5. Lex
Chapter five
Hushed words pull me from sleep, ridding the memories of warm skin, soft kisses and citrus promises.
I stretch my limbs and glance around my bedroom, noting the way the sun hasn’t completely bathed my room in light yet.
Faint traces of honey linger in the air, and I’m stripped of any residual sleep. Caleb.
The other side of my bed is empty, the sheets cool to the touch. I don’t remember him sneaking out or saying goodbye. Maybe he owns one of the voices I heard out in the hall. I throw the sheets back and leap out of bed, only to freeze the moment I find my footing. I’m still completely naked.
I tiptoe over to my dresser to pull out a T-shirt and sleep shorts, noticing my reflection in the mirror as I dress.
My red hair sits in messy waves at my waist now that the curls from the night before have dropped.
I gather them up and loop them into a knot on my head.
A laugh from outside my door hurries me along.
I jog over with hope springing in the back of my mind, only for it to come crashing down at the sight of Claire canoodling with some blond giant in the foyer by the front door.
“Morning, bestie.” She has a blinding smile on her face as her companion continues to sway with her, holding her in his hulking arms, nuzzling into her neck.
“Ah, hey.” I look around, trying to determine if they’re alone .
Stepping further into the hall, I can see into the kitchen and lounge room. Hope that Caleb may still be here is shattered when I notice the rest of the room is empty.
My heart sinks as I trudge into the kitchen, defeated, and switch on the coffee machine. I hear the front door close, and then Claire emerges around the archway that separates the hallway from our main living space.
“Good night?” I ask, trying to avoid my own disappointment.
“It certainly was.” She props herself on one of the kitchen stools. “But that’s not unusual for me. Let’s talk about your night.”
Dammit. “He didn’t stay.”
Her eyes widen, highlighting their interesting mix of hazel and gold. “You didn’t sleep together?”
“No, we did,” I assure her, and she furrows her brows, waiting on me to elaborate.
I sigh as I collect two mugs from the overhead cupboard and place them under the coffee machine to receive a shot.
I grab my glass tumbler off the dish rack and fill it with ice and oat milk while I wait.
When the coffee machine shrieks and whirs with finality, I take one mug and pour it into the iced milk, leaving the other mug as I hit the button for a second shot for Claire.
“He came back here, and we did stuff, but he must have taken off while I was sleeping.” I stir a metal straw through mine before reaching back for Claire’s finished double shot.
“Honey, that’s okay. Just because you sleep together doesn’t necessarily mean he’s sleeping over. Most guys will hightail it before they’ve even finished buttoning back up.”
“And when they’re like your gentleman caller?” I probe. “In dire need of reinforcements to extract himself from your neck long enough, he can actually get a foot out the door?” There’s no malice in my words, but I’m filled with envy as pink coats Claire’s cheeks from her obvious delight.
She hums in agreement. “He was a rare exception.” She takes a tentative sip of coffee, bracing herself for the scalding heat. One eye twitches, probably because she burnt her lips. It’s not in Claire’s nature to overthink things. She just blazes ahead, in all her confident glory.
“That Viking beast was made of all my dreams. I had to take full advantage of the goods while they were on offer.” She shimmies her shoulders in self-satisfied victory.
“Will you see him again, then?”
Claire doesn’t do boyfriends, but she’s had a few friends with benefits. According to her, when she finds someone who doesn’t need direction in the bedroom, she keeps them around solely for orgasmic purposes. She calls, they come running, and she just comes.
“I said I might see him around at The Wayside.” She shrugs. “That way, he knows where to find me if he wants another round, but I haven’t outright committed to anything more than a good roll in the sheets.”
I’ve never found myself to be ruled by my sexual desires.
Maybe if my life hadn’t been turned upside down as a child, I would be more carefree with my affections.
But as it stands, my life was shaken. Turned upside down and then pulled from my grasp.
It has made me reserved with affection but headstrong with my career.
This weekend was the first hurrah after studying diligently for the last four years and the last hurrah before I start my full-time job.
I’ve worked as a bartender at Hallucinogens, a cool club within the High Rollers Casino, since I started my business degree.
The manager, Gen, put my name forward as the new assistant manager when the position opened up, and she interviewed me with her brother, James, who owns the casino itself.
She said it was just a formality, and the job was mine, but I was still a Nervous Nellie meeting with the enigma that is James Huxley.
“You could always see your beau again if you came back to The Wayside with me,” Claire says with a surety I’m not sure how she’s gained .
“What do you mean?”
“His brother’s the owner.”
I’m sure my face looks like a deer caught in headlights. “How do you know that?”
“I noticed you three chatting at the bar. They seemed familiar with each other, so I asked him if your dude was kosher.” She shrugs.
“He told me it was his brother and that you would be looked after.” Leaning forward, Claire braces her elbows on the kitchen bench, setting her chin in her folded palms. “You’ve yet to confirm those details, by the way.
” With rapt attention, she waits for my play-by-play.
A smile invades my face without permission as I recall every little detail of our night, before my mind latches onto the other point Claire made.
His brother knew I would be looked after.
Caleb clearly goes home with a lot of women he meets in his brother’s bar, and he’s not shy or secretive about it.
Claire’s right, some men will have a one-night stand and dash before the sheets have cooled. Caleb is the rule. Not the exception.