Remember Ivy from End Game? Well, she's back with her own story. But don't worry if you haven't read End Game, this can be read as a standalone.
We follow Ivy as she returns to London having been offered a job at Risk, the Kink Club owned by Za...
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~ ~ Josh ~ ~
Jogging downstairs, I'd actually slept much better than expected. Last night, after the prick had left, I'd iced my hand, and me and Alex had grabbed a beer and just kicked back with a film—not the X-rated kind.
Alex had been quiet, a little too quiet, so I thought it best not to push the conversation in the direction I wanted it to go.
But that was last night and fingers crossed this morning, we could talk.
Or at least that was the plan.
"What's up?" I said by way of greeting when I walked into the kitchen to find Alex's forehead furrowed and buried in his laptop. His hair was all over the place and day old stubble was visible because weirdly, Alex was quite fair - blond on top, but his stubble had a ginger tinge to it. I loved it. It was just another of those things that made Alex—Alex.
Loved it? Yeah, I loved him and every time the thought passed through my head it lit up a stupid and maybe slightly crazy looking grin.
"Kettle j-j-just boiled," he announced, not looking up from the screen.
I walked past the table and snatched up his mug on the way. "You want another?"
"Mmm, yeah," he answered absently.
"Everything okay?" I asked, keeping my question on the general side, because although he told me heard a voice in his head up until last night he'd never mentioned it, so why would I start making a big deal about it now?
He made a non-committal sound, which wasn't unusual for him either, so I let it drop.
Rinsing out his mug and grabbing mine from the drainer, I set about to make our drinks. Humming to myself, I returned with our drinks in hand and sat next to him at the table. "What's going on?" Craning my neck to look at his screen.
It was a website that listed services for security and locksmiths.
"Every time that arsehole shows up here, I say to myself—change the locks, Alex." He shook his head, his chest rising sharply. "And every time I-I don't. So I'm fixing that right now." He picked up his mug of coffee. "A guy will be here later t-t-today." He slurped his drink. "What do y-you think of a camera on the door? The monitor can go over there on the wall." He pointed, and I followed his gaze.
"Yeah, sounds good."
His head swung my way. "How's y-y-your hand?" he gestured with a dip of his head.
I lifted it, wiggling my fingers. "Stiff, but okay,"
Alex winced. "Christ, Josh. It bruised your knuckles!"
They made hitting someone in the movies look so freaking easy. "It's nothing. Looks worse than what it is."
He reached out and cradled it. "Y-y-you sure we don't need to get it checked out?"
