Until Alex (11 page)

She noticed her phone and license on the nightstand. “I need to call her.”

“You think he drugged
both
of you?”

Her voice sounded so small, so innocent. “Why wouldn’t he?”

Hell of a question. “I’ll call and check on her.”

Alex’s brows slanted in. “You’d do that?”

Didn’t she realize what I’d be willing to do for her? Wow. Did I really just think that? I jumped to my feet. “Let me get the doctor.” I pushed aside the curtain.

“Hayden?” Alex’s soft voice immobilized me.

I glanced over my shoulder.

Her eyes stared into mine. “Why are you here?”

Breath whooshed through my lips. Definitely a loaded question. One I wasn’t ready to answer. To her. To me. To anyone. I tried avoiding her crestfallen eyes, but they lured me in like sailors to those damn sirens. “I found you by the pool when I got home last night.”

Alex nodded, her sadness crippling. “I’m glad it was you.”

ALEX

Even before Hayden stepped out to retrieve the doctor, my mind spun like an out-of-control carnival ride. One that makes you vomit on those unfortunate enough to be standing near you.

Why had this happened to me? Was I a victim of circumstance? Was I at the wrong place at the wrong time? Was I being tested to see how much I could handle in one lifetime?

Waking up in the hospital had been shocking. Finding Hayden seated beside me had been equally shocking. But who knew what would’ve happened if he hadn’t found me?

I
t wasn’t just Hayden finding me and taking me to the hospital. Most decent people would have done the same. It was the intangible safety net he afforded me by simply entering a room. It was inexplicable. Something I couldn’t understand even if I tried. It just was. 

A pretty blonde nurse in
pink scrubs stepped inside the curtain. Hayden followed her, his hands buried deep in the pockets of his jeans. Normally, I would’ve assumed he just had his way with her in a supply closet. But today, knowing he’d taken care of me—saved me—the thought couldn’t have been further from the truth. “Well, good morning,” she greeted me with a smile.

I nodded. It was the best I could do given my current situation.

She checked the readings on the machines. “You had your fiancé here very worried.”

Hayden stood in the corner looking mortified by her
words. I needed to ease his discomfort. “Sorry I worried you, babe.”

That slow sexy smile that indisputably turned girls to mush slid across his face. “No worries, sweetheart. You’re awake now. That’s all that matters.”

A long moment passed between us as we stared across the small space, neither backing down from the other’s eyes. My mind flashed to the picnic table, the pool, the movie. All the moments Hayden had shown a true glimpse of himself. And as much as I wanted to focus on the fact that he’d come to my rescue, I couldn’t stop from remembering the hurt he’d knowingly inflicted outside the coffee shop. 

How could he be so frustrating, yet put me at such ease? How could he hurt me, yet be the only one to protect me?

“Your fiancé tells me you don’t remember much,” the nurse said, interrupting our moment.

I broke eye contact first and shook my head, wishing I didn’t like the way fiancé sounded
each time she said it.

She frowned. “But he told you that you were given a drug?”

I nodded, still stunned it happened in the first place. I’d seen things like that in Lifetime movies. Not in my real life. Then again, nothing over the last month and a half had happened before in my real life.

The nurse glanced to Hayden, gauging his reaction. “What he probably neglected to mention was when you were brought in, there were concerns.”

My eyes jumped between the nurse and Hayden. “Concerns?”

She nodded regrettably. “About what occurred while you were unconscious.”

My stomach dropped. My hand shot out from under the sheets. Searching for comfort. Searching for reassurance. Searching for Hayden.

Without hesitation, he moved to me, grabbing hold of my hand. He squeezed it just enough to let me know he had me. “Was I tested?”

The nurse nodded. “The results just came back.”

My heart thundered in my chest. I squeezed Hayden’s hand and swallowed down the large lump lodged in my throat.

“You’re clean,” she explained. “You weren’t assaulted.”

I let out a long shaky breath.

“Thank God,” Hayden whispered, dropping into the chair beside me, still clutching my hand.

A whirlwind of emotions flooded my body. Anger. Relief. Foolishness. Loneliness. I wished my body could settle on
just one. But it was par for the course that was my life.

Tears tumbled down my cheeks. I wiped at them with the hand Hayden wasn’t holding, but I couldn’t stop their fervent descent.

“Hey.” He leaned closer, his eyes leveling with mine. “You’re okay.” He lifted the back of my hand to his mouth, gently pressing his lips to it. “Nothing happened. You’re fine.”

I wanted to believe him. Wanted to hold onto the tingle his lips left on my skin. Wanted to grasp onto the sincerity in his voice. I really did. But I wasn’t fine. I was nowhere near fine.

“Would you mind doing something about these?” I gestured to my tears, feeling like an idiot for crying in front of him
again
. God. I was so pathetic. “You wouldn’t want to witness them for another four days, would you?”

Hayden scooted to the edge of his chair. His minty breath the only thing between us as he inched closer.

I stilled.

He
obviously didn’t realize I wasn’t serious.

He lowered his soft lips to my cheek, pressing slow gentle kisses to my salty tears as they slid down, one after the other.

The beeping of the heart monitor accelerated quite ceremoniously. He had to have heard it. And if I wasn’t so lost in the sensation of his lips on my skin, and the glorious tingles left in their wake, I might’ve been mortified. But what could I do? Hayden was kissing my face.

Once he reached the corner of my mouth, his lips hovered dangerously close. Did the thought of kissing me cross his mind? If so, he didn’t let on. With his feet planted firmly on the ground, he placed his hands on either side of my hips and rested the weight of his body on them.  Then he leaned over me, his lips touching down on my other cheek, trailing the same slow gentle kisses over my tears from my eye down to my chin.

He pulled back an inch, his eyes dropping to my lips.

In my head, I begged him to kiss me. To make me forget my circumstances, my sadness, my name. I knew there couldn’t be a worse time, but the emotions bouncing through my body thought otherwise. 

Instead of indulging me in my ephemeral wish, Hayden pulled away and sat back down in the chair beside my bed, leaving me breathless.

I expected him to look away. To avoid my eyes. To pretend he didn’t just kiss my face. But he didn’t. The fire in his eyes, a fire I hadn’t seen before, blazed.

My lips moved before I could stop them. “A tissue would’ve been fine.”

Hayden snorted, before dropping his head and shaking it from side to side.

Over his shoulder, the nurse stood in the corner wearing an envious grin.

Oh, she had no freaking idea.

CHAPTER TWELVE

HAYDEN

“I told you, you didn’t have to do this,” Alex pleaded.

I looked down at her small body cradled in my arms. “Quiet.” I pressed the button for the second floor and the elevator doors slid shut with us inside.

Carrying Alex was completely unnecessary. But having her arms linked around my neck felt amazing. And even though I wanted to say I did it to be a gentleman, all the inappropriate thoughts moving through my head with Alex’s body tucked into mine, made me anything but.

And given the last twenty-four hours, that made me a total dick.

“Why don’t you normally take the elevator?”

How could I not be honest when she gazed up into my eyes like I singlehandedly saved the country from a terrorist invasion? “I don’t like confined spaces.” Or the things forcing you inside them.

Alex nodded in understanding. But did she really understand?
Could
she ever understand?

The doors to the elevator finally split. I blew out a breath, hoping Alex didn’t notice. With minor difficulty, I unlocked the door to my apartment and carried her inside.

“Wow. I thought you were only kidding.”

I glanced down at her grinning face.

“The whole fiancé thing. Now you’re carrying me over the threshold. People are definitely going to talk.”

I laughed as I kicked the door closed behind us.

I made my way over to the sofa and placed her down gently. I never entertained girls in my living room. So I stepped back and admired how at home Alex looked on my large sectional. I liked it. I really liked it.

“Seriously, Hayden. I can’t thank you enough.”

“I can see that. You’ve thanked me like thirty times.”

She flashed me a condescending smirk. “I’m serious. With my aunt out of town, I have no one. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”

I shrugged. “Just being a good neighbor.” I should’ve slapped myself for being such a dumbass. But I didn’t have to.

Alex shot me a knowing smile as she stood from my sofa. “I should probably head home.”

I jumped in front of her, blocking her escape like a crazy person. “No.”

Her brows bunched together as she gaped up at me. And even though she’d been through hell, and her day-old clothes were crumpled and her hair a wild mess, she still looked so damn beautiful. “What?”

“Stay with me tonight.” The idea definitely sounded better in my head.

Her eyes widened. “Why?”

“I…” I knew I looked like a total bastard debating whether or not to lie, but that’s exactly what I was doing.

Alex searched my face, waiting as I waged my internal battle. A battle I had no chance in hell of winning. After more indecisive minutes, her shoulders dropped with an audible sigh.

Yup. That’s me. A royal disappointment.
And for some reason, I hated that Alex witnessed it firsthand.

Ah hell
.

“I need to know you’re okay,” I blurted.

Alex crossed her arms and sassily tilted her head. “And how will you know I’m okay if I’m here?”

She had me there.

I lifted my head to the heavens, praying a higher power took hold of my mouth for the next few seconds so I couldn’t screw it up. But when no divine help came, I did the only thing I could. I lowered my eyes to hers. “There’s no way I’ll sleep if you’re across the hall beating yourself up over something some asshole did to you.”

Alex stared up at me, her eyes filling with tears. It was definitely not the response I’d been hoping for.

I moved closer, shrinking the distance between us. My fingers flexed at my side, itching to touch her. “Stay with me tonight, Alex. You can sleep in my bed and I’ll sleep out here.”

Her eyes jumped away. I could see her taking inventory of my apartment. The small kitchen and its empty counter
tops to the right of the living room. The closed doors leading to the bathroom and my bedroom to the left. She took it all in. Likely pondering my bare walls and wondering what kind of person didn’t have pictures.

“Okay,” she whispered.

I leaned closer, not trusting my ears. “Okay?”

She skirted around me and grabbed hold of the front door knob. “I just need to go shower first.”

“Want me to come with you?” The second I said it, I winced.

She glanced over her shoulder, flashing an amused grin. “I think I can manage. But if I need help reaching my back, I’ll give a shout.”

I couldn’t not smile back at this amazing girl who, after everything she’d been through, still retained her wit.

ALEX

Sobs tore through my body on the shower floor. The gushing water had nothing on my tears. They started the second I left Hayden’s apartment. I tried to be strong in front of him. But the truth remained. I needed my parents. I needed my friends. I needed to understand why terrible things kept happening to me.

I didn’t know Cameron. From our first encounter, he seemed nice. Why would he drug me? Did he plan to rape me? Hayden told me my clothes were undone and inside out when he found me. Maybe we’d been interrupted.

And what about Taylor? Why didn’t she stay with me? She must’ve been the one to drop me off. Didn’t she realize what happened? Was she the one who interrupted? The one who initially saved me? If so, why hadn’t she called?

It was all too much.

Too much on top of everything else I’d been dealing with.

When the hot water cooled and my body began to shake, I knew I needed to get out. Besides, if I didn’t make it over to Hayden’s apartment soon, he’d probably come looking for me. And finding me falling apart on the shower floor would be a glaring contradiction to the tough façade I tried to assume.

With pruned skin and a wet head of hair, I padded across the hall to his apartment a few minutes later.

Outside I hesitated, wishing I didn’t feel uneasy approaching his door. I needed to get over the hurt I’d felt. He’d swept in when no one else had. He’d comforted me with butterfly kisses in the hospital. He’d held my hand through the test results. And he’d carried me to his apartment and demanded I stay. What more could I ask for?

With one last breath, I tapped on his door and twisted the knob. Thanks to the open pizza box on the coffee table, the spicy smell of marinara sauce filled the room.

Hayden lounged on the left end of the sectional with his bare feet up. His hair was wet from a shower, and he’d changed into gray basketball shorts and a white T-shirt. As he bit into his slice of pizza, his eyes followed me to the opposite side of the sofa where I sat down, tucking my feet underneath me.

“Feel better?” he asked with his mouth full.

I shrugged, noncommittal.

He gestured to the pizza on the table. “It just got here. Have some.”

I watched his slice disappear in three giant bites. When had he last eaten? He stayed with me all night at the hospital. And never left my side once I woke up. He must’ve been starving. “I’m not really hungry.”

He studied my face, long and hard. Like the longer he stared, the more he’d understand me.

Good luck with that.

“Don’t make me come over there and force you.”

I held up my palms. “I promise. I’ll eat when I’m hungry.”

“Fair enough.” He reached into the box and grabbed another slice.

Being in his apartment, surrounded by him and that amazing aloe scent, made me feel better. At least better than my pitiful shower display.

“You wanna watch a movie?”

“Whatever you want.”

A sexy smile spread from ear to ear. “I like the sound of that.”

I couldn’t help but grin as he put down his pizza and jumped up, scanning his movie collection on the shelf below his flat screen.

With his back to me, I drank in his muscular form. I knew what lingered beneath that T-shirt, so broad and ripped. Like nothing I’d ever seen before. And even after all I’d been through, I couldn’t stop my mind from wondering what he’d feel like. Taste like. Be like behind closed doors. “Hayden?” His name slipped out before I could stop it.

He glanced over his shoulder, his blue eyes popping thanks to the white T-shirt. I’d always been a sucker for blue eyes and his put all others to shame.

I gnawed on my bottom lip, knowing I couldn’t turn back now that I’d opened my big mouth. “I don’t want you to sleep out here.”

He arched a brow. “Where should I sleep?”

My eyes flashed to the twin doors to the side of the living room.

Hayden’s eyes narrowed. “Alone?”

After bre
aking down in the shower, I knew I shouldn’t be left alone for a very long time. So I shook my head slowly.

HAYDEN

Thank God.

The credits scrolled across the screen after the longest fucking movie in the history of movies.

Knowing Alex wanted to share my bed played with my head and wired my body. Sure, we stayed on opposite ends of the sofa, but a two-hour movie gave me more than enough time to focus on the palpable electricity whizzing between us.

Never before had I spent so much time with a girl and not taken it to the bedroom. I knew Alex had just endured a traumatic experience. I wasn’t that much of a douchebag. But I really wanted her in my bed. At least for the night.

I glanced across the sofa. Alex watched me. “You ready for bed?” I tried to sound nonchalant, but it came off cheesy.

Seemingly undeterred by my cheesiness, she nodded, her eyes locked on mine, waiting for me to make the first move.

I tipped my head toward the two doors. “If you need the bathroom, it’s the one on the right. My room’s the one on the left.”

Alex nodded before sliding off the sofa and moving to the bathroom. Did she need to wear those tiny shorts? Good God.
Restraining myself was hard enough when her ass cheeks weren’t hanging out.

I grabbed the remote and switched off the television, shrouding the living room in darkness. I stood up. Then sat back down. Then stood up again.

What was I supposed to do? Wait for her to come out, or just go in my room? If I went in, was I supposed to get in bed or sit and wait for her?

Girls usually stripped off their clothes before we even made it to my room. Everything with Alex was so new. It was just a matter of time before I screwed it up again. And I
would
screw it up. I’d become a real pro at that.

“Ready?” Alex’s soft voice snapped me out of my head.

Nodding like a pre-pubescent fool who’d never been alone with a girl before, I moved toward my room. I could feel Alex on my heels and smell her vanilla scent. But I didn’t turn around for fear of coming face to face with her.

Being that close would only send my
body buzzing and hands twitching.

I moved to my dresser and switched on the small lamp, casting a dim glow over my bare room. No pictures sat on my cherry nightstand or dresser. No posters or pictures junked up my white walls. The focal point was the king-size bed. With its black comforter and mound of pillows, it was the area that got the most attention.

And the one place Alex and I couldn’t escape each other.

Having no idea if I even had a side, I moved to the right and removed the extra pillows, tossing them to the floor. I usually just slept in the middle. And since I didn’t let the girls I took home stay, I never had to tell someone which side to sleep on.

I sat down, contemplating my next move. I heard Alex’s soft footfalls padding to the left side. Oh, this definitely had the makings of an interesting night.

I grabbed the hem of my T-shirt, pausing before lifting it. It wasn’t like Alex hadn’t seen me at the pool with my shirt off. But concealing my tattoo trumped comfort. Too many potential questions there. Instead, I pulled off my shorts, leaving me in my boxers and T-shirt.

The opposite side of the bed dipped slightly as Alex sat down. “Is this okay?”

I looked over my shoulder. She held onto my sheets, pausing before sliding underneath. “What?”

“Me taking this side?”

I smiled. “You can have whatever side you want. If it’s the middle you’d like, we can work around that, too.”

Alex grinned as she slid under the sheets, turning onto her side to face me. Her hands slipped under her head on the pillow and her eyes zoned in on mine, challenging me to get in. To move closer.

Like I’d really back down.

I slid under the sheets, fluffing my pillow before lying down and facing her. I could sense her nervousness. But she had no reason to be. Not with me. She was the purest thing I’d ever had in my bed. And I liked it. A hell of a lot more than I thought I would.

Alex’s shallow breaths were impossible to ignore and so damn adorable I could’ve listen
ed to them all night. Preferably beneath me and nuzzled right into my neck.

Girls normally couldn’t keep their eyes off my body
once they were in my bed, anticipating what I’d be like when the lights went down. But not Alex. She stared into my eyes. Not the silver flecks other girls used as a pick-up line to get my attention. Right
into
them, like she saw all the way down to my soul.