Page 23 of Hail Mary

“Congratulations, jail bait,” I whisper, a small frown marring her face but she quickly schools her features trying to act indifferent. “You managed to succeed in doing what your sister couldn’t.”

“What’s that?” she grits out.

I smile sadly down at her. This is my karma for what I put through Cody through. I deserve this. “You managed to weave your way under my skin and burrow yourself inside me without any fucking effort. You won, Alexa, I give up,” I say as I put space between us and raise my hands in surrender. “I hope your revenge was everything you thought it would be. Have a good life, jail bait, you deserve it,” I say before turning back to the others. My sister is crying in Darius’s hold, while the four guys stand there with malice in their eyes. I shake my head. “I'm gonna head out and get a hotel for the night.”

“We’re coming with you,” Saint says. Crue nods and I smile my thanks as I look to the other three.

Leah has her glare focused on Alexa as she speaks, “Text us the name and room number, we’ll meet you there. Alexa and I need to have a littlechat.” Too emotionally spent to argue, I just nod. I don’t look back at the girl who managed to burrow herself inside me and force her way into my heart as I leave. Truth is, I think I started developing feelings weeks ago when she would message me every day. Our arguing over text messages became our form of foreplay.

I hate the fact that the girl who died is the one who fought with all she had to get me to love her and I couldn’t. Don’t get me wrong, I did love Cody, but the way I feel about her sister is so different. Alexa is my oxygen. I became so dependent on her and her daily texts, it was the only way I could get my ass out of bed, knowing I would hear from her in a few hours. She became the anchor I didn’t know I needed at the time, but now, she switched to the iceberg that sunk my heart.

Alexa

Watching him walking away with his shoulders bunched and his head hung low doesn’t fill me with satisfaction or joy from knowing I kept my promise to my sister and broke the guy that destroyed her. When he rounds the corner to the elevator, my legs move on their own accord and I stand at the end of the alcove and watch as the doors open. The three of them step inside with Corvin in the middle. He turns around and the doors begin to close. As he finally lifts his head, our eyes collide and a lump forms in my throat at the sight of the unshed tears in his brown eyes. What breaks me worse than that sight is the sad smile he shoots me, telling me it’s okay that I broke him and he doesn’t blame me for everything I’ve done to him. The doors close and I break. I drop to my knees, bury my face in my hands, and cry.

It’s not a pretty girl cry. This is the type of crying you do alone in your own room where no one can see you or hear the horrid sounds that come out of your mouth. This pain I feel in my chest is soul deep. The tears aren’t just for what I did or how I hurt Corvin, they’re for the loss of my best friend and for the shitty hand life dealt me. I’ve never taken pity on myself like this and allowed myself to cry or feel any type of pity for what I have struggled through since I was a child. Seeing that look of utter devastation and heartache on Corvin’s face snapped something inside me, and now I can’t stop the tears from falling. I don’t even care that I can hear the others speaking in hushed tones behind me. They mean nothing to me and I don’t care what they think of me and the mess I currently am.

I flinch away when I feel a hand on my shoulder and snap my tear-stained gaze up to see Leah crouching down beside me with a sad smile on her face. “I get it.” I scoff, she has no fucking idea what I’m feeling. “You hurt my brother and I get why, but your sister was my best friend, Alexa. Cody would never have wanted this. Your body isn’t a weapon to be used at your disposal, it’s your temple to treasure.”

I stare at her like she has lost her fucking mind. “You think I slept with your brother for revenge?”

She frowns and cuts a glance at the other before looking back at me. “Isn’t that what this is all about?” I push to my feet and try to step around Leah, but she blocks my way. We’re the same height, which brings us eye level. They may be siblings but they look nothing alike. Leah’s green eyes spark with anger the longer she stares at me, the other two come closer ready to intervene if needed.

“Let me clear a few things up for you, princess. I fucked your brother because I wanted to.” Her face scrunches in disgust. “Was my plan to make him fall in love with me?” I don’t give her a chance to answer. “Yes, I planned to break him in the same way he broke my sister.” Leah growls and steps into me. Beck and Darius rush forward but we ignore them.

“You stupid little girl. Corvin never broke Cody. She was too fucking strong to allow that to happen. Did he hurt her? Yeah, he fucking did and it sucked, but my brother never fucking lied to your sister. Cody knew from the start that he was still fucked up over his ex who fucked his head up and caused my brother to harden his heart to the thought of ever loving someone.” I try to mask the confusion from my face but she sees it and pushes on. “Let me tell you something, Alexa, just between us girls, huh?” Her tone is laced with loathing and disgust, and honestly, I can’t blame her for hating me. “You won. You got the cold-hearted QB to fall in love with you and you broke him. Well-fucking-done to you. But here’s the kicker, my brother never risked anything for your sister, but he fucking risked it all for you and you spat in his face.”

“What?” I rasp out confused.

She shakes her head and steps back looking me up and down in disgust. “You’re seventeen. He wants to be drafted. If news broke out that he had a seventeen-year-old living with him and was sleeping with her, he would be done. No team would touch him. But, I mean why the fuck would you care? You got your cake and ate it too. Pack your shit and get the fuck out of my brother’s house. Enjoy the life he has given you and don’t squander it, you ungrateful little shit,” she spits at me before shoulder checking me on her way past to the elevators.

“Looks to me Corv wasn’t the only one who got their heart broken tonight, huh?” I turn to Darius and scowl at the fucker. “Karma’s a real bitch. So glad you got to meet her tonight.” He smirks cockily at me before following after his girlfriend. My gaze is drawn to Beckett when he speaks.

“Do yourself a favor, Alexa. Next time you see Corvin, ask him about the voicemail your sister left him. He put up with all the bullshit you put him through because ofher.” My mouth parts and my brows raise in surprise. “Let me tell you something, little girl.” His tone is hard and filled with warning. “That man you just hurt is a good fucking guy and one of my best friends. Corvin is the glue that keeps us all together. He would have given you the world and you fucked that all up because you’re too self-absorbed to admit you fell in love with the guy you blamed for the loss of your sister. Newsflash, kid, he was the fucking one who tried to save her. He never gave up trying to revive her and he is the one who made sure she was treated with dignity and pride up until her funeral. Corvin has never told a single girl he loved them, not even Lana. When Cody lay dying in his arms, he finally said those three fucking words she longed to hear, he did that forher.” Pain stabs me in the chest. “Take a look in the mirror, kid, because the only bad guy I see around here is you, not Corvin.” He turns and walks to the others who hold the doors to the lift open for him.

Just as the doors begin to close Leah darts her arm out and stops them from closing, her gaze bores into mine. “If you come for my brother again, I’ll fucking ruin you. But, if the look in your eyes is anything to go by and you do care for Corvin, sort your shit out, Alexa, because none of us will let you near him until you are certain about how you feel.” She drops her arm and I stand here stunned silent, watching them disappear inside the metal box, leaving me alone in this massive fucking penthouse.

Was revenge really worth it?

* * *

After cleaning the whole penthouse and returning everything to how it was before the party, I sat on the couch waiting. I wound up falling asleep as the sun started to rise. Corvin never came home. Maybe Leah was right, I need to pack my shit and leave. I can’t exactly stay in his house when I’m not welcome now, can I? I force my tired body off the couch and make my way to my room. I debate leaving the clothes he bought me behind, but decide against that idea. He did say I could do whatever I want with them and honestly, as pathetic as it sounds, having something he bought with me that I can hold and think of him seems like a great idea right now.

An hour later, I have everything packed and ready to go. I drop my bags by the entryway and look around. When I first stepped foot inside this place I was angry, and thirsted for retribution for my sister. But now, standing here and looking around at the empty space, all I feel is remorse and disgust with myself. I used him, played him like a fiddle and all he did was try to help me. I never should have set out on this path of destruction because now I finally see, my sister’s death wasn’t Corvin’s fault. I just needed someone to blame to help me cope with the pain of the loss and he was the easiest to blame.

The sound of the elevator pinging to announce its arrival has me spinning around and hope blooming inside me that he’s finally come back. The moment the doors open, all hope flees me when I see Darius standing there. He steps out of the lift and looks from me to my bags and nods.

“Come on, I’ll give you a lift,” is all he says before helping me carry my bags. We ride silently to the parking garage, and neither of us utters a single word as we load my bags in the back of the Range Rover, or even when we slip inside the car. He pulls out and I refuse to speak first and tell him where to go. I close my eyes and lean my head against the window, getting lost in my thoughts until the sound of my sister’s voice fills the silent car. I snap my gaze to Darius but he keeps his eyes on the road as I lean over and turn up the volume.

“Corv, baby, he found Val and he’s at the house. If I don’t make it out of here, I want you to know that I don’t regret a single moment I got to spend with you. I love you. I know you won’t say it back and that’s okay. I need you to do me a favor though…”Tears cascade down my cheeks as I listen to the fearful whispers of my sister. “My little sister Alexa is going to go crazy if I die. Please don’t hurt her. Help her… for me please.”I hear a woman scream in the background and then a kid whimper and my stomach drops. “She is spiteful and will blame you, make her see this isn’t your fault. She doesn’t have anyone besides me, baby. Be there for her. I love you, Corvin.”The recording cuts out and a horrible-sounding sob rips out of me. Oh God. The pain I feel inside my chest is excruciating and robs me of air. I start gasping and Darius pulls the car over but says nothing, just sits there silently, and allows me the time I need to work through the debilitating pain coursing through my body.

I don’t know how much time passes before Darius finally speaks. “Look out your window, Alexa.” I slowly lift my tear-filled gaze to look where he says. I gasp. I see Saint, Crue, Beckett, and Leah running around, then I see a football flying through the air and look in the direction it came from. Standing there with a smile on his face, shirtless and in a pair of low-slung basketball shorts is Corvin. I watch the five of them play football for a few minutes before I tear my gaze away and look at Darius who wears a blank expression on his face.

“Why am I here?” I ask.

“When I look at Leah, I see my future. When she smiles or laughs it makes me happy knowing she is happy. When she’s upset, I get angry, I want to kill whoever the fuck made my girl sad. Being away from her for even an hour makes me angsty, she isn’t just someone I’m fucking in love with, she is my reason for existing and wanting to live. Without her, I was nothing, a shell of a man if you will, but with her by my side, I can conquer the fucking world because she makes me strong.” I stay silent waiting for him to explain why he is telling me this. “I know Corvin better than anyone, even his own sister.” He pins me with a hard stare. I swallow audibly, knowing he is about to say some deep shit. “My boy has never lived with a chick. Cody stayed over but he never allowed her to move in. His cars have always been his babies. You fucking his up repeatedly should have pushed him over the edge, but it didn’t. Corvin may not have meant to fall for you, but he did anyway. When I look out at him now, I see the same smile you do, but I guarantee if either of us were to look into his eyes, we would see the pain he hides from the others.”

“What are trying to say, Darius?”

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