Free More Than Exes by Elizabeth Briggs Page B

giving myself up to her completely.
    She collapsed against me, and I held her close while we caught our breath. As our heartbeats slowed, I touched her cheek, stroking her soft skin. It was hard to believe she was really here with me, after so long. Being with Alexis was even better than I’d remembered, and there was no point fighting my feelings for her. I was already too far gone.
    She took my hand and kissed each of the letters tattooed across my knuckles, spelling out the word LIVE . She went to kiss the LOUD on the other hand, but I flinched. It was still sore from punching Todd.
    “You okay?” she asked.
    “Yeah. I hurt my hand earlier. It’s nothing. Don’t worry.” I pulled her close again and kissed her, hoping she’d drop it. I wasn’t ashamed of punching Todd or anything, but I didn’t want to bring it up with her, either. I had a feeling she’d be disappointed, even though she seemed to like the badder, bolder me.
    When the kiss ended, she stroked my stubble and smiled. “I never thought… I mean, I hoped this would happen. But I wasn’t sure you’d ever take me back.”
    Me either, but I’d been deluding myself thinking I’d be fine with just one night together. “Alexis, I can’t make any promises. I still need some time to figure things out.” I paused, tracing her lips with my thumb. “But I do want to give this a shot.”
    “Oh, Kyle.” She buried her face in my neck, resting against me, and for a few minutes, we just held each other. I’d missed Alexis so much and been heartbroken for so long, but that was over. Time and distance may have kept us apart, but we were together again…and maybe this time it would last.

W e returned to the club only minutes before Todd’s band went on stage, and the place had filled up so much we had to squeeze our way through the crowd to get a good view. My band was up next and I had to find the others soon, but I wanted to check out our competition first. Plus, I was curious if Todd had a black eye already.
    “Perfect timing,” Alexis said, adjusting her camera. “I need to get photos of Rubber Horse’s set.”
    “I thought that was just an excuse to come to the show tonight.”
    “Yes and no. I don’t have an official assignment, but I did promise to take photos of them for their website.”
    Did that mean she was friends with them? Or was she just doing them a favor? I hated the idea of her doing anything for Todd and his entourage. Hell, I hated the idea of him even talking to her.
    They walked out on stage in their pastel shirts and boat shoes, and Alexis cheered. Not just polite cheering with the rest of the crowd, either, but loud, arms-in-the-air, full-out-rooting-for-their-band kind of cheering. Like she was a Rubber Horse fangirl or something.
    “What are you doing?” I asked, horrified.
    She peered through her lens at the stage. “What do you mean?”
    “Forget it.” I shouldn’t blame her for cheering for a USC band since she went there and all, but a bad feeling seated itself in my gut that I couldn’t shake off.
    Alexis gasped. “Oh, his eye! Did someone hit him? And now he has to play like that. Poor guy.”
    He did have a shiner over half his face, which made me a little proud. Jared had taught me well. But Alexis was acting like she was actually concerned about Todd. “Are you friends with him or something?”
    “Yeah, I’ve known him since we were kids. Our parents are good friends. Now that I’m at USC, we hang out sometimes.”
    That explained it. One of her friends from that other part of her life that had never included me. I bet they played golf together and hung out on their families’ boats wearing nautical-themed pashminas. Even though the thought made me want to set fire to something, I knew I should drop it. It wasn’t my business who she was friends with or which band she cheered for. Even if it was Todd.
    But then he grabbed his bass and flashed that cocky smirk, and I couldn’t let it go.
    “How