Fight for Me (26 page)

“How’d you get up here?”

He shrugged. “Followed you from the fight. With the party going on, no one questioned me.”

“There are a lot of people downstairs.” Maybe if he remembered there was a house full of people here, he wouldn’t do anything stupid.

“You know, I thought you were different. I’d watch you at the bar. You never let any man buy you drinks or take you home. I thought you were a good girl. Did all the attention make you feel good, Lexi? You hid who you were really well.”

“It wasn’t like that, Noah. I never lied to you.” He moved quickly, grabbing hold of my arm and yanking me toward him. I startled, trying to pull back, but his hold was firm.

“But you are a liar. You’re nothing but a fucking whore.” He hissed. I tried to pull my arm away, but he held me tighter.

“A year and a half I waited for you to see that not all guys are bad. If you would’ve just given me a chance, I could’ve made you happy.”

“I never lied to you. I told you I wasn’t looking for a boyfriend.”

“That’s because the only person you’d ever been with was Logan. I wanted to show you that I could be good for you, but I fell in love with a whore… again. You made me believe you were different, that you didn’t sleep around like the other girls at the bar.”

“I don’t.”

“Then why are you whoring yourself to that fighter?” he screamed. I flinched, pulling my head back as he got in my face.

“What was I to you, Lexi? A game?”

I shook my head. At this point, I was too scared to respond anymore.

“Well, I’m so tired of girls like you.” He released me, gripping his forehead in his palms like he had a headache.

“You, my mother, Hannah—all whores.” One of his hands wrapped around my waist, pulling me closer, while the other laced into my hair and yanked my head back. I saw his intent and there was no way I was going to kiss him. He drew my head closer until his lips were at my ear. “You made me love you. You owe me.”

He moved his hand over my ass, down to my thigh. I tried to think rationally. I didn’t want to make a move to escape and fail. There was no way I was getting to the door. The music from the party was playing loudly. No one would hear me scream, but the party was in the courtyard, right outside our terrace. If I made it there, I’d be able to call out for help.

I was resisting, and he didn’t like it. He tried to pry his fingers between my thighs, but I pressed them together tightly.

“Spread your legs, whore, and let me give it to you the way I should’ve in the beginning.” He yanked my hair harder. It burned so badly my eyes watered. I relaxed my body and let him slip his hands between my legs.

“That’s right, you bitch. Be a whore and beg me to fuck you.” I had to play this smart or I’d get hurt.

“Yes, I’m a whore.” It didn’t even sound convincing, but I had to try. “I want to be your whore.”

He narrowed his eyes. “That’s a good girl. Do as I say, and maybe I’ll forgive you for whoring yourself to that douchebag.”

“Anything, I’ll do anything.” I was going to gag. I couldn’t believe this was the same man I’d enjoyed being with. He was a monster. No traces of the Noah I knew were left. His hold in my hair loosened slightly, and I stepped back. It was what I’d been waiting for. I lifted my leg swiftly, kneeing him in the groin.

His hold dropped, and I took off. I slid open the doors to the terrace. We were only three floors up; someone would hear me call out. I screamed at the top of my lungs. His hands pushed against my back. He was strong and knocked the wind out of me. I stumbled on my heels as I looked over my shoulder at Noah. I tried to hold on to the railing, but the force of the push was too much. All I felt was open air. I hit my arm hard on the concrete overhang as I fell, and the pain prohibited my ability to reach out and grasp anything. I was suddenly free-falling into oblivion.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Ryder

I was moving through the party on auto-pilot. A lot of promoters were here, and Ty wouldn’t have let me miss it. But all I could think about was Alexis and how much I wanted to spend the night alone with her. Ty was trying to pull me into small talk with some of our sponsors, but all I managed to do was mumble or nod. Mostly because I wasn’t paying attention to anything anyone in the small group gathered around me was saying.

What
is taking Lexi so long?

I noticed Leah and my mother exit the house and step out onto the patio. I excused myself, went straight over to them, and pulled them off to the side.

“Are you out of your fucking mind?” I shouted at Leah. “I haven’t touched you in over four months.”

“And you…” I turned on my mother. “You actually believe I’d pay her to do that? Do you even know me?”

“Since you’ve been with her, you’ve changed.”

“I gave her the check because she was having a hard time, and I felt guilty. Worst mistake I ever made.” I cut my eyes back to Leah, my anger steadily on the rise.

“Leah?” My mother turned to Leah, but she wouldn’t meet her questioning gaze. “Look at me, Leah.” She did.

“Did he pay you to get rid of the baby?”

Leah was tense, eyes glistening, then her shoulders slumped as she sighed.

“No.” She closed her eyes, and a tear spilled with the motion. When she opened them, she quickly wiped away the moisture and looked at my mother.

“It’s not fair how she can just walk in and take everything that was supposed to be mine. I know you understand how I feel. I just wanted to hurt her, and she wasn’t going to believe me without your help.”

“Oh, Leah… I trusted you. You made me doubt my own son.”

“I know, but I had to do something. Look.” She pointed across the room. “She even got him to forgive his father.” My mother looked over to where David stood nursing his drink, and sucked in a breath. She looked to me with disappointment and hurt in her eyes.

“I haven’t forgiven anyone.”

“Then what is he doing here?” my mother asked.

“I don’t know, and I don’t care. What I need to know is if you’re on my side or not.”

“I’m always on your side.”

“So stop pushing me over the edge.”

“I shouldn’t have come here.” She glanced back at David, all of a sudden looking skittish and vulnerable. She hadn’t seen David in years, and this appeared to be a shock to her system.

Just as the tension began mounting between her and David, someone screamed loudly, catching everyone’s attention. The scream pierced through the loud music blasting through the speakers and the chatter from the crowd. I caught a quick glimpse of something falling from above—no,
someone
falling.

Long, dark hair.

Black dress.

Water splashed heavily from the pool as she plummeted into it. David and I glanced at each other, and a sense of déjà vu came over me. My world tilted off its axis. The dread that filled my chest was immediate and consuming.

Three seconds.

That’s how long it took for my body to catch up to what my brain had already registered. Someone had fallen from my terrace. I didn’t need to see her face to know Alexis was at the bottom of the pool. David and I raced to the pool and dived in, highly aware that this time I might not be able to save her. I reached her quickly, wrapped my arms around her waist, and pulled her up to the surface.

Ty was at the edge, pulling her from the water, as David and I climbed out. By the time I got to her side, she was laid out on the cold concrete. She was limp and appeared lifeless, her arm angled awkwardly. I cradled her against my body, pulling her wet hair from her face. My hand came away wet with more than water. She was bleeding. I searched her head for a cut or gash but couldn’t find where the blood was coming from.

Ty pulled at my arm and yelled at me to lay her down, but I didn’t give a fuck. I needed to hold her. I needed to make her wake up. I knew she would do it for me. She had before. There was so much I hadn’t said. So much we hadn’t done.

My hands trembled as I held her. My heartfelt weighted down in my chest. My vision was blurry as my eyes stung, but I couldn’t have been crying. I
never
cried.

I never understood why Lexi had gone into that ocean years ago, but as I held her in my arms, I knew I’d follow her anywhere on this earth and beyond.

~*~*~

I’d blacked out, completely lost my shit after pulling Alexis from the pool. I’d reacted out of shock and adrenaline, not logic. I should’ve known moving her around wasn’t safe. I should’ve known she may have needed CPR. But seeing her lying on the cold ground caused me to lose all sense of sanity.

Ty told me I had to be sedated, but I didn’t remember any of the events leading up to it. Apparently, after I pulled her into my arms, I wouldn’t let anyone touch her. The paramedics were afraid I’d cause more damage with the way I had been moving her, so when no one could tear me away from her, they stuck a needle into my neck.

It was the longest four hours of my life. I paced the waiting room and halls of the hospital for hours before anyone gave us any news. Ty and I were anxious when the doctor came out. “Are you Alexis Cole’s family?” he’d asked.

“I’m her brother.” It felt wrong saying that, but he wouldn’t have told me shit if I said was her boyfriend.

“Miss Cole lost a lot of blood. With the permission of her mother, we’ve given her a transfusion. It seems she may have hit her head on the edge of the pool during the fall. We’ve sutured the gash on her head and put a cast on her broken arm.”

“Can I see her?”

“Yes. She’s stable but hasn’t woken up as of yet. See the nurse in an hour, and she’ll direct you to her room.” I watched as he disappeared through the double doors, tempted to follow him and see for myself that she was okay. Ty tapped my arm and snapped me out of my thoughts before I acted them out.

“Let’s go down to the cafeteria and get something to eat.”

I didn’t want to go, but I knew if I refused, he’d stay up there with me. He wouldn’t leave my side until he knew I was okay, and that included making sure I ate something and functioned normally.

Ty sat across from me, quietly drinking a coffee. He was watching me closely, as if I’d lose it at any given minute. The chair next to me scraped against the floor, and David joined us. Ty glanced at him, nodded, then picked up his coffee and left us alone.

Fucking traitor
.

He watched me like a bodyguard for hours, and as soon as David showed up, he hightailed it out of the room. This was not a moment I wanted to share with David. I didn’t have the energy to shield myself from his bullshit.

“Not now, David.” I didn’t look at him, but I could tell he’d turned his chair so he was facing me.

“I know I’m the last person you want to talk to. But we both love Alexis, and I think we should talk about this.”

“What is there to talk about?” I turned and glared at him. “I left her in the room. She was fine. Perfectly happy. I don’t know how she ended up in that pool.”

“You know she hasn’t been to see her therapist in almost a year. Maybe she should go back. When I saw her after the fight, I knew something was wrong. I should’ve made her stay.”

I turned a sharp eye to him. “You think she jumped?”

“I don’t know what happened. Did you two argue? I saw Leah at your fight. Maybe she was jealous?”

“Leah confronted her with some bullshit lie, but we talked it over. This is crazy. I don’t know how to deal with any of this. Maybe I should’ve never pursued her. If she hadn’t come out here with me, this would’ve never have happened.”

“You can’t just give up on her.”

“I’m not giving up, but you’re making it sound like she’s still unstable. I live a fighter’s life. All I know is train, fight, party, and fuck. I wasn’t even faithful to Leah. How the fuck do I know if I can do it for her? It would kill her if I fucked up that way. I can’t live my life worrying she’ll be gone tomorrow over something I did.”

“Don’t let doubt keep you from what you want. That’s not who you are, and we don’t know what happened yet.”

“You don’t know who I am anymore.”

“I know you don’t give up. I made the mistake of giving up my happiness because I thought I knew what would be better for Vanessa. It haunted me for years. And it ended up causing me to make decisions that hurt everyone in my life.”

“Are you seriously going to sit there and tell me you never loved my mother? That your life with us was a big fucking mistake?”

He looked alarmed. “That’s not what I’m saying. Do you love Leah?”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Just answer the question.”

“I love her as a friend. We shared a lot, but it’s nothing like what I feel with Alexis.”

“Well, that’s exactly how I feel about your mother and Vanessa. Don’t walk away from Alexis, son. No matter what happened, she’s going to need you.” He squeezed my shoulder and left.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Alexis

“Ryder, Ryder, wake up.” He was leaning awkwardly over the railing along the bed. His face rested on his crossed arms. He shifted, then peeked at me through half-closed eyelids. His hair was a rumpled mess, and he had red sleep marks on his face, but he was adorable.

“Alexis?” He whispered the question as if he wasn’t sure if he was still dreaming. I smiled. He lurched forward, placing both hands on either side of my face.

“Hey, baby,” he whispered, gazing at me with red-rimmed eyes. His thumbs caressed my face as he leaned in, kissing me softly, then burying his face against my neck.

“Ryder?”

“Yeah, baby.” His words were whispered.

“What happened?” His body tensed up. He pulled back and gazed at me.

“You don’t remember?” I shook my head. He stood up and backed away. “I need to get the doctor.”

“No. Ryder, what happened? Why am I in a hospital?”

He sighed, running a hand through his disheveled hair. “You fell.”

“What? How?” I tried to reach out for him, and that’s when I realized I was shackled to the bed.

What the fuck?