Page 38 of Loving Lex

Her eyes turned dreamy. “Maybe...”

That was the second time I’d heard my girl voice a wish that she never thought she’d see come to pass, and it made something rise up inside of me that wanted to not only protect her, but provide for her and to reach right into her dreams and make them all come true.

Later, the girls put on their skimpy bikinis and took a swim while Lucky and I sat in lounge chairs and shot the shit about sports, weapons, and the military.

Talk did eventually turn to Stone and Cameo, but we kept it brief, which was fine with me. I was feeling a little foggy, which I chalked up to our late nights and one too many drinks.

My eyes drifted over to Shay and Grace, who were floating in the far end, deep in conversation, their faces serious. Something in their expressions put me on guard. I flicked Lucky a glance, and he seemed to sense the same thing as he sat up and put his drink down.

“You ladies okay?” he called.

Grace shot him a look, glanced back at Shay, said something to her, then began to swim our way.

Shay took a moment, then slowly followed.

They both climbed out and wrapped themselves in towels.

Lucky automatically put a protective arm around his wife and tugged her into his lap. “What’s up?”

“Shay was just telling me about the Lady Killer murders at Cameo.”

Shay sat in the lounger next to me, her focus on drying off.

“Yeah?” Lucky said.

“Yeah,” Grace replied. “Terrible. Especially since they never caught the guy. And now Shay says someone was watching her the other night? What the hell? I hope the security is better than—”

“Wait.”

“What?”

Lucky and I both interrupted her at the same time, our voices brusque.

Shay’s gaze zipped to Grace, then to me.

“What the hell is she talking about?” I demanded. “Someone was watching you?”

“It was just once or twice,” she threw back, her eyes full of sparks. “I honestly didn’t think much of it until Grace and I were talking just now. I wasn’t hiding anything from you, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“Still.” I raked a hand over my head as the earlier fogginess quickly swelled into a full-blown headache. “If you felt anything weird, I wish you would’ve told me, even if...” I took a breath. “Even if it was nothing.”

“You okay?” she asked, her hand on my thigh. “You’re really pale.”

“Yeah. I’m—” I shot Lucky a glance, knowing instantly what was about to descend upon me and how fast it could happen. “Sorry, man. I don’t feel well all of a sudden. Talk later?”

“Sure, bro.”

I nodded once and took off blindly in the direction of my apartment and rescue meds, feeling their concerned stares at my back. I couldn’t afford to stop or think. Hell, I could barely think at all. I knew from experience that it would be blindingly, debilitatingly, agonizingly painful in just a few moments. I had to get home.

I stumbled into my apartment and made it as far as my bathroom, where I flipped on the light, recoiling from the excruciating brightness. I slapped at the switch, blanketing the small room in darkness again as I reached into my medicine cabinet blindly, knocking bottles to the ground and the sink.

I felt my knees about to give way as nausea roiled deep in my gut. I was about to lose my dinner and everything else if I didn’t hurry and get this shit under control.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck...” I cursed under my breath.

The front door opened and closed behind me somewhere. “Lex?” Shay’s voice called. “You okay?”

I couldn’t answer. She’d have to find me. She did, seconds later, as I groped in the dark and held on to the sink to keep from falling.

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