Page 25 of Falling for Him
Peeking through the window my pulse quickens when I see Lexi rubbing her hands together before her like she is attempting to warm herself up.
Pulling open the door she lifts her gaze and locks her focus on me. My chest feels tight. “Hey you.” I look over her shoulder, finding no one else. “Did you drive yourself?”
I knew she’d been drinking.
“Brant and Sutton dropped me off.” She bites her lower lip like she’s thinking it was a mistake.
“Come in.” Stepping aside I motion for her to enter and she hesitates, then steps inside.
“Is she okay?” Lex asks, pointing toward Adley.
“Last time I asked her anything she threatened my manhood, my life, and my apartment walls.”
Lexi laughs, covering her mouth.
“I know girl code means you have to be on her side and all, but seriously she’s a little scary.”
“I promise I’ll try to talk her down,” she assures me, kicking off her shoes and walking across my living room. Closing the door behind us, I move around toward the kitchen again and watch her approach Adley.
“Hey, roomie,” she treads lightly and Adley flops back in the recliner again and lets her head roll to the side looking up to find Lex.
“Lexi.” Adley smiles for the first time in hours. “Sorry I left without saying goodbye. Knucklehead over there didn’t really give me an option. I know now he was only trying to save Rory from getting a beer bottle over his head. But honestly I think he should have let me clobber the guy. He’s so cocky, it would do him some good to get bitch slapped by a girl.”
Adley laughs and Lexi looks up at me trying to hide her own laughter.
“So what exactly happened?”
Maybe I should give them a little alone time, but honestly I’m a little curious myself.
Adley is quiet for a while, and when she finally starts talking again there is a shift in her entire demeanor. Almost like she hit a wall and crashed from the adrenaline rush.
“Do you think he likes her?” Lexi glances up at me, her brows furrowed. “I mean she’s beautiful and apparently she can sing. So they’d be the perfect match.”
“Are you talking about Sophie?”
Adley worries her lip and nods.
“I don’t even know why I like him. He’s an asshole, he has never once done anything that I’d consider sweet. He’s arrogant, he is rude, and most days I want to bury him in the deepest hole.”
I agree with her, because I grew up with Rory. He and my brother were always hanging out at the house. He was an asshole. Until one day him and I had it out in the basement of my parents’ house and the next day he had to tell everyone how he ended up with a busted lip.
His version was that I got in a cheap shot.
Truth, he said the wrong thing and I gave him one chance to take it back. He didn’t.
“I don’t think he likes Sophie,” Lexi tells her, sliding in a little closer. “I think he was blown away like the rest of us. None of us knew she could sing like that.”
“She was amazing,” Adley says with pride. “I’m not mad at Soph, but he’s never looked at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like he is in awe,” she adds with the saddest look I have ever seen Adley wear. In that moment I want to grab hold of her and hug her tight. “Because let’s face it Lex, I’m not that special.”
“Are you serious right now?” Lexi slips to the floor, on her knees and grabs hold of Adley’s legs. “You are kickass, you are one of the best people I know. You are selfless, you are strong. My God Adley, you are the one we all turn to, you keep us grounded.”
“All the things that make any man fall over his own feet.” She laughs sarcastically.
“Any smart man,” Lexi tells her and I smile watching her be the woman I already know she is. Kind, supportive, and encouraging, telling her nothing but the truth and doing it with love. “If Rory is too blind to see all you have to offer, if he is too big of an ass to know that you Adley are the best woman he could even have, then that is his loss. It’s his loss and he will be the fool that let you slip through his fingers. Because if not him, there is a man out there that will love you so fiercely you will never again question how amazing you are.”
