Yes, yes, he was going to do that. He glanced to Becca. She waited patiently, no expression on her beautiful face.
“I had... uh... hookups when we were on tour,” Linx said, finally.
He didn’t say more.
For once, Brek didn’t say more.
Becca also didn’t say more.
Kellie said nothing.
They all sat there. Not talking. Marinating in awkward that bordered what he went through with his family when Courtney announced she was knocked up.
“I feel like there’s more to this story,” Becca said, finally. She didn’t sound pissed, though. It’s not like she could’ve thought she was his first. They’d, uh, established that already.
“C’mon, Linx. It’s not that bad. Not like Bax and his jewelry.” Brek nodded along with this assertion.
Linx loved the guy like a brother, but he was ready to deck him right about then.
“Bax and his jewelry?” Becca asked. “I feel the plot thickening.”
Bax had his own system of giving his hookups special thank-you-for-banging-me jewelry. They were absolutely not going to discuss Bax and his jewelry. Which meant…
“I didn’t enjoy hooking up with randoms. So,”—Linx coughed—“if I met a woman I liked, I visited her when I came to town.”
“Visited her?” Brek asked, chuckling. Good to see Brek seemed to find this turn of conversation funny.
“And I bought them dinner.” Linx went back to fiddling with his beer bottle. “And we all knew the score. Knew what we were doing.” He continued fussing with the paper. “It wasn’t like I misled any of them. We all got our—how did you say? Cookies from the jar.”
Brek shook his head. “Not helping your case, man.”
Kellie had her face held in her palms. “This is my fault. The reason I should not be allowed to speak.”
Becca, meanwhile, held still, her face neutral.
“Huh,” she said, after a beat. She ran her tongue along the inside of her upper lip.
Normally, that movement would do special things to his insides that would then make him want to do special things to her. Instead, he replied, “Huh?”
“What did the other guys do?” Becca asked.
“They picked random women for their one-night stands,” Brek said, cheerful as all get out.
“Huh,” Becca said, again.
“You keep saying that,” Linx said with a low growl. He didn’t see why any of this mattered.
“I’m processing this new data.” She shrugged.
Linx set his beer bottle aside and reached for Becca’s hands. She didn’t seem pissed, just reflective.
“I know all of their names,” he said. “The city thing was a thing the guys started because they didn’t want to remember their names. The women I was with weren’t looking for serious, either.”
Brek let out a low groan. “You are not making this better. You should stop explaining and go back to bein’ an idiot.”
“Huh,” Becca said, yet again, glancing between the two of them and tilting her head to the side.
Becca was all about communication, so the lack of communication freaked him right the hell out.
