“He hurt us,” he tells her matter-of-factly. “He yelled at us and he hit us.”
“Oh, Aiden, I’m so sorry,” she says. “You’re right. Your mom’s boyfriend was bad, but not all boyfriends are bad. Alec doesn’t yell or hurt me, and he’s a firefighter. He saves people. He’s a good guy.”
“Like Fireman Sam?” Aiden asks.
“I don’t know who Fireman Sam is,” Lexi says honestly, but I know who he is.
“He was a cartoon fireman on YouTube,” I tell her.
“He’s my favorite hero,” Aiden tells her. “But he isn’t wearing his fire suit.”
“No, he only wears it when he goes to work. I brought you some stuff,” Lexi tells him, holding up the bag she placed the food and drinks into.
Aiden looks into the bag and smiles softly at Lexi. Then he pulls her into a tight hug. “Thank you, Lexi,” he says. “I like water and fruit. But I like tacos more.”
“I know,” she replies with a laugh. “But you have to eat food that’s good for you too. Not just tacos.”
“But I like tacos,” he argues.
“I know you do,” she says. “I have to get going, but I’ll see you soon, okay?”
“Okay! Bye, Lexi, and bye, Lexi’s fireman boyfriend.”
When we get back to the jeep, Lexi says, “Aiden is autistic… Well, I think he is. I searched his mannerisms on Google and that’s what popped up. I don’t know much about him except that he loves drawing and he’s homeless. He’s been living in that tent for the last several months. I always give him food and drinks when I come to the beach.”
“Have you thought about telling someone?”
“Who? The police? No way.” She shakes her head. “They’ll cite him, or worse, arrest him. You saw how he reacted to you. It took months before he warmed up to me. What do you think would happen if the police approached him? No. He’s better off where he is. At least he’s left alone.”
On the ride home, we’re both silent, and I can’t stop thinking about Aiden. There has to be something we can do to help him. He’s not just homeless… There’s clearly something more to him, like Lexi said. I make a mental note to ask the guys at work if there’s anything in LA that helps or supports homeless people who have special needs.
“Want to shower with me?” Lexi asks once we’re home.
I watch as she makes a show of untying the strings that hold her bikini top together and dropping it to the ground, exposing her perfect tits. Next, she pulls the strings on her bottoms and they fall to the floor, leaving her completely naked. I take a moment to take her in: her milky skin that doesn’t match how often she’s at the beach. Since her dad is naturally tanned, I would bet she gets her creamy complexion from her biological mom, but she never talks about her.
Her blond hair is down in waves. I can remember the day she dyed it. She said she needed a change, and after Georgia talked her out of getting a tattoo—which was a damn good thing since she wasn’t eighteen yet—she showed up with her hair dyed blond. I loved Lexi as a brunette, but something about the blond fit her personality better. It was wilder, like her.
My eyes cut to her toned abs and thighs. She doesn’t work out at the gym, but she surfs daily, which keeps her in shape. She’s tiny, maybe five-foot-four, compared to my six-foot-three self, but for such a little thing, she’s all badass. And I love how low-maintenance she is. She prefers to be in a bathing suit and flip-flops. And when she’s not at the beach, you can find her in cutoff jean shorts, a tank top, and Vans. What you see is what you get, and I love that about her.
“Alec,” she says, taking me out of my thoughts. “Shower?”
Not needing to be asked again, I cut across the room, shedding my shirt along the way, and lift her into my arms. When we get inside the bathroom, I slam the door closed, unsure if my bedroom door is shut, and set her on the counter next to the sink. I part her legs and step between them. She wraps her arms around my neck and her fingers thread through the strands of my hair.
“Fuck, Lex. You’re so damn perfect.” I take her breast into my hand and wrap my lips around the rosy pink nipple. As I suck on the hardened peak, her back arches and she pushes her chest forward, silently demanding more.
I feel like the luckiest guy in the world that I get to be with Lexi. I hate that we wasted so much time trying to ignore what was right in front of us, but there’s nothing we can do about the past. All I can do is try like hell to make up for the lost time, and right now my plan to do that is by making love to her.