Page 142 of On the Line
“Berkley’s got a big mouth,” Lexie said around a mouthful of eggs. “This is hard enough as it is.”
“But why? I thought we agreed to take it one day at a time?”
She nodded. They had agreed to that. But when Lexie woke up this morning, thinking that it had all been a fever dream, some idyllic version of her life her subconscious had shown her, but one she could never attain, she’d been terrified.
And when she thought she’d lost it…she knew what she had to do.
She hadn’t asked for this, had never thought that a love like this was in the cards for her. But she should’ve known that very first night when their gazes locked over the top of Berkley’s head at Contour.
It had been game over for her.
That he would be the one to make her believe in something again. That he would be the one to make her believe she was someone who could be loved, and love in return.
He was always referring to them as endgame, and now she understoodwhy.
She finally believed it, too.
For her, it had always been him.
He had been so strong for her, so brave for them both, picking her up and carrying her when her past continued to drag her down into the deepest, darkest recesses of her mind. Into those quiet spaces where she was reminded of her formative years, of being that child whose parents were never around. That girl who moved around so much she could never fit in. The sullen teenager whose acts of rebellion were really just cries for attention from the people who would never give it to her.
She had found her home in Detroit. With Berkley and Brent, Amelia, and, surprisingly, guys like Cole, Rat and Grey. They were her family, the only people that had ever taken the time to break through her tough girl exterior and see the softest sides of her, the sides she hid behind sheer bravado.
And then came Mitch and her vision for her life changed, her focus no longer only on her career or her friends, but expanding to include him as well. She hadn’t even known she’d been missing him, that she needed him, until he was right in front of her.
When he left, the world tilted on its axis, turning everything upside and sideways for over a year. Everything was dark, like the sun had gone. She had tried, desperately, to drown his memory in cheap sex and even cheaper booze. Anything she could get her hands on to make her feel something, to shake off the persistent numbness, the fog that had settled over her brain when he was gone.
And when he came back, a veil had lifted. Not entirely, but enough to remind Lexie that somewhere out there was a giant ball of light in the sky. That things could be, and had been, bright and warm and wonderful.
She had fought it for so long, too long, but she was finally ready. Finally, she was brave enough. Her world had been shrouded in grey, leached of color.
But no longer.
And so, with her next words, she banished all the clouds from the sky.
“I love you,” she whispered. “I know I told you yesterday not to say it to me, that I wanted to go slow. But…I can’t ignore it and pretend I don’t feel it with every fiber of my being.”
His eyes widened, and his mouth gaped like a fish out of water. “What did you just say?”
Louder, she repeated herself, her voice calm and steady. “I love you.”
And the grin that overtook his face…Something so pure was surely far too good for her. Thankfully, he wasn’t of the same opinion. In the next moment, she was out of her seat and crushed against him, his hands in her hair, anchoring her head in place as he gazed deeply into her eyes.
She saw it then, everything she had been missing all these years. His absolute devotion to her. His adoration. His respect. His pride.
His love.
She hadn’t realized she was crying until he brushed his thumbs under her eyes, wiping away the moisture that had collected there. Distantly, she heard clapping, and a glance in the direction of the cabin showed Berkley standing at the screen door.
Lexie gave her the finger over Mitch’s shoulder.
“I have waited forever to hear you say that again. And you know what?”
“What?” She asked, suddenly afraid he wouldn’t say it back, but proud of herself for having taken the leap anyway.
One side of his mouth tipped up. “I love you, too.”
She would have sagged to the ground at his feet in relief if he hadn’t been holding her up.
