AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Fuck, man. You know it’s going to be awkward between us now.” My eyebrows furrow. “Not me and you, asshole. Me and Addison.”
“Ryker, that’s the last thing that I want. I told her the same thing. You’re like my brother. It was a knee-jerk reaction,” I say, irritated. Goddamn feelings.
“By the look of the holes in the house, it seems like you’ve been having a lot of those,” he says, looking around.
“Balls. In. A. Vise. Grip,” I repeat slowly.
“How is she doing? She looks good,” he says as we stand looking out to the back patio. She and Syd are dancing around. My cock twitches. I don’t know what I was thinking earlier, not taking her up on her offer. I guess I was punishing myself for acting like a fool.
I can see Ryker’s serious reflection in the glass. Max told me he had talked to the guys. They don’t know everything, but they know enough.
“She’s doing well. She has her moments, but she’s working through them. If she’d stop putting herself in danger, I might be able to breathe.”
He looks over at me, confused.
“Did Max tell you about Lexi?” He shakes his head. At least I wasn’t the only one.
I tell him the short version about what happened. How Addison and I met back up and how Lexi has become part of Addison’s life.
“Fuck.”
“I question the world we live in sometimes,” I say, shaking my head. “Well, after we got back from Texas, Addison went back to her place. Come to find out, she knew the perp and he ended up in her apartment with her.” One hand fists at my side and my other one grips my beer tighter.
“Holy shit! How can one person have that much bad luck?”
“Don’t even ask. Her life has been one fuck you after another.”
“So, what happened? This had to be pretty recent because I just talked to Max at the beginning of the week and he didn’t say anything.”
“It happened on Tuesday.” He looks out at Addison and then back to me with a look of surprise. “She shot and killed him. That’s why we’re here. I was trying to get her mind off of it and relax.”
“How is she even managing? She killed someone a couple days ago.” He looks outside again and points to her. “That does not look like someone who just killed someone. Aiden, I’m a little concerned for you.” He chuckles nervously. If he only knew that she already shot me, he’d think I was insane.
“She didn’t have a choice. She did it out of self-defense. But … I also think she’s not dealing with it like she should be, emotionally.”
“Only you would fall in love with La Femme Nikita.” I laugh out loud. “So what’s up with the sidekick?” He nods his head in Syd’s direction.
Not you, too?
“Why?” I ask cautiously.
“Back when you were in the hospital, I heard about her through Damon. He made it sound like they were a thing. Tonight, I asked about him, and she made it very clear they weren’t and never were. She’s hot, so I thought what the hell …” I drop my head, shaking it. “Yeah, well, I got the message loud and clear.” He takes a drink. I smirk, knowing what he’s going to say. “I happen to glance at Max and if looks could kill, I wouldn’t be five feet under, I’d be chopped up and fed to the wolves.”
I clap him on the back, laughing. “It’s best you stay away from that one. I have a feeling this is a train wreck waiting to happen and you don’t want any part of that,” I say, pointing at Syd.
“Whatever happened to bros before hoes?” he laughs.
“I’ve been gone for a while so I don’t know what’s happened between Damon and Syd, if anything. Syd says he’s dating someone he met online.”
Ryker spews his drink everywhere as he coughs. “Shut the fuck up.”
“Seems to be the consensus. I’m definitely going to give him shit about it on Monday.” I’m not surprised that he found someone online. I’m surprised he went looking there. “And she and Max … I don’t have a clue, but he has his sights on her.”
“She should run. And fast.”
“She’s pretty feisty. I’m thinking she can handle Max or else I’d say something.” I look at Max, and he’s watching us like a hawk. A huge grin spreads across his face. I had a feeling he’d be watching, reading us. I mouth, “Asshole.” I can hear his loud laugh from inside.
“Goddammit. He did his spy mouth reading bullshit, didn’t he?” I swing my arm around Ryker and nod.
