Chapter 37 Alexis
ALEXIS
I have spent the last two months running from any and all feelings.
I'm either at work, school, studying, or drinking and partying. In all honesty, I feel like shit, and haven’t slept well in weeks, but I can’t find the energy to care these days.
So, when Marcee invited me to San Francisco for a club opening her friend got us on the list for it was an easy decision.
It’s fall break and campus is quiet, so the gym is only doing a few classes and personal training sessions are taking a break too.
Maybe it’s time to look further from campus, and it might be time to look at rehab facilities for work opportunities there.
I’m headed to the airport now. Marcee went up last night, but I still had one session at the gym to do and waited too long to get coverage, so I'll just meet them all in SF.
They’ve been sending me texts all day showing me all the fun I'm missing—bitches! Peering through the windshield, I eye the dark clouds rolling in. I hope my flight doesn’t get delayed.
On a whim, I take the back way toward the airport, not wanting to deal with the stop and go of town.
It takes me near Finn's place but I'm studiously avoiding that thought because I definitely am not driving this way just to go past his street… because that would be pathetic.
My phone buzzes and I expect it to be another text from my jerk friends at a spa or restaurant. No such luck, it's Jax. Ugh, I’m an idiot. Thank whatever Gods there are that I had forgotten he didn’t know I moved.
After Jax showed up at my old address for the drunken booty call, he punched the poor guy that answered the door and was arrested for assault.
The ensuing texts and calls had been disturbing, to say the least. I finally blocked his number, but again, he started using other numbers to call or text.
Sigh, I think I might actually have to change my number this time.
Cranking the radio and revving my engine, I lose myself on the open road—for a full twenty seconds before there’s a hideous grinding noise and smoke billows from my hood.
“No, no, no, no, no, no! Don’t do this now. Please, car. You can die as soon as we get to the airport, just not here.” I pet the steering wheel like I can soothe it into submission. A loud clunk and pop later, my car sputters to a stop on the side of an empty back road.
“Fuck my life!” I yell. Springing out of my car, I pop the hood and stare at the smoke like there is a damn thing I can do, you know, with my vast knowledge of cars and shit.
Grabbing my phone out of the cupholder, I call AAA, or at least, I try to, but there’s no signal.
Seriously, what the actual fuck, no service?
I walk up and down the road by my car with my phone in the air, moving it this way and that like it will somehow summon the cell phone signal gods and magically let me make a call.
Staring at the long empty road, I contemplate my options but hear a car approaching in the distance.
Feeling fifty percent optimistic and fifty percent freaked out because I'm pretty sure I’ve seen this movie, and it doesn’t end well for the pretty girl alone on the side of a deserted road, I turn to face the oncoming car with my arms waving over my head.
The car slows as it approaches me, swerving to the shoulder. I finally get a look at the driver and realize just how fucked I really am.
“Alexis?”
Did I step on a fucking fairy or something equally karmically evil? Finn unfolds himself from his car looking so good I could cry.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, my car died so I’m calling AAA.”
He shoves his hands into his pockets, eyeing the car, looking anywhere but at me, which is probably for the best because I can’t take my eyes off him.
He is as sexy as ever, but I note the stubble on his face and bags shading the area under his eyes.
His shirt is also slightly wrinkled. Overall, his appearance shows a lack of care that I can relate to all too well.
I missed him so much, and hate myself for that fact, but it's the truth.
Even now, after the time apart and pain he caused, something is pulling me to him like a magnet.
“I’ll just wait with you until they come.” Leaning on his car, he crosses his ankles and relaxes, looking like a fucking model.
“You don’t have to do that, Finn, I’m fine. You should go wherever it is you’re heading.” He just nods, looking up at the clouds that are rapidly darkening, ignoring my request.
“Did they give you an ETA? Will they make it before the storm hits?”
Biting my lip and eying the clouds, I contemplate lying but think better of it. “Fine, AAA isn’t coming, my phone doesn’t have a signal. Does yours?”
“Lex! Why the hell did you tell me to leave then?” Whipping his phone from his pocket, he stares at the screen. “And no, I don’t have any bars either. Just come to my place. You can call from there.”
“No. I’ll just wait here, thank you very much.”
“Stop being a fucking brat, Lex, and get in the car. A storm is rolling in, and I'm not about to leave you out here all alone.” I glare at him and sit on the hood of my car like the brat he just accused me of being.
Finn’s glare is so heated I have to force myself not to squirm.
“Get. In. The. Fucking. Car,” he grinds out through gritted teeth, like he is about a second from snapping.
Storming over to the passenger side of his car and wrenching the door open with more force than necessary, then looks at me, pointing at the seat.
The condescension of the order grates me, so I’m doubling down, crossing my legs primly and looking the other way.
That does it.
He marches straight to me, hauling me off the hood of my car and over his shoulder.
If I wasn’t so mad it would have been hella sexy.
It’s on the tip of my tongue to argue some more when a loud clap of thunder reverberates through the air a second before the sky opens up and pours down on us.
With quick strides, Finn hauls me back to his car, depositing me in the passenger seat before slamming the door shut.
I’m fuming at the audacity of this man thinking he can order me about.
“What the fuck, Mr. Walker?” I sneer at him. “What makes you think you have the right to force me to do anything?” Pushing on the handle, I prepare to jump out of the car. His arm shoots across me, yanking it closed.
“Don’t you fucking dare, Alexis! I’m taking you to my place where you will be safe. You might not give a shit about your safety, but I do!” His breathing is ragged, and he is so close to me now, I can smell the mint from the gum he’s chewing.
I can’t go to his house. It hurts too much even looking at him.
Bolstering my will, I open my mouth to protest, again, when another peal of lightning strikes, this time so close I get goose bumps.
Then a deafening crack fills the air before a large branch comes crashing down, missing my car by inches.
Finn levels me with a glare, daring me to challenge him again.
Knowing I'm beat, I give an unladylike humph and slump back in the seat.
He peels out, not speaking to me as we head toward his house.
I remember the last time I was in this car, Finn's fingers were buried in my pussy and I squirted for the first time.
Heat instantly floods my core. This is such a huge mistake.
“This is completely unnecessary. I can just wait in my car, Finn.”
“There is no fucking way I'm going to leave you stranded on the side of the road, especially with the storm headed our way.” I finally have a signal and get through to AAA just as we pull onto his long winding driveway. I explain where my car broke down and that I need to get to the airport.
“FUCK!” I shout at the roof as I hang up.
“They can’t get to me tonight. The storm is already hitting surrounding areas and causing too much damage.
They’re grounding all trucks and will resume once the storm has passed and roads are cleared.
” Dropping my head in defeat, I stare at my hands sitting in my lap, wringing them and trying desperately to get my emotions under control.
The car comes to a stop and large warm hands envelop mine, and I let out the tears I’ve been holding in since the night I got drunk. Finn shifts in the car, wrapping his arms around me, and fuck, it feels so good. When he presses a kiss on my head, I draw in a shuddering breath.
Looks like I'm spending the night alone with Finn. No big deal, it’s not like this man broke my fucking heart two months ago or anything.
“Everything is going to be okay, Lex. Let’s get inside.” He pulls into the garage and I follow him into the house. I get three steps into the kitchen when I realize I left all my stuff in my car. I only have my phone and the soaking wet clothes I'm wearing.
Finn must realize the same thing, and he extends a hand to me. I shake my head but follow him up the stairs. Needing to keep physical space between us, knowing if I touch him, I'll only crave more of him.
We walk into his room, and the memory of the last time I was in here flashes in my head.
I was drunk and rummaging through his clothes for something to wear.
Memories of that weekend wash over me, threatening to pull me under.
I finally meet Finn's gaze and gasp at the raw look of longing and sadness etched in the lines of his face. I’m shivering, but as he walks toward me, I swear my skin is on fire.