Page 48 of Fight for Me
“What do you want?” she demanded, striding down the hallway as if she were wearing Kevlar armor and not a faded T-shirt and flannel pajama pants. She stopped near the kitchentable, leaving ten or fifteen feet between herself and where Colt stood by the open door.
“I want you to stop throwing a fit and answer your phone!” he raged, gesturing wildly with both hands. “I want you to grow up and remember you have responsibilities. You missed that committee meeting yesterday about floral arrangements or whatever else it is my mother is so obsessed with, and now all she can talk about is what poor taste I have in women. I’m sick of it!”
Suddenly, all Lexie could see was a spoiled child stomping his foot in a candy store, and all the aggravation from the last two years welled up in her chest, lending her confidence.
“Women? Well, I’m glad she knows it’s plural. I’d hate for her to think her only son is a responsible family man,” she spat.
Colt’s mouth popped open, and his eyes flashed, making the fading purple bruise along his cheekbone pop in contrast. Lexie traced the edges of it with her eyes, silently thanking Jake for marring Colt’s usually perfect complexion, if only temporarily.
“Did you tell her we have matching war wounds?” she went on, her voice dripping with venom. She turned her head and held her hair back to give him a good view of her face. “I’m sure she’ll be proud to know how I got mine.”
Colt pressed his lips together and took another step into the room.
“Put on some clothes and get in the car. This is ridiculous,” he said. There was a deep warning in his voice, but Lexie ignored it.
“No,” she said. “In fact, I’m not going anywhere with you ever again.”
Colt’s face froze as he processed her words. “Excuse me?”
“Don’t play stupid. You heard me,” Lexie hissed. “Go find yourself another plaything. I’m done.”
“And I’m done with this tantrum!” he yelled. “I don’t have time for you to sulk. You want to make a point? Fine, you’vemade your point. Now, get dressed and let’s go!” he ordered, fire crackling behind his eyes.
But Lexie crossed her arms over her chest and held her ground. She was glad adrenaline was still on her side, because just beneath the buzz of anger she felt a growing sense of nausea. She’d never put her foot down with anyone before, and she honestly wondered if she might get sick. From the corner of her eye, she saw Olivia duck into her own bedroom, then reappear seconds later with a baseball bat hanging casually from her hands.
Colt saw it too and rolled his eyes. “Seriously? You’re going to beat me to death? I’d like to see you try,” he taunted, throwing Olivia an unimpressed glance.
“Oh, she’s serious, trust me. You should go,” Lexie said, glad her voice was still steady.
Colt took another step as his hands clenched into fists at his sides. “You throw me out of here, and I’m not coming back,” he said, his jaw set in a hard line. “Is that really what you want?”
“That isexactlywhat I want.”
“Oh, really? So, you want me to have you arrested for grand larceny? Because you’ve got about eight grand in jewelry that belongs to me,” he said, his voice smug, as if he expected her to be impressed by the amount of money he’d spent decorating her—as if that price would buy her obedience. Instead, his expression shifted as Lexie whirled on her heel, turning back the way she’d come.
“Wait here,” she called over her shoulder as she hurried back to her room. She ripped open the top drawer of her dresser and dug out case after case of high-quality gemstones, piling the boxes in front of her vanity mirror. Then she yanked a plastic grocery bag off her closet doorknob, dumped its contents onto her bed, and swept all of Colt’s gifts into the sack without a second thought.
When she returned to the living room, Colt, surprisingly, was waiting where he’d been told—though Olivia and her Louisville Slugger might have had something to do with that.
“Here,” Lexie said, shoving the bag into his hands. “It’s nice to know exactly how much I’m worth to you. Maybe you’ll get store credit.” She walked to the still-open door and stood beside it, an implicit order for him to leave.
Colt glanced down at the bag in his hands, and Lexie could see his whole body shaking with rage.
“I’ve spent two years on you, Lexie.Two years!And you’re just going to throw it away over nothing?”
“Twoand a halfyears, actually, and I’m not throwing anything away, Colt. You did that all by yourself.”
He took a quick step toward her, his jaw clenched, but when Olivia raised her bat, he seemed to think better of it.
“You were such a waste of time,” he spat, as though desperately trying to have the final word. “Don’t come crawling to me when your guard dog gets sick of you.”
And then he stepped through the door, giving Lexie enough clearance to slam it shut. She turned the bolt and slid the chain home, then leaned back against the wood and sank slowly to the floor as her legs finally gave out.
Outside, Colt cursed loudly, and the door trembled as he took out his anger on it one final time before stomping away. Lexie held Olivia’s wide eyes for a breathless moment, listening to his footsteps fade, scarcely able to believe it was really over. Then, she laughed. It was the wildly inappropriate, slightly unhinged laughter born of adrenaline and panic. It was two years of stress leaking out of an overinflated balloon. And it felt good.
Lexie tucked her face against her bent knees and laughed until tears streamed from her eyes, wetting the legs of her soft pajamas. Then, looking up, she caught sight of the bright bluebaseball bat in Olivia’s hands and the slightly concerned look on her friend’s face, and she started laughing all over again.
“Great practice, Blackhawks!”Jake shouted over the chatter of a dozen kids and their parents. “Next practice is on Thursday, and don’t forget there’s a game right here on Saturday morning at ten o’clock!”
