw my sister a big birthday bash a few months ago, so I’m an old pro atit.”
“Thank you so much!” Teagan wraps Lex in a hug before bolting for the group of girls she walked in with who have already hit the dancefloor.
“You didn’t have to do that.” I try to catch Lex’s gaze, but she’s still staring at Teagan, most likely wondering what the hell she’s gotten herselfinto.
“Don’t thank me. I didn’t do it for you.” She barrels past me, and thus ensues an odd dance of avoidance for the next few hours, on her behalf at least. The night is wrapping up, but the 12 Deadly Sins are still going strong. I’ve watched Teagan cutting loose with her girlfriends as if global peace depended on those moves they’re doling out. I’ve also watched as a few frat boys made their way over and hit on them, but before I could break any noses, Teagan and her crew effectively shut them down. And unfortunately, I’ve also bared witness to Lex taking her break with none other than my brother. Abby happily took their order, and the entire alliance seemed unholy if you askme.
I head over to the bar and man the fort while Mojo, the head bartender, takes off for a quicksmoke.
Lex speeds this way, and her eyes widen in haste once she sees it’s me she needs to dealwith.
“I need two cosmos and a redneck cotillion.” The redneck cotillion is a drink that Mojo invented himself, too much whiskey and a dash of Coke and Tabasco sauce. It sells mostly because of the name he christened it with. I’m still waiting for a defamation lawsuit from the Redneck League. The world is so PC there has to beone.
I put the drinks together one by one and land them on the counter in front ofher.
“Two cosmos and a redneck, all for you, Lexy.” The muscles in my jaw flex when I say her name that way. There’s a method to my madness, but I’m not up forsharing.
A dull huff escapes her lips as she leans in, wild-eyed with rage as if I just crossed the line. “Where do you live,Collins?”
Lex only invokes my last name when she’s had it with me. Usually it’s in jest—hell, she even called me that in bed a few times, and the thought alone curves a smile on mylips.
“Jepson Towers. Penthouse.” A part of me wants to impress her withit.
“Excellent. I’ll find a way to bribe the doorman and knife your balls off while yousleep.”
My dick twitches with the threat as if something about it had the power to turn it on. Hell, it did. Just the thought of Lex crawling into bed with me to do anything with my balls makes mehappy.
“Massage them first and it might be worth it.” I can’t believe the words as they leave my lips, but they did and I decide to ownthem.
Her perfect pink lips fall open at the audacity I had to speak with her that way. The real reason I went there was because that’s the way we bantered once upon a time. She was sharp and caustic, and I’d lob it right back. We both loved every minute. Right now, I’m probably staring down the barrel of a sexual harassment suit. That too might be worth it if it means I get to spend more time with her—even if it is in acourtroom.
Lex pushes a quick breath from her lips as if centering herself in the madness. “What on earth do I have to do to get you to stop calling methat?”
“Go out with me.” I don’t miss a beat. Although, in hindsight I probably should have been morespecific.
Lex tips her head back so quick you’d think someone had shother.
“Okay.” She snaps her gaze to me onceagain.
“Okay?” I parrot back in disbelief. My heart slams against my chest so loud and fast it drowns out all of the chaos in the bar. There’s no way I heard thatright.
“Don’t make me change my mind, Collins.” Her nostrils flare with rage as she piles the drinks on her tray and whisks off toward hertable.
Holy shit. Lex and I are going out. Hell has frozen over. Pigs are flying. It’s the twelfth of never. Every idiom of improbability is employed in my life all atonce.
My entire body enlivens with adrenaline. You could light a match under my feet and I’d rocket straight toMars.
Lex—my Lex is back in my life. We’re going to work this time come hell or high water, and we’ve already been through both. She’s softening, molding to me, no longer able to avoid the gravitational pull of who we are—or at least that’s the version I’m feeding myself. Nevertheless, Lex and I are off the ground. We have liftoff, and I’ll make sure we never come crashing back down to earthagain.
