Page 72 of Blackwood

LEX:See you at home. I love you.

I smile, rolling my eyes even as my chest tightens. Typical Lex. Blunt as hell, dramatic as ever, but I know the truth underneath it. He wants this just as much as I do. Maybe more. He just doesn’t let himself hope anymore.

We met our freshman year. Wexley and Northvale aren’t exactly sister schools. Hell, they’re practically sworn enemies. And in the underground scene… the rivalry runs even deeper.

Meaner.

Bloodier.

They call it The Pit, Northvale’s infamous fight ring. Fight nights are brutal, invite-only, and sanctioned by The Hollow Kings.

That night, it was Cal versus Lex. I didn’t even want to go. I was there to support Cal, not fall in love with the enemy. But the second Lex walked in—tall, inked-up, all brute force and Russian fire—I was done for. We locked eyes across the ring and didn’t look away.

Cal won that night. Mostly because Lex got distracted by me. He didn’t even try to hide it. We talked after the fight. Then again the next night. By the end of the week he kissed me and then fucked me. Hard. Twice.

He’s chaos wrapped in leather and scars. All Bratva blood and biker rage. Tattoos that crawl down his arms like warnings. Co-leader of The Hollow Kings. A born predator with a shitty attitude.

And then there’s me, quiet, collected, and obsessive with my art. No one expected us to work. Not his world. Not mine. Especially not my parents.

At first they didn’t understand. The tattoos. The fighting. The danger. His family. It didn’t help that he’s from Northvale and I’m a Whitmore. Wexley legacy through and through. That rivalry runs deep and my parents weren’t exactly thrilled about me falling for the enemy.

But they’re trying now. Slowly. They see the way he treats me. The way he loves me, and I think they’re finally starting to get it.

We’ve been building this life together. Quietly. Fiercely. Ours.

But about a year ago, we started talking about adding a third. Agirl. Someone who could hold her own between us. Someone who didn’t flinch from heat or softness.

We thought maybe we’d find her. We looked. We waited. But it never felt right. And lately, Lex has been pulling back.

“Maybe it’s just supposed to be us,”he said last week, his voice low and raw in the dark. We were tangled together, skin on skin, his thigh between mine, his breath hot against my neck.“You and me. Maybe that’s enough, babe.”

A hand claps my shoulder, jolting me back to the present. I nearly drop my beer as August grins down at me, red-faced and three drinks past subtle.

“What the hell you lookin’ at?” he slurs, then follows my gaze. “Oh. Shit. Bella?”

He barks out a laugh, loud and obnoxious. “Dude, aren’t you like gay or something? And like dating that Northvale fighter dude?”

“Bisexual,” I say flatly. “And none of your damn business, August.”

He stumbles for a second but recovers with that usual shit-eating grin. “Damn. My bad. Didn’t know you swung both ways.”

“Now you do.”

His eyes drift back to the floor, Bella in that deep purple, moving like pure temptation itself, laughing with Ellie like they own the damn night.

“She’s a lot, man,” he mutters. “Way outta your league.”

I almost laugh. “You mean the girl I’ve known since she was fifteen? Who once crashed a golf cart into the side of a hotel because she was chasing a raccoon with a churro?”

His smirk falters. Just for a beat.

“Thanks for your unsolicited opinion,” I add.

“I’m just saying,” he shrugs, trying to play it off. “Cal’s been into her forever. Pretty sure he’s already called dibs.”

“Dibs?” I glance at him. “Did we time-travel back to middle school?”

“Bro-code.”