Page 72 of Wanted

“Really?” I inquired, tilting my head to the side.

“What can I say? My heart is big,” Alex responded coyly.

His smile was back, warming me up inside. I needed that desperately. I couldn’t give in to my bad habits. My fingers trembled whenever my thoughts drifted to the treats I could take to make myself feel better. Alex’s property was huge. It was bigger than all three of the houses on my street back in Katantia. I could sneak into the room Fylox where he hid his stash, and I could steal…

“Baby, that was an interlude for you to make a joke about what else is big about me. Have you lost your humor?” he asked, scooting closer to me. He was now between my legs, looking up at me with his heartwarming eyes.

“I want to get high,” I told him. His eyes widened. “I’m not very focused on what’s big or not right now.”

“Fylox?”

“We’re under strict orders not to give her anything,” Fylox stated. He picked up the ball, and he dribbled once again. He was imitating moves that Alex performed on the television. I remembered them although I had no idea about this sport.

“Pretty please? With a cherry on top? I’ve been clean for four months and a couple of weeks. I deserve a little something,” I begged, feeling utterly pathetic. That heart of mine didn’t want to stop thumping nervously. My skin erupted in sweat, and my limbs shook. I found myself back in square one. “I won’t bother you again. I’ll be gone for a couple of hours, and then when I return, I’ll be back to my good self.”

Alex grabbed my knees, pulling them further apart.

“We could give you something else, you know.”

“Trust me, I know.”

“Stop this nonsense,” Fylox said nonchalantly. He held the ball in his hand, stepping towards us. “You’re just moaning around because you’re furious that Mandy is gone. You’ll be fine in a couple of days. I’ve seen it before.”

I rolled my eyes. “It’s not every day that your loved one ends up in the hospital, awaiting their surgery.”

“Oh, she’s had her surgery, and she’s fine now,” Fylox revealed, and my jaw dropped. I crossed my arms in front of my chest, pouting. Fylox threw the ball into the carriage, where all the other balls were accumulated. Then he sat down next to me on the bench. “Pouting isn’t a good look on a princess.”

“A princess doesn’t like being lied to.”

“We’re not lying to you. We’re just omitting the truth.”

Alex rubbed my knees with his hands. They cupped me and then some. His fingers were long as fuck. “Let’s go take a shower.”

“I like my privacy, thank you very much,” Fylox announced, picking up one of the water bottles. He emptied it. I gawked at his Adam’s apple bopping, and I felt little to no shame.

“What if we played?” I proposed.

“You don’t like playing in the bathroom,” Alex reminded me, but I shook my head.

Fylox dropped the bottle. He stared at me. I stared right back at him. There were no words exchanged. I didn’t want to trust Fylox, but I did. And now he knew.

“Pick her up. Let’s go take a shower.”

“Together?” Alex asked, confused. “But…”

“It’s for her. I won’t be triggered. I’m good,” Fylox reassured Alex, but I felt the doubts seeping in.

The friends nodded at each other, and before I could utter the word threesome, Alex picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. I kicked at him out of reflex. When his hand groped my ass, I stopped moving, and I bit my lip.

Alex waltzed out of the court with ease in his step. “You and he have more in common than you realize.”

“Yeah?” I was breathless, panting on top of him as he carried me around. I had never been manhandled like this; I was too big for anyone in my periphery. Not even Aram had ever tried to carry me over his shoulder, and I had done enough shit to piss him off.

“Fylox usually breaks down if I’m there. He has flashbacks or something. He gets delusions that I’m there to attack him. He doesn’t see me. He sees somebody else,” Alex explained. He started climbing the stairs, and I feared that I’d hit my head against the wall. As if he felt my fear, Alex minded his step, cocking his head to the side to check on me.

The walls outside of his trophy room slash office were covered in historical figures. I had studied some of them, like Martin Luther King Jr. Alex promised to teach me about all of them like he’d taught Fylox after he returned from his abusers.

“And you’re telling me this to prepare me for another hit in the head?” I deadpanned.