Page 74 of Dirty Pucking Tease

"How is she?" Alex asked behind me. I twisted around, my gaze freezing on the fresh bruise shining on his cheekbone. I thought about asking what happened, but I already knew. He'd made sure Parker never forgot the consequences of drinking and skating with Kaia again.

"She's okay," I said. "But she doesn't remember the last few weeks."

His brows pinched with confusion. "As in, she doesn't remember us?" I nodded. His throat flexed on a hard swallow as his gaze shifted past me like he was staring into space. "But she remembers the two of you?" I nodded again. A part of me feltbad for the guy. Obviously, he cared about Kaia, and I didn't hate him, but I didn't want her to pick him either. "And I suppose you don't want to tell her the truth?"

And here it was... That talk that I knew was coming but didn't want to have.

"What exactly is the truth?" I asked. "Are you her boyfriend?"

He squared his shoulders, crossing his arms over his chest. "No." He shook his head. "After what happened at the hotel, she realized she didn't know what she wanted. We talked the morning of her accident before practice. She told me she really liked me but needed to talk to you. She needed to close the door with you completely before she could move on."

"So, she was going to end everything with me forever?"

He dropped his arms, shoving his hands into his pocket. "I don't know." He shrugged. "I won't lie and say that I wasn't hoping she would, but honestly, that wasn't the feeling I got."

"And what feeling did you get?"

"That she wanted to give you one last chance to fix whatever it was between the two of you, but I don't know for sure." I nodded, and I couldn't help but wonder if he was right. Was she coming back to me, or was she going to tell me goodbye forever? "Look, if she loves you, I'll walk away because I only want her to be happy, but if there's even a sliver of a chance she'll choose me, I'm going to fight for her."

I nodded, understanding exactly how he felt. "If she chooses you, I will walk away. I will let her be happy with you." Even though I didn't want to, I would let her go if that's what she wanted. "I'm going to talk to her once her dad has his time with her, and I'm going to be honest about everything." I didn't want to tell her the truth, but I knew it was the right thing to do. I'd messed up, and I had to live with that regardless of her choice.

The door opened, and Robert and Harlow stepped out. "She's asking for you," Harlow smiled.

"Thanks."

I pushed through the door, and a slow smile spread across my face when my gaze locked with hers. My chest swelled with happiness to see her awake. It sucked that I had to break her heart all over again.

My hand cupped her face, and she leaned into my touch. "You scared me." Her gaze lifted to meet mine, and I dropped my head, pressing my lips to hers, and every ounce of worry, sadness, fear, and anxiety left my body. Pulling from the kiss, I closed my eyes, dropped my forehead to hers, and sucked in a deep breath before slowly exhaling.

"I'm okay, Jax," she breathed. I knew she was okay, but I needed to feel the warmth of her skin against mine, even if it was just our foreheads. I stood like that for several long minutes before I finally released her and dropped into the chair beside her bed.

"So, I was hoping you could catch me up with everything I missed or am missing." Pursing my lips, I nodded. "Like, when did you tell everyone about us? The last thing I can remember was you were nervous about saying anything."

Sucking in a deep breath, I knew it was now or never, but I also didn't know where to start. She looked so happy knowing everyone knew I'd chosen her. How did I break her heart all over again? "You ended things with me the night we were supposed to meet with Cam and Owen to tell them about us." Her smile faded and twisted with confusion as her eyes flicked around like she was searching her memories. "I messed up because I was scared, and I let you down," I answered the question I knew she would ask. "I wasn't ready to tell everyone, and truthfully, I'm not sure I ever would have been if all of this hadn't gone down the way it did, but I know without a doubt that I want you, and I will never make that mistake again."

"Why is Alex here?"

"Because I was stupid and pushed you right into his arms."

"Wait, am I dating Alex?"

I nodded. "You were, I think." I paused, clearing my throat. "You brought him to my game, and things got heated. Maybe he can fill you in on what happened."

"Sounds like I'm missing more than just you telling everyone."

I nodded. "I told your Dad here at the hospital. I'm sorry I didn't tell him before that. You didn't deserve to be my dirty little secret, I believe, is how you put it." A smile twisted at the corners of her lips.

"So what happens now?" She raised her shoulders, holding them for a long moment before dropping them. "I don't remember Alex. I don't remember not being with you."

"Right now, we take it one day at a time." She nodded. "Between Alex and me, we can fill in the blanks."

"Yeah, but I don't know what I was feeling at that time. Did I hate you? Or was I still in love with you because right now I'm in love with you, and I don't even know Alex? Was I starting to fall for him? Was he falling for me? How do I tell him I don't remember?" My chest clenched painfully tight at the thought that she may have hated me and she might have moved on with him, but even more than that at the fear in her eyes.

"Alex knows," I said. "Maybe if we help fill in some of the blanks, it will help bring your memories back." I shrugged. "We'll just have to take it one day at a time." I honestly had no idea what was going to happen. If her memory came back, she could leave me, but if it didn't, she only remembered being in love with me. "Let's start with getting you home, and then we can work everything else out later."

Her gaze flicked past me to the small window. I twisted to see Alex pacing the floor like I'd done before him. "Jax," Kaia said."I'm not ready to talk to him. Could you ask him just to give me a little time?"

"Are you sure?" She nodded. "Okay. I'll let him know." I pushed out of the chair and strolled out of the room.

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