Page 97 of Nothing to This

“You relegated him to the apartment,” Lilya said.“Why aren’t you staying in the Grand with us?”

A sly, smug smile lit the woman’s lips.“We have memories in that apartment… And I like to watch him take out the trash.”

“Make him work for it, huh?It’s because he’s the only guy, isn’t it?We’re intimidating, I get it.With Z, Knox, and Zach in California, JD too, Rourke can’t handle all of us.”

“He can’t handle Roux when they have an audience,” Lilya said.“Just standing next to the two of you feels X-rated.”

“Xavien,” she said.“Xavien Rourke, that’s who you’re with?”

“Yep.Begrudgingly.He’s rich and hung, that’s really what it is.And he buys wine, lots of liquor actually, keeps me lubed so I don’t wander off.I don’t know how I put up with him.”

She laughed.“Your secret’s safe.”

Brazen, Roux blinked.“Oh no, he knows it.I can’t stand him; the feeling is mutual.If it wasn’t for the sex, we’d murder each other.”

“Or yourselves to prove a point.”

Uh, okay.That was a setup probably impossible to figure out.Roux disappeared into her phone, so she moved onto the other women.

She pointed at Lilya.“Zachary Kintyre.”And got a nod, so switched to Roxie.“We know you’re with Zairn.”Everyone nodded along.“You know who I’d be fascinated to learn more about?”

When she landed her attention on Jane, the others followed.

The meek woman blushed.“What?”

“Knox,” Lilya said.“She wants to know more about your guy.”

“He’s uh… amazing.Incredible.I’m so lucky to—”

“You’ll never get dirt from Jane.”Roxie sighed.“She doesn’t know the meaning of the word.Honestly, the kind and gracious thing is completely genuine.And, alas, the only antidote is loving her.Try as you might, you’ll never be able to dislike her, it’ll never happen.”

“Knox is private,” Jane whispered.

“Doesn’t mean you can’t gush,” Roux said without looking up from her screen, “if that’s, you know, what regular folks do.”

Roxie and Lilya laughed.“I would love to hear you gush about Rourke.”

“Oh, okay…” Putting her phone aside, Roux sat up on the edge of the couch and cleared her throat.“Xavie baby, is uh…” Her jaw moved, she pondered until she hit on something.“I said he was rich, right?”

“You mentioned it, yeah.”

“And his cock—”

“He’s hung, yeah, you said that too…”

“Okay, uh…” She snapped her fingers.“He knows how to drive a stick.”

They all laughed.

“That could have so many meanings.”

“Oh no, I’m a better driver there, and his stick isalwaysunder my control,” Roux said and sipped some more wine.“We know each other’s guys, for better or worse, we don’t know yours.”

In the spotlight, she was quick to shake her head.“No, JD and I aren’t… We’re not together.”

Roxie raised a hand.“Been there…”

“Done that,” Lilya finished.