and embarrassed is making me hard,” Chase teased, though I knew he was being completely serious by the way he blatantly adjusted his shorts. I could see the movement of his body even though the table obstructed most of my view.
“Chase!” I exclaimed, and he held his hands up in mock surrender.
“I know, I know. Friends. I’m working on it.”
I pulled out my phone and sent Kai a quick text, biting my lip as I typed.
Me: Call me when you get home. I think I want a taste, too. ;)
Chase and I picked at our lunch and laughed about normal things for a little while. It was just what I needed, a calm before the storm. Chase and I were alright. I was going to be okay. It was all going to be okay. They say grief comes in waves, and today was a pleasant break before the crash.
Kai
I was grinning at my phone like an idiot, wanting to stay in my truck, sending naughty texts to Breeze until my balls ached and my fingers fell off. I imagined her blushing at my words. I imagined her squeezing her thighs closed, squirming in her seat and seeking relief from the need my words created. So maybe I wanted to stake my claim. I didn’t like Chase. Breeze’s safety trumped my jealousy, but I still wanted the fucker to know that Breeze wasn’t his. She might have had a crush on him before, but I was hers now.
And God help him if he hurt a hair on her head. I didn’t like that he bruised Celeste—even if she was a gigantic pain in the ass. I definitely didn’t like all the holes in the walls I saw when I went to his house. He was temperamental right now but was still preferable to leaving Breeze vulnerable to Lex. Why couldn’t Breeze be friends with someone not so fucking annoying?
I pocketed my cell phone and got out of my truck, my mood immediately souring the moment I saw the old trailer where I grew up. Lex wanted me to pick up the product and deliver it to a few pushers in the area. I fucking hated doing this. Lex had built quite the empire over the years. Despite the shady trailer, I knew he had thousands stuffed in hiding spots all over the island. I wondered why he didn’t move away from this shit hole, but old habits die hard.
Lex was waiting for me inside, sitting on the old, broken couch with his feet propped up on the scuffed coffee table, with a few food containers littering the floor around him. This place smelled like shit; it was part of the reason I left as soon as I could. I liked a clean space. I wanted somewhere I wasn’t embarrassed to bring people. Lex had no problem fucking some coke whore on a pile of trash. As long as he got off, nothing else mattered. I had pride in my shit.
“Welcome home, little brother,” Lex greeted before reaching to the side of the couch for a large duffle bag and tossing it to me.
I caught the bag easily, but its weight knocked me a little off balance. It was heavier than I expected. I had been doing this long enough that I could tell the difference between a normal run and even one extra client just from the nuances in the weight of the bag. This was heavier than just one extra.
“There’s a little more in there for you to deliver,” Lex said, as though he had read my mind. “I trust that’s okay?”
“Yeah. Fine,” I said, having to willfully unclench my teeth. It wasn’t fine. I didn’t want to be doing this at all, and I definitely didn’t want to be adding fucking strung out wannabe dealers to my list. But I had to know if he killed Violet, which meant I had to be doing this.
“Good, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Shit, normally Lex gave me at least three days to push the normal stuff, now he’s given me at least double and expects me to do it in a day? “I thought you didn’t want the cops sniffing around anymore. How do you expect me to deliver these without raising suspicion?”
“Have a little faith in me. It’s only one extra, it’s just a big one. It’s a business owner on the other side of town. Easy.”
Lex mentioning a business owner sparked my memory. Breeze wanted me to find out if her