15. LYRA
LYRA
I dig my spoon deep into the chocolate ice cream before delivering it right into my mouth. I’ve been going at this for the last twenty minutes, trying to swallow my feelings about the fact that I just got all down and dirty with a killer.
There’s no question about it anymore. It’s certified. I am actually insane, because what other option is there? I have to be losing my mind. What kind of well-rounded woman voluntarily lets a killer rail her the way he did, and not only that, but then goes back for seconds?
I should book in for a psych consult.
I’m almost halfway through the pint of ice cream, sprawled out on my couch when a knock sounds at my door, and I pause, my spoon halfway to my mouth.
The knock immediately puts me on edge. There’s only one person that’s going to be.
After all, anybody else coming to visit me would have to be buzzed in at the main entrance, everybody except someone who already lives in the building . . . or somebody with the passcode.
Hunter fucking Cole, come for revenge.
Unsure what I’m actually about to find, I roll off my couch, taking my ice cream with me, and as I drag my feet, another knock sounds through my apartment. I let out a sigh. “Yeah, yeah. I’m coming. Don’t get your panties in a twist.”
Reaching the door, I start unbolting it and the moment I grab the handle and swing the door wide, I immediately wish I hadn’t.
Hunter stands to my right, his arms crossed over his wide chest looking as though just the sheer knowledge of my existence is offending him, while Maddox stands to the left, his shoulder jammed against the doorframe and an amused smirk playing on his lips.
Well, fuck.
This is not even a little of what I was expecting.
For a second, I just stare, my jaw hanging open as my spoon hovers somewhere in the air. And then I just blink, because there goes my pocket full of sunshine, right along with the little remaining scraps of my sanity.
How the hell am I supposed to explain this?
“Uuhmmmmm.”
Maddox comes to my rescue, taking point on this particular shitshow. “Hey Savage, remember how I told you I had a friend who lived just down the hall?” he questions. “You might have failed to mention that you were already fucking him.”
My gaze sails over his body, taking in the muscle tee that shows off his arms and chest, and damn it, I’m more than distracted. This is a good look for him. Actually, good doesn’t even begin to do it justice. He’s a fucking snack that I need to sink my teeth into.
I bite down on my bottom lip, a wave of hunger pulsing through me as a needy groan slips from my lips.
“Focus, Savage,” Maddox says, looking right back at me, that signature cocky smirk doing wicked things to me, but the way his gaze darkens, he looks like he’s about ready to devour me, and I’m here for it.
“I, ummm . . . shit.”
I blow out my cheeks, studiously ignoring Hunter on the right, and more specifically the death glare that seems to be laser focused on the side of my face. “I can explain,” I tell Maddox, trying to keep focused, but honestly, it’s hard. “You’ll probably find it funny.”
“Kinda doubting that right now.”
I roll my eyes and huff, not in the mood to handle anyone’s emotional outbursts.
“Okay,” I start, my gaze bouncing between them once, twice, and then a third time. “In my defense, I had no idea that Hunter lived in this building and was the friend that you kept talking about. That little shred of upsetting information was only discovered a few hours ago.”
“Upsetting?” Hunter quips. “Didn’t seem upsetting while you were grinding on my cock twenty minutes ago.”
Maddox huffs as though he’s jealous, but I keep my stare on Hunter. “You’re right, upsetting is the wrong word for it. How about a colossal disappointment? That work for you?”
His face twitches, and I can all but see the retort on his lips. “You seem frustrated. Need me to work it out of your system? Again?”
God, I hate him.
Frustration burns through me, and I glare at the asshole. “How is it possible for one single brain dead cunt-waffle to be such a walking restraining order?”
“I’m sorry. Did you just call me a cunt-waffle?”
Maddox snorts a laugh, and I point at him with my spoon. “Don’t encourage his bullshit.”
“Shit, sorry, Savage. It’s way too late for that.”
Hunter looks pleased with himself, and I have to keep myself from slapping the smugness off his stupidly gorgeous face. God, why do they both have to be so tall? This is such a clusterfuck.
“Okay,” I say. “You guys want answers?”
“Please,” Maddox says.
I roll my eyes and let out a sigh. “I met Hunter first—”
“That’s unfortunate.”
I nod. “My thoughts exactly.”
Hunter scoffs. “I’m literally standing right here.”
I ignore him and continue with my explanation.
“Okay, so I met him first, and we went out the same night. I’d hate to admit it, but I was actually having a really good time and getting excited for the mind-blowing way he’d promised to lay it down, but then he got booty-called and just left.
He was a total asshole, I mean, who the hell does that on a date? ”
Maddox glances at his best friend. “She has a point.”
“Fuck me,” Hunter grunts. “How many times do I need to explain that it wasn’t a booty call? It was work. I had to go.”
I scoff. Work. Which means he wasn’t actually leaving me to fuck some other woman, he was leaving me to fulfill a contract and shoot some unsuspecting asshole through the eyes.
I wonder how much he got paid to do that.
Hell, I wonder if it was enough to justify the situation we’re in now, because had he never left during that date, there’s no way I would have been out on that street, sexually frustrated and willing to throw myself at the first man who came along.
My gaze shifts to Maddox, and my heart suddenly breaks for him. I wonder how he’d feel if he knew exactly what it is that his best friend does for work. Would it change the way he felt about him?
I roll my eyes and glare at Hunter. “If you wouldn’t mind, the grownups are trying to have a conversation,” I tell him, indicating between me and Maddox. “See yourself out.”
“No can do, princess,” Hunter says. “You don’t strike me as the type capable of giving an accurate rundown of events. Someone’s gotta keep you honest.”
“God, I hate you.”
“No, you don’t. You’re fascinated by me. Every thought in that pretty little head is about me. How I touch you. How I smell. How I fuck. You’re obsessed.”
My brow arches. “The only thoughts I have about you are homicidal.”
Hunter grins. “See. Fascinated.”
Fuck me. I think I’m actually going to kill him.
Maddox clears his throat. “Could we leave the murder foreplay for another time? I need to know how we ended up in this situation.”
I creep closer to Maddox, putting the ice cream down on the hallway table just inside my door.
“Honestly, it’s all just one big clusterfuck of coincidences.
Hunter left me with an itch to scratch and when I saw you the next day, you were more than happy to put out the fire he started, and the rest was history.
I had no idea that the best friend you talked about was the same guy who couldn’t close a deal.
And trust me, if I knew he lived across the hall, I would have busted down his door days ago and—”
“Fucked me?”
I turn my glare on him. “Beat the shit out of you.”
Hunter’s eyes darken with a deep desire. “Oof, Savage, I’d love to see you try.”
Maddox rolls his eyes and cuts in as he looks at his best friend. “You need to find a new name for her. Savage is my thing.”
“Fuck off. I was calling her that first. You come up with a new name.”
“Both of you can fuck off,” I say, stepping back into my apartment and attempting to close the door, only Maddox shoves his foot in the way, blocking my hasty escape.
“Uh-uh, not so fast. We aren’t even close to being done here,” Maddox tells me. “There’s still a few very important questions that need to be answered.”
I let out a sigh and go back to ignoring Hunter as I focus on Maddox. “Like what?”
“This right here,” he says, indicating between the three of us. “As fun as this is, it’s gonna get messy, so we’re gonna need you to pick.”
I pull back, my brows furrowed. “Pick?”
Maddox nods. “Pick. Between us.”
Hunter looks offended. “That is not how this works.”
“Uh, yeah it is,” Maddox throws back at him. “Neither of us are willing to bow out, so Lyra’s gonna have to cut one of us loose.”
Hunter scoffs. “We’ve already worked out that she’s not a fan of cutting me loose.”
I cross my arms over my chest, glaring between them both. “Neither of you are really making any compelling arguments.”
“Sure I am,” Maddox says. “Okay, picture this. You’re standing at a buffet, choosing between two dishes—”
“Jesus Christ.”
“Hear me out.”
“No.”
“Too bad. I’m a triple layer chocolate mud cake,” he says, a cocky smirk playing on his lips. “Rich. Decadent. Always the first pick. Everybody loves me. I make people happy.”
Hunter scoffs. “ First pick? Sounds like a walking STD to me.”
Maddox rolls his eyes and goes on. “I’m reliable. You know what you’re getting every time.”
“Diabetes?”
Maddox flips off Hunter before hooking a thumb toward him. “This psychopath here, he’s a gas-station burrito—”
Hunter’s brows shoot up. “The fuck?”
Maddox isn’t bothered by his interruption and goes on as though nothing happened. “Looks good from the outside, and at first, you’re like, wow, this is amazing. Just what I need to kick that hunger, and so you take a bite.”
A laugh catches in my throat, and I slap a hand over my mouth as Hunter narrows his stare, less than impressed with the turn of conversation. Maddox is unfazed, and from where I’m standing, he doesn’t look even close to getting to his point.