Page 27 of Fight for Me
Lexie felt another wave of tears surge to the surface and wished, not for the first time, that she could go back in time and be upfront with him from the beginning. She really had messed everything up.
“This isn’t really his thing,” she said, her voice small as she tried to keep it steady.
“But you think it’s mine?” Jake answered, and Lexie hated the distance in his voice. She couldn’t think of a single thing she wouldn’t do to make it sound the way it always had before.
“I know you’re upset with me, and I know I’m asking a lot, but I really just need help right now,” she said. Then she clamped her lips shut and held her breath to keep a sob from escaping. The last thing she wanted to do was let him hear her cry.
There was a moment of silence, and she could imagine his exasperation on the other end of the line. Why would he take time out of his evening to come rescue a stupid girl who’d made him look ridiculous? Why had she even asked?
“Where are you?” His soft question broke the silence, and in it, she almost heard the old Jake.
“Out on Bishop Road, north of the big granary,” she said, the words rushing out in relief as a tear finally broke free and made its way down her cheek. She swallowed hard and wiped it away, willing the rest to stay right where they were.
Jake gave a low whistle. “What are you doing all the way out there?” he asked.
“Just driving. Trying to clear my head, come up with new ideas, find inspiration,” she said with a groan. “But I don’t think that’s what’s stuck in my tire.”
“Do you have a spare?”
“Yes, I found it.”
“Okay. Do you have a tire iron?”
“A what?”
The question came automatically, and Lexie cringed, trying not to imagine what Jake was thinking. But if he laughed, she didn’t hear it. Instead, she heard a door snap shut and a creak of metal that might have been his tailgate closing. Then, she heard the rumble of an engine.
“I’ll be there soon, Lexie. It’s fine.”
“Okay. Thank you,” she said, though her throat was still tight as they hung up. She closed her trunk and climbed up to sit on it, forcing herself to take one deep breath after another. But all she managed to do was listen to the voices that floated on the empty air—the ones reminding her how incapable she really was.
After what felt like an eternity, a pair of headlights appeared near the end of the lonely stretch of road. Lexie watched them grow closer with each passing moment and eventually turned to shield her eyes as Jake’s truck came to a stop on the shoulder. The lights flicked off, and he jumped from the cab before pushing his door shut.
The guilty twist reappeared in Lexie’s stomach as she watched him approach, his face just as shuttered as it had been all week. She thought about the disarming smile he’d given the girl at the Hawk’s Nest and suddenly wished she knew how to earn one for herself. It used to be so easy; she hadn’t even had to work for it. But now, everything had changed.
“Thanks for coming,” she said, wringing her hands in her lap.
Jake stopped a few feet away, his hands in his pockets, his gaze steady on hers.
“No problem,” he said. “It’s not like I’d just leave you out here.”
He wasn’t cold, exactly, but he definitely wasn’t the Jake she missed so much. The thought that she might never see that side of him again made her eyes burn, and she looked away before he could see her fresh layer of tears. She gestured vaguely to her left, where the evidence of her efforts lay on the ground.
“I found the tire, and I thought I could figure it out. I know it can’t be that hard, but I just don’t have the tools to do it.” She could feel herself babbling. Just the fact that he wasthere, when he could have been anywhere else, made it hard to breathe again.
Jake must have seen the pain on her face because his expression changed, melting from cautious to concerned in a matter of seconds.
“Hey,” he said softly, coming closer. “Are you okay?”
Lexie shook her head hard as a single tear ran down her cheek. She dashed it away with the back of her hand.
“I’m fine, it’s fine. It’s just a tire,” she said, though her voice wavered. She sucked in a breath and held it, trying to force the flood back behind its containment wall before she lost control completely. A sob still jumped out before she could swallow it.
“Lex?” he said, reaching out to touch her arm.
That simple gesture tipped the scales, and Lexie released a shuddering breath as the dam broke.
“Hey, come here,” he said, tugging her off the back of her car. As soon as her feet hit the ground, he pulled her into his arms, wrapping her tight and anchoring her against his chest.
