Page 24 of Where We Fall

The door slowly opens, and I see a completely wrecked-looking Lexi in front of me.

"Are you okay? What happened?"

She looks over at the lamp on the TV stand as she shrugs her shoulders. "I'm fine."

I put my hand under her chin and force her to look at me. "Let's try that again. Come on, tell me. I want to help."

Tears still run down her cheeks as they hit my hand.

"My mom," she whispers.

"What about your mom? Is she okay? Did something happen to her?"

Oh gosh, please tell me her mother is safe. I don't know how to comfort someone who lost their mom. I'd probably cry along with her, just thinking of losing my mom makes my heart break for her.

"She didn't recognize me."

I can't help but notice her beauty, even through her pain. Her long lashes complimented her green eyes.

"I'm so sorry. That's awful."

She nods her head in agreement. "I thought maybe it was from my new look."

Guilt hits me hard, making my chest physically ache. Did I cause this?

"Shit, Lexi, I'm so sorry. I never should've suggested you change your appearance. I wasn't thinking. This is all my fault."

She shakes her head as tears continue to fall, but she doesn't disagree with me. I can't help it, I pull her into my arms. I feel her tears on my chest which brings attention to the fact that I'm not wearing a shirt. Just my pajama pants.

I don't care, I move her further into my arms as I wrap her up tighter. I'm not sure if it's helping, but after a couple of minutes, she begins to settle.

When she pulls away, she must notice the tears on my chest. She makes a move to wipe them off me. Her hand caresses my chest, running through the little amount of scattered hair there. My abs flex in response to her touch.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cry all over you," she says with more composure now.

"It's no problem."

She looks up at me and we just stare at each other for a minute then her stomach makes a noise. Her cheeks get a touch of pink on them.

"Did you eat dinner?" I ask her.

She shakes her head. "I never got the chance to."

I grab her hand and bring her further into my room.

"Come on," I tell her.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm ordering you some dinner." I reach for the room service menu and hand it to her. "Here. Order anything on it. We'll charge it to my room."

"I don't want to put you out. I can order something from my room."

There's no way I'm letting her sit in her room by herself, eating alone. This has absolutely nothing with the fact that I like her company. This is purely being a good person. At least, that's what I'm telling myself.

"I'd rather you stay here. It doesn't feel right to leave you alone. I was about to watch a movie and order dessert myself."

She bites on her bottom lip as I watch her survey the room, considering my offer.

---