Faithfully (26 page)

“Want me to
take you to bed, or are you going to get sick again?” I heard Alex’s words. I curled into him and took a deep inhale of his smell. I missed him. I knew I should be pushing him away, but I wanted him there because I missed him. I was mad at myself for all these mixed emotions going on in my head.

Alex put me in bed and crawled in with me. I must have fallen asleep
, because when I woke back up, Alex was sitting next to me, leaning on the headboard with the television on. My head felt a little better, but my stomach was still upset. I figured I picked up a flu bug someplace, because my body has never reacted this quickly to drinking, and I hadn’t consumed a whole lot.

I could taste
the bile my mouth and got up to brush my teeth. I heard Alex getting up after me. “I’m brushing my teeth.” I looked in the mirror as I brushed and knew I looked like a train wreck. I searched through my bag to find a hair tie and put my hair in a ponytail. I felt gross for still being in the same clothes I had on since I left home and decided to jump in the shower to rinse off.

When I went back into the room to get my
clothes, Alex was sitting on the end of the bed. “Are you feeling better?”

“No
.” I was, but I wasn’t when it came to us. “Why are you here?” I still hadn’t processed why or how he was here or how he even found me.

“I have the Letterman show tomorrow and Johnny got all
your information for me.” Alex was kneading his hands as he spoke.

“Man code, I’ll remember that the next time he wants my help.” I was annoyed Johnny would do that to me. I grabbed my pajamas and knew I needed to go to the bathroom to change, but didn’t think I had the energy to make it. I dropped my
towel, pulled my shirt over my head, and slipped on a pair of underwear before heading back into bed.

I threw myself into bed a
nd pulled the covers over my head. I figured if the covers were over my head, Alex would think I was sleeping or trying to sleep. I felt the bed move as he moved back up the headboard. 

“I’m sorry.”

I stopped him and pulled the covers down. “Do you know how fucking hard it is to hear that come out of your mouth? I’ve heard it so much the last few months.” I pulled the covers back up.

“I keep messing up, but half the
time I didn’t know I was messing up because I’m not a mind reader.”

“Are you saying this is my fault?” I wanted to stand up, but
I didn’t have the energy. I left the covers where they were.

“Partially, yes!” I ignored him and stayed still. “Michael said you started drinking after seeing Paige and
me on Inside Edition.” I still didn’t respond. “I need you to trust me. Nothing is going on with her.”

I pulled the covers off. “I know you aren’t sleeping with her.” I pulled myself up to sit, but not as quickly as I would have liked. “But you are giving her my attention and my time
,” I said, and it was finally out, so I might as well finish it. “I’m fucking jealous, okay?” I scooted back down and pulled the covers over my face. I was embarrassed and scared that I was going to cry. That was until I heard Alex laughing, and then I was pissed.

“I’m sorry, I’m not laughing at you, but
women are crazy.” He pulled the covers off. “I spent the last week trying to explain to Paige that you don’t hate her, and to be honest, I’m pretty sure she is jealous of you.” The thing was I didn’t care for her, and I really had no reason other than my own jealousy.

“This still doesn’t fix your comment.” He still didn’t explain why he said what he did other than he was sorry.

“I have no excuse other than sleep
deprivation and stress.” He scooped me up and placed me on his lap. “I love those girls. I seriously Face Time them every night, and Lily lets you think she is reading under her covers.” He kissed my forehead, knowing I’d be pissed. “There is more though. I wasn’t just working on the album. I took on my own projects and bit off a lot more than I could chew. I stayed up a lot of the nights, writing and playing in the studio. Those were the nights I stayed at the house and woke up in the morning on the studio couch.”

“What is your project?” I was curious
, and he had my interest peaked.

“How about I just show you?” He had a smile on his face.

“Fine,” I said in a whiny voice.

I crawled off Alex’s lap and lay in bed. Alex slipped of his shirt and jeans and crawled in with me. We
lay face to face filling each other in on the past week. He knew a lot on my end thanks to Lily. Whenever Michael’s name came up, I would see a change in his face.

“What is this thing with Michael? You act like you hate him, but you’re the one who sent my book to him.” It had been bothering me and I had to know.

“When he worked with me on my book he moved into the house with me. I was still married at the time. After the divorce, I found out he was sleeping with my ex-wife the whole time.” My hand went to my mouth. I was shocked. “Yeah, he’s a fucking douche bag.”

“Why would you want him around me then?” I didn’t understand.

“I didn’t want him around you, but I trust you enough to know you wouldn’t screw around with him.” I was still confused. “I’m a professional. I work with people I hate every day because they are good at what they do. Unfortunately, he is one of the best, and I knew he would get you what you deserved.” Alex was moving my hair away from my face.

I fell asleep looking at him. I had missed him and realized I needed to stop pushing him away because he wasn’t going to go anywhere. He made
the girls and me happy, and I was seeing we did the same for him.

I woke the next morning to my phone. I looked at the Caller ID and saw it was Michael. “Hey
.”

“I was checking to see how you felt. We have the meeting at one and I wanted to make sure you were well enough to make it.”

“I’m feeling better. I’ll meet you out front like we planned.” I sat up and looked at Alex next to me. He was watching me as I talked. “I didn’t get a chance to thank you for helping me last night, so thank you.”

“Part of my job
. I’ll see you in a little bit.” I hung up and set the phone down.

“I took care of you too,
so where is my thank you?” Alex was still looking at me. I didn’t answer, but slipped under the covers and pulled down his boxer briefs. I teased the tip with my tongue before I took all of him in my mouth. Alex let out a loud exhale. He pulled the covers off and I looked up, making eye contact with him as I moved my mouth up and down his shaft. Alex reached down, pulling at the neck of my shirt until he had it over my head. After a little while he grabbed me and pulled me up onto my knees so I was straddling his face. I used the headboard to support myself.

I tried to climb off when I was close to climaxing, but Alex pinned my knees in place and started adding more pressure as he licked
faster. One of my hands left the headboard to grope my breasts, but returned when I hit my orgasm. I clutched the headboard so tightly my knuckles went white.

I wiggled back
down to Alex and slid down, placing him inside me. My hips were rocking back and forth and my back was slightly arched. Alex was moving his hips with me and forcing mine into the same rhythm. When Alex’s hands started gripping me tighter and pulling me down harder, I knew he was close. I reached back, gently taking his balls in my hand. He let out a sound that sounded like a growl. It wasn’t until he started begging me to cum with him that I came.

My head fell onto his shoulder and I was breathing
heavily. I felt spent. Whatever energy I had was now gone and all I wanted to do was go back to sleep. I looked at the clock and it wasn’t even nine yet. I figured I could close my eyes again for at least an hour.              

Alex woke me up a little after ten. He had ordered room service. He handed me a coffee, but the thought of it turned my stomach. I decided on a cup of tea instead. As much as the food looked good, I didn’t feel like my stomach was ready to handle any of it. I decided to get in
to the shower and prepare for my day.

Alex was in the chair when I got out of the bathroom. “When are you headed back to your hotel?” I wasn’t even sure where he was staying.

“When you leave. I don’t need to go very far.” I looked up from my suitcase I had been digging through. He pointed to the wall by the bed.

“Seriously? You are worse than a fucking stalker.” Alex started to laugh and I rolled my eyes at him.

I finally got ready and changed three times. Alex assured me each time that I looked fine, but I had no idea what to wear. I didn’t own any business clothes, and everything I owned screamed teacher. I finally decided on my black A-line skirt with a pink blouse and black kitten heels.

Alex walked me down to the car when I had to leave and wished me good luck. I told him I would meet him so he could take me to Letterman with him. I was excited to see him on the show.

The meeting seemed to go on forever, and I felt like I was repeating myself over and over. It wasn’t until Michael passed out the first chapter that everyone was quiet. A few were perfectly still. I caught one pursing her lips and another nodding his head up and down. When they finished, a few smiled at me.

When I finally
left, I was happy to be out of there. I realized I was not cut out to work in an office. I took off my shoes when I climbed into the car and sent Alex a text that I was on my way and that I’d be at the hotel soon. When I got to the hotel, I couldn’t get to the room fast enough to change. I threw on a pair of skinny jeans and put my tall brown boots over them. I followed with my chunky sweater. I wasn’t dressed up, but it beat my sweatpants I had packed.   

I walked over to Alex’s room. He opened the door and wrapped me in a hug followed by a simple kiss. “Well?” He had me follow him into the room.

“Well, I don’t know. Michael is there working things out. I used last night as an excuse to leave.” I thought my eyes were going to gloss over if I sat there any longer.

“Did they like it?” He was waiting for more details.

“They offered me a contract. Michael said it would take a bit to hash things out
, so he would call me when everything was done.” Alex walked over and scooped me up in a hug.

“I’m so proud of you.” He set me down and kissed me. “
Now that you got that off your list, can we wrap it up and just be done with it already.” I started to laugh. I was ready to be done with the list too.

Before we went to
Letterman, Alex took me to dinner. My appetite was now back, and I ate my meal and part of his. It was nice sitting with him and talking as we always had. By the time we had to leave, my face hurt from laughing so much.

When we got to
Letterman it was busy. They showed us to a room and I sat in a couch as I watched Alex get his makeup on. It wasn’t until we entered the green room that I saw Paige. I didn’t hate her, but I wasn’t going to initiate conversation either. It wasn’t until they asked Alex to do a sound check that Paige approached me. I couldn’t lie, I was nervous and had butterflies. This could end up a lot of different ways.

“I feel like I need to apologize.” Paige was the first to speak.

“For what?” Technically she had never done anything to me.

“I wasn’t very nice at any of our
meetings.” She took a seat next to me. “I have never done well with girls.” I gave her a puzzled look because I didn’t understand. “I’ve never had friends that were girls. I hang out a lot with the guys and I’m not sure how to be a girl’s girl.”

I smiled
. “Well, you and Sam seemed to hit it off.” I thought back to the night in LA.

“I freaking hated that
girl, but she gives you no choice but to like her.” I had to laugh, because it was true.

“To be
honest, I never cared much for you, and it wasn’t your fault.” Paige gave me a puzzled look. “You were spending all this time with Alex and you aren’t exactly ugly either.” She smiled.

“So
let me be clear that I don’t always enjoy being around him and I actually got sick of hearing your name.” I started to laugh, but it made me feel good that even when he was in the studio he was thinking about me.

“How about we start over? I’m Abby
. It’s nice to meet you.” Paige smiled.

“I’m Paig
e.” We shook hands and we were laughing when Alex walked in. He had a smile on his face.

“Told you she didn’t hate you
.” We both looked at him. “I was talking to both of you at the same time.” I shook my head and Paige flipped him off.

It was time for Alex and Paige to go
on. They joked with David Letterman and then it was time for them to perform. Paige explained why she wrote the song and I was shocked. She said she saw how much Alex and I cared for each other and the words just kind of flowed. It was a duet, and when I heard them sing the words, tears filled my eyes.

When they were
done, Paige left the stage, and Alex was alone with just his guitar. I recognized the chords from the night I walked into his house when he was playing alone. He started singing and he sang about a new love that was found with unbreakable bonds. It was a beautiful song. I didn’t see Paige next to me until it was done. She didn’t say anything, but squeezed my hand.