Page 172 of Composed
Co-dependent? Yeah, probably.
Changing any time soon? Fuck no.
Pretty hard to separate when you’re this deep into doing life together.
“For you.” Axel pushes two tequila bottles into my hands before he plucks a spoon from the open drawer and dips it into the home-made salsa. His eyes widen as he presses it to his tongue. “Fucking hell fire. This is the shit. If you don’t wife Rix up asap, I’m gonna slide in and do it myself.”
He reaches for the pot again.
“Don’t double dip, you twat.” I shove him out the way. “God knows where your mouth has been.”
He snorts and grabs a Corona from the ice bucket. “Nowhere, unfortunately.”
“And why is that?” I hike a brow, a smirk lifting the corner of my mouth. “I can’t remember the last time you went this long without a shag.”
“No reason. Just not feeling it.”
“Hmm.”
He keeps his expression blank as he looks at me. “What?”
“Nothing.” I shake my head, chuckling under my breath. “Wouldn’t have anything to do with the pretty red head currently staying across the hall, would it?”
He snatches up a tea towel and flicks my bicep with it. “No. Riley and I are friends, thank you very much.”
“If you say so.”
Pretty sure Axel has never had a friend outside of us that he hasn’t ended up banging.
“I say so.” He whistles as his beer cap sails into the bin.
“Why are you here anyway?”
“Bored. I was supposed to be on terror duty, but Theo took them to the dance studio.”
A tutting sound comes from the doorway.
Axel spins to the intrusion, grinning wide when Noah steps into my place.
She props a hand on her hip, arching a brow. “Are you lot still calling my babies terrors?”
“Always.” Axel bounds across the room and drapes his arm over her shoulders. “Hey, Mumma. Didn’t know you were back.”
“Just a flying visit. I wanted to see my babies before we head to Italy next week.” She grins up at him.
Dressed in all black, tattoos covering her neck and hands, fire-red hair twisted into some kind of half-up do, she looks every bit the metal guitarist she is.
“Figured I’d stop in and say hello while I wait for them to get back," she says.
“You staying for dinner?” I ask her.
“Tempting.” She sniffs the air, lips twisting in amusement. “But I don’t trust you guys to cook after Saint gave me food poisoning when I was four weeks post-partum. Never did forgive him for that.”
Axel clicks his tongue. “I warned you.”
“You did, and I should’ve listened.” She bumps Axel’s shoulder, laughing as she shrugs him off.
She saunters through the space like she owns it. She always does when she’s around. Even though she and Carter never tried to make a romantic relationship work between them, she’s been a part of this family since the day she rocked up with that pregnancy test and threw all our lives into disarray.
