Page 77 of Losing a Piece of Me

“Yeah, I may have forgotten something.”

“What are you doing here?” I ask him.

He holds up his hands. “I’m not here to start trouble. I came to apologize. I had too much to drink and after watching Alex hurt all day, I was pissed at you.”

I take a step toward him. “That’s not it.” I shake my head and rub my jaw. “No, I don’t think that’s it at all.” I let my eyes flash around to the three of them. Lex looks worried, unsure of what I’m going to say. Hannah looks entertained. And Jeff… well, he just looks scared.

“You know what I think it is?” I wait for him to answer, but he doesn’t. He’s a coward and is too afraid to tell Lex the truth. He slides his hands back into his pockets, subconsciously telling me he isn’t looking for a fight, which is just fine because I don’t want to fight him. Not like that anyway. I just want all the shit out in the open. Lex can’t see him for who he truly is, but I can. He’s a snake. He buddies up in hopes of taking whatever he wants as soon as everybody lets their guard down.

“I think this whole time that you two have had this little thing going on, you were falling in love with her, hoping that she was falling in love with you. Is that right?”

He runs his hands through his hair and shakes his head. “Look, man. I just wanted to say I’m sorry. Now I have and I think it’s time for me to go.”

I let out a small laugh. “Yeah, run away you coward.”

His head pops up and his eyes lock on mine. “What did you call me?” His brows are furrowed and his jaw is set.

“I said you’re a fucking coward.” I look at the girls and wave my arm in their direction. “Prove me wrong, tell Lex how you really feel about her.”

His eyes bounce from mine to hers. “Alex, I…”

I stand back and cross my arms over my chest.

He looks at me again and I see his jaw flex. “You know what? Fuck this.” He turns and pushes out the door, leaving the three of us standing there.

I see Lex let out a long breath. Her shoulders visibly fall with her exhale; she’s relieved.

“Let’s grab some dinner,” Hannah says as she pulls out her keys to lock up behind us.

Chapter 19

Striker and I head back to my apartment after dinner with Hannah. We walk quietly with his hand reaching out to me, holding mine between us. Just his touch soothes me, makes every negative thing fall away.

“Why did you do that to Jeff?”

He shrugs his shoulders. “I don’t know. He just pissed me off and I thought that if he was going to try stealing you away from me, you should at least know how he feels about you.”

“I know how he feels about me. We’re friends, but I was worried he was getting too serious before I even came back home.”

“It wasn’t for you, it was for him. He needs to admit it so he can move the fuck on.”

“Well, what about you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t you think you should meet with your mom? You know, so you can put it all behind you.”

He lets out a laugh. “Nice try.”

I squeeze his hand until he looks at me. “I’m serious, Striker. I think you need to talk to her, fully understand what she was going through and why she left.”

“She was being beaten. I know why she left.”

“You should hear it from her, not my dad or anyone else.”

He takes a long breath. “I’ll think about it.”

I let the subject drop. I don’t want to push him. He hasn’t seen his mom since he was a kid, it must be a lot to process.

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