up and down. I’m confused as to why until I realize he is trying to suppress his laughter.
“True story. There, I give you my almost threesome encounter.”
“Charlotte,” he murmurs, the emerald green in his eyes clouds as he reaches out and touches my wedding ring. “When Roxy sent me a text saying she was in our bed, I thought I lost you.”
I ache for him.
All of him.
This isn’t his fault. I know he can’t control the past coming back to bite him on the ass. I was callous, and the Julian stuff was uncalled for, but I do have one more question to ask.
“You said you never did brunettes. She had the same hair color as mine?”
He gazes at me, confused. “She was blonde. I barely recognized her today.”
Forgive him, Charlie, stop being a fucking cold-hearted bitch.
“You hurt me with what you said about him.” Lex barely manages to get the word ‘him’ out, the pain killing him, and I contributed to that.
“I’m sorry I said those things. Yes, they are the truth, but I said them because seeing her and the way she spoke to me about what you did to her left me absolutely gutted.”
The truth is out, and it’s impossible not to notice his body recoil. I wait for a sign for like ten minutes, and then slowly, he places his arm around me and pulls me into him. I find my nook, getting lost in the place I call home.
“We can do this, okay? I can’t promise the past won’t drag itself up, but I promise never to doubt your love for me.”
“Ditto.”
Slowly, I unbutton the top of his shirt, sliding my hand against his chest and allowing it to rest on his heart. With every beat, I know it beats for me, for us.
“So, what now?” he asks, stroking my hair as we both sit quietly on the couch with our thoughts.
“Food, shower, then anal.”
Lex shakes his head, laughter escaping him.
“I’m hoping this sticks, and it’s not just pregnancy hormones?”
I tilt my head, caressing his chin with my hand. “Something tells me it’s not pregnancy hormones, Mr. Edwards. I think you’ve hit the jackpot.”
“What a lucky man I am,” he says with a cocky grin.
“The luckiest in the world.”
LEX
The moment that text appeared on my screen, I knew I had to haul some serious ass back to the apartment.
My heart’s thumping out of my chest, my breaths barely able to escape as I desperately try to stop Charlotte from having to see any of this. I open the text message again, and it definitely is Roxy with dark brown hair, not her usual bleached blonde, one wrist handcuffed to my bed, she’s barely dressed with her legs spread open as she fingers herself.
Unknown number: You wanna taste this again, Lex? Every finger has been in my cunt. Come and get it, baby.
I hate that word, it screams ‘whore.’ I clench my phone, the grip so forceful I can feel it dig into the palm of my hand. The fucking bitch, who does she think she is, and how on earth did she get in!
The elevator is irritatingly slow, and the moment the doors open, I run up to the main bedroom. Roxy is lying on my bed with a smug look on her face as BJ is consoling Charlotte. Even as her husband, there’s no getting through to Charlotte. The pain she’s experiencing is impossible to ignore, her eyes glassy and her posture sunken. BJ holding onto her is questioning my trust, but right now I don’t have a leg to stand on. The damage of my colorful past is sitting right there on my bed.
Charlotte walks away without saying a word. I pull her to me, needing her so desperately, looking for a sign, any sign that she isn’t leaving me. She can barely look me in the eye, but then she says the words calming me the hell down—she isn’t leaving me. I breathe a huge sigh of relief until she mentions him.
It rips through me, the blades slicing me slowly. The cuts are deep, they are starting to bleed. Inside, I’m screaming, the pain so unbearable and the heat, the burning sensation is crawling throughout my skin until finally the doors close behind her, and I’m left with nothing.
All that turns into rage as I stomp back to the room. Without any words, I uncuff Roxy and drag her off the bed. She kicks and screams, calling me every dirty name possible,