Page 136 of Blackwood

CADE:LOL. Sounds about right. Is it working?

ME:Fuck no. I’m dying over here babe. Plus… I’m pretty sure she is just waiting on you to come home.

ME:I love you Cade. Please come home. I fucking miss you. We need you.

ME:I need you.

ME: Please babe.

ME: Come home.

CADE:Lex, I love you and I will be back. I promise. I’m not like you, I can’t just get over something like this as fast as you. Please be patient. It isn’t goodbye forever, babe. You know that.

ME: Fucking feels like it Cade

ME: But ok… just hurry the fuck up!

Chapter 44

LEX

Fucking Carrington Row because I’m a goddamn good boyfriend.

659 Days Since Zeke’s Death

“Tell me again why we had to get here this early?” I say crouched under a speaker rig holding a coil of cable. It’s hot as fuck. I’ve already sweated through my shirt. And to top it off all, someone just spilled a Celsius on my boot. Thank you very much Little Whitmore.

This is hell. Or at least Wexley’s version of it.

Knox grins from behind the soundboard, smug as always. “Welcome to the Trifecta Boyfriend Club, my guy.”

I stare at him like I might throw him into the pool.

He throws me a roll of gaffer tape. “The Row Pool Party is a big deal, especially for the girls. Think of it like the Met Gala but with abs, water guns, and a lot of jello shots.” He flicks a switch and the pool lights strobe. “And thanks to us, way better lighting.”

“Lex, we’re a brand, remember?” Ellie chirps from across the pool deck. She’s arranging trays of jello shot syringes like it’s a military op. Clipboard in one hand, rhinestone walkie-talkie in the other. She’s in full command mode, coordinating chaos with a smile that could get her out of war crimes.

She struts past me and flicks my shoulder. “Thousands of our loving fans will be tuning in tonight to see this party. It’s a big deal, babe.”

“Loving fans,” I mutter. “Right, like Luca.”

Yeah, Bella told me all about that motherfucker after I took her out on the pier. Asshole thinks he can message her. Watch her. Obsess over her. If I ever find that fucker.

“Any luck finding our little poet freak?” I ask.

Knox twists a few dials, cycling through colors until the whole setup glows electric blue. “Nah, nothing yet. He’s been quiet. Bella said he hasn’t sent shit since around Fight Night. So, what, like two months? Maybe he finally found a new obsession.”

“He’s quiet because I messaged the asshole after our date at the pier”

Knox’s head snaps up. “You what?”

“I said I mess—”

“I heard you, dumbass.” He cuts me off and reaches for my phone. “Let me see what the hell you did before I have to start planning your funeral.”

@BarinovUnhinged

Stay the fuck away from my girl.