Julius chuckled, assuming mostly wrongly. Lexie was in his tee but still, by no means was access hindered.
Then Julius spoke again. “You give this time, you’ll stop bein’ pissed and thank me. Now, seein’ as you two are reuniting and I ain’t sleepin’ on no couch, Anana and me have checked into Carnal Hotel. My woman, for some fuckin’ reason, right now is sittin’ in reception playin’ fuckin’ Harry Potter fuckin’ Clue with the proprietors. I’m gonna leave her to that shit ‘cause, you know me, brother, I got no interest in fuckin’ Clue. Colonel Mustard did it, however the motherfucker did it, his ass is in the hole. Don’t need a reminder a’ that shit. So I’m gonna get my trunks on and take a dip. We’ll all go out and celebrate tomorrow ‘cause the next day, Anana and me gotta get our asses home. You’re buyin’. That Rooster place. And you’re buyin’ ‘cause, no matter how pissed you are right now, you know you owe me.”
Before Walker could reply, Julius gave him dead air.
He flipped his phone shut, tossed it on Lexie’s jeans on the floor and scowled at it.
“We need a coffee table,” she noted quietly and his eyes moved from his phone to his woman.
She’d stopped tracing his tat and her eyes were on him. They were still slightly swollen from crying but they were also still beautiful.
The most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
We need a coffee table.
Fuck.
Fuck!
His mama was home.
She was home and those fucking divorce papers were ashes in his sink.
That something inside him, that thing she gave him, that thing that had been gone since she was, making him feel hollow, empty, came back, filling him up. It shifted and again started settling.
She’d been there now for hours. After he burned the papers, he went back to her and took his time welcoming her home and he didn’t do it with words. The first time was urgent, desperate, the same feelings for both of them but for different reasons.
The second time was not.
When he was done with her, she got on her phone. She got on her phone because, no matter he’d fucked up and hurt her, people who cared about him were worried.
First up was Honey. The easy one. Walker listened to Lexie dealing with surprised relief and then tears.
That done, next up was Ella. Same drill at first, surprised relief then tears. Then, this surprising Walker, guilt. Guilt that Ella didn’t give it up to Lexie that Ty had come looking for her. Guilt that she’d kept information from Ty about where Lexie was. Guilt that her protective instinct was less protective and more misguided and stubborn mingled with sadness that she’d cost them time that didn’t end in tragedy but she’d lived with that possibility for over eleven hours so the ghost of that was there all the same. Then more tears.
Lexie handled that, next up was Bess. Again, surprising Walker because Bess could be one hard bitch and she’d taken on taking care of Lexie so he figured she’d hold one serious fucking grudge, it was the same drill at first, surprised relief then tears. Then what he expected came, but the angry emotion was not directed at him and he knew this because he listened to Lexie dealing with Bess threatening murderous intent to Julius.
Lexie handled that, tossed her phone to the floor and turned to him.
That was when he learned that Bess had rescued her from Shift. In fact, Bessie had called him while on her way to rescue Lexie from Shift.
And Lex told him what Shift wanted, or, more accurately, intended to take but he blocked that shit out. He had to. He already took their future in his hands once, leaving the state in order to perpetrate a felony against that piece of shit, he didn’t need a real manslaughter charge on his hands.
The minute Bess got her; they went to Ella, made plans and took off.
The beach, where Lexie thought she could find some peace.
Bess went because, another surprise to Walker because she might be a hard bitch but she also seemed one who had it going on, she didn’t have it going on. She was screwing her boss who was married, stringing her along and had been for years. She was also between apartments and staying with a friend who had a cat she did not like and a tendency to play whale song for relaxation purposes, something else Bessie did not like. And she was between apartments because she kept thinking her married boss was going to stop stringing her along. Watching Lexie’s drama, Bess got her head out of her ass and realized it was time to quit pissing away her life and make a change.
So they took off to start new lives.
And they had the money to take off because, a couple of days before, without anything else of value to get her what she needed, his wife sold her fucking Charger.
He didn’t say it when she admitted it but he’d be rectifying that fucking situation the next fucking day. That ride was sweet and his wife loved it, doted on that fucking thing, called it “her baby”.