Page 155 of Double Standards

“Some thug tried to beat me out of an arrest,” she answers vaguely. “You should see the other guy.”

“Shit. You’re okay though, right?” I don’t bother hiding my concern. I couldn’t if I tried. These hormones have bulldozed my emotional filters.

Sometimes I worry about her job. Worry that it’s wearing her down. When she shows up like this, battered and bruised, I wonder when she’ll hit her breaking point—if one day I won’t recognize the Lexie I’ve always known.

“Enough about me!” Lexie slams her menu down, clearly eager to pivot. She hates attention, especially when it exposes things she wants hidden. “You said you had something to tell me!”

“Right,” I murmur, eyes dropping to the menu in my hands, avoiding her stare.

“Cass,” she almost growls.

“So, I’m…” I fumble with the edge of my napkin, tearing little pieces off it. I thought I’d be more nervous telling Axel, but apparently, this is worse. Her glare behind those oversized sunglasses makes my throat close up. “Pregnant,” I breathe out.

Her mouth drops open. Even with her bug-eyed shades, I can see her eyes nearly bulging from her skull.

“You’re… pregnant?” she echoes. “Like with a baby?”

“Pregnancies tend to involve babies, yes.”

“Who’s the father?” she asks, innocence mocking in her voice. A poor attempt at humor.

“Lexie,” I warn, smiling despite myself.

“Axel knows, right?” Her expression shifts, concern overtaking disbelief. No matter how frustrated she might be, she’ll always have my back.

“Yeah, he’s actually really happy. Over the moon, in fact,” I beam.

“Axel, one of The Five, is over the moon?” she sighs. Her disbelief is palpable, and warranted. I’d feel the same if I hadn’t been the one to hear the soft, stunned wonder in his voice that night.

I nod, and finally, she relaxes. Whether it’s because she can see how truly happy I am, or because she’s finally accepting that this thing between Axel and me is real and lasting, I don’t know. But when her lips twitch into a smirk, I see that spark of excitement in her eyes.

“It better be a girl,” she teases, arms folded, leaning back in her chair. “And you better name her after me.”

“They,” I add.

She blinks. “Twins?”

“Twins,” I grin, unable to contain the joy in my voice.

It was a surprise, stacked on top of the first, but the moment the doctor told us, Axel looked like he could’ve floated off the ground. We agreed in that moment not to find out the genders until the birth. Though Axel’s already convinced we’re having boys—wishful thinking, if you ask me.

“Well, you have to name one of them after me,” Lexiedeclares like I have no say in the matter—which I probably don’t.

“Sure,” I laugh, trying to keep the mood light. “I’ll tell Axel. I’m sure he’ll be delighted.”

Lexie rolls her eyes so hard I’m surprised they don’t fall out of her head. “Like I care what he thinks.”

There’s a beat of silence, tense and familiar, and I force a smile that doesn’t quite reach my eyes. “You know, you might actually like him if you got to know him.”

The words hang there longer than I intend. It comes out casual, but underneath, it’s not. It stings more than I want to admit—this mutual disdain between the two people I care about most. I feel like I’m always caught in the middle, trying to stitch two worlds together that were never meant to overlap.

Lexie snorts, leaning back in her chair. “Does he want to get to know me?”

Her voice is sharp, but not cruel. Just honest. And it cuts deeper than I expect.

I pause, because I don’t have a good answer. Axel hasn’t exactly made an effort. He’s polite—vaguely—but that’s about as far as he goes. And Lexie, understandably, has never made it easy for him. Still, hearing it laid out like that, so plainly, makes something twist in my gut.

“I’ve not asked but?—”