The Lemon Drop Kid by Josh Lanyon

Author:Josh Lanyon [Lanyon, Josh]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: LGBT suspense, LGBT romance, Lgbt MYSTERY
Publisher: JustJoshin Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2024-02-27T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

“Dax?”

“I think so.”

Raleigh said in disbelief. “Your pal Dashiel Reid?”

“Same.”

“The guy with a girl in every charging station? Dax was seeing Astrid?”

“Probably more of her than I want to think about.”

“Do you have any proof of that? Any—”

“No. But I’m pretty sure.”

Raleigh made a faint sound—probably disappointment. “Okay, well, I can’t do much with feelings. Why do you feel they were having an affair?” He added, “Honestly, the words Dax and affair don’t even go together in my mind. He’s always been more of wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am guy. Whereas Astrid…”

Truth.

I said, “It’s not just that he seems older, different. Something’s changed inside him.”

“You’ve been gone eleven months,” Raleigh said gently. “You’re going to see some changes.”

“I know. But that’s not what I mean. He’s not seeing anyone right now. But it’s not like he’s between girls. He’s acting more like someone trying to get over a bad breakup. Someone who’s still invested. And he didn’t want to talk about it.”

“Okay. Well.”

It sounded pretty thin, I knew. But I kept trying to put what I sensed into words. “He seems more hostile to Malcolm. We used to both sort of…”

“Dismiss him,” Raleigh said.

My gaze flashed to his. I made a face. “Yeah, probably. But now, Dax seems more aggressive. It’s not overt, but I can feel it. And he’s more defensive of Astrid. It’s hard for him to talk about her.”

“It’s hard for you to talk about her.”

I nodded. It was painful. Less painful than when I thought she’d closed the chapter on me. “Yes, and she was like a big sister to Dax for a long time. But when we got in our teens, they actually were more like friends. They used to joke around, tease each other. I knew he had a little bit of a thing for her. I never dreamed it would be reciprocated.”

Raleigh was silent, thinking. “I mean, there’s not much to go on, but I’ll check into it.” He said it kindly, so he was mostly humoring me.

“I think he’d probably admit it if I asked him directly. Maybe.”

His gaze sharpened. “You think so?”

I nodded.

“Because when I told him I was looking into her death, he played dumb.”

“I think he’d tell me.”

Raleigh looked doubtful, but he said, “That would certainly be helpful.”

The clock suddenly chimed two. Had we really been talking for hours?

Raleigh glanced at his watch, as though verifying the hour. He said tiredly, “It’s late. I should go.”

I nodded.

Neither of us moved.

It was painful to acknowledge how much I didn’t want him to go.

Into the silence stretching between us, Raleigh said to the floor, “Unless you want to take mercy on me and let me sleep here?”

I stared at him in disbelief.

He glanced sideways, and actually smiled, though it was a lopsided smile. “I’m not an idiot. I mean actually let me sleep here. It’s not like I’ve never spent the night on this couch before.”

No, he’d slept on the sofa when I had flu. I’d slept on the sofa when he’d wrenched his back chasing down and tackling a Peeping Tom.

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