A Little Too Far Read Free

it.”
    “I still love you, Lexie. I can’t get past it.”
    There’s a desperate hitch in his voice that claws at my heart and stops me cold.
    “Those girls . . . I was a moron.” I hear him moving closer as he talks, but I don’t turn to look at him. “I haven’t touched anyone else since winter break. I don’t want anyone else, Lexie. I want you.” He lays a hand on my hip, and I swear at myself when I shudder. He gently spins me and tips my face up with a finger under my chin, so I’m looking into his eyes. “I always will.”
    He leans in very slowly, watching me the whole way. I can’t even tell you why I don’t pull away from him, but as he presses my body between his and the wall, not only don’t I pull away, I kiss him back.

 
    Chapter Two
    H IS FI NGERS THREAD into my hair as his other hand grasps my hip and pulls me into the curve of his body. It feels so good. So familiar. So easy.
    It was always easy with us. I want that back so badly that I let myself get lost in the feeling . . . until someone brushes past us on their way into the bathroom, snapping me out of my fantasy. Because that’s what it is, a fantasy. He took what we had and threw it away. There’s no way I can ever trust him again.
    He leans in again, but I splay a hand on his chest before his lips reach mine. “Don’t, Rick. I can’t do this again.”
    His fingers glide down my cheek and trace my lips. “Just think about it, Lexie. Please,” he says, letting me go. “I still have the ring. It and my heart will always be yours.”
    “But your heart wasn’t always mine. You gave it away to Helena and . . .” I throw up my hands, frustrated, when I can’t remember the other girls’ names, “anyone else who wanted it.”
    “They never had my heart. It was just sex. That’s it. It didn’t mean anything.” His face scrunches, pleading with me to understand.
    My heart climbs up my throat at his words. “How can you say sex doesn’t mean anything? We lost our virginity together. I’ve never been with anyone but you because it means everything. ”
    He purses his lips and hangs his head. “I was so stupid.” His eye flick to mine again. “Tell me what to do to fix this. I’ll do anything.”
    “I just need to think.” This time, when I turn for the bathroom, he doesn’t stop me.
    I wash up and splash some water on my face, then stare at my shaking self in the mirror. How can I still have feelings for him after what he did? How is there any part of me that isn’t totally repulsed by him?
    “Hey,” Sam says when I get back to the table a few minutes later. “You okay?”
    “Have you ordered yet?” I ask.
    Her gaze flicks across the restaurant, and I’m guessing she’s looking at Rick, but I don’t follow it to find out. “Prince Charming hasn’t been back. I think he was waiting for you.”
    I throw a ten on the table to cover the drinks and grab my bags. “You were right. I can’t do this. Let’s go.”
    We collect all my stuff and head to the parking lot. Katie pushes the button on her key fob to unlock her battered, yellow Beetle, and the alarm starts blaring as all the lights flash.
    “When are you going to get that thing fixed?” Sam yells, slapping her palms over her ears.
    Katie clicks the key fob again, and the shrieking stops. “Sorry.”
    Sam looks the Beetle over with disdain. “We definitely need a new ride.”
    “You don’t like it, you can walk,” Katie says defensively, patting her car on the roof like a dog as she pulls open the driver’s door. “So, what happened?” she asks me as we climb in.
    I slouch into the backseat. “He says he still loves me.”
    “Don’t do it, Lexie,” Sam warns, strapping herself in shotgun.
    I tip my head back into my seat and stare at the stained roof of Katie’s car. “Why did he have to turn out to be such a douche?”
    Sam slouches deeper into her seat. “The sad truth is, I think it’s in the DNA—somewhere in that Y chromosome is