Page 116 of On the Line
“What the hell happened back there?” Berkley asked a few moments later when she pushed into the bathroom behind Lexie.
“I wanted to kiss him,” Lexie blurted.
“Cole or Mitch?” Berkley asked, standing next to her at the counter with her arms folded over her chest.
“Mitch you dumbass,” Lexie hissed, leaning forward to run the cold water and splash her face.
“Just had to be sure. So why didn’t you?”
“I don’t know! Everything is happening too fast. There’s still so much baggage there that I don’t know how to unpack. I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“I think you know perfectly well what you’re doing, and you’re just afraid.”
“Yeah, well, no one asked you,” Lexie told her, voice lacking any real venom.
“Lex, I love you and I only want you to be happy. I think it’s time you want that for yourself, too.”
Happiness.
She had once told Mitch that happiness was a foreign concept for her, but for him, she was willing to try it on for size.
Could she do it again? Throw herself into the fire and risk the burns?
“I don’t know how,” she said quietly.
“Well, my dear,” Berkley said, reaching out to grab Lexie’s hand and giving it a squeeze, “it’s time to figure it out. Because that man isn’t going to wait around forever, and you’ll be kicking yourself for the rest of your days if you let him get away again.”
As a rule, Lexie didn’t believe in regret. It didn’t make sense to her to wish so badly to change something that was exactly what she thought she wanted and needed at the moment. She preferred to look at those situations as learning experiences, so she would know whatnotto do next time.
But in this case?
Lexie couldn’t help feeling like Berkley was right.
Itwasofficiallybacheloretteweekend, and Lexie was more than a little excited to get out of Detroit—and away from Mitch—for a few days.
It was the final weekend of June, and when they touched down in Nashville, it was painfully obvious the city was gearing up for the Fourth of July. Red, white, and blue coveredeverything.
Not that Lexie was complaining. Independence Day was her favorite holiday because it was the only one she had never felt obligated to spend with her parents growing up.
As an adult, it was the perfect excuse to get drunk and let loose.
Basically, she was planning on a very long detox after this bachelorette weekend, the Fourth, and Berkley and Brent’s wedding happening in such a short period of time.
Thanks to her newly minted influencer connections, Lexie cut them a major deal on the condo for the weekend. The owners were looking for some publicity, which Lexie offered to provide during their stay, as well as a feature on the blog afterward, in exchange for the nightly rate cut in half.
So here they were, with a condo in a building with an insane rooftop pool and lounge space only a block off Broadway.
The condo itself was all clean white walls, countertops, light wood floors, and plush cream-colored furniture. They even had a small balcony that looked out over the Cumberland River.
“I’m rooming with Berk,” Lexie said as the group entered the condo. “I figured Ames and Kimber can share, and then Jess and Kenz together? Does that work for everyone?”
They all nodded their ascent, except Kimber, whose flight hadn’t landed from LA yet.
“Perfect,” Lexie said. “So how about everyone gets settled, and then we’ll start drinking!”
In addition to featuring this condo this weekend, Lexie and Amelia had also teamed up with an app touted as “bachelorette party planning made easy.” With so many personalities involved, and a bride who hated surprises, Lexie was willing to take all the help she could get.
Once Lexie and Berkley had set their bags in their room, changed, and freshened up, they settled at the kitchen island and clicked into the app.
