Page 55 of Golden Ruin

Does he really not remember?

It was kind of a ritual. We’d get high, fuck, walk to the food truck from his dorm to gear up for round two, then fuck again.

We were at that truck… a lot.

Sterling relaxes deeper into his seat, eyes fixed on me. “Guess we just cared about a quick refuel,” he says. “Didn’t really matter where it came from.”

He smirks, and it’s just enough to make me squirm, just enough to let me know… he remembers.

Flustered, the fry I tried to swallow goes down my throat the wrong way, and I reach for my cup.

Shit, it’s empty.

Desperate, I reach for Sterling’s instead, just as the straw touches his lips, pulling it toward me before I die or whatever. He doesn’t fight me, staring while I sip his drink, gripping his hand as it surrounds the cup. The moment I calm down, I’m uncomfortably aware of his fingers between mine, their warmth.

I let go.

“Thank you,” I croak out, but I look up when I hear Sterling laugh.

“You okay?” he chuckles, and I nod instead of speaking.

He still doesn’t look away from me, and there’s so much heat swirling around us. So much that this small space suddenly feels even smaller.

I need to get out of here, need to put space between us.

Now.

Just as I’m about to have a mild panic attack, Dusty returns and places our refills on the table. Thank God he had the foresight to put them in to-go cups.

Sterling reaches into his pocket, pulling out his wallet. Dusty shakes his head, protesting as Sterling presses a couple hundred-dollar bills into his palm.

“For the VIP seating,” Sterling teases.

“I’m not taking money from you kids. I–”

“You’re always looking out for us. All of us,” Sterling adds. “Keep it. Please.”

Dusty holds his gaze for several seconds before finally nodding, accepting the gift. “Thank you. Next meal’s on me, though.”

Sterling smiles and concedes. “Deal.”

Dusty leaves us again, and I’m quick to get to my feet so we can get out of here ASAP. Not even knowing there’s a crowd waiting outside the diner is enough to make me sit here another minute.

I pull up the hood of my sweatshirt again, and when Sterling puts his sunglasses on me like before, I’m completely frozen. The closeness already felt oddly uncomfortable, but now, it feels downright dangerous.

And when he quickly backs off, I can only guess he feels it too.

Unknowingly, we played with fire today. We accidentally got too comfortable, and that can’t keep happening. Not with our history.

We have to keep this situation clean and uncomplicated.

Of course for Jax, but right now, I’m mostly thinking… for me.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Lexi

I’ve been staring at the ceiling for hours, listening to Jax snore in the bunk above me. I’m stuck in a cycle of replaying every single detail from today.