Page 66 of Nothing to Beat

Before making any final decisions, she’d have to tell Breck everything.That would be a fun conversation.

“Who’s out there?”

Roxie’s calling from the living room curled her lips.Pushing away from the door, she traversed the foyer to join her friend.Sitting on the couch with her feet propped on the coffee table, the TV was playing on mute while Roxie blew toward the hot pink varnish on her toenails.

But the color wasn’t the biggest shock, not the color of her nails anyway.

“You changed your hair.”

Shaking her head, Roxie ran a hand through her glossy tresses.“Do you like it?I promised Jane, she has a plan… Not sure what it is exactly, but it’s Jane’s plan, so it will be amazing.”

Dirty blonde, with hints of various lighter, brighter blonde hues through it.Reminded her a little of Tripp’s.

“It’s beautiful.”She dumped her purse on the bar and went around to snag some lemonade.“It will contrast better with your dress.Are you wearing white?”

“Jane insisted.She says it’s not for the virgin thing, but like you said, white sets off my coloring better, apparently.We handed autonomy over to our beautiful Jane; what she wants, she gets.”Roxie waved the words away.“Enough about that, how did it go today?Was Ackley an asshole?”

There was a correct response.Sort of a correct response.A particular response Roxie expected.Though she didn’t want to disappoint her friend, she had to be fair, honest.

“I don’t know.”Twisting off the bottle cap, she tossed it in the trash and considered her day as she sipped.“He seemed receptive, but was that for me or him?”She shrugged and wandered toward her friend.“I don’t suppose it matters.He wants to meet again tomorrow.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

“I get he’ll have questions.And, as Bastian put it, Ackley needs a minute to figure this out for himself.”

“He’ll want to check you’re for real.”

She dropped onto the couch.“Exactly.”

“And you’d be offended except you accept you’re a stranger to him.”

“I’m not wholly convinced he even knew of my existence before today.”After another sip, she licked her lips.“One thing he did say, communication with Trish has been… sporadic.”

Keeping her wiggling toes on the edge of the table, Roxie relaxed back onto the couch next to her.She held up both hands, showing her matching nails, though that wasn’t the point.

“That’s Zairn’s deal, not mine.”Roxie gestured finality in the air.“I take nothing to do with it.”

“Because you disapprove?”Huh, why hadn’t she thought to ask Roxie how she felt about Trish relying so heavily on a man she’d once been intimate with?The man Roxie was currently intimate with.“Are you mad he’s protecting her?”

“God, no.No one else could do it, I wouldn’t trust anyone else to do it.”Neither would Trish, which was how they’d ended up in their predicament.“I leave it to him because I do trust him.He doesn’t need me getting in between things or questioning him.”

“Funny, I’ve heard the opposite about you.”

Roxie’s head rolled on her shoulders.“Okay, so it’s possible, in the past, I’ve been known to inject myself—” She held up a pointed index finger.“—for the greater good, you understand.”

“Of course,” she said on a laugh.

“But this is serious shit, it’s not playing.I’m always with Zairn.I’d support him in anything and he offloads on me if he needs to, when he needs to.”She was familiar with that genre of relationship dynamic.“But it’s a big responsibility, holding a woman’s safety, her life, in his hands.He’s got it covered, he knows what’s expected of him.”

“You do know he probably doesn’t tell you more to protect you.”

“Physically?Maybe.Except if he really thought someone would try to hurt me for the information, he’d give it to me.As for emotionally?Mentally?Spiritually…” The newly minted brunette exaggerated that last one.“In every other way?No.We don’t do that.It’s all cards on the table, there’s nothing I wouldn’t share with him.”Shifting, Roxie got her shoulder into the backrest to make eye contact.“Isn’t it like that with you and Breck?”

“Yes,” she said on a sigh.“Which is why I’m not looking forward to our next conversation.Where’s Tripp?”

“At the club.He’ll be back for dinner, though I do think he wants to go out tonight.Are you up for dancing the night away?”

“Yeah, maybe.“Just then, something on the TV caught her eye.“Zairn.”Sitting up straight, she pointed at the screen.“Zairn’s on the TV.”

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