Lex unexpected book 5, p.1
Lex (Unexpected Book 5), page 1
LEX
CORA ROSE
CREDITS
Editor: Angela O’Connell
Cover photography by Michelle Lancaster @lanefotograf
Copyright © 2022 by Cora Rose
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
To my best friend Prosecco for making this a little easier and a lot more fun.
CONTENTS
Introduction
Preface
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Epilogue
Afterword
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Also by Cora Rose
INTRODUCTION
The individual characters depicted in this book are fictional and are not meant to represent any particular group, identity, or sexuality. After all, everyone experiences love and attraction differently. This is Lex and William’s story. Enjoy!
PREFACE
Lex, you snarky bitch. I drank copious amounts of wine to write this. You didn’t let your story unfold easily.
But I gave you a happy ending anyway, asshole. You deserve it.
So you’re welcome.
You can thank me later.
CHAPTER ONE
LEX
“Brenda, why are you so wiggly?” I sigh loudly, my gloved hands trying to hold her head still. “You’re ninety years old. You should not be moving this much. You’re going to break a hip or something.”
She wiggles some more, and I purse my lips, trying to apply the last of the hair dye to her bobbing head.
Brenda chuckles a little, her mouth quirking into a sassy smile. “Ninety’s not that old. Plus, I’ll be sitting still when I’m dead. Got to move while I still can.”
“Do not talk about dying,” I mutter as I squeeze the last of the red dye onto her white hair. “You’re going to live another thirty years. I looked it up. It’s possible.”
She smiles up at me and I blink down at her. I’m not fucking joking. Brenda will live forever if I have anything to do with it. I’m going to go all mad scientist on this shit. I have the goggles and everything. I could probably even manage the wacky hair too if I put some effort into it.
Brenda chuffs a laugh. “You’re a hoot, Lex.”
I sniff. “Yes, I know I am. I happen to know this about myself. I crack myself up all the time.”
She resumes wiggling and I just sigh, letting her. In a way, she reminds me of my best friend, Emery. That guy never sits still. He’s a human pogo stick. Maybe that’s why I love her so damn much. Is it possible for old ladies to have ADHD? Is that a thing?
“My grandson is so different from you, and yet, you’re so alike. I can’t wait for you two to meet. You will be electric together,” she says after a moment.
Oh, I’ve heard all about her grandson—the elusive asshole who makes no time to visit his grandma. No, that dick just left her here to rot while he travels the United States, living the high life. He’s in Florida right now, supposedly doing some accounting work. She has shown me all the pictures he sends. There is no way that man is hunched over a calculator crunching numbers.
Nope, that juicy hunk of man-meat has left his grandma here alone while he fucks his way across the country. I can almost guarantee it because my accountants have never looked like that.
Listen, here’s my issue with this asshole. If I had a family member, anyone like Brenda, I’d never leave them. I would have a hard time even going on vacation. I would probably take them with me…just straight up buy an RV and tote them around.
As it is, I have cameras all over the hallways of this facility, making sure they’re all safe. No one is hurting my ladies. If they do, I know of ways to dispose of bodies. With just a press of a button, they’d disappear without a trace, never to be found.
“Well, I don’t know if I want to meet him,” I reply. But there’s no conviction in my voice because the truth is, if Brenda wants us to meet, we’ll meet. Like I’d ever say no to her. “Oh, for fuck’s sake. Stop scratching your head. Jesus, now look. Your fingers are red. It looks like you’ve murdered someone.”
Her pale blue eyes meet mine and she smiles. “Lex, you’re much too bossy. I have seventy years on you. You can’t tell me what to do. We’ve been over this.”
“Well, I boss you around anyways, and you always listen to me. Plus, you told me you love me. Too bad, so sad, you’re stuck with me. I was love deprived as a child.” I gently place a shower cap over the top of her head just as there’s a faint knock on the door.
Brenda moves to get up and I hiss at her to sit her ass down. These ladies are all over the place. Goddammit, if one of them falls….
As it is, Brenda’s walker sits discarded in the corner. I bought it for her three months ago and she uses it to house her potted plants. I’m a little insulted, to be honest. That thing has fucking all-terrain wheels on it.
I walk the ten feet to the door and wrench it open.
“Vikki, Martha, what a lovely fucking surprise,” I say, and Vikki giggles, pulling me into a tight hug.
“How’s my boy?” she asks and my heart warms. Yeah, I’ve never been anyone’s boy. My mom was a crack addict who loved getting high more than she loved me, and my dad is in prison for life. I’ve never met the dude. Honestly, I’ve felt more parental love in the last six months from these three women than I have in my entire life. So, sue me for sticking around. My therapist says I need to fill that hypothetical affection jar inside of me. And let me tell you, it’s pretty fucking full at the moment.
Who would have thought that installing the security cameras and upgrading the Wi-Fi at a senior living facility would lead me down this path to finally finding a family?
Not me, that’s who.
“Martha, love the hair,” I say, admiring the bright silver locks I’d dyed two days ago. We match now. “I’m dying Brenda’s right now. It’s blood red.”
“How creepy. Can’t wait to see it,” Martha says and pulls me in for a long hug. When we pull apart, I show them inside, holding onto Martha since she seems a little wobblier these days.
Goddammit, why couldn’t I have met them ten years ago? Even a year ago would have been better than this. Why does it feel like each day they grow older and older? What the fuck am I going to do if one of them ever…? I shove the thought away.
Not happening. Thirty more years for each. I decree it.
I make them each a cup of green tea as they settle into their seats, chitchatting about whatever the fuck is going on around here. I’ve researched this shit and it’s the healthiest. I’m trying to get them to commit to being a vegetarian like me, but Martha holds onto meat like a caveman and Vikki gives two fucks about her health.
Brenda is the last holdout. I’m this close to bringing her over to the dark side.
Although the other day I heard her whisper filthy things to a piece of steak before she bit into it, so perhaps I’m not as close as I think I am.
“Have you heard about George and Nalda?” Vikki asks, and I crane my neck to hear from my spot in the small kitchen. Yeah, I’m a nosy bitch. The drama in this place can be fucking nuts. Who knew old people acted like crazed teenagers? “The two of them are finally together now.”
“No shit,” I mutter to myself, grabbing the cups and bringing them over to the small living area. Each apartment is tiny enough that these folks can move about with minimal effort and with my long legs, I can usually move from the kitchen to the bedroom in less than six strides. The furniture is sparse too. There’s just enough to keep them happy but not too much that it becomes a tripping hazard.
As I pass the mugs out, I warn, “Don’t burn your tongues, okay? I didn’t make it that hot, but…dammit, Brenda, why are you gulping it like that? What did I just say?”
She smiles at me saucily. That little minx, always causing trouble, giving me heart attacks and shit. When you’re that old, you don’t heal as well. For fuck’s sake, yesterday, she told me she wanted a tattoo. I’d about keeled over from the shock of it. I’d told her absolutely not, there’s a high risk of infection.
She’d just rolled her eyes. She doesn’t take me seriously at all. If she sneaks out and does something wild like that, I may have to resort to extreme measures. I don’t know what that would look like yet, but I will figure it out. It will have to be enough to deter her, but not actually hurt her. She’s getting a tattoo over my dead body.
“Well, good for those two. You’re never too old for love,” Martha says, ignoring my little rant about safety risks.
“Or to get it on,” Vikki adds, blowing into her mug and then sipping at it.
I shudder a little imagining two old wrinkly people fucking as I kick my feet up and eye my phone. I gotta make sure to rinse Brenda’s hair in a few. It will take her a hot minute to hobble over to the bathroom too. She moves slower than molasses.
Three months ago, I caved and bought a portable salon chair to use in t heir bathrooms so they don’t hurt their backs when I rinse the dye out. Yeah, yeah, there’s a salon in this place, but I do it better, and I give them the wild colors they’ve all been fawning over.
Tattoos are a no-go, but I’ll keep making their hair bright and colorful if they want.
“And did you hear about how Fred tried to hide that prostitute under his bed last week? They’re talking about kicking him out now,” Martha says.
“Serves him right,” Vikki replies. “He should have never shoved that poor lady under there. Treat her with a little respect. At least offer her the closet or the pantry.”
I eye the two of them and Martha pats me on the knee. “Enough about them. What have you been up to today, love?”
“Just total world domination,” I snark and then nudge Brenda a little. “I hung out with this lady here for a bit. Took her to breakfast. I tried texting you two, but neither of you answered your phones and you didn’t answer your doors either.”
“We were busy,” Martha says, and I raise an eyebrow at them.
“Doing what?”
“I was sewing those pajamas for you and Vikki was listening to that audiobook you gave her.”
I swell with happiness that Vikki is actually using the subscription I got her. She was an avid reader up until recently when her eyesight started to go. And of course, as soon as I’d heard, I came to the rescue. I talked with her daughter and got her a simple cell phone with one app on it.
It took her a while to get the hang of it, but now she has her headphones in most days, listening to the books I’ve downloaded for her. And let me tell you, they are naughty books. I wholeheartedly approve.
I glance down at my phone. “Alright, Brenda, it’s time to rinse.”
I stand and help Brenda up from the couch, guiding her to the bathroom and into the salon chair.
“You’re going to love this,” I say as I gently lean her back and rinse the color from her hair.
As I’m watching the water turn from clear to red, Brenda’s eyes close and she falls asleep for a bit. She’s been falling asleep more often, recently. I don’t know what that means, but it makes me fucking nervous. I did all the Googling on it and it seems like it’s normal, but I’m not taking any chances. I’m going to get her in to see a doctor soon.
I condition her hair, then rinse it once more, and as I’m massaging the towel over her head, I say, “Alright, lady. Time to wakey, wakey.”
She snorts awake with a jolt and blinks up at me.
“You woke me from a great dream.”
“Do not tell me this dream, Bren. My brain can’t handle it.”
She grins at me, and I roll my eyes. Let me tell you, I don’t embarrass easily, but shit, the things Brenda spewed last week after she’d woken from a nap. I admit I was slightly disgusted, but also intrigued. I do not know the shenanigans Brenda got up to in her past life, but fuck, she seems like she was a force to be reckoned with.
“Let me blow dry you and then we can make you look like the fucking supermodel you are.”
It’s her turn to roll her eyes to the ceiling, but still, she lets me fuss around with her hair until it’s styled just the way she likes.
When we move back into the other room, Vikki is fiddling with the TV remote and Martha is staring at her phone, frowning at the screen.
I help Brenda sit down and then lower myself next to Martha.
“What did you do?” I ask because with these ladies it’s always something.
She sighs heavily, the weight of the world on her shoulders. “I swiped on this message from Hannah, and it disappeared. I can’t fucking find it.”
I pry the phone from her fingers. “Let me show you where it went,” I say, pushing a few buttons and then explaining how to retrieve it. She’s listening intently, but she won’t remember how to do this. This isn’t the first time I’ve explained it. It’s why most of my messages sit unread until I arrive at their places, open up the app, and read them out loud.
I don’t know why I even bother texting.
Calling is never a sure thing either. Most of the time they don’t remember to actually have their phones on them. Or even on.
“You’re a godsend,” she cries, snatching her phone back and staring at the message on the screen.
“Your son got you a phone that is too hard for you to use.”
“I know. This is space-age stuff, Lex. Star Trek has nothing on this.”
I snort a laugh. “It is. I’ll research and find something better and easier for you to use.”
“Good,” she says, turning the phone off and stuffing it in her bra. “Vikki, find us something fun to watch before I die of boredom.”
These ladies better stop talking about dying. I can’t fucking stand it…makes me anxious.
Vikki eyes me and winks, reading my mind. “We have years, Lexy. Years.”
And god, I fucking hope so. I don’t want to have finally found my people, only for them to be ripped from this earth. My heart couldn’t handle it. My mom died three years ago, and I could give two shits. She was an awful mom and a terrible person. But the thought of Brenda, Martha, or Vikki not waking up one day makes my stomach churn.
Or hell, slowly getting dementia and forgetting all about me.
I’ve had nightmares about that.
“How about this one?” Vikki asks, pointing to the TV. “Looks raunchy.”
I’ll watch anything right now. I need to stop thinking about this depressing shit.
Two hours later, I kick my feet off the coffee table and stand up.
“Alright, guys. I’ve got stuff to do, so I have to get going. Plus, you all need your naps. See you tomorrow?”
“See you tomorrow,” they chime, and I bend over hugging each of them before pressing a kiss to Brenda’s cheek. I adore them all, but fuck, Brenda is something special. There is just something about her that calls to me on a deeper level.
She and I are soulmates of sorts. If I ever had a mother, a real mother who cared for me the way she should have, she’d have been just like Brenda. She’s everything I’d want in a parent—kind, loving, accepting, and just an overall wonderful person.
How she managed to have a grandson like she does, I’ll never know.
“Bye,” I say.
“I love you,” she says softly, and I blink furiously, my eyes stinging.
She told me that two months ago and continues to tell me every time I see her, and I still can’t get used to it. It makes my heart palpitate every damn time.
I don’t think anyone in my life has said it to me. Ever. Until her.
I still don’t understand how someone can give that out so freely. It’s sacred. But she did. She gave it to me.
“Love you too,” I reply, the words always coming out choked.
Well, fuck me. I can never quite get them out without my voice wobbling. For some reason, it just makes me want to sob like a baby.
The truth is, I did sob the first time she said it to me. I made it to my car, grabbed onto the steering wheel, and wept.
But I can’t do that every time she says it; I need to keep it together. Lexington Cavanaugh only cries when absolutely necessary. I have Teflon skin. I am a motherfucking lizard person.
“Text me if you need me,” I say, and then realize none of them actually will. I don’t know why I even bother saying anything. I’ll check on them when I get home.
Like I said—video cameras everywhere. Well, except for in their apartments. I draw the line there. I don’t want to be a total creeper and I know that Martha walks around without her bra on. She told me so.
My eyes do not need to see that.
As I’m making my way out the door, I nearly stumble into a man hovering in the hallway. He startles a little when I nearly plow into him, and then offers me a soft smile.
