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If I didn’t already have plans with Indi and Smithy today, I’d have made them all stay here and keep me in the loop, but apparently the fates like me chasing my tail.
Lincoln and I are overdue for a long talk though. I need to know everything I can if I’m going to survive whatever it is that the Knights want from me.
I don’t have time to focus on that as Indi bounds into my room like the ray of sparkling sunshine that she is. “Morning, friend,” she sings as she drops onto my bed.
“You’re awfully chipper today.” I can’t help but feel guilt as I take in the cast on her arm again.
She grins at me, blushing a little. “I’m home, I’m happy and healthy. I am loved. What’s not to be chipper about?”
I quirk a brow at her. “You had a good homecoming then?”
She giggles, then covers her mouth with her hands, eyes wide. “You could say that. Ryker was very thankful to have me back.” She blushes and I smirk. “Though he vowed to break Alex in multiple places when he saw my arm. He also said he owes you one, so tuck that away in your hat. He doesn’t hand out favors all too often.”
“He doesn’t owe me a thing. It was my fault you were out there, that you were taken. How is your arm?” I ask, waving her off, but she shakes her head.
“It wasn’t your fault. Alex explained some stuff to me, he’d have come for me another time if I hadn’t been vulnerable then. But apparently being around you and the Knights, or with the Kings, makes me a little hard to kidnap usually. And my arm is fine, Ellis took me to an actual hospital, got it looked at; they said it seems to be healing as expected, but I’m going to need the cast on for another few weeks. At least Alex did that bit right I guess.” She rolls her eyes and steals a pillow from behind me, hugging it against her chest. “And he wasn’t all bad.”
“I still want to dropkick the asshole who did that to you. But yeah, Alex is basically a human Labrador most of the time.” I snort and she nods enthusiastically.
“Right! I said that exact same thing! He’s a human puppy. It’s kind of adorable. I don’t get the whole terrifying thing everyone else seems to picture him as.”
“I mean, you love Ryker. If you don’t find him terrifying, pretty sure you’re going to look past Alex’s brand of scary,” I shrug. I haven’t seen that side of him, though I’m pretty sure Indi would see the best in a serial killer. “Plus, Alex is a softie under it all really.”
“He really is,” she says, sighing.
“What was that?”
Her eyes go wide. “What was what?”
“That cutesy little sigh.” I quirk a brow at her and she looks down at her hands in her lap, wringing them out.
“He wasn’t all bad. I know it makes me a terrible person to think so, all things considered. Considering the issues between him and Ryker… but,” she shrugs, looking back up at me. “He was nice.”
“Indigo Montoya, what exactly happened while you were with him?”
She lets out a deep sigh. “At first, I was just his prisoner. They broke my arm when they captured me but then Lincoln called and everything changed. He found out I was your friend and all of a sudden I was still his prisoner, but it was like he wanted to be my friend, too. So he brought in a doctor, had my arm put in this cast, and well… he looked after me.” She pauses, looking up at me almost afraid.
“What did he do?” I ask, rage bubbling in my stomach. If he hurt her, I swear to Christ, I will burn down his goddamn warehouse and tell everyone all of his goddamn skeletons.
“He kissed me.”
“He did fucking what?” I shout.
She chews her lip, and I only just manage to keep a lid on my shit. “He kissed me. I don’t think he even meant to. We were messing around, no not like that, but just messing around because there was nothing else I could do, and it just happened. I felt awful about it, he apologized, said he didn’t mean to. That he shouldn’t have…”
“Did you tell Ryker or the others?”
She shakes her head, and my heart sinks for her a bit. “I don’t want to make things worse and they were just so happy I was back, but there’s a giant pit of guilt sloshing around inside of me and I feel awful.”
“Did you kiss him back? Zero judgment either way, you know that. But he kissed you, you didn’t instigate it.”
She nods, looking back down at her hands. “I just kind of got lost in the moment. But then I remembered where I was, who he was, everything, and stopped it. Kept my distance. Nothing else happened. I know I should tell them, but they’re a little possessive, and well, Alex isn’t exactly their favorite person.”
I nod, he’s not exactly my favorite person right now either, the shit head.
“Do you like him?” I ask softly. There is zero judgment from me, no matter what she says, I just hate that she’s hurting so badly.
“I don’t think so?” It comes out as more of a question, and she chews on the inside of her lip again. My heart hurts for her.
