Page 80 of State of Grace

“I am so sorry, Lex.” Blake stepped toward her again, but this time, Alexis didn’t move. Instead, she let Blake take her into her arms and hold her tight so she didn’t fall apart again. They stayed locked in each other’s embrace for a few moments until Alexis pulled away and took Blake’s hand.

“I’m sorry, too.”

“You have nothing to apologize for. You did nothing wrong.”

“Except I did. I forgot that I have had years to process this information, and it’s brand new, life-changing information for you. You need time to process this like I did.”

“I need you to know one thing, ok?” Blake squeezed her hands. “None of this changes the way I feel about you. If anything, it makes me love you more to know all you’ve overcome to become the beautiful, strong, hard-headed woman standing in front of me.”

Even with all the beautiful things Blake had said, Alexis could only focus on one word.

“You…you love me?”

“Yeah.” Blake smiled as Alexis shyly looked away from her blue eyes that were so full of love they made Alexis’s heart want to explode. Tenderly, Blake lifted her chin so their eyes met once more. “I love you, Alexis.”

Rolling her lips inward to stop the dorkiest smile that was threatening to spread on her face, Alexis wrapped her arms around Blake’s neck and kissed her. She’d never had anyone say those three words to her outside of her friends and she wanted to savor every feeling coursing through her body. Blake loved her. Blake loved her even though she knew every dark secret about her life.

“Do you want to come inside?” She twirled Blake’s hair around her fingers. “Harper is spending the night at Sophia’s apparently.”

“Do you want me to come inside?”

“I do, but,” she shyly looked away from Blake, “I need you to know that if you come inside, we can cuddle on the bed all you want and watch Scandal and drink what looks to be a chocolate milkshake together. But that’s all I can offer you right now. I’m mentally exhausted.”

“I know, babe, and honestly, that’s all I want, too.” Blake kissed her nose. “I want to hold you. That’s all.”

Taking Blake’s hand, Alexis led her into the apartment.

Spending the night next to Blake led Alexis to have the best night of sleep in her life. Their legs were tangled around each other’s, and Blake’s arm was draped over Alexis’s stomach. Alexis had lent her a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt before they had crawled into the bed and watched Scandal until they fell asleep. Alexis had contentedly smiled when Blake started snoring softly beside her. She looked so peaceful, so perfect. Alexis carefully sat up in bed and kissed Blake’s cheek. Her eyes fluttered awake as she looked up at Alexis with the dreamiest smile she’d ever seen.

“Morning.”

“Good morning.” Blake reached up and put her hand behind Alexi’s head to bring their lips together. Alexis booped her nose playfully as Blake rolled over onto her back. “I like waking up beside you.”

“I do, too.”

“Maybe we can do this again sometime.”

“I would love that.”

“Me too.”

Alexis would have stayed in Blake’s arms forever if the realities of life hadn’t forced them out of the happiness cocoon and in separate directions for the day. Looking at the clock a few moments after Blake left the apartment, Alexis counted down the hours until she could see her again.

Chapter 27

After the emotional night with Alexis, followed by two more viewings of the musical and a lengthy family dinner, Blake was ready to spend her Sunday night alone. She was mentally exhausted, and Alexis told her the same thing after the play. They’d kissed goodbye in the parking lot with the promise to call later, and it felt odd to already miss her a mere hour after last seeing her. Blake looked at her phone and decided to wait until she knew Harper would be asleep before she called Alexis.

Until then, Blake wanted nothing more than to take a long hot shower and go to bed early. Blake took off the blue button-up she’d worn to the musical’s matinee performance and dinner with Vera, Isla, and the kids and tossed it onto the bed. She kicked off her Vans, and they ricocheted off the wall with a thud.

The sound of footsteps coming up the stairs made her pause just before she entered the bathroom. Blake groaned, the chances of it being Vera were insanely high, and she was so not in the mood for chit-chat.

“What the hell...”

“Hello, Blake.” Salem entered the studio apartment like she owned the place. She was dressed in a black blazer with matching pants and a light grey blouse underneath. The pumps on her feet were undoubtedly Louboutin, and the entire look screamed, ‘I mean business.’ “Why haven’t you returned any of my emails?”

“Because it’s the twenty-first century, and emails are so lame.”

“Very funny.” She sat her designer bag onto the old oak table, and Blake noticed how she looked around the apartment. Salem took her phone out of the bag and held it up as she scrolled through it. “I sent you that movie script, and you never responded. I sent you dummied scripts being considered for next season to look over and get your thoughts. You didn’t respond to those either. Oh, and I sent you one about an apartment for rent in Vancouver that was near the new studio, and you never even contacted the listing agent, so have fun living in the suburbs.” Salem spat the word as she looked around the apartment. “Although, apparently, you’ve gotten used to simple living.”

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