“Let’s do it. Let’s get married,” I tell him.
Lex jumps at me, pushing me down until I’m on my back. His lips slam onto mine. “I fucking love you,” he says, breaking the kiss momentarily.
My arms wrap around his neck and I hold him tighter. “I love you.”
Something flickers across Lex’s face, and he sits up. “Shit, I shouldn’t have done that. Are you okay?” he asks, looking me up and down.
“I’m fine, and I don’t want you to walk on eggshells around me, Lex.”
“I don’t want to hurt you or scare you.”
“If I don’t like something, trust that I will tell you.”
He looks at me silently. “I don’t know if I can trust that, Addi. You didn’t tell me… The one time you needed me the most, you ran from me.”
“I was trying to protect you from doing anything that would get you into trouble, Lex. I didn’t want you to see me like that,” I say. “I know you would have helped me. I never doubted that. I know you would have done anything for me, Lex. I also know you would have killed him and I didn’t want you to have to do that for me.” Although he ended up killing the guy who hurt me anyway. And somehow his father has kept him out of trouble.
“Promise me that you will tell me. No matter how you think I might react to something, you will tell me if you’re hurt or if I do something that scares you,” Lex says.
“I promise.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Addison’s hand is firmly gripped in mine as we walk up to the front door of my cousin Lorenzo’s house. He moved to Melbourne after running off and marrying Kyla McKinley on a family trip to Italy a couple of years ago.A family trip I skipped out on, because at the time, I was at boarding school and I wanted to hang out with Addison way more than I wanted to be around my family.
“If you want to leave, we can,” I tell Addison.
“No, we can’t,” she says. “They already know we’re here.”
“You’re uncomfortable. I don’t like it.”
“I’ll be fine. I’m never going to get better if I don’t push myself outside of my comfort zones, Lex. Besides, I can’t just hide away in a bedroom with you for the rest of my life.”
“I disagree. We can most certainly do that,” I tell her as the door opens.
“Lex.” Lorenzo stands there with the very typical scowl he always seems to have. “You break it, you buy it,” he says before he steps aside. “Come in.”
“What the fuck do you think I’m going to break?” I ask my cousin.
“No idea. But fair warning: My wife doesn’t like her shit broken or blood on her floors… or her walls, for that matter,” Lorenzo says.
I make a point of looking upwards, pointing a finger towards the ceiling. “What about the ceiling? She care about blood up there?”
“Don’t be an ass,” Lorenzo says. He turns to Addison. “Hi. Lorenzo. You must be Addison. Welcome to the family.” He holds out a hand.
Surprisingly, Addison lets go of my arm and places her palm in Lorenzo’s briefly before pulling away again and reaching for me. “It’s nice to meet you. Thanks for inviting us.”
“Anytime. Come on in.”
We follow Lorenzo through his palace of a house. My focus is on Addison, though. Her hand is trembling.
“You got a bathroom?” I ask Lorenzo.
“About eighteen of them,” he says. “Down there, fourth door. I’ll take Addison through to Kyla.”
“Yeah, no,” I grunt, pulling Addison down the hallway with me as I count the doors. Reaching the fourth one, I open it and pull her in before shutting it behind us. I tug her against my chest, wrapping my arms around her as tight as I can without hurting her. “You’re safe, Addi. I would never let anything happen to you.”
“I know.” She sighs. “I’m sorry.”
