Page 15 of Cursed Fox (Willow Creek Security #4)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Lex

I don't know what possessed me to go to the office when as far as I was concerned, I didn't work there anymore. When I’d stormed out of the apartment, I couldn't think of anywhere to go, so I went straight to Maverick's house. I begged him to go stay with Nancy while I figured my shit out.

I wasn't angry at her. I wasn't even angry about what she said. I was mad that for the first time since killing the innocent woman, I wanted what everyone said to be true. I wanted to believe it wasn't my fault, if for no other reason than so Nancy never again looked at me with pity in her eyes.

No matter how hard I fought my feelings for her, it was no use. Somewhere in the last two days, Nancy had snuck underneath every guard I’d put up and wormed her way right into my heart.

And how was I dealing with it?

By running away like a scared little bitch.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

I looked up and found a very pissed-off Easton glaring at me.

"Last time I checked, I worked here, just like you did." I didn't know what his problem was, but I wasn't in the mood to deal with it.

"That's not what I mean. Why are you here when your girl is over at Wes's office dealing with a threatening letter she received in the mail?"

I jumped up so fast the chair I was sitting on crashed to the floor with a loud bang. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Mav called me. Nancy got a letter in the mail. This time it was mailed to her."

What the fuck?

"Why the hell didn't he call me?"

Easton looked at me like I was stupid. "Do you have your phone on you?"

I patted down my gym shorts pockets, then hung my head in shame.

In my infinite wisdom I had stormed out of the apartment in the middle of the night without any of my possessions.

My phone, my keys, everything was back at the apartment.

It was a good thing everything in Willow Creek was within walking distance.

"I need to go see Nancy."

"No shit, asshole."

I bristled at his tone. "What the hell is your problem?" I stomped over to Easton and went toe to toe with him. We were similar in height and build. A lot of people said we looked alike, but I could never see it and neither could Easton.

"You're my problem. Since retiring from the Marines, we all thought it was best to just let you handle your shit in your own way. Clearly, we were wrong. We should've made you face things long before now."

I didn't appreciate his implications. "You have no idea what you're talking about. I'm dealing just fine."

I moved to shove past Easton, but my friend didn't budge. Instead he pushed me back.

"Oh yeah? Is that why you're hiding in the office after running out on Nancy and leaving Mav to deal with your mess?"

Easton was two seconds away from getting punched in the face. "Back off, man. You have no idea what you're talking about."

"I'm sorry," Easton replied sarcastically. "Is that not what you're doing here?" He poked me in the chest. "Hiding like a little bitch."

Okay, that was it. Before I could think about it and change my mind, I took a swing at one of my good friends.

Easton was prepared, though, and managed to dodge the punch. "Is that really all you've got? You've gone soft, man," Easton taunted.

I saw red, and like a bull, I charged my friend. We both crashed to the floor, sending chairs and tables skittering across the open space.

"I'm not hiding." Despite years of training in the military and being one of the best hand-to-hand-combat fighters of the group, I was throwing haymakers without a care in the world if I actually connected with anything.

I was too busy letting out years of built-up frustration. "You don't know anything."

I threw punch after punch, but I was too far gone to realize Easton wasn't fighting back. He was protecting his face, but no punches were being thrown my way. In fact, the bastard was too busy laughing beneath me.

"What the fuck is going on here?" Aaron's booming voice gave me enough pause that Easton snuck in one really good swing and connected with my jaw.

"Ah, motherfucker. You sucker punched me."

I shook off the hit and glared down at my friend. The corner of his mouth was bleeding and a bruise was already forming on his right cheek.

"You deserved that," Easton said on a laugh. "Kati is going to be so pissed at you."

I moved off my friend and plopped my ass on the floor. Then I thought about my friend's girl, and paled. She was going to be pissed that I messed up Easton's face.

"Are either of you going to tell me what the hell is going on?" Aaron demanded.

"Our boy Lex here needed to get some of his frustration out."

I glared at my friend.

"So you offered up your face and decided to destroy our office in the process."

I looked around the space. Chairs were overturned. One of the tables was on its side. Probably from being pushed out of the way too hard. Papers were scattered throughout, and even a laptop was tipping precariously on the edge of another table.

Oops.

"Did it help?" Easton looked at me.

With a deep sigh, I explained that the night terrors I was used to having were getting worse. And then I told them how I woke up with my hands around Nancy's neck.

It was the first time I’d talked to anyone besides Maverick about what was going on with me.

Easton let out a slow whistle and Aaron frowned when he asked, "Why didn't you say anything before this?"

I lifted my shoulders. "I didn't want to burden anyone. And honestly, I thought I could handle it. As long as I kept my mind busy enough, I was good."

"But Willow Creek doesn't give you that," Easton rightfully surmised.

I shook my head.

"So what do you plan on doing now?"

I gave Aaron's question some serious thought. "I'm going to go to Divot and make sure Nancy's okay. Then I'm going to find someone to talk to. Because maybe what everyone’s been saying is true. Maybe it wasn't my fault."

A week ago, I never would've considered getting help for my night terrors. But that was before Nancy came into my life. Now I had a reason to work through my issues, and maybe, for once, settle down in a place for more than a few months.

We all laughed when Easton looked at Aaron and said, "Yup, it helped."