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I restlessly tap my foot, feeling way too vulnerable. “Why? You didn’t do anything.” Other than make me have two orgasms. But they felt good, so I really can’t be upset with him about that.
“I know.” He traces his finger back and forth below my eye. “But I’m best friends with the asshole who hurt you. Or, well, I used to be.”
“Used to be?”
He shrugs. “Blaine and I have kind of grown apart over the last couple of years, ever since…” He trails off.
“Ever since what?” I press, noting his squirminess.
He smashes his lips together. “I’m not sure if I can tell you yet.”
“West,” I warn. “You told me you’d tell me the truth, so fess up, dude.”
His lips part to say God knows what, but Ellis jogs into the room.
“West, you need to come back here. Now,” he says, a little out of breath. His gaze flicks to me before landing back on West. “And you might want to leave her out here.”
West rises to his feet, pulling me up with him. “What’s going on?”
Ellis casts another quick glance at me before telling West, “The guy started talking and he’s saying some stuff that’s really bad if it’s true.” He gives an insinuating glance in my direction.
“No way,” I interrupt their little conversation that I’m fairly certain is about me. “If this guy is saying something about me, I want to hear.”
“Alexis,” West starts. “I don’t think—”
“Nope,” I cut him off. “You’re not going to talk me out of this. And if you know me at all, you’d realize that.”
West stares me down intimidatingly with his arms crossed. “I know you’re stubborn. I don’t need to be reminded of that. But I don’t want you going anywhere near this guy.”
I put my free hand on my hip. “Well, it’s a good thing you’re not the boss of me, huh?”
He grins haughtily. “Actually, I kind of am.”
I throw him a sassy smirk, but my confidence is faltering. “Oh yeah, how do you figure?”
“Because I’ve been assigned to take care of you and keep an eye on you.” His lips spread to a smirk. “Which means I’m the boss of you.”
“If that’s the case, then doesn’t that mean that your friend over there is the boss of me too?” I point a finger at Ellis. “And that Steel guy too.”
West eyes narrow to slits. “No. No one is the boss of you except me.”
“Doesn’t sound like it to me.” I don’t even know why I’m arguing about this. I don’t want anyone to be the boss of me. But, like I’ve said before, West and I are known for our little bantering arguments.
West stares me down hard, silently daring me to back down.
I carry his gaze firmly. Nope. Not going to happen.
Ellis’s gaze bounces back and forth between West and I. “I don’t think she’s going to back down, man. Maybe we should just let her come back. We’re going to have to tell her what he said, anyway.”
West tears his gaze off of me and looks at Ellis. “Why?”
Ellis chews on his bottom lip uneasily. “Because it’s bad and she’s going to find out, even if we don’t tell her.”
West blows out a breath. “He’s chained up, right?”
Ellis nods. “Of course.”
I blink stupidly. “You have someone chained up?”
West gives me a sidelong glance. “After everything that I just told you, are you really that surprised?”
I wipe my damp palm on the side of my leg. “Okay, you might have a point.”
“Not might. Do.” He tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear and my eyelashes flutter. A soft, knowing smile graces his lips, and then he turns toward Ellis. “Just so we’re prepared, on a scale of one to ten, just how bad is this?”
Ellis’s Adam’s apple bobs up and down as he swallows hard, his gaze straying to me. “An eleven.”
My heart misses a beat in my chest. Or maybe my heart stops altogether.
I’m not really sure.
I’m not really sure about anything anymore.
Holding hands
Alexis
As Ellis, West, and I head down the hallway, West decides to officially introduce me to Ellis.
“Oh yeah, Alexis, this is Ellis,” West says as we reach a shut door at the end of the hallway.
“It’s nice to officially meet you,” he says, offering me his hand.
The formal scene feels a bit odd after everything that’s happened, but I shake his hand anyway.
“It’s nice to meet you.” I look back and forth between the two of them. “How long have you two known each other?”
Ellis and West glance at each other with looks of contemplation on their faces.
“Probably about three or four years,” Ellis says, looking back at me.
I gape at West. “How did I never meet him before? I’ve known you for like a decade.”
“I had to keep this part of my life a secret.” He’s still clutching onto my hand and so is Ellis and it seems a bit strange.
But I don’t know how to pull away without seeming like a straight up bitch, so I let them both hold my hands and for some stupid reason, I find a bit of comfort from their touches.
“The only reason you get to find out now is because you’re part of the organization now,” West adds. “Or well, you’re being protected by them.”
“But why are they protecting me?” I ask. “I’m nobody to them.”
“You’re not nobody to me,” he stresses. “And the organization protects people. In fact, it’s their—our—number one mission.”
“You sound like a bunch of people with a superhero complex,” I say, only half joking.
West trades an amused look with Ellis.
“What do you think, Ellis?” he asks. “Do we secretly want to be superheroes and this is as close as we can get?”
Ellis deliberates with a twinkle in his eyes. “I always did kind of think it’d be cool to wear a costume and go around saving the city.”
“Do you guys wear costumes?” I tease. “Like tight, spandex ones? I bet you do and I bet you like it.”
They both stare at me, unimpressed, and I fight back a smile.
No, I don’t really believe they do, but messing with their heads is kind of entertaining.
“Yeah, we do, actually.” West throws me a smirk. “Mine’s pink and glittery and Ellis’s is purple and blue and has lace.”
“Hey, how come mine doesn’t have glitter?” Ellis exaggeratedly gripes, on the verge of grinning. “I hate lace.”
“You’re just not a sparkly sort of guy.” West shrugs. “Sorry man.”
The two of them grin like dorks and even though I won’t admit it, it’s kind of adorable. And sort of strange. I mean, West has always had a funny sense of humor, but him and Blaine were never this joking toward each other. I think back to what West said, how Blaine and him haven’t been close for a while. I don’t know why I didn’t notice it before, but now I can sort of see it. But what caused the change? Was it because West got this job and had to start lying to Blaine?
Why does it even matter? Stop thinking about Blaine!
“Thanks for the weird mental picture, guys,” I joke. “It’s going to haunt my nightmares forever.”
“Yeah, right, it probably turns you on.” West winks at me.
I want to flip him the middle finger but then realize they’re still holding onto my hands, so I can’t.
Instead, I stick out my tongue.
West grins. “Well, if that’s the way you want to play…” He leans forward and licks my tongue.
“What the hell?” I squeal, jumping back.
My shoulder bumps into Ellis, and he steadies me with his free hand while chuckling.
“Yuck, West, just yuck,” I whine, but I’m pretty sure I might be lying. Because I kind of liked it. Does that make me sick and twisted?
I swear to God West knows where my thoughts lie because he gives me a knowing
look and then wets his lips with his tongue.
I almost stick out my tongue again, just to see if he’ll lick me again.
“Are you two always like this?” Ellis asks amusedly.
West and I stare each other down, but eventually I start to squirm. No, we’re not usually like this. Do we argue? All the time. But never has West licked my tongue and never in a million years would I have thought I’d like it. I’m blaming it on what happened in the car. That threw us off balance or something. Orgasms throw me off balance.
Yeah, that’s it. Damn orgasms.
Okay, maybe not damn orgasms. Because I like them. A lot.
Still, all orgasms aside, I need to get my balance again because I refuse to fall for anyone ever again. Especially Blaine’s best friend. Or ex-best friend anyway.
“Yeah, kind of,” West tells Ellis, his gaze remaining fused on me. “Alexis and I have always sort of had this thing going on between us.”
“A thing where you’re annoying and I try to tolerate you,” I quip with a sugary sweet grin.
He snorts a laugh. “Is that what you really think?”
