Page 133 of Colliding with Ten

Jace’s expression didn’t change as he listened.

“I messed up. I left without saying goodbye because I was scared. I convinced myself it was the right thing. I was just starting to figure out my life.” I paused. “I only looked out for myself, trying to make things easier. There should have been a conversation. I know that now.”

Cold crept into my fingers. The wind whipped against my face, prickling my skin, but I didn’t move. I was desperate.

“He deserved the truth. Maybe he deserves better than me. You’re right to be standing here looking at me the way you are. I would be too.”

Jace relaxed, and though he still looked annoyed, he was grappling with a decision. “Then why are you here now? What changed?”

“I saw him go down, and I couldn’t breathe. I didn’t want to be anywhere else.”

I stopped trying to read Jace’s expression. I suspected he’d tell me to turn around, but it didn’t matter. I would stay in the parking lot until Lennox was discharged and try to have my conversation then.

The cold whipped between us. Jace exhaled a long, controlled breath. “One chance.” He held up a finger. “With me, you get one. I don’t care what Lennox says. He’ll forgive anything. I won’t.”

“I understand.”

“I mean it, Ayla.”

“I know you do.”

He studied me for another beat, then he stepped back from the window and pointed. “Park over there. I’ll walk you in.”

I parked and got out. The cold in this place was bitter, unwelcoming. Jace was waiting at the entrance. I followed him through the sliding doors and past the front desk, where a nurse sat. We went up two floors and walked down a hallway, passing a security guard posted outside a door. He saw Jace, looked at me, and stepped aside for us both.

Jace opened the door. The room was dim, almost dark. The illumination came from a small lamp in the corner and the glow of a monitor beside the bed. The machines beeped to his pulse. A man lounged on a cot in the corner, looking up as we entered. Jace leaned close to my ear.

“That’s Mateo,” he whispered. “Trainer.”

Mateo stood and shook my hand. Then he and Jace stepped outside the room, pulling the door shut.

Lennox lay on his back, eyes closed. The hospital gown looked wrong on him. A small bandage was near his left temple, and an IV was in his arm. A blanket was pulled up to his chest, one arm resting on his stomach, the other at his side.

He wasn’t sleeping. I’d seen him sleep before, and this wasn’t it. His breathing was shallow and irregular, like he was trying to rest, but his mind wouldn’t let him.

I sat in the chair beside his bed. The vinyl creaked, but he didn’t stir. A bruise was forming near his temple, and shadows sat under his eyes. The stubble on his jaw was thicker than I’d ever seen. He looked exhausted. I watched him for a few minutes.

The door opened, and a nurse came in and smiled. “Time for checks.” She touched Lennox’s shoulder. “Mr. Monroe. I need you to wake up for me.”

He stirred, brow creasing as he opened his eyes. The nurse started her assessment. Penlight. Follow the finger. What’s your name? What day is it? He answered each one.

Then his eyes drifted from the nurse to me. He stared, brows creasing.

“Can you tell me where you are?” The nurse asked.

“Hospital,” he said, still looking at me.

The nurse began taking his vitals, starting with his blood pressure.

Lennox swallowed. “Hey, is there a girl sitting in the chair next to my bed?”

The nurse glanced over her shoulder at me with a smirk, then back at him. “There sure is. And pretty, too.”

“Does she have big, beautiful, curly hair?”

The nurse nodded.

Lennox smiled. “Yup. That’s her.”