Chapter Twenty-Three

Lexi

I don’t see him come in the bar, but can feel the change in the air. My eyes are on Linkin, so it isn’t hard to miss the way he visibly tenses and sort of snarls at the door. When I glance over, I am shocked to find Chris standing there, scanning the room. Then his eyes find me, and my stomach lurches.

He’s moving towards me, a warm smile on his face. My stomach twists again with uneasiness and uncertainty as he comes to stand before me. “Alexis,” he says, his voice low and soft.

“Chris,” I reply without any emotion. “What are you doing here?”

“I came for you,” he says sweetly, another friendly smile on his face.

Before I can reply, there’s a presence behind me. I don’t have to turn to know who has stepped up behind me. I can smell his soap and feel the invisible pulses that vibrate between us.

“For me?” I ask, annoyance and stubbornness sweeping through my blood.

“Everything okay?” Linkin asks, stepping beside me and crossing his arms over his expansive chest.

“Everything will be just as it should be shortly,” Chris snarls at Linkin.

“Yeah, with you out of here,” he replies, not fazed in the least by Chris’s presence.

“I don’t think so, Linkin. In fact, I’m willing to bet that once Alexis hears what I have to say, it’ll be you who will be vacating the building.”

“You think so?” Linkin taunts, that cocky grin spreading across his face.

“I know so,” he growls, turning his attention back to me. “Alexis,” he starts, but I cut him off.

“It’s Lexi.”

“Lexi,” Chris tries again, rolling his eyes at what he probably considers my immaturity. He knows I hate to be called Alexis. It’s too formal, too stuffy, and frankly, I just don’t like it after years of him calling me only by my birth name.

“How well do you know this man?” Chris asks, bringing my thoughts back to his interruption.

“Excuse me?” I ask.

“I’m willing to bet you don’t know much about this man at all. He has a past, Ale- Lexi, and he’s hiding it from you.”

“What are you talking about?” I ask, frustration and exhaustion setting in.

“He’s a gambler! He has connections to some very questionable people back in Westville, and has been giving them large sums of money on a regular basis!” Chris proclaims before opening a manila folder he had tucked under his arm. Inside are pictures of Linkin sitting at a table, handing over an envelope that appears to be full of cash. And if I were looking for confirmation, the next picture is of the greasy man looking in the envelope, counting the cash. “You see? He’s a con man, a criminal,” he declares, pointing down to the photos I hold in my hand.

And then he says the one thing that almost brings me to my knees. “And this is who you chose to have a baby with.”

I gasp, glaring up at him. “You have no right to judge me or the choices I make!”

“We can fix this. Together,” he begs, reaching for my hand.

“Fix this? You had a vasectomy! There’s no fixing that!” I yell, not even caring who hears. Gasps fill the room, reminding me that I never confessed to my sisters as to why I left Chris. Well, no one but Abby.

“That was a mistake,” he says quietly.

“A mistake? A fucking mistake!?”

He blanches at my unsavory adjective. “Ale- Lexi, look, we all make mistakes. I want you. I want us.”

“There is no us.”

“But there could be,” he begs, taking another step forward. Linkin growls loudly behind me, making Chris’s steps falter. “I’ve made an appointment at the clinic in Richmond to have it reversed. We can work past this.”

“No.” There’s conviction in my voice and I feel it all the way to my toes. Even if Linkin isn’t who he says he is, there’s no way I’m going back to Chris. My heart is no longer his, if it really ever was.

“No?” he asks, glancing over at Linkin. “But, he’s-”

“Whatever he is isn’t your concern, Chris. We’re over. Even if you hadn’t gone and had the vasectomy, things weren’t going well. I was alone all the time, and I wasn’t happy.”

“But I was working hard to give you everything you could have dreamed of,” he whines in that tone that has always grated on my nerves.

“Except, you didn’t. You denied me the one thing I wanted more than anything, and not the baby. I wanted your time, Chris, and you never gave it to me. I was second to everything else in your life, and it was finally enough. Finding that paper under our bed was the straw that broke the camel’s back.” Taking a step forward, I place my hand on his arm. “It’s over.”

Chris looks completely forlorn, and his sadness breaks my heart. Not because I love him, but because I don’t anymore. Because whatever I felt for him is gone, and getting to this point was still painful. It hurt when I realized my marriage was over, even if I masked that hurt with anger.

“But him? He’s trouble,” Chris says, pointing to Linkin.

“And I can explain everything in those pictures,” Linkin says casually, his arms still crossed over his chest as if he doesn’t have a care in the world.

“Well? Let’s hear it,” Chris encourages, his tone sarcastic and impatient, as he crosses his arms trying to mimic Linkin. There’s no comparison in size, and definitely not in muscle volume.

Linkin turns, giving my ex-husband his back and giving me his full attention. “Hi, baby,” he says, offering me that smirk that does weird things to my panties. “I was planning on telling you all of this, but wanted to wait until it was over to spill the details.

“My stepfather was a gambler. He was a lousy piece of shit who lost everything my mother worked for. He was barely around, and when he was, he was usually drunk. He owed a shit-ton of money to bad people, and when they came to collect, he ran, like the chicken-shit coward he is.” Linkin’s features are tight as he tells me more about his past than he ever has.

“My mom was losing everything. She owed a lot of money, but couldn’t make ends meet. Everyone in town was talking and it started to get back to the boys at school. Jeff got into a fight when some kid called him a loser like his dad, and I knew it was time to move.

“Mom agreed easily, and we decided on Jupiter Bay because it was far enough that not everyone knew the details of her husband’s transgressions, but close enough that we could make the payments needed to pay off the money owed.”

“But it wasn’t hers or your debt,” I say.

“No, it wasn’t. The man you see in that picture came to me and said my stepfather owed him fifteen grand and he was gonna take it from my mom if I didn’t pay the money, and he didn’t mean it nicely.”

“He can’t do that!” AJ says, causing us to all glance to the small circle around us.

“Legally, no, but I wasn’t exactly looking to go to the cops with this shit. So, I stepped up and paid.”

“You paid the fifteen thousand dollar debt?” Meghan asks.

“Well, not all of it. Hector, the man in the photo, told my mom the debt was two grand. Over the last nine months, she has been paying what she could and still get by raising my brothers,” he adds.

“You told her it was a two thousand dollar debt,” I figure out. “You didn’t tell her about the rest owed.” It’s not a question, but a statement.

Linkin shakes his head. “She didn’t need the stress of wondering how she was going to pay the other thirteen grand.”

“You paid it.” The realization is heady and sends me reeling. “And you never told her.” Linkin doesn’t need to confirm. I already know the answer.

I already know what kind of man he is.

“That picture was me paying the final five grand. And, before you ask, I made that money legally. I work two jobs and every tip, every bonus received at Christmas went to pay off that man. I needed his hold on my family, on my mom, gone forever.”

My heart is pounding in my chest and I’m unable to keep myself back. I need to have his arms around me, I need him to know I understand. I launch myself at his chest and he easily catches me, holding me tightly against him. My lips seek his, needing the feel, the coarseness, the closeness of his lips on mine.

He’s not expecting my kiss, but recovers quickly, swiping his tongue along the seam of my mouth and delving in urgently. The kiss is vital to my very being, a burning sensation spreading through my body, taking over my lips. I’m practically climbing him like a tree, my body wrapped around his much bigger, much taller, much firmer one.

“You’re amazing,” I tell him without removing my mouth.

“I’m not really. Not as amazing as you are, Lexi,” he says, tightening his hold on me. I can feel his hard-on pressed exactly where I want it – well, with far less clothes.

“I love you,” I blurt out, not able to keep the words contained any longer.

If Linkin is shocked by my confession, he doesn’t show it. Instead, he smiles brightly; you know that ornery smile that makes me wet and wanton. “That’s actually pretty fucking great because I’m in love with you too,” he says.

“Oh my God, that’s the sweetest ever!” Jaime proclaims beside us, clapping her hands. When I turn and look, everyone seems to have those big dopey smiles on their faces. Well, everyone but Chris.

I untangle myself from the man I love and turn to face my ex. “I’m sorry, Chris.”

He nods. “Me too,” he says, his eyes filled with his sadness, as he turns and heads towards the front door.

“So…” AJ says, not really sure what to say.

“A vasectomy?” Jaime asks, shaking her head.

“I knew there was something up with you not being able to get pregnant,” Meghan says.

“I was worried it was you,” Payton confesses. “You know, like with me.” She’s referring to her diagnosis of PCOS, or polycystic ovarian syndrome and the effects it has on her ability to conceive.

“No, definitely not me. I’m actually very much able to conceive,” I say without thinking.

Payton stares at me hard, her all-knowing little eyes focused on my every move, her brilliant mind working to decipher my words. “What does that mean?”

“What?” I ask, fretting ignorance.

“You know exactly what. Are you…” she asks, leaving her question completely open.

“What? No.”

“She didn’t drink tonight,” AJ adds, causing me to look at her. “What? You didn’t think I’d notice? You drank clear liquid but I’m guessing it was water or Sprite. You also didn’t take the shots. Linkin did.” She smiles smugly and shrugs her shoulder.

“You’re pregnant?” Jaime asks, surprised, yet very excited.

“Pregnant?” Linkin says, turning and facing me. A look I can’t read on his face.

“I’m…well, I was…it’s not the right…fine. I’m pregnant.”

My frantic eyes collide with his wide brown ones. They’re filled with so much hope and enthusiasm that it makes me smile. “Really?” he asks, stepping forward and reaching for me.

“Really,” I confirm as he wraps his arms around me and lifts. Before I know it, I’m being spun around in circles and laughing uncontrollably.

“We’re having a baby?” he whispers against my ear, his hot breath short-circuiting my brain. “We’re having a baby,” he states a bit louder. “We’re having a baby!” he hollers at the room, making me giggle.

Carefully, he sets me down in front of him and grabs the sides of my face. “You’re knocked up.”

“I am.”

His lips are firm against mine as he places a chaste kiss on my lips. “Fuck, I never thought hearing those words would feel as amazing as it does hearing them come from your lips.”

I feel the strength and validation of his words as he gazes down at me, holding my head with his hands. They’re rough and strong, yet so soft and tender at the same time. Much like this man.

“I love you,” he says and it’s all I need to hear.