Page 33 of Succumbed

“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?”

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