They’d invited him, like they had the three times before. But this time, he’d declined, thinking she needed alone time with her friends, and maybe just some time alone. Especially on the cusp of them spending four days together.
With the kiss she’d given him after he’d explained that, he knew he’d called it correctly.
The women had decided on a night in at Alex’s place, which put him down the mountain, in his.
But all that together time meant he could tell by the lilt of her voice or the flit of her gaze if something was up.
And fuck it all, she was the same with him.
“Nothing, kiss me then I’ll load this shit and we’ll hit up Scooter’s.”
“Rix.”
And he read that too.
It said, You’re full of it. Spill.
“Babe.”
She finally started walking toward him, but she did it saying, “Honey, what’s going on? It’s not even seven in the morning. What’s happened?”
“Chloe stopped by,” he gritted.
Alex also stopped, too far from him.
“She’s done with you freezing out Judge,” she declared.
He felt his blood start to heat. “She tell you?”
“No, though it’s impossible to miss you’re freezing out Judge, and frankly, I’m surprised Chloe let it go on this long.”
He and Alex had had brief chats about his sitch with Judge.
Very brief.
No details.
Obviously.
She hadn’t pushed.
He knew looking at her, she was now in the mood to push.
Fuck.
“We got four days to look forward to, let’s just go,” he prompted.
“You should pop over, talk to him, make it real quick.”
“I’ll text him tonight.”
“You guys are best friends.”
“He’s not going anywhere.”
“Just make the effort. The effort will say it all. Tell him we’re heading out of town, but you’ll hash it all out when you get back.”
“Alex, drop it.”
“Rix—”
“Drop it!” he thundered.
He regretted it the instant it came out.
He was not a man who often raised his voice, and he was proud of that.
And he had never raised it at her.
Not once.
Fuck, since they had their misunderstanding in the beginning, he’d never really even been pissed at her.
That said, he was stunned immobile at her response.
She didn’t move.
Didn’t even flinch.
Calm as could be, she asked, “Are you done with that?”
Rix stared at her.
“I’m not going until you talk to Judge,” she declared. “Go over. Phone him. I don’t care which, Rix. But connect with him.”
“He’s old-fashioned,” Rix bit off.
“Sorry?”
“He’s a goddamn throwback,” Rix said.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“He got up in my shit about all the women I slept with between you and Peri.”
She looked surprised. “He did?”
“He did.”
“Why?”
Because he thinks you’re one of them, which is not fucking okay.
“Essentially, he said I used them to prove something.”
“Hmm.”
What the fuck?
“Hmm?” he mimicked.
“That’s an interesting take. Did you?”
“Did I bury my shit in a couple dozen pussies?” he asked.
“I take that as a no.”
“It’s a fuck no,” he clipped.
“You had a lot of sex, Rix.”
“Sorry, baby, the days where your legs were trapped shut by a bunch of crinolines or whatever-the-fuck ended a long goddamn time ago.”
“Crinolines?”
He knew she found that amusing.
He was not feeling amused.
He shared that by saying, “Babe.”
“Right,” she whispered, still amused.
Christ.
“Women like sex,” he pointed out.
“Yes, I wholeheartedly agree. We do,” she concurred.
“Many women understand the concept of a hookup.”
“Yes,” she agreed again.
“And I hooked up with those women.”
“Okay.”
“I made no promises. I led no one on. If I wanted to get laid, I got laid with women who also wanted to get laid.”
“All right.”
He stared at her.
Alex stared right back.
Shit.
Fuck.
He looked to the ceiling and muttered, “I buried my shit in pussy.”
“Mm,” she hummed.
He looked back to her. “You’re a pain in my ass.”
Her brows went up. “I am? How?”
“’Cause now I gotta go smooth things over with Judge and tell that asshole he was right.”
She finally came all the way to him, cupping her hand on his jaw and pressing close.
He slid his arms around her.
“Yes, you do,” she murmured.
“And I blame you.”
“I’ll shoulder that blame.”
Fuck, she was amazing.
He dipped his head.
She took his invitation and kissed him, her little tongue playing in his mouth while he squeezed her ass.
He broke it, and she asked, “You want me to come with you?”
“Yeah, you can keep Chloe occupied. She kept her claws sheathed earlier, but if she senses a threat, I’m not counting on that continuing.”
“She loves you,” Alex said.
She did.
“Yeah,” he grunted. He then looked down at her pile of gear and back to her. “We’ll go do this, come back and pack your gear, then we’ll head out.”
“Does that translate to, we’ll go do this, come back, and you’ll bury your new shit in my pussy, and then we’ll go?”
Totally tuned to him.
“Absolutely.”
Her dimple popped.
He dipped his head, and this time, it was Rix who kissed her.
He had his ass to the railing of Judge’s deck, his eyes to the glass doors, seeing Alex and Chloe at the kitchen bar, sipping coffee.
“You got the day off, I gotta get to work, man,” Judge prompted.
Rix looked at him.
“It had been days since I was home after rehab, she didn’t even look at them.”
Judge didn’t move or speak.
“I told myself I was being hypersensitive. It was an adjustment. We both had to adjust. I could barely look at my legs. It was no surprise she couldn’t.” He blew out a breath. “I wasn’t hypersensitive. She handed me back my ring and was fully moved out in forty-eight hours.”
“Buddy,” Judge whispered.
“I loved her.”
“I know.”
Rix kept solid eye contact. “I don’t love her anymore, Judge.”
“Okay.”
“But she gutted me.”
“I know that too.”
“I haven’t processed it. The shit I did after. I’ve just acknowledged it to myself. I could go over faces, orgasms, but I did not prey on the weak.”
“I was outta line with that,” Judge conceded.