“Great, this would have been awkward otherwise.”
“What would have—”
Someone knocks on my door, startling me. The panel opens right after, and the tall, broad silhouette that appears isn’t Tami’s.
Lex! He’s here!
Shit, I look like a mess. I spent a good part of the day crying, didn’t shower or brush my hair, and am wearing a sweatshirt I stole from him a while back and yoga pants. I look like a wreck, but his eyes still look at me like I’m the most precious thing in this world.
He’s here. He came for me.
I sit up on the side of my bed as Lex comes in with cautious steps. “Hi,” he greets, awkwardly standing a few feet from me.
“Hi.”
“I’m sorry for coming like this. You weren’t answering, and I wanted to check on you. I know you need time alone, so I was only dropping some food and making sure you were alright.”
“You brought food?”
“Yeah, I didn’t know if you had dinner already, so I got Chinese—some of everything. I gave the bags to Tamika.”
Dear God, this man really is perfect.
“Thank you for that.”
He brings his hands together, cracks a few knuckles, and says, “I’ll leave you guys be.”
“Can’t you stay?” I protest.
“I’m not imposing. You need space, and I respect that.”
Trying not to look like a disgraceful sack of potatoes, I get out of bed and walk up to him. I wrap my arms around his broad torso and hug him, pressing my face into his muscular chest. “I’m sorry,” I whisper.
“About what?”
“Leaving in the middle of the night. I was… overwhelmed, and I needed to be alone. I should have stayed, but I couldn’t think straight, and I—”
“Andrea, it’s okay,” he interrupts me, making me look up with a tender finger under my chin. “I’m the one who fucked up. I should have told you about Evora.”
“I think I understand why you didn’t,” I say, truthfully. “I still don’t like it, but in a weird, twisted way, I think it’s a good thing.”
“How so?”
“Your marriage with her was so irrelevant to you that you never felt the need to mention it. You told me about being Nammota, which is much bigger than being married for a week.”
He grazes my cheekbone, eyes tender and true as he says, “I promise I would have told you if I’d anticipated any of this, freckles.”
“I believe you.”
He kisses my forehead, his large hand caressing my back. “I’ll leave you alone now. Tami told me you haven’t eaten all day, so please,eat something tonight.”
“Stay to make sure I do,” I negotiate.
There’s a layer of pain in his smile, which reminds me of how much I hurt him, too, with the way I handled all that mess. He nods, and I tighten my hold on him, returning my temple to his chest, inhaling his familiar scent.
Kate was right. I can’t risk a lifetime with this man just because he might leave me one day. I have him for now, and I’ll fight to keep him.
I’m not letting go of the best thing that ever happened to me.
