“He said shit that was not okay.”
“Like what, Rix?”
“That’s between him and me.” He lifted a hand and shook his head. “I get it. I know he gave it all to you.” He dropped his hand. “I’m glad he’s got you. You listened to his side and you got his back. It’s the way it should be. But that doesn’t mean there’s not another side.”
“Okay, then talk to him about it.”
Rix shook his head again.
“You work together,” she bit out. Then she went in for the kill. “And this is hurting him.”
“I’ll get over it and I’ll talk to him about it. That time is just not now.”
She glanced at his truck then back to him. “And what is it time for now?”
“You’re here, catching me at this hour in the morning, you know what this is the time for. He’s my boss too, and I had to ask for the time off.”
“He did indeed tell me you were off with Alexandra for a long weekend.”
“Yup,” Rix confirmed.
She said nothing.
This lasted too long.
But this was Chloe, and as much as he needed space from Judge, Chloe was something else.
They’d been brother-and-sister-in-arms once, flanking Judge who was waging war with his own emotions.
You share that kind of shit with someone, the bond goes deep.
More, she was the woman who was making his best friend happy.
So Rix would cut off another limb before he’d even come close to disrespecting her.
Her gaze was warm, her tone concerned, when she said, “I hope you know what you’re doing, Rix.”
“I do,” he replied.
She let the perfect beat pass before she whispered, “With all of it.”
Then she turned, strutted back to her Evoque, climbed in and took off.
Rix finished packing up, made sure everything was secure, and headed up to Groom Creek.
He’d been looking forward to this.
Preparing the food in the morning and putting it on hot stones so they’d have a kickass meal at night.
Sitting under the stars, sipping bourbon, getting steadily drunk and not caring because they only had to stumble mere feet into a tent.
Going into Ouray and killing time.
Fucking in a hot spring.
Spending four days, just him and his woman.
But now, he was in a shit mood because it was one thing to be pissed at Judge, specifically about that shit he’d said about Rix using women, but he also seriously wasn’t a fan of him being in Rix and Alex’s business.
It was another to have Chloe up in his face about it.
He made it to Alex’s place, parked behind her car, and to let off some steam, he jogged down the steps.
He saw her gear inside, piled by the door.
She was in the kitchen.
He didn’t bother with the key she’d given him.
When she knew he was coming, she always had the door unlocked for him.
He walked in.
“Yo,” he called.
“Hey,” she replied, standing in her kitchen. “I was going to make us a thermos, but instead let’s stop by Wild Iris or Scooter’s and java up for the road.”
“Whatever you want,” he replied.
She turned.
After she did, he expected her to get her ass over to him, give him a proper greeting, which he’d return by letting her little tongue dance in his mouth while he was feeling her up and/or squeezing her ass.
She stood in the kitchen.
When she didn’t approach, he asked, “There a reason why you’re over there and not over here with your tongue down my throat?”
“What’s wrong?”
Yeah.
He was tuned to her, and that tuning only grew more proficient with time spent together.
And they’d spent a lot of time together, nearly a month in one or the other’s bed practically every night, last night being a rare exception because she was with her girls.
They’d invited him, like they had the three times before. But this time, he’d declined, thinking she needed alone time with her friends, and maybe just some time alone. Especially on the cusp of them spending four days together.
With the kiss she’d given him after he’d explained that, he knew he’d called it correctly.
The women had decided on a night in at Alex’s place, which put him down the mountain, in his.
But all that together time meant he could tell by the lilt of her voice or the flit of her gaze if something was up.
And fuck it all, she was the same with him.
“Nothing, kiss me then I’ll load this shit and we’ll hit up Scooter’s.”
“Rix.”
And he read that too.
It said, You’re full of it. Spill.
“Babe.”
She finally started walking toward him, but she did it saying, “Honey, what’s going on? It’s not even seven in the morning. What’s happened?”
“Chloe stopped by,” he gritted.
Alex also stopped, too far from him.
“She’s done with you freezing out Judge,” she declared.
He felt his blood start to heat. “She tell you?”
“No, though it’s impossible to miss you’re freezing out Judge, and frankly, I’m surprised Chloe let it go on this long.”