Page 68 of Fragile hearts

Well, he certainly has the looks for it. “He’s a baseball player, Mom.”

She furrows her brows. “Oh well, you know I don’t follow that.” She stares sheepishly at Asher. “Sorry.”

He waves her off. “Don’t worry about it, not everyone is a fan.” Mom sets the pie on the kitchen counter, and I glance around the room, avoiding Connor’s stare. We haven’t had the time to talk about how everything went down at the club. And I definitely don’t want to have that conversation when all these people are around. I’m surprised Killian hasn’t left yet. He is clearly not happy that Connor is here since he’s currently glaring daggers at Connor’s back.

“What are you guys doing here?” I ask Mom, who shrugs while cutting the apple pie.

“Checking up on Alexis.” She glances at Asher again. “Are you Alexis her boyfriend?”

“No, ma’am. Just her best friend.” He points over to me. “I’m pretty sure he’s the boyfriend.” My mom gasps, Connor stares at me in shock while Killian smirks.

“Carson Elijah Cooper.” Oh god, not the full government name. It’s been years since she called me that. “Since when is she your girlfriend?” I rub the back of my neck, feeling my cheeks heat up. I don’t know if she’s officially my girlfriend. But I do love the thought of it. “It’s new,” I say my mom’s mouth drops open, and I swear I can see tears forming in her eyes.

Oh god. Not the tears. “You have a girlfriend!” she cries. “Finally. I thought you would be alone forever.”

Well, that’s positive.

“Mom, I’m twenty-three. Plenty of people haven’t dated at that age…Right?” I look over at Killian and Connor but they look away.

“I haven’t.” Asher raises his hand.

“See? Totally normal.”

“I’m so happy…” She claps her hands, jumping up and down in glee. “We should go out, all of us. We can go to the beach. Or maybe shopping. Or—”

“Mom!” I interject. “She’s sleeping. She saved a baby’s life remember?”

“Oh right…” She looks down dejected. I sigh. I know Mom is excited, she never had a daughter but has always talked about wanting a daughter-in-law. “Maybe another time okay?”

“Yes, of course…I talked to Sarah, she said that Aiden is going to make a full recovery. Apparently he got very lucky, and had barely any smoke damage.”

He is very lucky. It’s good that Alexis got him out in time. I thought he would have lasting lung damage from all the smoke he inhaled. But apparently not. The door bell rings again. It’s a fucking miracle Alexis hasn’t woken up from all the times that sound echoes through the house.

“Did you invite Dad too?”

Mom shakes her head. “What? No. He’s working.” I open the door again for what feels like the millionth time today. And find two police officers standing there.

Of fucking course.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Alexis

This town hates me. I haven’t been able to get a decent amount of sleep ever since I moved here. It’s either a lawnmower. My drunk neighbor. Or a house fire. Now it’s the sound of the doorbell going off repeatedly, and hushed voices talking downstairs. I groan, stretching my arms above my head, pushing the comforter off, fighting with it when it gets tangled with my legs. I blow a piece of hair that had escaped my braid out of my face.

Carson had surprised me last night. I had no idea he knew how to braid. He had even brushed out my hair. Which I was eternally grateful for. My arms were way too tired to do it. The braid was not perfect. It was a little wonky, but I liked it that way. I liked it because Carson was the one who made it.

I push myself upright, rubbing my eyes. The amount of sleep I had was not enough to function properly. But I’m hoping coffee will fix that. I walk downstairs after I made myself more presentable. I’m halfway when I see someone sitting on my couch, a person who is definitely not supposed to be here. “Asher?”

My best friend stands up, grinning widely. “Hi Lex.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I heard you decided to be a hero last night.” Asher didn’t like it when I put myself in danger. Unfortunately, I have a habit of doing that. In our eight-year-long friendship, he has been pissed at me countless times, and every time was because I put someone’s life over my own.

“That’s why you’re here?”

“Well, I heard that my best friend ran into a burning building last night. And that she was in the hospital. Injured. So yeah, I’m here.”