Chapter 76

"You know how much it hurts. Stop trying to shoulder everything alone," Waylon remarked, his tone low and insistent.

Alexia shook her head. "That's not how life works.Sometimes you have to push yourself past the edge.If you want any shot at surviving, you learn to count on no one but yourself."

Waylon's eyes narrowed at her stubbornness, and with pointed deliberateness, he pressed the swab harder against her wound, almost coaxing tears from her eyes.

"Ouch, that stings! Stop! I'll handle it myself." Alexia barely got the words out before the car jerked to a sudden stop, sending her tumbling into Waylon's lap.

The unexpected closeness left Waylon frozen for a heartbeat, a surge of unfamiliar heat racing through him.

His ears turned an unmistakable shade of red,though he kept his face carefully composed.

Cradled against his chest, Alexia felt just as flustered She staited to push herself upright only to realize he'd instinctively tightened his hold in that split second. All she could breathe was the clean.unmistakable scent of his cologne, so familiar and strange all at once.

Her cheeks bloomed with color as well

It was Waylon who finally let her go after an awkward pause.

Neither quite knew where to look, both of them rattled by the moment.

Once he'd finished patching her up in silence, Waylon glanced at her pale face, his expression earnest."Alexia, you need to stop loving Roger."

For a moment, Alexia could only stare at him, caught off guard.

Her first impulse was to say she'd stopped loving Roger long ago.

Yet when she caught the gravity in Waylon's eyes something different slipped out. "Then who do you think I ought to love?"

Waylon's brows lifted, a flicker of surprise passing over his face at her unexpected reply

"That's up to you, isn't it? But Roger? He's not worth your time."

Waylon had never bothered to hide his low opinion of Roger, not even when they were kids.

Even during the years Alexia saw him as her competition, always bracing for a fight, she could never bring herself to be harsh with Roger.

But for Waylon, Roger was just an annoyance. He had never viewed Roger as any real threat, especially not when it came to the things that mattered to him.

Sometimes he wondered what strange twist of fate made him care so much about Alexia, or why someone as remarkable as her ever bothered with someone like Roger. But that curiosity never dug deeper than idle thought.

Now, looking back, he sometimnes wondered if things would be simpler had he claimed her for himself from the start.

Alexia let out a quiet snort, brushing off his concerns "At the last charity gala, I already told you. Roger's ancient history."

She felt no need to re-examine her past devotion to Roger-whether it had been out of love, guilt, or duty,it didn't matter anymore.

The true measure of moving on was reaching a point where the old entanglements faded leaving behind only indifference and the desire to never revisit them again.

Waylon grinned, a glimmer of satisfaction in his eyes."You've always known how to make a clean break."

"That's rich coming from you." Alexia couldn't help thinking his words always sounded backhanded."You didn't hesitate to hit 'block' and cut me out, either."

That jab caught Waylon off guard. His smile faltered for a second.

He ran a hand over his jaw, genuinely wounded as he dug up old memories. "If I recall, you were the one who told me you never wanted to see my face again You shut the door first."

Heat rose in Alexia's cheeks as she scoffed, "Can't a person say something in the heat of the moment?Honestly,you cut me off over one outburst? Then you block me everywhere, slam every door. You're just so cold, like nothing ever rattles you, always keeping your distance."

That particular history had always been a sore spot.She never managed to let it go without letting some sarcasm slip out.

Everyone was stubborn back then. Alexia took pride in her independence, while Waylon always seemed untouchable, as if nothing in the world could shake him

Sure, maybe she'd been the first to say something cruel. Did that mean she deserved to be shut out completely?

He'd slammed the door on her without a second thought, not even pausing for an apology. In Waylon's world,connections were just strings to be cut when he felt like it.

No matter how much time passed, thinking about it still got under her skin.

Waylon was surprised by the flash of anger on her face. "I thought we put that behind us last time you forgave me."

Why did it still sting for her?

Alexia fixed him with a hard stare. "You never even told me why you cut me off. Was it really so trivial?Why did you disappear without a word? By the time l asked for an explanation, you were already boarding a plane-telling me you'd never set foot here again."

She remembered being the one racing to the terminal to catch him, hoping for a real goodbye, believing their friendship mattered.

As the memories came rushing back, Alexia was almost startled by the force of her own feelings.

She'd convinced herself she didn't care anymore, that these questions had faded with time, but the knot in her throat and the tears prickling at her eyes proved otherwise.

She had always been waiting for an explanation.

Waylon caught the hurt in her eyes, saw how her anger trembled on the edge of tears, and for a moment,he was lost for words.

A sharp ache stabbed through him, cold detachment dissolving as regret took its place.