Page 62 of Wild Boys After Dark: Logan
“Really, Dex. Imagine if you’d met your hero at that age.” Sage ran his hand through his hair and shook his head.
“I’m no hero.” Dex’s eyes were trained on the woman across the bar. Ellie Parker. His mouth went dry.
“Dex?” Sage followed his gaze. “Holy shit.”
There was a time when Ellie had been everything to him. She’d lived in a foster home around the corner from him when they were growing up, and she’d moved away just before graduating high school. Dex’s mind catapulted back thirteen years, to his bedroom at his parents’ house. “In the End” by Linkin Park was playing on the radio. Siena had a handful of girlfriends over, and she’d gotten the notion that playing Truth or Dare was a good idea. At thirteen, Dex had gone along with whatever his popular and beautiful sister had wanted him to. She was the orchestrator of their social lives. He hadn’t exactly been a cool teenager, with his nose constantly in a book or his hands on electronics. That had changed when testosterone filled his veins two years later, but at thirteen, even the idea of being close to a girl made him feel as though he might pass out. He’d retreated to his bedroom, and that had been the first night Ellie had appeared at his window.
“Hey, Dex.” Regina followed his gaze to Ellie’s table; her eyes moved over her fidgeting fingers and her bouncing leg. “Nervous Nelly?” she teased.
Dex rose to his feet. His stomach clenched.
“Dude, we’re supposed to have a meeting. There’s still more to talk about,” Mitch said.
Sage’s voice was serious. “Bro, you sure you wanna go there?”
With Sage’s warning, Dex’s pulse sped up. His mind jumped back again to the last time he’d seen her, four years earlier, when Ellie had called him out of the blue. She’d needed him. He’d thought the pieces of his life had finally fallen back into place. Ellie had come to New York, scared of what, he had no idea, and she’d stayed with him for two days and nights. Dex had fallen right back into the all-consuming, adoring, frustrating vortex that was Ellie Parker. “Yeah, I know. I gotta…” See if that’s really her.
“Dex?” Regina grabbed his arm.
He placed his hand gently over her spindly fingers and unfurled them from his wrist. He read the confusion in her narrowed eyes. Regina didn’t know about Ellie Parker. No one knows about Ellie Parker. Except Sage. Sage knows. He glanced over his shoulder at Sage, unable to wrap his mind around the right words.
“Holy hell,” Sage said. “I’ve gotta take off in a sec anyway. Go, man. Text me when you can.”
Dex nodded.
“What am I missing here?” Regina asked, looking between Sage and Dex.
Regina was protective of Dex in the same way that Siena always had been. They both worried he’d be taken advantage of. In the three years Dex had known Regina, he could count on one hand the number of times he’d approached a woman in front of her, rather than the other way around. It would take Dex two hands to count the number of times he’d been taken advantage of in the past few years, and Regina’s eyes mirrored that reality. Regina didn’t know it, but of all the women in the world, Ellie was probably the one he needed protection from the most.
He put his hand on her shoulder, feeling her sharp bones against his palm. There had been a time when Dex had wondered if Regina was a heavy drug user. Her lanky body reminded him of strung-out users, but Regina was skinny because she survived on beer, Twizzlers, and chocolate, with the occasional veggie burger thrown in for good measure.
“Yeah. I think I see an old friend. I’ll catch up with you guys later.” Dex lifted his gaze to Mitch. “Midnight?”
“Whatever, dude. Don’t let me cock block you.” Mitch laughed.
“She’s an old…not a…never mind.” My onetime best friend? As he crossed the floor, all the love he felt for her came rushing back. He stopped in the middle of the crowded floor and took a deep breath. It’s really you. In the next breath, his body remembered the heartbreak of the last time he’d seen her. The time he’d never forget. When he’d woken up four years ago and found her gone—no note, no explanation, and no contact since. Just like she’d done once before when they were kids. The sharp, painful memory pierced his swollen heart. He’d tried so hard to forget her, he’d even moved out of the apartment to distance himself from the memories. He should turn away, return to his friends. Ellie would only hurt him again. He was rooted to the floor, his heart tugging him forward, his mind holding him back.
