Page 98 of Where We Fall

“It’s non-negotiable. You worry about yourself. We will figure it out. Okay?”

I nod my head. “Okay. Thank you.” I look around the room, taking in the memories that I have in here. “I guess I should go.”

He nods his head and stands up from the chair. We both walk to the front door in silence.

As soon as we get there, I turn around, but before I speak, his hands are on me, and his lips come crashing down on mine.

The kiss takes me by surprise, but I give everything over to him and let it happen. It’s passionate, it’s eager, it’s sad…it’s everything we’re feeling put into one last desperate kiss.

When he pulls away, I’m shaking.

“Never forget what we have. I know I never will,” he whispers.

“Never,” I cry.

I walk out the door. With each step that I take, I feel my heart breaking. By the time I get to my car and drive to my apartment, my entire body feels hollow and numb.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Marcus

Thesecondshewalksout the door, I feel a pain in my chest that I've never felt before.

I don't know how long I'm stuck in place after she leaves, not having the slightest clue what to do.

Next thing I know, I'm in my kitchen, popping open a bottle of wine. It's all I can think of to dull this ache that has taken residence in my chest.

I'm sure breaking up is the right thing to do. When she put it into perspective for me, I didn't have any good response to come back with.

Where will I be for the next decade of my life?

Here, of course.

I can't ask my siblings to uproot their entire lives and move our company to Chicago. Though, if I thought they would, I'd probably fucking ask.

Anything to have her back in my arms.

I return to the only room in the house with the slightest chance of calming me down…the library.

But when I walk in, I picture our sexual encounter on the ladder, the nights she spent reading out loud where I fell asleep on her chest.

She’s everywhere. Not just in my mind or my heart, but memories marked everywhere I look.

I know I can’t escape them, so despite the memories flooding in, I sit in my chair and take a big gulp of wine.

Suddenly, it dawns on me that I don’t even know if I’m supposed to tell the gang that she won’t be coming in anymore.

I pull out my phone to text her.

Me: Should I tell my siblings tonight?

She answers instantly.

Lexi: If you don’t mind, I'd like to come in tomorrow and do it face-to-face.

Me: Yeah. No problem.

We sound so formal with each other. Just the other night, I was inside of her, telling her how much I loved her. Now, I’m talking to her like I would a client.

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