Page 84 of Damaged Boys Don't Fall For Bubbly Girls

He twists his mouth, then turns to me and throws his hands up. “I’m talking about all the crap you put her through, man!”

I flinch. “I thought we all moved past that. Lexi and I talked about it. I apologized and she forgave me. We’re rebuilding our friendship now.”

He shakes his head, grunting in frustration. “You know it’s not just friendship she wants.”

“I don’t know—”

“Come on, man. You know it and we all know it,” he says. “Because Lexi is obsessed with you. She always has been. You can do no wrong in her eyes. To her, you’re perfect. But someone needs to watch over her and make sure she doesn’t get hurt.”

My eyes grow large. “You think I’ll hurt her?”

“I don’t think you’ll do it on purpose, but yeah. Look, you left for four years. You abandoned her, refused to talk to her, treated her like garbage. And she waitedevery single dayfor you to call her. It didn’t feel like she was even living.”

I feel like all the energy seeps out of me. I swallow. “I know I made some mistakes, but—”

“No. No buts. She was finally getting over you. She waslivingagain. And then what happened? You came back and her life blew up all over again. I mean, what did you even expect? That you’d come back and find her exactly as you left her? Did you expect her to wait for you? She was messed up, okay? She was so hurt and confused. She cried, like, all the time. Do you have any idea how hard that was for me and the others? We didn’t know how to help her.”

Tears burn my eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“You think that’s enough? Apologizing won’t magically fix things. Going to museums and buying her whales won’t either. And stringing her along when you know you’ll just hurt her again is a jerk thing to do.”

I blink at him. “Stringing her along? Hurting her? I’m not hurting her.”

“Yes you are. Because you’re not ready for a girlfriend. You said so yourself. And the more time you spend with her, the more she’ll fall for you. Don’t you get it? She doesn’t think straight when she’s with you.”

“I might not be ready for a girlfriend yet, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have feelings for her.”

“So she’s just supposed to wait around until you’re ready?”

I squeeze my eyes shut. “No, of course not.”

He places his hand on my shoulder. “Brock, you need to let her go. It’s not healthy for her to be so obsessed with you. She needs to think of herself and what she wants. She needs a clear head. She needs a guy who will be there for her. One hundred percent, not someone who’s still stuck in the past.”

I swallow the boulder in my throat. “Someone like you?”

He holds up his hands. “I was with her every day for the past four years. I never left her side. And no, I’m not saying it should be me, but no one cares for Lexi’s well-being more than me. She told me she thinks she and I could have gotten together, but then you came back and turned her life upside down. I think…” He sighs again. “I hate to say this, but I think you’re doing her more harm than good. You need to let her go, Brock. You can’t hold her back anymore.”

His words cut me deep to the core. It’s like each one is a huge stab. Is he right? Am I ruining her life?

“She’s free to choose whoever she wants,” I say in a low voice. “No one is forcing her to have feelings for me.”

“She’s so relieved and happy that you’re back that she’s not putting herself first. Everything is about you—it’s been like that for four years. I just can’t take it anymore. She’d do anything for you, even if it meant risking her own happiness. But I want her to be happy. That’s the only thing I care about.”

“I also want her to be happy,” I say.

“Then you need to let her go. Break the Brock chains around her and let her live her life.”

My eyes get glassy, but I blink the tears away. “You want me to keep my distance from her?”

“No, that’ll just hurt her. But I think you need to step back and let her think clearly. Let her make her own decisions, ones that don’t involve you.”

I nod slowly as I try to swallow the boulder. “If you really think that’s what’s best for her.”

“I do.”

I squint at him. “This isn’t your way of swooping in before things get serious between her and me, is it?”

He shakes his head. “I’d never swoop in, but I’m not going to lie—I am hoping to get closer to her. It’s like I said—no one cares for her more than I do.”