Page 77 of Fight for Me
“All ofwhat?” he asked again, finally moving into the room.
Lexie whirled around and threw both arms wide, as if trying to encompass everything at once.
“This! The happy, loving family. The baking and the family games and the prayers before meals. It’s too much! Nobody actually lives like this. It’s like being a guest onThe Brady Bunch!”
Jake pulled back, stunned. “Lexie,” he said. “Everyone loves you.”
“That’s because they don’t know me, and neither do you! I thought maybe you did, that all of this was real, but you’ve just got your head in the clouds.”
Jake’s chest tightened painfully, and he resisted the urge to rub it with his hand.
“What are you talking about? Idoknow you, Lex!”
“No, you don’t!” she said, her voice shrill. “You know an imaginary version of me, some perfect fantasy girl you fell in love with on the spot. That doesn’t happen, Jacob! Life isn’t a fairy tale!”
Jake’s thoughts whirled in a blinding vortex of color and sound, replaying all the ways he’d tried to show her how he felt, all the things he’d done to make sure this moment wouldn’t happen. All the things that had obviously meant nothing.
“Do you not trust me at all?” he heard himself ask, though it wasn’t what he’d planned to say.
“It’s not about trust. It’s about reality,” she said, her voice thick as she wrestled with the zipper on her bag. “You’re so blinded by daydreams that you can’t see what’s actually in front of you.”
“You think I don’t see you?” he asked, his volume rising. His mouth had officially gone rogue. “I have told you, over and over, how much I want to be with you. Do you think I’ve just been making that up?”
“I think you honestly believe it, but that doesn’t mean it’s true,” Lexie said, finally yanking the zipper closed and throwing the strap over one shoulder. The tears that had gathered in her eyes slid down her cheeks, but for the first time, Jake didn’t move to wipe them away. For the first time, he was angry with her.
“So, I’m nuts, is that it?” he demanded as she pushed roughly past him and headed for the stairs. Jake followed hot on her heels. “You want to know about the shooting stars, what I wished for that night? I wished for you! Every single time. Not for some imaginary dream girl. Foryou! You are everything I’ve ever wanted, Lex. I don’t know how many other ways I can say that!”
She charged down the stairs, and he followed a step behind.
“You wanted somebody to fight for you? Well, here I am!” he shouted, his hands in the air. “All I do, every day, is fight for you, but that’s still not good enough? Just tell me what you want!”
“I don’t know what I want!” she shot back, crashing through the front door and onto the porch.
“So, what, you’re just going to leave? Now, in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner, with my entire family standing by to watch?” he asked, his feet pounding down the porch stairs and onto the gravel driveway. “What am I supposed to tell my parents?”
“I don’t know, Jacob! Tell them whatever you want,” she said as she strode toward her car which, unfortunately for Jake, bordered the open driveway. She’d be able to turn, whereas his truck was blocked in three cars deep. It would be hours before he could follow.
Jake felt frustration surge through him as she yanked her car door open and tossed her bag onto the passenger’s seat.
“Lexie, I love you! Why can’t you see that?” he demanded, grabbing her arm and snatching her away from the open car door.
Lexie flinched, and the fear that flashed across her face took Jake by surprise. His grip loosened automatically.
“Don’t do this,” she said, finally meeting his eyes. “This was never going to work—you and me. We should have left things the way they were.”
Jake felt the blood drain from his face. He looked at her without breathing, hoping to see some sign, a single flicker, that she didn’t mean what she’d said, but he found nothing. He released her without realizing he’d done it. Lexie turned away quickly and slid into the driver’s seat of her Infiniti before quickly starting the car. She reached for the door, and he narrowly avoided being caught as she slammed it shut.
The crunch of her tires on the gravel was too loud in Jake’s ears as she maneuvered until she had a straight shot down the driveway. He watched her car pull away until it disappeared beyond the trees, and the tugging behind his sternum became painfully tight, stretching until it was hard to breathe. It hurt so badly he almost wished it would break.
“Well, looks like you don’t get everything you want after all.”
A low drawl from across the driveway brought Jake back to the yard, the house, the barn, the people who would soon come out of it.
Specifically, to the one who already had.
“What did you do?” he growled, turning on his cousin with all the anger he had left.
Drew shrugged, his face already covered in storm clouds. “I just told her the truth—that you’ve got high expectations, and she’s got a lot to live up to. Though, I’ll be honest, she freaked out more than I expected. That girl’s got issues.”
