He moves closer to me and tips my chin up with his finger. “Promise me, Lennon. This isn’t your path. Your path was meant to be filled with love and happiness. With races and victories.Don’t let him have all those things, because if you do, London’s death means nothing.”
I shove him away from me and he stares at me.
I move closer and I shove him back again.
“How can you say those things to me and mean them? You should hate me…the very sight of me,” I say as my chin quivers.
“I could never hate you. I love you. And not in some creepy way because you’re an exact copy of my dead girlfriend. I love you because she loved you. I love you because I know you through her. I love you because I still get to see glimpses of her through the parts of her still connected to you. She always said you shared a heart, and I can see it. I know you’ll keep her alive for me and for everyone in a way only you can.”
I’m speechless as the man standing in front of me bares his soul to me…the very person at least partially responsible for his pain. Raw and vulnerable. Honest. Tears cloud my vision until I blink, and they spill down my cheeks.
He comes closer and wipes my tears away with his thumbs before placing a kiss to my forehead.
“I love you because you have the same heart even if it’s attached to a very different soul.”
I work up the courage to ask what I wondered when I remembered making love to Dash. The burning question about how I could be in love with Dash, but my body still responding to Hendrix the way it does.
“Have we ever…did we ever?”
He smiles. “If you’re asking did you and London swap places in the bedroom with me and Dash, then I don’t know the answer to that for certain. But no, I don’t think that ever happened. It’s one line I’m sure you never crossed. Your kisses are different than hers. Your body is the same, but the way it feels under my touch is different.”
“Then why did you touch me at all?” I ask.
“I was clinging to hope…the smallest shred of hope I was wrong. And I hadn’t lost her. I was searching for her in you. And yes, I know it’s messed up. I have no excuse. So, I’m sorry if that sounds crude,” he says.
“Do you regret it?” I ask.
“No. But I’m glad we didn’t have sex under those pretenses,” he admits.
“Me too,” I admit.
“What are you going to do now?” I ask.
“I’m going to do everything in my power to help you through this while I try to let you go if it’s what you want me to do,” he says as he swallows hard.
I take his face in my hands this time. “You are a good man, Hendrix. And you will make someone very happy someday.”
He smiles again but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “I hope so.”
“You will. And just know, the parts of me connected to London will always love you too.”
He leans his head against mine and then presses a soft kiss to my lips before standing tall again. “Why don’t you get dressed and I’ll help you clean this glass up. Then you can tell me how I can help you take your life back as yours. I hear you’re a real Valkyrie after all.”
He winks before walking past me and out of the bathroom.
Damn right, I am. I guess it took my sister’s boyfriend to remind me. Maybe the parts of her he carries with him will be enough to help me win the race against time to expose my stalker before he can finish what he started. In this race, winner takes all.
22
Hendrix helped me wrap my palms in a dark gauze that looks more like a fashion statement than a bandage which I’m grateful for, so I don’t have to explain what happened to anyone.
I saw him texting a few minutes ago and I hope it wasn’t Dash on the other end. I don’t think he could’ve snuck into my house while I was sleeping with Hendrix posted outside. But at this point anything is possible.
My heart is still screaming in my chest that he couldn’t have had any part of this. In my mind, I have doubts; still I know what I saw that night. But even with most of my memories back, there are so many missing pieces. And I feel it deep in my bones, I’ve forgotten or overlooked something crucial.
Is my stalker a crazed fan? Someone in the racing circuit? Another racer? An ex? Someone pretending to be a friend? Or is it someone even closer to me?
Did I do something to attract this type of…attention? I scratch the idea because I can’t control how other people act and no one does anything to deserve being stalked. But in my head, I need this to make sense. I need an answer even if there isn’t one.
