Page 33 of Rex

“That’s just sad,” Candy mutters as she stops the car in the Dreams parking lot. “You’ll be safe here, so enjoy yourselves, and I’ll keep an eye out just in case.”

With that, I follow Lisa into my very first strip club night out.

“Hey, Lisa. Are you up to no good tonight?” the bartender asks with a huge smile.

“You know it, Suki. How’ve you been?” Lisa responds while carefully seating herself on a stool and pulling me to the one next to her.

“Been good. Who’s your friend?” Suki asks.

“Aria. Chubs’ sister. This is Suki and the best bartender ever,” Lisa introduces us.

Surprisingly, Suki rounds the bar and wraps her arms around me, then lays the side of her face against my shoulder. I freeze, not knowing what to think of this hug-friendly woman. Lisa laughs loudly before playfully pulling Suki off of me.

“Hi, Aria. It’s nice to meet you. The hug is because everyone who knows him loves your brother, Chubs, and I’m no exception. Met your brother Les a few nights ago, and he got hugged too. Welcome to Dreams,” Suki explains before returning to the other side of the bar. “What can I get you, ladies?”

We tell her what we want and watch while she mixes them. When she’s done and sets them in front of us, I can’t hold back any longer.

“You met Les? In here? Please, please, please don’t tell me he was stuffing dollar bills in anyone’s g-string!”

Suki laughs and shakes her head.

“No, he wasn’t. He was with Chubs, and they came in to speak with Freddy. Lucy was with them. Lucy’s a favorite of mine. She’s like Lisa but not on steroids.”

“Hey!” Lisa exclaims in mock annoyance, but her grin breaks through and ruins the effect she was going for. Turning to face me, Lisa says, “Suki is besties with Taja, Vex’s wife. Have you met Vex yet?”

“Oh, yeah, I have. That’s not a face you forget meeting. Even my mom gets flushed when his name is mentioned,” I answer and instantly regret it.

“Is that so?” asks a smooth, deep, and sexy voice as a tanned, muscled arm reaches between me and Lisa to grab a beer off the bar.

My head whips around and then tilts so I can look upward to see none other than Vex. Vex with a sexy half-smile that’s simply not fair for the female population. Vex, who tips his head and drinks several swallows from his beer while my stunned brain allows my eyes to follow the movement of his throat. When done, his nearly golden eyes tip down to meet mine, and he shoots a wicked grin at me. Turning, without another word, Vex walks off, and it takes all my willpower to not check out his ass as he goes. I’m still concentrating on behaving when I realize Suki and Lisa are laughing their asses off, and I’m the reason.

“Don’t even, ladies! A 98-year-old woman would pant at that man! I’m only human!” I exclaim, and it only makes them laugh harder.

“Aria get Vexed?” Candy asks as she takes the stool next to mine.

“Yep, she did, but better yet, she outed her mom too,” Lisa answers with another giggle.

“What about you, Candy? Have you gotten Vexed?” I ask.

“I’m a living human being, so yeah, me too. I just didn’t basically tell him that I get hot flashes when he walks by like it sounds like you did. And your mom. Girl. You outed your mom!” Candy answers before giving a snort-laugh.

“Yeah, she would not be happy with me for that, but seriously, what female wouldn’t get Vexed?” I question with a shrug of my shoulder.

“Lucy,” answers Lisa, Candy, and Suki at the same time.

I feel my eyebrows shoot up and look at each woman.

“Lucy? She’s unaffected by Vex?” I ask, surprised.

“Said she met Chubs and hasn’t looked at another guy since,” Lisa answers in a soft voice.

I feel my heart melt and my love for Lucy grow.

“Oh my God. How sweet is that?” I ask.

“They’re great together. I’m happy to see her smiling again and getting back to who she was before Chubs left. Him being gone, wow, it altered her whole personality. She was devastated,” Candy states in a low tone while Lisa and Suki nod solemnly.

“Was it really that hard on her? I mean, yes, I know it was difficult, but no one really talks about how it affected her. Drew—I mean Chubs—only told me that she didn’t know much about his life before Denver, so she didn’t understand why he left,” I say with guilt swirling inside me.

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