10. Lex
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Cass holds up a hand. “Hold the phone. You did what with who?”
Cassandra Thompson, a journalist for the Bayview Bulletin, and I met when she was on assignment to cover a Women in Tech luncheon I sponsored five years ago. We hit it off, and she’d written about the startup community and multiple Athena portfolio launches since. There were roughly ten years between us, but the difference hadn’t stopped us from getting close.
I roll my eyes at her dramatics and shake my head. “Keep your voice down, woman.”
The redhead bugs her eyes out at me and leans closer, as though that will make her whisper-shout quieter. “I am! You just dropped a bomb on us!”
I open my mouth to protest, but Ruby chimes in from my other side. “She’s not wrong. You did.”
Snapping my mouth shut, I exhale. We’re on bikes at the back of our weekly spinning class three days after Linc broke my…brain. There are few things I manage to keep on my calendar on a regular basis, but this is one of them. Not only do I need the physical outlet, but I need time with my two closest friends. Class was over, and we were using the cooldown as our opportunity to catch up while the rest of the class filters out.
“Okay, fine. I guess this is a first.”
“Which part? The sleeping with a client, the fact it was at your place, or the whole you’re-smiling-like-a-giddy-school-girl-three-days-later thing?” Cass hisses.
“All of them really,” Ruby chimes in.
I was a grad student when I met Ruby at the library, of all places. She was an undergrad and part-time librarian whose schedule matched up with my late night studying sessions. I was drawn to her dry humor and sharp wit, and we’ve been friends since.
“Oh my god, I’m never telling either of you anything ever again,” I grouse.
They both cackle, drawing our instructor’s attention. She gives us a friendly thumbs’ up as she throws out goodbyes to the diehard women who sit in the front row. We’ve been coming to her class for months now, mainly for the relaxed atmosphere and general air of positivity. Our opportunities to catch up are sporadic otherwise.
“He must be something else for you to bend rules for him, though,” Ruby muses.
“I mean, he’s gorgeous and mind blowing in bed,” I concede.
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you describe a hook up as gorgeous or mind blowing before.”
“Ugh, don’t make me roll my eyes at you again, Cass.”
She sits up on her bike so she can throw her hands in the air. “Just saying. You may not call him special, but this one seems different.”
She’s not wrong. Linc is different from my usual…dates. Not that they’re all the same, but they tended to be young, unattached, and enthusiastic about my “no strings” rule. In fact, I’d only seen a handful of them more than once in at least a decade. I sigh.
“I don’t know, girls. It seems like it could be messy.”
“Sure,” Ruby offers, “but messy seems like a reasonable trade off for, what was it you said? Oh, right, the best sex of your life.”
Cass and I stare at her for a moment, blinking.
“What?” Ruby shrugs. “Seemed like it needed to be said.”
“Oooh, girl, we’re rubbing off on you and I am here for it!” Cass crows, holding a hand up for Ruby to slap.
“Uh, put your arm down. I’m not a frat boy.”
Cass giggles. “You crack me up, Roo.”
My oldest friend heaves a beleaguered sigh and gives me a look. “Anyway, Lex, you’re a grown woman and a complete badass. You work way too fucking hard, and you need to steal every moment you can for the things you enjoy. Who cares if he’s a client or, I don’t know, the fucking Pope? You’re both adults.”
Snorting, Cass leans over to peer at Ruby. “When did we start talking about the Pope, again?”
“Oh, whatever,” Ruby mumbles. “It’s the example I could think of in the moment.”
I chuckle. “You made your point, Roo. It’s true we’re both consenting adults, and I do work too much. Anyway, we did set some ground rules.”
“Of course you did.”
“Careful, Cass. You keep rolling your eyes and they’re liable to get stuck like that.”
“Very funny.” She sticks her tongue out at me. “So what else is new for you? Any exciting new businesses I need to pay attention to?”
“No, wait, we’re not moving on from this topic yet,” Ruby cuts in before I can answer.
I don’t say anything, looking resolutely ahead as I stretch. My unwavering attention doesn’t keep me from feeling Cass and Ruby lock eyes around me.
“Lex,” Cass sing-songs. “What aren’t you telling us?”
Glancing over at Ruby’s self-satisfied smirk, I huff an annoyed noise. “You have to stop using your powers of perception for evil, Roo.”
“Hey! I’m hardly evil,” Cass protests. “You know this is all off the record, anyway. Well, unless you tell me it shouldn’t be. Then it’s on the record.”
“Not inspiring confidence for sharing with you, you know,” I tease.
“No dodging the question,” Ruby prods. “Something else happened with Lincoln, didn’t it?”
I heave a sigh, resigned. “Yeah, it did.”
“And it’s the real reason you’re still in your head about a hookup that happened three days ago.”
Fuck her for knowing me so well. “Maybe.”
Cass reaches over and pushes lightly on my shoulder. “Spill, sister. You know we’re not going to let up until you do.”
“Why are we friends again?”
They both remain silent, waiting me out. I’ve really gotta stop teaching my tricks to the people around me.
“So, Linc might have…showed up on my doorstep again.”
“I knew it,” Ruby says under her breath while Cass shouts “ah ha!”
“At four the next morning, to be precise.”
I peek over to see Cass’s mouth hanging open in surprise.
“And,” I continue, bowing my head for a moment, “he’s been showing up at four every day since.”
“Excuse me?!” Cass screeches. “Objection! You buried the lead!”
“This isn’t court and you’re not a lawyer!” I laugh.
“You told him that’s when you run, didn’t you?”
I nod at Ruby. We’ve known each other for so long, I’m used to her uncanny ability to see straight through the people she loves. It isn’t unusual for her to know what’s bothering me before I do.
“He took me for a walk after my last meeting with him and his partners and it got dark. I mentioned I was used to it, and he’s been joining me on my runs ever since.”
“No hanky panky?” Cass pouts.
I can understand why she sees it as a letdown, but I’m honestly impressed Linc can keep it above board. Makes it that much easier to trust him.
“Only a kiss, admittedly a hot one.” I roll my shoulders. “It’s been…lovely. Neither of us are morning people, so we don’t talk much. But having someone who’s just…there…I don’t know. It’s been nice.”
Cass and Ruby exchange another glance.
“Stop it,” I say, knowing exactly what those long looks mean.
The two of them had staged more than one “find Lex a relationship” intervention in the last few years, and I wasn’t interested in another. As much as they mean well, my patience for all things white-picket-fence is non-existent. At the end of the day, some people aren’t cut out for marriage and kids, and that’s their prerogative. It’s me. I’m some people.
“I don’t want to hear it,” I reiterate. “He’s a client, and, like you both said, we’re consenting adults. I have zero expectations, and I’m just going to enjoy the next three months for what they are. That’s the end of it.”
“Of course it is,” Cass quips.
“Whatever you say,” Ruby drawls.
Yeah, yeah. I’m not entirely sure I believe me, either. It feels like I should focus on finishing our workout, so I drop my head and stretch out my legs. Relationships and trust aren’t my thing, and I’m not looking to change that anytime soon. My life revolves around my business and the few people I’ve chosen as family, because goodness knows my worthless blood relatives are either antagonistic or absent on their best days.
The thing with Linc, whatever it is, is temporary. And the little voice in my head suggesting I’m full of shit can fuck right off.