Page 2 of The Defenseman

Tim walked ahead of Alexa and pushed opened the door, standing to the side so he could hold it open for her. The night was cool but not bitter, though when Alexa looked up, she saw stormy rain clouds overhead. There was a very good chance it was going to rain tonight and Alexa hoped to be at home before the rain started.

"Now what do you want to do?" Tim asked, glancing over at Alexa and shoving his hands in his pockets. There was something strange about the way he was acting, almost like he wasn't sure how to act now that it was just the two of them. This made no sense. How could he not know how to behave around her? They had been together for an entire year.

"We could still eat," Alexa said with a shrug. Her stomach seemed to rumble in response, as though it agreed with Alexa's suggestion.

Tim shook his head as he slowly led her around the building and back to the car. "Nah," he said. "I'm not hungry."

Alexa furrowed her brows. No? Didn't he need a restaurant-type setting in order to propose? If he didn't have that, where was he going to do it? Was he going to let her decide? Even if that were the case, she already made a suggestion and he already shot it down, so if he did want her help, he was being picky about her answers.

This made no sense. If Tim was going to propose, everything should have come together smoothly. He should have been on time. He should have had everything together. And if things didn't go the way they were expected to go, at the very least, there should be some sort of backup plan. And if there wasn't, and Alexa made a suggestion, he should go with what she wanted. Proposing could still happen. Alexa would still say yes. She wished she could reach out and tell him that directly. No matter where he proposed, she would say yes.

"Then it's up to you," Alexa said, sliding her hand in his. His fingers didn't automatically curl around hers. Instead, they hung limp. "I'm happy to do whatever you want to do."

As long as you propose, she finished in her head.

"I didn't want to do this in the parking lot," Tim muttered more to himself than to her. "I wanted it to be somewhere nice. I wanted it to be somewhere where you couldn't make a scene. I wanted it to—"

"Make a scene?" Alexa asked, a small smile on her lips. She squeezed his hand but he still didn't respond in kind. "I think no matter where you do it, I'm going to make a scene."

Tim raised a brow. "You know what I'm going to do?" he asked, doubtful. "I didn't realize I was making it so obvious."

"I just kind of figured," Alexa said. She spotted Tim's car a few feet away and she wasn't sure if she was excited because he was going to do it or if she was nervous for the same reason. "It's been a year. It's the right amount of time to figure everything out."

"You think so?" Tim asked. "I mean, usually I figure it out within the first three dates, but since we haven't had sex, I didn't know. I guess I gave you the benefit of the doubt because your brother is who he is."

"What?" Now she was confused. "What does that mean?"

He stopped walking and turned to face her, his back to the driver's seat of the silver Audi. He dropped her hand—not that he had been holding it in the first place—and ran his fingers through his hair, messing up the dark tresses.

"I thought you understood," he said as though it was obvious. "Lexi, I thought you said you knew what I was going to do."

"I do," she insisted, looking up at him. "At least, I think I do." A fat raindrop hit her shoulder and she glanced down at the water that splattered onto the thin material of her dress. "I just don't understand what us not having sex has to do with getting married."

"Getting married?" Tim asked, dropping his hand so it slapped his thigh. "Getting married? Lexi, what are you talking about? I'm not—no way. Marriage? With you? I don't think so."

Lexi felt her entire body heat up with embarrassment even though it was cold and more rain was falling.

"Why?" she demanded to know. "What's wrong with me?"

"Wrong with you?" He rolled his eyes. Rain was falling fast now and it was easy to get soaked simply by standing in a parking lot. "Lexi, how can I marry you when I don't even know if we're compatible sexually? You want to wait until marriage, fine, but I can't do it anymore. I have needs and they aren't being met by you. I'm sorry, but I'm over it. I'm done. Now, can you get in the car so I can take you home?"

Tim was breaking up with her because they hadn't had sex? She looked at Tim and huffed.

"I'm not getting in your car," she said and began to walk away from him, stomping back over to the sidewalk.

She wasn't going home, and she wasn't going to cry. Alexa was a fixer. She would fix this.

As such, she arranged for a Lyft and went to the only person she could talk to about something like this: Eric Andersson.