Page 90 of Hard To Stay

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Lexi

We arrivedat our hotel and quickly checked in. Brad set our bags down onto the king- sized mattress and pulled the curtains back to let some light into the room. I stood off to the side and forced myself to look at him. I felt awkward and unsure of what to do. My nerves were shot because I still didn’t know what to expect. I watched him walk over to the minibar and grab a water bottle out of the fridge.

He stepped forward and grabbed my hand. “Are you okay?”

I nodded my head while he rubbed slow circles against my skin. “I’m better now.”

He pulled on my arm and led me over to the loveseat in the corner of the room. “Come on, we need to get this talk over with.”

I was so nervous that I thought I was going to throw up. “I’m sorry that I lied to you. Walking out on you was one of the hardest things I ever had to do.”

He laced his hands behind his head and exhaled. “Lexi, what the hell were you thinking?”

“I thought I was protecting you.”

Tears formed in my eyes when I thought back to that god-awful day. I wished I could go back in time and change everything.

He pulled on the back of his neck as he stretched it from side to side. “I’m so pissed at you. I don’t know whether to strangle you, or pull you into my arms right now.”

“I’ll take option number two, please.” I said with a smile, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ears.

“Don’t get cute with me.” He straightened up and pulled a pillow out from his back and threw it across the room. “You should have told me, Lexi.”

My hands grabbed onto the armrest firmly, trying to squeeze the tension out of my body. “I was trying to protect you. Don’t you care that your career would have been over? What about Lucas and Sawyer? Was I supposed to let them get dragged into this mess, too?”

Didn’t he understand that leaving him felt like my only option? A part of me understood that I shouldn’t have made that decision for him, but I did and I couldn’t take it back.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and mumbled under his breath. “I’m trying real hard right now to control my anger. You lied to me, broke up with me, and then left town with a man who terrorized you for years. Did you honestly believe that is what I wanted?” Irritation spread through the edges of his voice.

I felt the heat emanate from his body. And not the good kind either. No, he was pissed. He needed to understand I had no other choice, or at least it seemed that way at the time.

“No, I never thought for a moment that was what you wanted. I did what I felt was needed. I knew what would happen to you and your friends.”

“Our friends, Lexi. They are your friends, too. It was our life you blew apart.” He stood up and paced the room. “I’ve been a fucking wreck since you left.” He shook his head and let out a sarcastic laugh. “And to think this all could have been avoided.”

I stood from the couch. “Really? How? Tell me how?” If he wanted to fight, then it was a fight that I would give him. “You didn’t know what I knew. Colton had pictures of when you beat the shit out of him. He was setting you up. Your career would have been over. You could have been sent to jail.”

“I’m not a cop anymore. I quit.”

I blinked at him, confused. “You mentioned that earlier. What is that all about, anyway?”

He looked away uncomfortably. “I resigned.” He pressed his lips together. “It’s a long story, but after you left, my whole world was blown apart. I decided I needed to make a few changes and start over.” He shrugged.

Something was off in his tone.

“What do you mean, ‘a few changes’?”

He took a measured step towards me. “I don’t want to talk about that right now.” His eyes examined my face. “Are you okay?” He asked, his voice barely a whisper. “Did he hurt you?” He asked, clenching his jaw. I knew what he was referring to.

“No. He hasn’t touched me.”

“Thank God!” He said, seemingly relieved. He placed his hands on my shoulders and moved them slowly down my arms. When he got to my wrist, his eyes zeroed in on my left hand where Colton’s engagement ring still sat on my finger. His eyes hardened into steel. He picked up my hand, slid the ring off and threw it across the room.

“The only ring you will wear on that finger will be the one that I give you. Understood?” Tears formed in my eyes. It broke my heart knowing how much I had hurt him. “God, Lexi. I thought I had lost you forever.” There was a break in his voice that was my undoing.

“I’m so sorry.” I sobbed. “I felt backed into a corner. Don’t you understand that?”

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