23. Chapter 20
Chapter 20
A shiver ran down Lex’s spine, hot and electric, a live wire buried under his skin.
To go back into the woods with Morgan? After so long? To know that this time, it wasn’t him in danger?
He almost started salivating on the spot, teeth sank into his lower lip to keep it inside .
Morgan’s hand wrapped around his wrist, firm but not painful. Dragging Lex closer until their bodies were almost flush, his breath ghosted against Lex’s ear.
“Get him to my car,” Morgan whispered, low and rough. “Be my good boy right now and I’ll give you what you want later.”
Tingles shot straight through the back of Lex’s skull before racing down his body, circling into the pit of his stomach. He’d forgotten how easily Morgan’s words could turn him inside out.
Oh. Holy shit.
Alright.
Lex couldn’t take his eyes away when Morgan moved toward the door. Smooth and effortless, like he hadn’t just decked a guy in the middle of a crowded bar on a Tuesday . There was a brief lull as he apologized to the bartender… Morgan could charm his way out of a murder, couldn’t he?
Lex felt the dumb smile on his face, the way it pulled at him, but the movement to the side caught his attention.
The tall redhead.
Caught halfway between a chair and table beside the bar, with an oversized pair of glasses perched on his nose and a glare sharp enough to cut diamond on his face. And if looks could kill? Lex would’ve been dead on the fucking spot, no doubt about it.
“ Asshole ,” the guy hissed under his breath as he scurried out the door after Morgan.
So.
Morgan had been meeting someone too.
Probably for very different reasons .
Reasons Lex didn’t want to think about. Not when he could taste the excitement, the adrenaline. He didn’t want to ruin this moment with another bout of jealousy.
Lex almost tripped over his own feet when he crouched down beside Jake. “Are you alright?” he asked—too loud, too fast. It could pass for concern, even if he was the only one who knew what it actually was.
“Didn’t know he was here,” Jake said, nasally as shit. He pinched his nose closed, blood still seeping sluggishly between his fingers. “Did you?”
“Who? Morgan?” Lex shook his head. “No. I didn’t know either. Here, let me help you up.”
Looping his arm under Jake’s, he fought through the disgust rolling over him in waves.
This will be worth it. This will be worth it.
The mantra buzzed through his head, the only thing keeping him from yanking his arm away.
He didn’t cringe when Jake leaned on him. Didn’t flinch when Jake’s free hand slid from his shoulder, down his arm, pressing against his bicep.
“I can assure you, if I saw my brother flirting with someone, I wouldn’t be so quick to lay a hand on the other person,” Jake muttered, pulling his fingers away from his face, swiping them on his pants. “Simply because my brother’s love life doesn’t concern me.”
Lex opened his mouth to deliver some witty comeback, maybe an ounce of Morgan’s easy charm, but nothing came. Morgan was Morgan, and he did whatever the hell he wanted, for reasons no one understood—least of all Lex.
Besides, what could he even say?
“My stepbrother has lost his damn mind because our relationship zipped right past fucked up and into what the absolute fuck, and it’s definitely my fault because—don’t forget—we kissed. Oh, and I gave him a blowjob in public.”
A full body shudder ran through Lex, heat crawling up his neck. Jesus that sounded bad. So bad.
The context didn’t help at all. If anything, it just made the whole situation worse.
New plan? Say as little as possible.
“See?” Jake said, his voice needling through the haze of Lex’s thoughts. “We feel the same way.”
Lex’s smile twitched—thin and brittle. “Do we?”
He took a breath, his mind racing through dozens of options before he settled on something that wasn’t a lie. Something he didn’t have to think so hard about.
“I have a first-aid kit in my car.”
“Are you inviting me there to bandage me up, or for something more lewd?”
This will be worth it.
“We’ll figure it out as we go,” was all Lex could manage. It would’ve been easier if Morgan dragged this creep out by his goddamn hair instead of leaving Lex to pick up the pieces. But that was just how life worked.
Lex had one goal.
One .
And that involved dealing with Jake for a little while longer. Even if that dealing felt more like suffering every time he had to choke down a fresh, new wave of bile.
Jake’s grip was annoyingly firm, pressing against Lex’s side—awkward as shit—as they shuffled out the bar. The sharp December wind bit into his skin, stinging and raw, seeping through the scratchy fabric of his shirt and cooling the sweat clinging to him into something salty. Something he felt under his clothes and bones. Something he felt in his core—his very being .
Fuck.
He couldn’t wait to get back into the woods.
The buildings did nothing to slow the wind as they turned into the small, cracked parking lot, but Lex barely noticed. He zeroed in on Morgan’s car—sleek, black, and unmistakable—parked beside his own. It hadn’t been there when he pulled in.
And no redhead.
Good.
Three was a party, but four sounded like a problem waiting to happen.
Leaning against the trunk of the car was Morgan. His arms were crossed, body still as stone, and those cold, unflinching eyes didn’t move. They bore straight into Jake—or was it him? Lex couldn’t tell, but it made his stomach do a queasy sort of flip of anticipation and dread.
As soon as they were close enough, Morgan’s hand shot out, a blur in the flickering street light, and grabbed Jake by the collar. He leaned in, lips moving in a whisper too soft to catch all of, but Lex could make out a few words here and there .
Pray.
Speak.
Fail.
Lex swallowed, shoving his hands into his pockets instinctively. On second thought? Maybe he didn’t want to know what Morgan was saying. Maybe Jake could keep that shit to himself.
When Morgan pushed Jake inside the car, Jake didn’t fight. He didn’t yell or scream, try to scramble away, not like Lex would have—not like Lex did . The gleam of metal in Morgan’s hand almost didn’t register before he tossed it into the glove compartment, and when it did, Lex nearly mistook it for a knife.
That was definitely not a knife.
That was a fucking gun .
Lex sucked in a breath, pulse hammering in his ears. He really loved watching Morgan use his fists. There was something about it he couldn’t describe, something that made him hornier than any cheap porn or girl ever could. But the thought of what he could do with an actual weapon?
Equally hot.
He really, really wasn’t a violent person himself. But watching wasn’t the same thing as acting .
Jake’s eyes caught his just before the door slammed shut. Wide. Horrified. Pleading.
Lex didn’t blink.
He should’ve felt bad for Jake, the same way he should’ve felt bad for every single person Morgan had taken into the woods with him. But he didn’t. Because Lex belonged to this exclusive club. Morgan had trusted him enough to pull back the curtain and let him into the deepest, darkest parts he kept hidden away. This wasn’t just a secret; it was proof.
Confirmation.
Morgan needed him. No one else— no one— could hold the same place in Morgan’s life as he did.
And once again? Lex had won.