Until Alex (26 page)

I found myself asking questions, which only garnered a nod, shake of his head, or shrug. Even when I asked a question requiring more than
yes
,
no
, or
I don’t know
.

I wondered if it was my fault. I mean, my reaction, or lack thereof, to his confession was appalling. Truthfully, it knocked the breath right out of me. And even though he’d been drinking, he’d said it. He’d actually said those words. And liquid courage or not, coming from Hayden, it was a monumental step—and completely insane.

Two months ago, we didn’t even know each other. How had our feelings developed so strongly? So quickly? How had our lives become so intertwined? Maybe our misfortune in losing our parents had bonded us. Or maybe the way he kept saving me had cinched our connection.

I looked out over the dining hall envious of the smiling girls whose biggest concerns were what to do Friday night. I stabbed at my salad, trying to process Hayden’s behavior. Trying to determine my next move.

“What do we have here?”

Before my eyes even lifted from my food, I knew who the deep voice belonged to.

Hayden’s head shot up from his burger as Remy slid into the seat across from us. His jeans and faded black band T-shirt hung off his body. He looked more frail and sickly than I recalled. He reached across the table and stole a handful of fries from Hayden’s plate.

“What’s up, man?” Hayden’s words were cautious, almost shaky.

Remy stuffed the fries into his mouth as he lifted his chin to me. “I meant the bitch.”

I answered before Hayden could. “The name’s Alex.”

“Al. Ex.” My name dripped mockingly off his pierced tongue.

Up close, his gaunt face and discolored teeth made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. My attention dropped to my salad. If I acted like I wasn’t there, maybe he’d forget I’d spoken.

“So, is this who you replaced me with?” Remy taunted Hayden.

Hayden’s hand found my thigh under the table. “We’re just hanging out. It’s nothing serious.”

My eyes shot up.

A sly smile wet Remy’s lips. “Of course it’s not. Bitches can’t be trusted.”

Hayden’s hand stiffened on my leg.

“Did you hear him?” Remy’s eyes flashed to mine. “It’s not serious. So run along. Me and my boy have things to discuss.”

Hayden’s grip on my leg tightened, an unspoken directive to stay. “Dude. She’s fine.”

Remy’s fiery brown eyes darkened. He looked about ready to jump across the table. Had Hayden never defied his wishes before?

A strange silence fell upon the dining hall.

Had everyone heard what was transpiring in our corner?

My eyes shot around. All eyes were trained on two uniformed police officers crossing the room. Their dull footsteps resounded as they moved closer and closer to our table.

“Remington Tyler.” They stopped behind Remy. “You have the right to remain silent.”

A sadistic smile stretched across Remy’s face as his head whipped around. Only a lunatic would find humor in being arrested in front of a room full of people.

The stocky officer withdrew his handcuffs, taking Remy’s wrists behind his back and pulling him to his feet. The smile never faded from his face as the officer continued reading him his rights.

“Hayden Martin, you have the right—”

My head snapped around, my eyes wide. The second officer stood behind Hayden reading
him
his
rights while placing cuffs on his wrists. Hayden’s head stayed down. He made no attempt to argue. No attempt to ask questions. No attempt to look at me.

“Wait! What’s happening?” I asked frantically.

“Miss, remain seated,” the officer ordered as he yanked Hayden to his feet.

“Hayden,” I pleaded as the officer pushed him along.

Hayden’s eyes remained locked on the tile floor. “Just stay out of it, Alex,” he muttered before being led out of the dining hall alongside Remy for all to see.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

ALEX

The late October breeze carried dry leaves across the quiet parking lot where I sat on the hood of my car. My eyes focused on the front door of the rusted brick sheriff’s office. The same one that hadn’t opened in hours. Darkness had already crept in. Of course it had. Nine hours had lapsed since the police arrested Hayden.

And I’d yet to get any answers.

What could he have possibly done?

Had he even done anything?

I burrowed my fingers into my hair.
Ugh
. What was taking so long? 

At nine forty-five, the door finally swung open. My aunt exited first, followed by Mr. Jacobson, my parents’ lawyer, and then Hayden. His jeans looked slept in, his white T-shirt was a wrinkled mess, and his hair stuck up like he’d run his hands through it a thousand times. 

I slid off the hood. My feet barely touched the pavement as I ran to him. I didn’t say a word. I just launched myself into his arms. Thankfully he caught me, only staggering back a couple feet. “Whoa.”

I held on as tightly as I could, burying my face in his neck. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Thanks to you.”

Whatever troubled him and caused his distance over the past two days was forgotten. I squeezed him tighter, never wanting to let go.

Sadly, it wasn’t my call. Hayden lowered me to my feet, grabbing hold of my right hand as he turned to Mr. Jacobson and shook his hand. “Thank you, sir. I appreciate everything you did for me in there.”

“Well, like I said. They had nothing to hold you on, son. Talk about incompetence.”

I gazed up at Hayden’s tired face as he shook my aunt’s hand. “Thanks for being here, Katherine.”

“Oh, honey. I’ve been here since you moved in. You’re just too stubborn to let anyone help you.”

“That’s for sure,” I mumbled.

H
ayden shot me a sleepy smile, dropping my hand and wrapping his arm around my waist until I was tucked firmly into his side. “Is it now?”

I nodded.

He leaned down to my ear and whispered, “Take me home, sweetheart.”

“Gladly, babe.”

HAYDEN

The hot shower cascaded over my face, giving me more damned time to think. It’s all I’d done in that suffocating cell. Cooper’s words replayed in my head like a bad song. The things Remy pulled behind my back. The danger he put me in—not only with the deadbeats, but with Cooper himself. 

Cooper warned me Remy would be arrested, but he never mentioned I’d be brought in. Or that the shit could hit the fan at school in front of everyone, including Alex. And while I felt confident he would’ve eventually stepped in to bail me out, it would’ve just meant I owed him more. Having Alex save my ass meant I’d cut at least one tie with Cooper. And that brought me one step closer to getting out of this life all together.

Ironically, the girl who would’ve liked to know everything about me, decided she didn’t want to know why I’d been arrested. On the ride home, I tried to open up to her, tried to explain what went down, but she blasted her radio and sang along like I wasn’t even in the car.

I switched off the shower and wrapped a towel around my waist. I wished I could say I washed off all the filth from the cell, but that would take time. I stepped out of the bathroom and into my bedroom.

My head withdrew and my body stilled.

Alex lay sprawled on her side on my bed eyeing me up and down like candy. “Lose the towel,” she commanded.

I raised my brows. In my fantasies, she was naked when she made the request. “You sure you want to go there?”

“You still have those handcuffs?”

Only she could make light of such a fucked-up situation. I slid down beside her, keeping my towel tucked tightly around me, and slipped my arms around her waist.

“You’re soaked,” she squealed.

I shook my hair like a wet dog.

She squealed even more, burying her face in my chest. She paused for a long moment, trailing her fingers over my back. “You really scared me today.”

“You? I was scared shitless.” I laughed, though it wasn’t funny.

She wove her fingers through the hair behind my neck, playing with it gently. “I know this thing between us happened fast,” she whispered. “But I can’t imagine being away from you…I need you, Hayden.
So
much.”

“Hey,” I said softly. “You’ve got nothing to worry about. Fast or not, me and you, it’s real. I’m not going anywhere.”

Her eyes snapped open. I wasn’t prepared for the abundance of hope filling them. “Do you know what that means?”

I shook my head. Having high expectations in my world usually got me nowhere fast.

“You’re mine. And I’m not letting you go anywhere without me.”

My stomach gave way to a giant ripple. If I was a pussy in the eyes of guys everywhere, so be it. This girl—
my
girl—wanted me for the long haul. And that shit made me happy. God damned happy.

Alex’s lips collided with mine, pouring everything she felt into the kiss. Relief. Excitement. Fear. I got it. I felt it, too. Her tongue slipped inside my mouth, eagerly sweeping and tangling with mine like it was meant to be there.

I dove in, feasting on her lips. Moist. Delicate. All-consuming. I needed to erase what happened earlier from my memory. I needed to lose myself in Alex for the rest of the night. I needed to remain lost in our own little world for as long as humanly possible.

Before I realized what she was doing, Alex pulled her body away from mine so quickly I fell onto my stomach. She hooked one leg over my hips and straddled my towel-covered ass.

She leaned forward, her chest pressing into my back as her breath tickled my right shoulder, the one with the heart and dagger tattoo.

Oh
.

She’d never seen the ugly thing up close. I relaxed my body and let her examine it.

Her finger replaced her breath, lightly tracing the outline of the heart over and over again, avoiding the dagger entirely. She eventually abandoned the image and traced the words scrolled through it with her fingernail. Tiny shivers rolled through me as her nail dug into my skin.

I felt her warm breath as she leaned even closer, planting a soft kiss over the words. “Have you changed your mind?” she whispered against my skin.

I turned my face on my pillow. “About what?”

“Never again.”

I smiled. “What do you think?”

Instead of telling me, she traced the words with her tongue, licking slowly—maddeningly slowly—over my skin. I fucking loved it. “I asked
you,
” she purred into my shoulder.

“I think I was a stupid kid when I got that tattoo.”

“Oh? So now that you’re so old and mature, what do you think?” She trailed kisses over the length of it.

“If I met you back then, I would’ve screwed it up. I’d still be the same angry idiot.”

She didn’t speak, just trailed a line of kisses from my right shoulder to my left. I couldn’t believe I didn’t tense when her finger traced the outline of the angel. It was so personal. So risky to have done it in the first place. “Do you regret this one?”

“Not a chance.”

“Oh, no? Why’s that?”

I shook my head. She’d gotten enough honesty out of me for a lifetime.

“I think she needs words.”

My smile spread. “Oh, yeah? Like what?”

“I’m sure
you’re swell
in Italian sounds much sexier.”

“So you think I should get something sexy on me?”

“Oh, babe. You’ve already got something sexy on you.”

I twisted so quickly she had no other option but to straddle my front. “You talking about the angel or you?” I grabbed her face and pulled her down to me.

She smiled against my lips. “Both.” She slipped her hand under my towel and grabbed hold of me right where I wouldn’t resist. “I wonder if they would’ve let me visit you in jail.”

I couldn’t stop the moan in the deep recesses of my throat as her hand slipped up and down, working wonders on my already tense body. “I would’ve snuck you in.”

“Oh, yeah?” she purred.

“Oh, fuck yeah.”

ALEX

Hayden’s pinched eyes, furrowed brows, quiet pants, and moans with my name were something I enjoyed almost as much as the pleasure he’d brought me on my birthday.

When he found his release, I snuggled into his chest, listening to his labored breathing. It was one of the sexiest sounds I’d ever heard.

“You are unbelievable.”

I giggled, knowing I had no idea what I was doing. I listened to what seemed to please him and went with it. “I’m hungry.”

He choked out a laugh. “Is that code for something else?”

“I’m sure it could be. But right now, I’m starving. My lunch got interrupted, and I’m guessing the Five-Os didn’t feed you?”

“Five-Os?”

“I’m hooking up with a criminal. I’ve gotta use the lingo.”

He shook his head, probably alarmed by both my dorkiness and the fact that I’d called him a criminal but hadn’t asked what happened. He had to realize I was trying to make things easier on him. He’d been through hell.

Half an hour later, I sat with my back pressed into Hayden’s side on the sofa, hoping the proximity would settle my nervousness as we ate our pizza.

I
did
want to know why he’d been arrested. But at the same time, knowing what I did about his job, I knew there could be some truth to the accusations. Hayden worked with Remy. Remy hadn’t been released. It didn’t take a genius to realize Hayden must’ve been there when Remy committed the crime they were holding him for.

Hayden leaned forward, tossing his crust into the box on the coffee table. I took the opportunity to settle into the spot beside him. When he sat back, he turned toward me. “
I promised no more secrets. So tell me what you wanna know.”

She paused for a long time,
a mix of fear and indecision clouding her eyes. “Why were you arrested?”

He exhaled a long breath. “Two men were killed. Remy’s fingerprints were found at the crime scene.”

“Did he do it?”

Hayden chewed his bottom lip. His eyes searched the ceiling for an answer that wasn’t there. “Next question.”

I huffed out an irritated breath. Why couldn’t he trust me completely? “Did you do it?”

His eyes widened with a mixture of anger, hurt, and surprise. “I’m here, aren’t I?”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

He sighed. “No, Alex, I didn’t do it.”

I blew out a breath. It wasn’t like I thought him capable of murder, but the way he evaded my question made me wonder what secrets he still planned to keep from me.

“Why’d they release you?”

“My prints weren’t at the crime scene.”

“Were you there when they were killed?”

He gnawed on his bottom lip, likely drawing blood. “Next question.”

I grabbed the pizza box and jumped to my feet, feeling beyond frustrated. With Hayden. With myself. With the whole stupid situation. I carried the box into the kitchen and tossed our garbage, loaded the dishwasher, and wiped down the counter
top.

Having nothing left to clean, I crossed my arms and leaned
against the sink, staring across the rooms at Hayden who stared back. “Why are we doing this? You clearly don’t want to tell me anything.”

He took in the distance between us. He wasn’t happy about it. “It’s an open investigation. I can’t say anything that could incriminate me or you. The less you know the better.” He tilted his head, his eyes pleading with me to understand.

I knew he’d do whatever it took to protect me. But when he said he’d open up and be honest, I expected more. “The two men who were killed. Did they have anything to do with the gun pointed at your head?”

He stared at me for what felt like forever.

Though we were two rooms apart, the gravity of the situation hit me fiercely in both the head and the heart. “If they weren’t killed…” I swallowed down the knot in my tightened throat. “You would’ve been?”

His stare didn’t waver. Even as I walked back into the living room and sat down beside him, his gaze remained impenetrable.

I trailed my fingertips lightly over his features. Features I never would’ve seen again if those men had their way.

Life had been so cruel to Hayden. So careless with him and his emotions ever since he was a child. What had that done to the man sitting in front of me? How had it shaped him? What had it forced him to do to survive?

I didn’t really want to know the answer to my next question. But I needed to know. “Have you ever killed anyone?”

I saw the second my words registered. He blinked and his eyes shot away.

If I didn’t care about him the way I did, I would’ve grasped how disconcerting his reaction was. But I did care about him. And he hadn’t admitted any wrong doing.