15. Linc
Lex is wearing a skin tight jacket in light green, a near perfect match for her eyes. She grins at me from her porch as I park, one leg bent behind her as she stretches for our run. I get out of the car and bound up the steps, sweeping her up in my arms as I have every morning for the last five weeks. She laughs and melts into me, smiling into my eyes before kissing me soundly. As I release her, I know the thing brewing between us is different. And I don’t know if I’m more scared or excited about it. Yet.
“Usual route?” Lex asks, dancing back from me on her toes.
“Whatever you want, beautiful.”
Her smile softens at the pet name, and I love that she still reacts to it. Like she isn’t used to hearing it, but likes when she does.
We stretch for a few minutes in silence, her concentrating on properly warming up and me focusing entirely on the view in front of me. While still dark outside, her porch light illuminates enough of Lex to appreciate. She takes a long step backward, dropping into a lunge, perfectly showcasing her killer legs and calves.
I have to make myself stop staring before I try to drag her inside for a different kind of cardio. That’s not why I show up for these morning runs, though I wouldn’t complain if she was game. No, I come to keep her company on the dark, quiet streets. That, and it gives me an opportunity to spend time in her orbit. She might not want post-coital pillow talk, but I’ll take what I can get.
“I’m ready. You good?” I ask, as I gesture toward the sidewalk.
“Let’s do it!” Lex skips down the steps and begins jogging as we exit her driveway.
I let her set the pace, happy to take her lead. She’s incredibly fit, and the run had admittedly been a challenge that first week, but I’d adjusted to the early wake up and conditioning in the month since. I’ve never had better motivation.
Lex clears her throat a few blocks into our route, interrupting my wandering thoughts. “So, I’ve been wondering. What did you see in Anne-Marie?”
I sputter, completely caught off guard by her question. I struggle for a moment on how to explain my former friend and business partner.
“Huh, well…she was incredibly self-assured, confident. She knew what she wanted and how to go after it. You just knew when she set her sights on something, she was going to get it. That was appealing to me. Introducing her to the guys and bringing her into the business seemed like a no brainer.”
“I see.”
A long silence passes, the only noise our steady breaths and footfalls against the pavement. I turn my head to peer at Lex’s face to try and discern what she was thinking, but her gaze remains on the street ahead.
“And the guys–there was no animosity about you sleeping with her?”
I chuckle at the idea of Dec or Shane caring who I sleep with, and she glances over in confusion.
“Nah, Dec and Shane knew our hookup wasn’t anything serious. I didn’t–don’t–do serious.”
“Why not?”
I wipe the sweat from my brow with my sleeve. I’m not sure if it’s due to today’s pace or Lex’s direct line of questioning, but the results are the same. She doesn’t beat around the bush when she wants to know something.
“Well, I’m not sure if I’ve ever put much thought into it to be honest. Shane joined our family when I was a kid, and the three of us did everything together. All the girls I dated would get annoyed that my brothers were always around and would want me to choose. I’m sure you can guess who won every time.”
Lex laughs and nods, and I continue.
“And once we started seriously building Procerus, I didn’t have the time or energy to think about finding a serious relationship, so I stuck to casual dating that didn’t require much effort.”
“That I can understand perfectly.” Lex steers us into a park, the asphalt trail curving through the trees.
“What…what about Declan and Shane?” she asks hesitantly.
I smirk. Ah, someone’s curious.
“You’ll have to ask them yourself. In the spirit of transparency, I will say this…” I take a deep inhale. “Shane and I have…shared partners in the past.”
Lex grinds to a halt.
I stumble, fighting the inertia propelling me forward to turn and gauge Lex’s reaction.
She blinks at me, expressionless. “Excuse me? Shared? As in, you’ve both dated the same person.”
Might as well address this head on.
“As in, we’ve fucked the same person. At the same time.”
Lex rolls her lips between her teeth before licking them while nodding absently. In the dimly lit sky, I can see the gears in her brain turning, processing the information.
Evidently deciding on something, she lets out a deep breath before resuming her jog.
What’s going on in that brilliant head of yours, Lex?
The silence is going to kill me; I have to know if my honesty snuffed out the fire building between us.
“Do you want to know more about it?” Do you want us to demonstrate with you?
Lex swipes her brow, tucking hair behind her ear and meeting my eyes momentarily.
“No. Yes. Fuck, I don’t know. That’s…a lot to take in.”
I laugh on an exhale. “Alright, no details for now. You just let me know when you have any other questions you’d like answered.”
We continue in silence for a few minutes, then Lex slows to a walk. She turns to me as I follow suit, a bright flush in her cheeks and her eyes wide.
“Is Shane…like you?” She glances away, laughing softly as though to herself. “I mean, does he like to be in control?”
My weight shifts as my body reacts to her question. “He does, but he’s not like me.”
Her brow creases as her gaze returns to mine. “What does that mean?”
Chuckling, I shake my head. “He’s…hard. There’s nothing soft about Shane Kelly.”
“Oh, and your pussy slaps and spankings are ‘soft’?” She mimes air quotes, her tone teasing.
The corner of my mouth tugs up. “They are compared to him. I’m a total sweetheart, don’t you know?”
Her lips part as she stares at me, blinking. After a long exhale, she rolls her neck from one side to the other, then starts running again. I grin as I quickly follow.
I know there will be more questions, and I’m happy to answer any concerns or curiosities she might have. Shane won’t mind me being honest. I can tell he’s as attracted to Lex as I am. More than a month of her in our space and I see right through his icy exterior. He’s wound so fucking tight it’s only a matter of time before he snaps. And now that I’ve had her? I can only dream of seeing her on her knees for us. The fun we could have.