Alexei laughs. “What can I say? You do a good job playing oblivious.Oh, can you help me find this room? I’m so lost. While we’re on our way, can you find my dick for me, I can’t remember where it is.”
“I did not say that.”
“That’s all Spencer heard. Gave that poor guy hope he has a chance.”
“Technically, I only asked for directions.”
He glares at me. “I think you know you engaged with him a little more than that.”
“I did what I had to do to distract him. You’re welcome.”
“I said thank you. Just not gonna play like we don’t both know you were laying it on thick. And then the way you were flirting with him throughNightfire.” He doesn’t sound amused.
“Alexei, I compliment your ass, and now you’re already acting like a jealous boyfriend?”
He nudges me with his elbow. “Shut the fuck up.”
“Okay, well, now you gotta keep up your end of the bargain. Show me what you got.”
His playful expression shifts to something far more serious.
“Am I gonna need to perform the strip search?” I press.
“No, no.” He retrieves his phone and pulls up images before passing it to me. I scan the photos he took of the pages of the notebook. Looks like there’s about five in here, tightly written. Too much for me to go through on this walk, so I select them all and send them to my phone.
“What did you just do?”
“Sent them to myself. Gonna see what this shit is.”
“Wait. What?” He tries to snatch his phone from me, but I hold it out of reach.
“The hell, dude?”
“Come on. Give it to me. I told you I’d show you; I didn’t say you could read it.”
“Why can’t I read it? What the hell is in this notebook that’s so fucking important?”
I’m succeeding in our little game of keep away—guess being two inches taller helps—so he finally surrenders.
“Just give it to me,” he pleads.
After confirming the photos have been delivered, I hand him his phone, and he studies it, surely realizing it’s too late.
“Fucking douche,” he mutters.
“That was you holding up your end of the bargain.”
“I figured if you saw the pages, that would be enough.”
“Then I guess you don’t know what a nosy motherfucker I can be.”
He huffs.
Alexei and I are so fucking weird when we’re together—one minute we’re laughing and being silly, and the next I’ve pissed him off. Although, if he thinks he’s made me less curious about all this, he’s out of his goddamn mind.
“Maybe thank me for not ratting you out to Gage or Spencer, which was the alternative.”
His expression softens, and he shakes his head. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I just… This stuff is… I don’t even know why I’m stressing. You’ll see it and think it’s batshit, so have at.”
