Page 49 of Fight for Me
Families scattered, probably trying to reach their cars before the sky opened up. The clouds that had piled on top of each other at the start of practice were growing darker, and the wind was rising. Jake hurried across the field, gathering forgotten soccer cones as he went. He stuffed everything into his bag and threw the strap over his shoulder before jogging toward the parking lot—but he stopped short when he reached the curb. A familiar silver Infiniti was waiting near his truck, and Lexie sat on the tailgate, swinging her legs as she looked up at the sky.
Jake hadn’t seen her since Friday night. He hadn’t heard from her since Saturday morning. And now he was almost dreading what she might say. She knew how he felt, he was sure of it. He’d watched the puzzle pieces come together in the dark and recognized the moment a switch flipped inside her, like she’d finally seen him for the first time.
The only question was what she would do with that information.
Lexie dropped her gaze from the storm clouds just as the first stray raindrops hit Jake’s skin, and when their eyes connected across the nearly empty lot, he felt the voltage from the storm crackle in his stomach. Her legs stopped swinging, and there was a moment when neither of them moved. Then, she hopped down and strode purposefully across the pavement.
Jake couldn’t tell if she was angry or just determined.
His tennis shoes were cemented to the sidewalk. He couldn’t have moved if he’d tried, and the closer she got, the tighter his rib cage seemed to become. His need to scoop her up and hold her tight tangled with an instinctive urge to run, to put distance between himself and whatever pain might be coming. He couldn’t exist in limbo anymore. Either they moved forward together, or he had to walk away.
Her gaze was laser-focused on him as she closed the distance, and he could feel it like hot pinpricks along the collar of his shirt and the edges of his sleeves. When she finally came to a stop in front of him, there was nothing but a roll of thunder to break the silence.
Jake had to remind himself to swallow.
“I broke up with Colt on Sunday,” she said finally, and he blinked. That was not the opening he’d been expecting.
“I’ve spent the last two days telling myself there is a respectful amount of time to wait before I can let myself be happy, like I’m mourning the dead, but I’ve finally stopped kidding myself,” she went on, looking up at him. “I’m not mourning anything. Whatever Colt and I used to be was over a long time ago; I just woke up enough to make it official.”
Lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating the green in her eyes, and Jake felt a timid sense of hope poke its head out of hiding and sniff the air.
“If I’m really being honest with myself,” she said, “the only person I’ve wanted for a long time is you.”
Jake stopped breathing, picking her words apart in his mind to see if they could possibly mean anything other than what he thought they meant. A dormant sense of self-preservation chose that moment to come alive, opening his mouth and forcing out words he couldn’t believe he was saying.
“Lex, I can’t just be a change of scenery.”
The uncertainty that had spread across her face during his silence began to clear, like clouds rolling back after a storm, and Jake saw the sun break through in her smile. She moved closer, and Jake’s fingers tightened around the strap of his sports bag as though reminding himself not to jump ahead. She hadn’t answered him yet.
Her hands came up and hovered over his collarbones, and he stood as still as possible, terrified something would spook her. His breath hitched when her palms settled gently against his shirt and began to travel upward. Her fingertips were cool compared to the humid air around them, leaving a trail of goose bumps in their wake as they slid up his neck.
“You’re not,” she said, her eyes searching his. “You’re who I should have seen all along.”
Jake moved without thinking, and his bag hit the ground with a thud. All the times he’d kept his distance, all the times he’d stayed quiet, all the times he’d held himself back were suddenly erased as his hand shot out to cradle the back of her head. Lexie made a startled sort of sound when he tugged her forward and kissed her without hesitation, opting instead to make the most of a moment he still wasn’t completely convinced was real.
But despite her surprise, she didn’t protest. She didn’t step back. Instead, she slid her hands the rest of the way into his hair and matched him beat for beat. She was everything Jake had hoped she would be—soft and sweet, molded to fit in all the right places. He’d never had a first kiss that felt so familiar, as if they’d been together long ago and had only just found their way back—a little older, a little wiser, but still made for each other. His whole body sighed in relief.
Unconcerned, Mother Nature chose that moment to open the floodgates, and the lukewarm October rain drenched them in an instant. Jake grabbed Lexie’s hand and his gear, and they made a run for his truck. He could hear her laughing behind him,clinging to his hand as they splashed through the puddles that accumulated quickly in the empty parking lot, and a crazed sort of grin took over his face. He tossed his bag into the bed of the pickup and yanked open the driver’s side door, urging her in first. She scrambled over the center console and flopped into the passenger’s seat as he climbed in behind her.
“Talk about bad timing, huh?” Lexie said, giggling as she shoved a wet lock of hair out of her face. Jake could only grin, and he let himself stare at her without reservation. Even dripping wet, she was gorgeous.
“It was perfect,” he said, not even talking about the rain.
Lexie’s cheeks turned a pretty shade of pink as she ducked her head, not quite biting back a smile he’d have been able to see from a mile away. Just knowing he’d put it there was deeply satisfying. He twisted in his seat and leaned across the console, reaching for her the way he’d imagined a thousand times. The thunder that shook the windows and the lightning that lit the sky were worlds away as he kissed her again, this time moving carefully, like an explorer on uncharted land.
“Lex, will you go out with me?” he finally asked, barely lifting his lips from hers, and he felt her laugh.
“That’s a stupid question,” she said, and Jake could hear the smile in her voice. “What doyouthink?”
10
“Can you believeI’ve never been out here?” Lexie asked that Saturday as she looked across Valley Lake and the beach-like expanse of grass that sloped from the tree line to the water.
“Seriously? I feel like I spend as much time here as I do at work,” Jake said. He unloaded a blanket and a picnic basket from the backseat of his truck, and Lexie watched with a fond smile. He was the only guy she knew who would track down an actual picnic basket for a picnic. Anyone else would have just used a plastic grocery sack.
“What?” he asked, probably catching her odd expression, and Lexie shook her head.
“I’m just wondering where you found that,” she said, jutting her chin toward the elaborate wicker container, complete with a red gingham liner that folded down around the edges. Jake carried it easily in one hand and used the other to steer hertoward the base of a wide oak tree where the ground seemed level.
