Page 74 of When We Fell Again
He gave me a tight smile. “I’ll send you my invoice.”
Once he’d gone, I went back to Jordan’s room. With the window open, it smelled a little better, although still not great. Jordan was propped up against the pillows, now shirtless, the full extent of his bruising on show. It pained me to look at it, let alone to think what it felt like for him.
“Hey,” I said, waving the box of pills at him. “Looks like we’re back to where we started.”
His eyes met mine, full of pain and tiredness. “Will you stay with me, Lex. Please? All I want to do is sleep. Nothing more.”
I swallowed hard, remembering the last time he’d asked me that. But now, after everything, I couldn’t deny him what he wanted. Wordlessly, I pulled off all my clothes except my knickers, then grabbed a clean t-shirt from his drawer and yanked it over my head. Getting into bed beside him, I snuggled down on my side, feeling Jordan meld his body into mine.
His breathing regulated as he appeared to slip easily into a slumber, while I stayed awake, wondering where the hell we went from here.
CHAPTER31
Jordan
When I next woke,the room was bathed in darkness. My right eye throbbed, my ribs were in agony, and my shoulder hurt like a motherfucker. But I deserved every moment of this pain because of what I’d done to Dexter. I knew I wouldn’t report Felix to the police, but I’d also make damn sure our paths never crossed again. I turned over, wincing, and reached for Lex, but the bed next to me was empty. I propped myself up on my elbows and saw her figure hunched over at the end of the bed, her shoulders shaking.
Shit, I’ve reduced her to tears. Again.
“Hey.” My voice came out gravelly.
It took her a moment to compose herself before she turned around, her beautiful face tear-stained.
“Hi.” She swiped a hand across her eyes, trying to brush away the evidence. “How are you feeling?”
“I think you probably know the answer to that.” I waved a hand over my body, gesturing to the bruising. “Any chance of some painkillers?”
Lex screwed up her eyes. “Is that what our relationship has become again? Me enabling you with drugs?”
Felix’s enablement had actually got me to this point, and I knew, deep down, that if I didn’t do something about it, the spiral would only get worse. I had to start by telling Lex the truth about the past few days and then facing the consequences.
With great effort, I hauled myself from under the covers and went to sit next to Lex. Her hands shook as I took them in mine and her skin was cold. All I wanted to do was wrap my arms around her, but after I purged myself, I didn’t know whether she would want me to.
“Lex, I have an addictive personality,” I told her.
That drew a tiny smile. “As if I hadn’t worked that out five years ago.”
“Some things I’m addicted to are bad for me, and some things I’m addicted to are good for me.”
“Again, not a surprise.”
“I… I relapsed.”
Lex pulled her hands out of mine as if she’d been burned and crossed her arms over her chest, her expression darkening. “What are you talking about?”
Chewing on a piece of loose skin around my thumbnail, I took a deep breath. “After you’d told me about Arlo.”
“So, what? You just went out, found some random dealer, and they hooked you up with some stuff?” The edge to her voice grated on me, deservedly.
She made it sound easy, and the truth was it had been. I’d stumbled across Felix by chance—at least I think I had—and he’d given it to me on a plate.
I should have been stronger.
I should have been able to say no.
But the mixture and strength of emotions I had for Lex, for someone disrespecting her like Arlo had, had driven me to take the one way I knew to deal with it.
When I still hadn’t answered, her eyes narrowed, her gaze roaming over my bruises. “And this, presumably, has something to do with it?”
