Chapter 17
Alexis
My phone buzzes.
Mason.
I grab it this time without hesitating and stand. “I’m gonna take this,” I say, heading toward the kitchen. I don’t look back. I already know Dex is watching.
I answer.
“Mase.”
“You’re late,” he says immediately.
No hello. No buildup.
I smile despite myself. “Hi to you too.”
“You didn’t call this morning.”
“I’ve been busy.”
“With what?” he asks. “Because last time I checked, Wyoming was buried under snow.”
“It is,” I say. “That’s kind of the problem.”
“Mm.”
That’s all he says, but I know that tone. He’s clocking something.
“Let me see you,” he adds.
I switch to video. His face appears, messy hair, hoodie, that same familiar look that says he’s already trying to figure me out.
“You look… calm,” he says.
“Should I be panicking?”
“You?” he scoffs. “Yes.”
I roll my eyes. “I’m inside, Groot. I’m fine.”
“Where?”
“At home.”
The lie comes easier than I’d like. Too easy, like it doesn’t catch anywhere on the way out.
He tilts his head slightly. “Are you alone?”
“Yeah.”
A beat passes.
“Alright,” he says slowly. “You just sound… different.”
My fingers tighten around the phone.
He hears it. Even through a screen, he always does.
“I’m tired.”
“That’s not it.”
Of course it isn’t.
“You’re overthinking it,” I say lightly.
“I don’t think enough to overthink,” he shoots back.
A small laugh slips out of me. God, he’s impossible. “And yet here we are.”
He studies me for a second longer, like he’s deciding how far to push.
Then, quieter, “You safe?”
My eyes flick toward the living room.
Toward Dex.
“Yeah,” I say.
And that part… that part settles somewhere deeper. Steadier.
“Good,” Mason says. “Because if you’re not, I’m getting in my truck and coming to get you.”
“You wouldn’t make it ten miles.”
“Still trying.”
“Idiot.”
“It’s Groot to you!”
Something warm spreads through my chest, familiar and grounding.
“I’ll call you later, Groot.”
“You better,” he replies. “And Rocket?”
“Yeah?”
“Are you hiding things from me?”
My breath catches, sharp enough that I feel it in my throat. “I’m not.”
Another lie.
This one sticks.
“Mm,” he says, not convinced. “Stay safe.”
“You too.”
I end the call.
I stand there for a second, phone still in my hand, the quiet settling around me heavier than before.
Then I turn and find Dex watching me, his gaze steady, like he’s putting pieces together he hasn’t said out loud yet.
“Home alone?” he asks.
I still for half a second. “Yeah.”
He nods slowly.
Doesn’t call me out.
Doesn’t push.
But something shifts in his expression.
He noticed.
Still, he picks up the remote and presses play.
I go back to the couch, pulling the blanket over my lap, and as soon as I settle, Marvel jumps onto me. He nudges my hand until I give in, scratching behind his ears before he curls up, purring.
I glance up and find Dex watching.
“He’s in love with you,” he says, shaking his head.
“What?” I ask, caught off guard.
“Marvel. He’s smitten. Every time you sit, he’s on you.”
I look down at the small weight curled against me and smile. “I’m smitten too.”
Then I look back at Dex.
Something flickers in his eyes before his mouth tilts.
“Yeah, you are.”
Before I can ask what he means, the movie pulls us back in.
Time passes. Enough for the quiet to settle again, softer this time.
Then Dex’s phone starts pinging.
He ignores it.
“You ignoring someone?” I ask.
It goes off again, and I glance at the lit-up screen.
Delulu Fam , 14 messages.
Dex exhales like he already regrets whatever this is.
I’m halfway through a bite of nachos when my own phone lights up.
I frown, pick it up, and blink.
“Delulu Fam” is on my screen too.
I open it.
Ethan added you to the Delulu Fam chat.
Grace: OMG HI LEXY ??
Jace: Well, well, well.
Penny: Finally!
Summer: Welcome to this crazy group chat! Hope you don’t mind?
A smile spreads before I can stop it.
“They added me,” I say, already typing.
Dex’s head snaps up. He grabs his phone, jaw tightening.
“They didn’t…” he mutters.
Lexy: Hi! ?? No, I don’t mind.
Dex: You’re all going to pay for this!
Grace: I can’t wait to meet you in person, @Lexy , at my parents’ anniversary party!
Jace: Can I save your number, @Lexy ? Dex never wants to give it to me…
Dex: @Jace I know how to skin humans while they’re still breathing.
Cas: Welcome @Lexy. @Dex , don’t be possessive…
Ethan: Ahhh look at that, the whole family… well, almost. @Jude you there?
Jude: Silencing you… again.
Grace : Why don’t we video call?
Penny: Yes!
Dex: Absolutely not!
Jace is calling the group.
Dex groans beside me.
I laugh.
“Please don’t pick up…” he mutters.
I smirk and accept the call.
Faces fill the screen. Penny and Cas on a couch. Summer and Ethan in their kitchen with Mia. Grace in what looks like a dorm. Jace somewhere sunny, leaning back like he owns the place.
“So, Lexy,” Jace says, grinning. “How old are you?”
I laugh. “Twenty-three. Why?”
“I’m twenty-two. You mind dating younger guys?”
Dex appears in my frame instantly, glare sharp enough to cut. “I swear, Jace, I will drive through this storm right to Texas just to kick your skinny ass.”
Laughter explodes.
“I don’t mind younger guys,” I say sweetly, “as long as they’re legal.”
Dex’s head snaps toward me.
Payback is a bitch.
“I’m legal, sugar,” Jace grins. “And I sure as hell wouldn’t ignore a beautiful woman living in my apartment like my dickhead brother does.”
I laugh again.
Dex rolls his eyes. “Parents really had to go and have a fifth child that flirts with anything that breathes.”
“I don’t know, Jace…” I tease, leaning in a little. “Maybe if you stop calling me sugar.”
More laughter.
Even Dex lets out a quiet one.
Until Jace adds, “I can call you Tinkerbell if you want.”
Dex takes my phone from my hand. “It’s Tinker,” he snaps. “And if you call her that again, I’ll use your balls as a bracelet.”
Jace just laughs harder.
Grace claps. “Why don’t we play a game?”
Everyone jumps on that immediately.
“I don’t like your games,” Cas mutters.
Penny nudges him. “Come on, I’m bored.”
He leans toward her, voice lower. “I know something we can do.”
Penny turns red.
“Get a room!” Grace yells.
“Young ears are listening!” Ethan adds.
Penny recovers fast, smirking. “Play this game for me… and I’ll play with you later, Sheriff.”
Cas’s grin is instant. “Alright. I’m in.”
“I’m not,” Dex mutters behind me.
Everyone ignores him.
“I am,” I say, just to push him.
“Great!” Grace says. “Two teams. Winners choose tonight’s movie.”
“Men vs women!” Penny claps.
“What topic?” Jace asks.
“Sports!” Cas calls out.
The women groan.
“Music,” Jace says.
Grace glances up. “I’m going to wipe the floor with your asses.”
“Rodeo,” Jace adds.
“That’s not fair,” she protests.
“You worried?”
She straightens. “No. Rodeo it is.”
“We’ll take music,” I say. “You good with that?”
The girls nod.
The call ends.
I glance at Dex. He’s pretending not to care.
He cares.
“You playing?” I ask.
He sighs. “Fine. But only because I want to beat your ass.”
“You can try.”
We split up.
Girls on my phone. Men on his.
They go first.
Six out of ten.
Then it’s our turn.
I smile.
My dad taught me music my whole life. There isn’t a genre I don’t know.
I type fast. Hard questions. The kind that trip people up.
Send.
The men groan immediately.
“This is cheating, Tinker,” Dex says.
“How?”
“You’re a musician.”
The women cheer.
“Losers!” Grace calls.
“You play music?” Jace says. “That’s hot.”
“Focus,” Dex snaps.
We win.
Six to four.
Cheers fill the call.
Even Mia claps. “Women are the best!”
Summer kisses her cheek. “Of course, pumpkin.”
Ethan pulls them both close. “I’m not even mad. Your mom’s beautiful and smart.”
We all oooh and aaah.
“So,” Cas says, “what did we lose?”
Penny grins. “Movie night.”
“Already doing that,” Dex mutters.
Silence…
Then chaos.
“You’re watching movies together?”
“Oooh, romantic!”
“Look at you two!”
Dex groans. “We’re just two people stuck in a snowstorm with nothing to do. Stop making it something it’s not.”
“Well, good,” Jace says with a wink. “Because I’m taking you out when I’m in town, Lexy.”
“No, you’re not,” Dex growls.
And everyone bursts out laughing.
“Alright, what movie?” Ethan asks.
Summer smiles. “The Notebook.”
All the women agree.
The men groan.
? ? ?
Dexter
A scene plays out on the screen, the glow flickering across the room as I reach for the popcorn and lean back into the couch.
“I like Noah,” I say.
“You do?” she asks, amused.
“Yeah. He’s got balls. Look at the guy she’s on a date with.” I shake my head, eyes still on the screen as Noah hangs from the Ferris wheel. “He’s weak. Not even fighting for his girl.”
Lexy huffs softly. “Some women would call this stalking.”
I turn toward her just as she lifts her soda. “I call it foreplay.”
She chokes instantly, soda spraying out as laughter bursts from her, bright and unfiltered. “Oh my God, Pan, you’re incorrigible.”
I hand her a napkin, completely unfazed. “Nope. Just saying it like I see it.”
She shakes her head, still laughing, wiping at her mouth. “I’m not even going to touch that.”
“Smart.”
The movie keeps playing, the sound filling the space between us as the teasing fades on its own, slipping into something quieter, softer, until neither of us is really talking anymore.
At some point, she shifts closer, her shoulder brushing mine, light at first, like she doesn’t even realize she’s doing it.
I feel it immediately.
And I don’t move.
I could. It would take nothing to shift away, to put space back where it belongs, but I don’t. I let it stay, let the warmth of her settle against my side like it doesn’t affect me.
Like I don’t notice.
By the time the ending rolls around, the room has gone still, the kind of quiet that settles deeper than silence, pressing in around us as something heavier takes its place.
My eyes stay on the screen, but my jaw tightens as the weight of it sinks in.
“They went together…” I mutter, more to myself than to her.
Beside me, Lexy barely moves. “Yeah…” she says, soft and distant.
I glance at her.
She’s still looking at the screen, but her eyes are glassy now, tears slipping down her cheeks without her wiping them away, and something in my chest pulls tight, sharper this time, immediate in a way I don’t like.
My hand twitches before I catch it.
I force my gaze back to the screen.
She shakes her head slightly, like she’s trying to steady herself. “I think my parents would have been like that…” she says quietly, her voice thinner now. “If my dad ever got to grow old… you know.”
Yeah.
I know.
The thought lands heavy, settling somewhere deep and uncomfortable, because I can hear it in the way she says it. Not just missing him. Missing everything that was supposed to come after.
I don’t answer right away. I don’t know how to touch something like that without breaking it further, don’t know how to fix a kind of loss that isn’t fixable.
So I don’t try.
I stay where I am, close enough to feel her warmth, close enough that if I turned, if I pulled her in, it would be easy.
Too easy.
That’s the problem.
Because I know myself well enough to know I wouldn’t stop at just that.
My jaw tightens as I keep my eyes forward.
“Yeah,” I say finally, my voice quieter now, rougher around the edges. “I’m sorry you lost that too.”
She turns toward me like the words actually reach her, like they land somewhere that matters. “Yeah… exactly.”
Her hand moves absently over Marvel’s fur as she stares somewhere past me, lost in it.
“When someone you love dies,” she continues softly, “it’s not just them that’s gone… it’s everything that was supposed to come after. All the plans you had together that just… don’t exist anymore.”
Her voice softens at the end, like the words cost something to say.
She lets out a small breath, shaking her head. “I don’t know.”
Something in me shifts.
Before I think about it, my hand moves, closing around hers where it rests in her lap.
Her fingers still beneath mine, warm and soft, and the contact hits harder than it should, a quiet kind of awareness settling in that I don’t pull away from.
I don’t tighten my grip either.
I just hold it.
“It’s not fair,” I say, my thumb brushing lightly once over her knuckles before I can stop myself.
Lexy looks up at me, her eyes still wet, but clearer now. “No… it’s not.”
I should let go.
I don’t.
I hold her hand a second longer than I should, long enough for it to stop feeling accidental, long enough for something else to settle in its place.
Life stole from her.
Took something and broke her.
And damn it if I wouldn’t do anything to keep that kind of hurt from ever getting near her again.
The thought hits harder than anything else has tonight, heavier than it should be for someone I barely know.
And for once, there’s nothing sarcastic to hide behind.
Nothing to deflect with.
So I don’t.
I just sit there beside her, holding her hand a second too long, letting the quiet stretch between us, knowing full well I’m already in deeper than I ever planned to be.
And not doing a damn thing to stop it.