Page 57 of Inked Beasts

“I’ve seen some posts,” Thorn says, his eyes sympathetic as he strokes Lexy’s hair back from her shoulder. “There’s a lot of shit out there,” he explains to Kai and me. “I’ve learned to ignore all the negative stuff, but it’s hard at first.”

“What negative stuff?” I ask, as Kai’s expression turns dark.

“There are pictures of me with each of you. Pictures that make it clear we’ve … expanded our friendship.”

“What the fuck? Someone’s spying on us?” Kai gets up, his hands clenching into fists.

“I’m pretty sure it’s your groupies taking the pictures.” There’s an accusatory undertone to Lexy’s words.

I take Kai’s vacated spot on the sofa. “I’m sure the pictures weren’t anything explicit, right? We all have excellent security at our homes.”

“No, nothing explicit, but together, the pictures make it clear that I’ve been dating all three of you, and I’m worried about how that could affect things for you.”

“For us?”

“For your work. Your reputations.”

Kai snorts. “I don’t give a fuck.”

“Well, you should,” Lexy says. “Clare said something to me today about the posts, warning me to keep my private life private, and my dad’s probably seen them. It’s only a matter of time before your parents find out about us.”

“Again, I don’t give a fuck,” Kai says, growing more heated. “What we do is none of Clare’s business either. We’re only together on your personal time, and she has nothing to say about that.”

“She does if it hurts her business,” Lexy says, moving to get up. “I should probably go. I’m not in the mood to argue about this.”

Thorn reaches for her hand. “Stay, Lexy. Ignore him. Being alone to stress about this isn’t going to make you feel better.”

“I don’t know how you all handle it,” she says, letting him pull her back against him in a front-to-back hug.

I pull her feet into my lap and press my thumbs into her arches, the way I know she likes it. “Just like Thorn said, we learn to ignore it. I used to look at reviews and comments, back when our show was first on. Eventually I decided it was better for my peace of mind not to read any of it.”

“But it affects us. It could affect all of you.” Lexy’s still bothered, but she’s starting to succumb to the relaxing powers of my foot massage, and Thorn is rubbing her shoulders. “And I don’t know how you stand being in the public eye,” she adds. “I hate it.”

I glide my thumb over the hollow of her ankle with light pressure. “Let’s figure something out.”

KAI

We won’t be having the discussion I wanted to have tonight.

In fact, tonight’s conversation is going to result in us taking a big step backward, but I’m not that much of a selfish asshole to push Lexy into a situation she’s not comfortable with.

I don’t give a fuck about privacy when it comes to how I feel about her. I want the world to know. I want to tattoo our names on her forehead, and hers on mine.

But even though I can be an impulsive prick, I’m smart enough to know that now isn’t the time to talk about the type of commitment I want—the commitmentwewant. We need to go at Lexy’s pace, because if she isn’t happy, then none of this means anything.

While Gage and Thorn talk to her, I go pour myself a glass of Gage’s magical fucking juice, and add a healthy shot of vodka to it, because that was a brilliant idea Lexy had.

When I go back into the living room, my head cooler by a few degrees, the problem-solving discussion has led to its inevitable conclusion: we’ll be discreet, because that’s what Lexy wants.

I’d move us all to the middle of nowhere to be with her, so I suppose limiting our time together to closed-door spaces won’t be so bad. For now.

Meanwhile, I’ll be working on designs for those forehead tattoos.

“You good with that, brother?” Thorn asks, wanting my official buy-in. Lexy is lying between them, her previously angry features melted into submission by their massaging hands. As she wiggles to relax further into them, her shirt rides up, and I get a glimpse of bare, creamy skin that’s going to taste a whole hell of a lot better than Gage’s juice concoction.

“Good as I can be.” I swallow the last of my drink, set my glass on the coffee table, and lean down to stroke my hand up Lexy’s calf. “Are you ready for some more in-depth relaxation?”

She smiles up at me. “I will always want you.”

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