They were all quiet.
Great.
That was when Gal shocked the shit out of him.
“I hope this sopping wet blanket isn’t messing up my hair,” she joked.
Katie giggled.
Alex gave him more weight.
“So, you know, all good,” Gal bizarrely declared in Rix’s direction. “There was a drama, and it’s over. But on the bright side, practice for you when Alex gets you to the Big Apple and Blake is on the bridezilla warpath.”
“I keep having dreams of her growing to the size of a skyscraper, wearing a wedding gown, and laying waste to Manhattan because one of the boutonnieres drooped,” Katie shared.
“If she’s the size of a skyscraper, I wanna go to this wedding, because can you imagine the size of the cake?” Gal asked.
Those two busted a gut laughing, with Alex in her way joining in. She was quietly chuckling.
Right.
Wait.
That was it?
No filthy looks or lingering stares or any other bullshit because his ex showing interrupted their evening?
This was not his experience with Peri’s friends. Even if the situation had been out of his control, like this one, they’d find a way to make their feelings known about it.
“So,” Katie started when she’d quieted down, aiming this Rix’s way, “we’ve never met them. Alex’s family. I’m still having nightmares.”
“Do you have a hat for this crazy tea?” Gal asked Alex.
“No,” was Alex’s fortunate reply.
“Bummer,” Gal muttered. “I think you should wear one so huge, it takes up three seats.”
“Helena would have a hissy fit,” Katie noted.
“Helena can go jump in a lake. Who does tea? We’re in America, for God’s sake,” Gal replied.
Rix grunted his agreement.
“See?” Gal pointed at him. “Rix agrees with me.”
“I didn’t disagree,” Katie pointed out.
“Americans do tea,” Alex put in.
“Not with hats. With ice and lots of sugar,” Gal retorted.
Rix started laughing.
Katie did too.
And Alex did too.
Yeah.
He settled in with his girl and a sip of beer.
Because Alex’s friends were the shit.
Rix drilled into her.
“This is mine, hey?” he growled.
“Yes, Rix,” she gasped into the bed.
He sensed she didn’t get him.
He slid in, stayed in, and bent over her, his cock snug inside, her ass snug to his crotch since they were both on their knees.
“Pay attention, baby. I mean it. Exclusive. Mine.”
She turned her head as best she could and looked at him.
Now she got him.
“Okay, honey,” she whispered.
He slid out and back in.
“That’s yours,” he told her.
“Yes,” she breathed.
Yes.
Rix took hold of her and fell to his back, taking her with him so she was on top, bent slightly forward, which was perfect.
It was the first time since they took his legs he positioned his partner into a reverse cowgirl.
He didn’t notice.
He grabbed two handfuls of a sweet, round ass, one thumb tracing her crease, and ordered, “Bounce, sweetheart.”
Alex bounced.
Rix squeezed and flirted with her hole.
She bounced faster.
She bounced until she took herself there.
And she bounced until she took him there.
He cleaned her up, and they passed out in her bed.
But in the middle of the night, Alex woke him up, slipping his dick in her mouth.
He grinned into the dark.
His little mountain fuck bunny.
Rix threaded his fingers in her hair, opened what was left of his legs.
And enjoyed it.
Chapter 15
The Table
Judge
Several hours before…
* * *
“You are not my sidekick anymore, mon beau,” Chloe said before she clicked her tongue.
“I was never your sidekick,” he replied on a sigh. “And you cannot say Rix didn’t deserve someone getting up in his shit.”
“My darling, beautiful man,” she purred, “our job was to get them together, et voilà.” To make her point, her eyes did not slide to Duncan and Genny, who were sitting at the table with them, mostly because her dad, Tom, was too. Nevertheless, her point was made. “It’s then they do the rest.”
“He needed Judge up in his shit,” Tom entered the conversation.
“Yeah, he did,” Duncan concurred.
Since her dad was up from Phoenix, Chloe’s family was over for dinner. But when Judge got home from work, he was still stinging from his convo with his friend.
Chloe didn’t miss it, and even if it might not have been good to share the full details with all of them, he was so pissed at Rix, he didn’t care.
Chloe turned to her mom. “Motherrrr, explain to these men.”
“Chloe’s right,” Genny decreed.
Judge stared at her in surprise.
Chloe was…Chloe.
Genny was mature and level-headed.
“Gen, she’s not,” Tom said to his ex-wife. Then to his daughter, “Sorry, honey, but you’re not.”
“She really isn’t, baby,” Duncan murmured to Genny.
“Okay,” Genny started, “this is how it’s going to go. Rix is going to tell himself that he can have this. And when it spooks him, though he won’t be admitting that to himself, but deep down, he knows that’s what it is, he’ll think it’ll be okay. They’ll still be friends. He’s going to keep doing that. And he’s going to do it while he’s spending time with Alex. Therefore, while they spend time together, they’ll get to know one another and build what they’re building. Then, one of two things will happen. He’ll get his head straight, and all will be well. Or he’ll lose her, and he’ll stop at nothing to get her back. Then, as Chloe said, et voilà.”
“And what if his stubborn ass doesn’t see the light?” Judge inquired.
Genny looked right at him, her expression gentle. “Then, Judge, I love Rix. He’s a good man. Loyal friend. Funny. He feels like a member of the family. It’s clear he’s struggling with some things after what happened to him, and that breaks my heart. But he’s neither stupid nor a fool. If he’s that stubborn that he lets a good woman slip through his fingers, he not only deserves to lose her, she might be better off.”
Judge shut his mouth.
Chloe smirked, but she also reached under the table to squeeze his knee.
“And then that will be when you get in his shit,” Genny concluded.
“Mm-hmm,” Chloe agreed.
“Wanna talk about the heavy he laid on you?” Duncan asked, and Judge gave him his attention.
He didn’t want to.
But he did.
“I let him down,” Judge admitted.
Chloe exchanged a glance with her mother, but said nothing.
Then again, months ago, she’d told him to ask.
Express interest.