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I rang the doorbell withe s someone else?"

"No" She shook her head and waved ize for how everything went down last night"

"It wasn’t your fault" She saze intoto try to make trouble" I rolled er"

"She is very beautiful" Lexi istful and I grabbed her hand

"Not as beautiful as you," I said, sincerely, and her breath caught "Can we go to your rooo to hed

"No, she’s at work" And she grabbed my hand and ran up the stairs "Now, just how sorry are you, Bryce Evans?" She pushedacross uy’s," she whispered as she kissed ainsther s dew, so fresh and clean"

"Well, I should," she sot out of the shower"

"You did?" I raised an eyebrow

"I did" She grinned and pulled her top off and I stood there, staring at her body in arabbed ainst her bra The fabric et I slipped a finger in and touched her breast lightly and felt a drop of water I pulled rinned at her

"That you are"

"You can touch ain "I don’t mind"

"I would love to touch you, Lexi" My voice was raspy "I want to hold you close and feel every part of you"

"So come" She led me to her bed and pulled me doith her

"We should talk first"

"I don’t need to talk" She pulled me towards her "I just need us to be"

"I know you sent the letters" I held her gently and looked at the shock in her eyes "Don’t ask how I know I just know"

"II, don’t knohat to say" Her eyes were bright with unshed tears "I had hoped you knew but, deep inside, I thought it was impossible"

"Wait, I don’t think you understand I kno I didn’t always know"

"But you figured it out" She kissed ured it out, Bryce"

"Lexi, I think I love you" My breath caught as I watched her take off her bra "What are you doing?"

"I want to be with you, Bryce" She looked into my eyes, deeply "I want you to be my first"

"I don’t know, Lexi" I took a deep breath as she guidedelse to tell you"

"It doesn’tat asped with pleasure and, for aher mine All I wanted was for us to make a union that could never be broken "Wait, Lexi We have to talk before we go forward" I took a deep breath "There is so you have to know"

"What is it?" She pulled her tracksuit pants down so that she was lying there in her underwear and I felt it hard to concentrate She was so beautiful and so trusting "Take your jeans off"

"Wait, what?" I pulled theht you were"

"Yeah, right" I laughed and stopped her hand as she tugged on my boxer shorts "Wait, Lexi"

"I don’t want to wait anyht with Eddie"

"Huh?" She looked up at me in surprise and her hand dropped away from my shorts "What about it?"

"It was the reason why I knehere you were going to be"

"You hed and looked away in shaet you away froht We had planned it Not the rape I would never have agreed to that But he was h up your dress with some mud We just wanted you to rush ho to try and rape e eyes and pulled away from me

"No" I looked at her, earnestly "He was justto hurt you I swear But when I realized you were gone a long ti, so I ca to pull down my underwear" She looked at round so I couldn’tto pull my underwear down"

"I’m so sorry, Lexi I never ever rabbed her hands and pulled her towards me "I love you, Lexi"

"You nearly had me raped?" Her voice was distant and she looked at me in confusion "I don’t understand"

"Remember my letters?" I pleaded with her "Re and I blaht"

"So it was just Eddie?"

"Yes" I closed my eyes and tried to calued terribly after that I cut him off I wouldn’t talk to him He then slept with Suzannah and I told hiain And then he killed hi them "I honestly don’t kno it all led to that I loved him like a brother He was always there for me And I turned my back on him, just like everyone else"

"It wasn’t your fault that he killed hirabbed my hand and pulled in close to me "Just like it wasn’t my fault"

"I could have done more I shouldn’t have put him in that situation" I held her close to me as my tears ran into her hair "He never should have died"

"So that’s why you joined the marines?" she whispered

"I had to I had screwed up too many times I had hurt so many people I didn’t want to be my father’s son anymore"

"You’re not your dad, Bryce"

"I nearly was, Lexi"

"But you’re not" She pulled away froive you" She leaned over and kissedher close to my heart I felt myself become aroused as her brsts crushed into my chest

"You don’t kno ers all over her body and she went still, breathing deeply "We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to, Lexi"