Chapter Sixty Aurora / Joshua
Chapter Sixty
Aurora / Joshua
Aurora
The elevator doors slid open, and there he was: Alex. Tall. Stoic. Hands shoved in his pockets, like always, the definition of unreadable.
He glanced down, eyes flicking over me. “Where you heading, little one?”
Little one?
I blinked. Okay, fair. He was six foot four, built like someone who could bench-press a small car, and I was… very much not.
Still, the nickname caught me off guard enough that I mumbled, “Up.”
He didn’t comment, just nodded once and stepped aside as I pressed the button for Joshua’s floor. The elevator hummed as it moved up, silence stretching between us, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. Not really. Alex had that quiet kind of energy, heavy but calm.
When the doors opened, we both stepped out at the same time.
“Oh,” I said softly. “You’re—”
“Yeah,” he said. “Visiting Lockhart.”
Right. Of course. Who else? I should’ve known the moment I saw him.
“You gonna try to talk to him today? I can leave,” he said, voice lower than usual.
My cheeks warmed. “I—uh—I already did that yesterday.”
His brow lifted just a little. “That so?”
I nodded, clutching my bag tighter.
He studied me for a beat, as if he were piecing together a puzzle. He exhaled. “You didn’t talk on his bed, did you?”
My head snapped up. “No! On the couch!”
“Talked?” he pressed, leaning slightly against the wall with that oddly protective look on his face.
I fiddled with my sleeves. “Kinda.”
“Kinda,” he echoed, voice dripping with another protective, brotherly warning. “He better’ve apologised properly, cause sex or whatever he did to you doesn’t count as an apology.”
“He did!” I said quickly. “He really did.”
Alex studied my face for a second longer, then nodded once, satisfied. The softest version of approval I’d ever get from him.
“Alright,” he said, pulling a spare keycard from his pocket.
He tapped it against the lock, the light turning green.
He held the door open for me, and I swear, for someone so brooding, his tone softened just enough to make it feel like an older brother watching his little sister finally walk into something right.
“Thank you, Alex,” I said quietly.
I slightly turned to make sure he was following me, and he did. He walked in and took his shoes off by the door before looking up at me.
“What?”
“Nothing!” I turned away, taking my own shoes off before running towards the couch where Honey was, lying all by herself, meaning Joshua must be getting ready upstairs.
“Yours?” Alex asked, sitting beside her.
I knelt down, kissing the top of Honey’s head before smiling up at Alex, “Joshua took it in for me.”
“Lockhart? Lockhart took in a kitten?” Alex asked, voice laced with disbelief.
I lifted Honey up and shoved her in Alex’s face, making him slightly lean back, eyeing the kitten like it was a creature he wasn’t familiar with, while deadpan, of course.
“Fascinating,” he said.
Honey purred, reaching her little paws out, placing them right onto Alex’s nose. She is very friendly. I mean, she liked Joshua, so I’m sure Alex will also be very loved by her.
“Isn’t she cute? Her name is Honey,” I said, and he looked up at me, pushing Honey’s paw away with his index finger.
I pouted slightly, pulling her back into my arms before sitting down beside him. I placed Honey on my lap, and she waddled towards Alex’s leg—right leg, to be specific—and sprawled her little body over his thigh.
He didn’t even budge, just looked past his phone at her before going back to scrolling.
Alex, secret softie.
—
Joshua
I was halfway down the stairs, towel ruffling through my hair, when I froze.
Two pairs of eyes were already on me.
Alex.
And Aurora.
Together.
The fuck?
Aurora was sitting neatly on the couch, all soft sweater and calm smile, while he was sitting next to her with Honey on his lap like he owned the place. My place.
“What the hell are you doing here… Alex?” I asked, dragging the towel off my head.
Alex didn’t even flinch. He looked down at his phone, absentmindedly scratching under Honey’s ear. The little fur ball instantly started purring, the traitor.
“Visiting my friend,” Alex said, leaning back against the couch, Honey climbing from his thigh to his shoulder, nuzzling against his neck, the same way she does to me. “Got a problem with that?”
I blinked, jaw clenching.
Yeah. Several. Starting with her.
My eyes flicked to Aurora. She was smiling up at me, that soft, innocent, don’t-be-mad kind of smile that made it impossible to stay mad.
I tossed the towel onto the bannister. “You two showed up like a pair of British darlings or whatever the hell this is.”
Alex looked far too amused for my liking. “She likes my company.”
Aurora turned toward him, still smiling, and her tone was calm, sincere, even. “I’ve never met another British person around here before. It’s nice. I like hearing home in Alex’s accent.”
That sentence alone made my spine lock straight.
Home.
Nice.
Alex.
Alex shot me the smuggest half-smile imaginable, petting Honey like some villain in a movie. “See? Little one wants me here.”
My jaw tightened. I wasn’t jealous—
…Okay, maybe I was.
Because that was my girl.
My princess.
The one who came running back to me in the middle of the night. And right now, she was sitting there beside Alex Grayson, all calm, unbothered, glowing like she hadn’t just wrecked me a few hours ago and smiling like that was perfectly fine.
“Yeah,” I muttered under my breath, stepping closer, eyes locked on her. “Guess she does.”
But the look I gave Alex said it loud enough: Don’t push it, Grayson.
Alex was still sitting there like he owned the damn place, one hand lazily stroking Honey as if the kitten were his, too.
I walked over, slow, deliberate, and dropped beside her.
Alex’s eyes flicked up, amused. I didn’t break eye contact as I slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her onto my lap.
She gave a tiny gasp, hands instinctively landing on my shoulders, but didn’t resist. My head fell against her chest, right where her heartbeat was steady and soft, grounding me immediately.
I turned my face away from Alex, eyes closing for a second as I tightened my hold on her. Her fingers threaded into my hair automatically, gentle, absentminded, and yeah, that only made me want to rub it in more.
When I finally looked back up, Alex was smirking.
“Sickening,” he muttered.
“Fuck off, Alex,” I shot back without moving my head.
Aurora giggled lightly, and Alex just leaned back into the couch, still petting Honey, pretending to look bored. “It’s your first day together, mate. Maybe let the girl breathe before marking territory and scaring her off.”
“She’s fine,” I said, tilting my head up just enough to glare.
Aurora mumbled softly, “I’m fine,” into my hair, as if she were confirming it for both of us.
Alex rolled his eyes. “Unbelievable.”
“Get your own girlfriend,” I muttered.
Alex’s reply came dry and instant. “No.”
Aurora suddenly slipped off my lap in that quick, clumsy way she always did when she remembered something. “I’ll make lunch,” she said, already halfway across the room before I could even offer to help. She looked back at Alex. “Stay!”
“Yeah, yeah.” He nodded, eyeing me.
Asshole.
She yanked the fridge open with both hands; it was barely heavy, but she still looked like she was trying to open a safe. Cute as hell.
Honey jumped down from Alex’s shoulder with a soft thump, trotting after her on tiny paws until Aurora bent to scoop her up. She set the kitten on her shoulder, whispering to it as if it were a co-chef.
Alex just leaned back, eyes flicking between me and the kitchen. “Careful, Lockhart,” he said quietly. “Guys like us don’t get girls like her twice.”
Yeah. I know.