Page 55 of Reckless Obsession

“Barely,” Tyler shoots back. “I’m fighting for my life over here.”

Lucas’s quiet sigh filters through, the kind that carries more patience than words ever could.

“Can you two not do that right now?” he says, and I can almost picture him rolling his eyes.

I huff out another laugh, pushing myself up to sit, resting my forearms loosely on my knees.

“So,” I say, glancing down at the floor, my tone shifting just slightly, “you’re really not mad?”

“No,” Lucas answers without hesitation, and there’s something in the way he says it that makes it settle deeper than anything louder ever could. “You had a moment. It doesn’t change anything.”

A moment. That’s one way to describe what happened at Alex’s penthouse.

“I haven’t talked to Alex,” I admit after a second, my voice lower now, stripped of most of the sarcasm. “I don’t… know how to.”

There’s a brief silence on the other end, not awkward, not heavy—just space. Lucas has always been like that. He doesn’t rush to fill it. He just lets it exist until you’re ready.

“You will,” he says finally, gentle but firm. “You both just need time.”

I hum quietly, not agreeing, not disagreeing. Just… existing in the middle of it.

“Do you wanna come over?” Lucas asks.

“I can’t come to the penthouse.” I say immediately.

“I’m not there,” he replies. “I’m at my place.”

I close my eyes briefly, dragging a hand through my hair.

“Yeah,” I murmur. “Probably.”

There’s a shift in the background, like Tyler’s moving around, then his voice cuts back in, lighter, easier.

“We’re going to the mall,” he announces. “Very important business.”

“The mall?”

“Yeah,” he replies. “We need a bodyguard. Preferably a hot one with a deep voice and short bleached hair.”

“Gladly, I’ll be your bodyguard.” I say, getting to my feet with a low grunt as my muscles protest.

Tyler audibly gasps.

“Oh my God!” he squeals. “Do that again.”

I blink. “What?”

“That sound,” he insists. “Do it again. I’m begging you.”

I shake my head, but I do it anyway, letting out another exaggerated grunt just because I’m as crazy as he is.

Tyler makes a strangled noise.

“Oh my God I’m ascending. This is it. This is how I go.”

“Please go quietly,” Lucas says, completely unimpressed, and we all burst out laughing.

God, I don’t know how I managed to go through all twenty-two years of my life without these two, but I wouldn’t trade this friendship for anything.