I still don’t know if what Patrick said is true, if the Demons’ fans will welcome me with open arms, but right now, with Eli walking slowly toward me looking like he just won the lottery, it doesn’t really matter.
15
Eli
“Are you really coming to New York?” I ask as soon as the door closes behind Ruko.
I have to check because it’s just too good to be true. There’s literally no better case scenario.
None.
Lex’s smile as he nods and holds out a hand for me to take is precious, and I almost dismiss it and fall into him but something about it is... off.
“What is it?” I ask, my stomach recoiling with the anticipation of disaster. “What’s wrong?”
“No, nothing’s wrong, angel.”
“I can tell there’s something, Lex.” I want to beg him not to lie to me, but that just seems like a bit too much right now.
“I won’t be able to play for at least a month,” he says, a resigned huff of breath leaving him and making him wince. His face is already starting to get swollen, enough that I don’t even think about cupping his cheek.
Something in his tone is telling me that’s not really what’s bothering him, though, but... I can’t pinpoint exactly why, so I decide I don’t have time for that now. Especially when Lex tugs me forward and tilts his chin up invitingly.
I accept, of course, and very gently kiss his lips, turning my head to the side so I don’t bump into his bandaged nose.
His eyes stay closed for an extra second when I pull back, like he’s savoring it, and that just brings me such deep satisfaction that everything else falls away.
Nothing else matters right now, except . . .
“I gotta call my mom, she’s gonna flip out when she finds out I’m having surgery on my face.”
I stifle a laugh and pat his hand encouragingly.
“You’re her baby, of course she’s gonna freak. Besides, I already talked to her.”
“You did?” The slight panic in his eyes is deeply amusing.
“She called me because she thought I’d be the only one with the sense to answer her call.”
“That sounds like her,” he grumbles.
“I told her what happened—well, everything I knew happened up until I got here. She’s packing now and the jet’s waiting for her. Dad wants to come too but he can’t swing it,” I tell him gently.
“Yeah, no, I get it.” He nods. “I wouldn’t expect anything else from her.”
With that, he turns and grabs his phone from the table by his bed and makes the call.
Hearing her panic recede when Lex tells her about having surgery, then the mama bear protectiveness come out when she demands to know the name of the surgeon that’s gonna dare touch her son’s face, makes me miss something I never had.
Well, not that I remember, not until Lyla.
My mother passed only a few months after I was born, so I never had a mom fuss over me and be ready to go to war for me, but I always had Dad, and that was more than enough for me. Until Lyla came into our lives, of course.
I feel guilty sometimes, about how good it feels to have her support, because I never want to diminish everything Dad’s done for me, the way he raised me, the way he’s always taken care of me, showed me unconditional love.
I doubt it’ll ever go away, that guilt, so I push it back and round the bed to sit and watch the show of Lyla demanding to speak to the surgeon.
She doesn’t get her way, but when Lex tells her the doctor’s name, she calms down considerably, and then it’s only fussing.
