Chapter 42: Lexa

We made it back to the hotel in just enough time to drop off all our bags and change. Unfortunately, I had to be at the fan meet and greet in about twenty minutes. Luckily, it was just downstairs, so I didn't have to rush too much, and it would be convenient to come back up and change before going to dinner with Cree and everyone.

There was a knock on the door, when I opened it, in barged Jess followed by Angie. I look at them and say, "Um…hey guys. Can I help you with something?"

Jess replies, "Have you seen what is showing up on social media and all the UFC websites? Look!"

Jess turned her phone towards me, and I see a picture of me holding Cree while she is kissing my cheek. The caption says, 'new UFC fighter Lexa Stryker Trikru with girlfriend actress Cree Cicchino.' I immediately look at Clarke, who is standing across the room looking at her phone. When she looks up, I can't read her look, and that scares me. She finally just shakes her head and says, "Whatever, it's fine. We know the truth, and that's all that matters to me."

I smile, "Really? I'm glad you feel that way, but this pisses me off. Where do they get off making assumptions about me when no one around here knows anything about me? Clarke, I want the entire world to know that you are mine. I-if you'll be mine?"

Clarke smiles brighter than I can ever remember and says, "I'm yours. I think I've been yours ever since the first night we met at the Dragon's Den. I have been drawn to you since that first night. I've never felt this way, and it scares me. My heart knew it then, but it has taken time for it to convince my head."

"So, I mean….." I bite my lower lip. "Officially? Tell the world about it kinda mine?"

Clarke leaned in, capturing my lips. "Tell the world about it kinda yours. Yes."

I hear Jess and Angie aww at us. I look Clarke in the eyes and say, "Thank you. Will you do the honor of accompanying me downstairs to the fan event. I want everyone to see that we are together."

She says, "Um…sure. Do I have time to change and make myself presentable?"

"Ya Amar, you look amazing just as you are. But you have about ten minutes to change before we head down.

Once we're downstairs, we're met by Dana. First, he goes over what is expected tonight and then what will happen tomorrow. He then asks me a couple of questions, one being what the song is I want playing when I walk to the ring. I have no idea! I look at Clarke, and she shrugs but then says, "I know the perfect song, American Oxygen by Rihanna." Dana looks at me, and I just nod. Then he points me in the direction of the table where I am supposed to sit. I look over there, and Jewel, my opponent, is already seated at the table.

We head inside. About halfway to the table, I see a couple of press photographers. I look at Clarke and say, "Are you sure you don't mind telling the world about us?"

She looks at me confused, "What? I told you, my heart has been yours since the day we met. It just took some convincing for my head to follow, so yeah. Why?"

I hold out my hand to her, and she takes it, interlocking our fingers, then I head right toward the photographers. I approach the first one and say, "Excuse me." He looks over at me. "I'm Lexa Trikru, aka Stryker. I'm not sure who posted the photos earlier, but they are wrong. Cree Cinnhico and I are not dating, and I would appreciate it if you would take some pictures of me with my actual girlfriend, Clarke Griffin." I hold up our hands and point to Clarke, who is entirely red in the face.

The photographer looks at me and smiles, "Sure, I would be happy too. Sorry about the mix-up. It happens all the time, especially when we don't know anything about the fighter. I know we shouldn't jump on things, but it is hard to get a leg up in this town taking photos."

"It's fine, no hard feelings." He takes a few photos, and then we head to the table. Two hours later, when we finish up, my hand has the biggest cramp ever. I have never signed my name that many times, but it was fun meeting the fans. Even though they had never heard of me, everyone still wanted me to autograph their poster and pose for pictures with Jewel. Clarke was by my side the entire time, which was terrific.

We rush upstairs to change quickly so that we can meet everyone and head to dinner. When Clarke walks out of the bathroom, I forget to breathe. She has on this red dress that hugs her perfect body stopping at the floor. The sides are held together by these small designs that are primarily see-through. I can see the outline of her perfect breasts, which are not being held by a bra. I want nothing more than to stay right here and worship every inch of her body, but I'm not sure she's ready for that just yet.

I finally find my voice, "Damn, you look amazing! I don't remember you trying on that dress, and trust me, I would remember."

She smiles with her pink cheeks, "You clean up well also. I kept a couple of outfits just to myself to surprise you and see your reaction. Boy, I'm glad that I did because your face was priceless. Shall we go?"

"Do we have to? I'd rather stay here with you and…."

"And, what?"

"Um…remember no pressure. I just want to be honest with you. I would really like to stay here and undress you slowly while worshiping every inch of your beautiful body, starting with your lips."

Her cheeks and ears were pink, but she was smiling. "Lexa, please don't hold back with your comments because you think I will feel pressured. I trust you and know you would never pressure me into anything, but I would like to see more of this side of you without you having to worry about what you're saying upsetting me. So, I promise from now on to talk to you and let you know if I'm feeling pressured. Okay?"

I look at the floor, feeling a little embarrassed. Clarke steps closer and puts her finger under my chin, making me look her in the eyes. I can't help but stare into her striking green eyes and think that I could spend the rest of my life right here looking at her. Then, finally, she says, "Okay? Do you hear me? Please just be yourself when you are with me."

"Yeah, sure. I can handle that, but…I'm not sure you can." I laugh, leaning in, and bring our lips together with urgency. I let out a moan as I press myself closer to her and our chests meet. God, I wish we didn't have on all these clothes, but I don't try to remedy this as I get lost in the kiss. The only thought that ran through my head is that I want to do this all night. I never want this kiss to end.

And the kiss didn't end until I hear and felt vibrating. I pull back slightly and look at Clarke. Her eyes have opened, and we both realize it is my phone vibrating in my back pocket. Clarke smiles as I reach into my pocket, slide the phone out and throw it on the nearby bed. I then put my hands on the back of her head and bring out lips together again.

The phone is momentarily forgotten until it begins vibrating again. She pulls back and says, "I think someone wants to talk to you."

"I don't care," I say and lean down to kiss her again. Once again, the phone vibrated. Clarke smiles and buries her head in the crook of my neck while I try to stop the annoying phone but can't find it. She giggles and looks at the bed reaching for the phone.

"Here," she said, handing me the phone. "They are persistent."

I stand there with my eyes closed, frustrated. "I'm so sorry," I say as I open my eyes, my brow creasing with sadness.

"It's okay."

"But I was having such a good time."

She laughs and looks up at me. "So was I, but it may have saved me from ripping your clothes off."

I look at her standing there smiling at me, "I would love that!"

She chuckles, "Look, the first time I have sex with you isn't going to be the night before your fight. I don't want to be rushed, and I want to be able to enjoy it fully without worrying about if…if everything is healed."

I take a deep breath and sigh. "I understand, and I want that too. This gives me so much to look forward to."

"Me too," She says, giving me a peck on the lips. "Check your phone while I use the bathroom one last time.

I look at my phone and see a text from Ash, one from O and one from Reed asking where we are. They all say that everyone is waiting on us. Great, I'm all worked up and have to go to dinner with this group. I'm sure they will make me listen to my life story once again. I really wish that I could just go somewhere without having to hear stories about myself. All I want to do is stay in the room and snuggle with Clarke. I don't care if we have sex or not. I just want to spend time with her alone.

When she comes out of the bathroom, I hold out my arm for her to take and say, "The natives downstairs are getting restless. We should probably go before someone comes looking for us, but I hope this can be continued later." I wiggle my eyebrows at her, and she shakes her head at me. When we get downstairs, Jess says, "Have you seen the new posts on social media?"

Clarke says, "No, we've been a little busy?" Jess raises her eyebrow in question, and Clarke turns red, realizing how it sounded.

Jess says here and hands her phone over for Clarke and I to look at. I scroll through a couple of photos of Clarke and I at the fan event. The images look great, but the captions piss me off. One says, "New UFC fighter Stryker, seen with a different girl at every event." Then there is a photo of me flexing at the weigh-ins with the caption, 'Wow, what a body!' I just shake my head and pull Clarke close as we exit the hotel.

It didn't take us long to pull up in front of the fanciest hotel and restaurant I have ever seen. Raquel, Tecia, and Cree were all standing out front, waiting on us. I actually had a great time. For once, most of the stories revolved around Ash, Callie, and Asher. Except when Raquel ask me how I knew Cree.

I looked at Cree and said, "Go ahead and tell the story."

"Nope, you've been too quiet all night. It is your turn to tell a story."

"But…I don't like talking about myself. It just sounds like I'm cocky."

Ash says, "It's not cocky if you can back up what you say, and believe me, you can."

Clarke reaches over and kisses me on the cheek, "Go ahead, sweetie. I want to hear you tell the story."

"Fine! Ash, Amelia, and I were exploring the war memorials one night, or at least I was, while they sat on a bench and chatted. Anyway, I was walking, looking at the Vietnam Wall. It was pretty dark, but the stars and moon were out, and I was just enjoying being there. Suddenly, I heard a muffled scream and see a guy pulling a girl into the wooded area. She was kicking and trying to get away. I yelled to Ash and then followed them into the woods. When I caught up to them, I realized five guys are surrounding the girl. So, I tell them to leave her alone. Of course, he tells me that it was none of my business. That it was between him and his sister and for me, keep moving. Instead, I ask the girl, Cree, if she knew the guys? She shook her head and said that she had never seen them before in her life and asked me to please help."

Ash laughs and says, "Of course, Lexa is a sucker for women in distress, so she had to help." Everyone laughs.

"Ha, ha, Ash. When Ash finally decides to see what's going on, she tells her mom to call 911. After I heard Amelia talking to the 911 operator, I told the guys that they could get way without going to jail if they left. He just laughed and said that there were five of them and only one of me. Then he pulled out a gun, and the other four pulled out knives. Cree screamed when he pointed the gun at her."

Ash interrupts, "Obviously, Lexa went into protect mode and stepped in between her and the gun. I warned her that she didn't have her armor on like she was accustomed to in the desert. Then mom told her that the 911 operator said to wait for the police and not to get involved. Like that was really going to happen."

"I looked at the dude and told him he had ten minutes to get out of there before the cops arrived. I tried to keep him talking by asking him what he was doing, figuring if he kept talking, the cops would have time to get there before they did anything stupid. He replied by saying that he was kidnapping her. Now you have to remember that I had no idea who she was or if this sort of thing was a common occurrence since I had only been in America for a couple of days. I just knew that I couldn't let anything happen to her if I could help it. So, I told him that he would have to be willing to kill me in order for him to take her. Apparently, he didn't have a problem doing it because I hear him start to squeeze the trigger on his gun, so I quickly pull and throw a dagger from my belt holster, hitting him in the hand, making him drop the weapon. Then I told Cree to run, which she did. She runs over to Ash and Amelia. The other four guys circled up around me. I had another knife, but I didn't want to use it quite yet.

Ash speaks, "I told her that I was going to help her, but she told me no, that I needed to protect Cree because they were trying to kidnap her."

"Whatever, long story short, Cree wasn't kidnapped, and the guys ended up in police custody."

Cree says, "Um…you left out the part where you kicked all of their asses, killing one and taking a bullet to save Amelia."

Clarke gasped, "What do you mean? She was shot?"

I look over at her worried expression and say, "It was just a graze which only required a few stitches. So it was nothing, really. Besides, that was the less dramatic fight I was in DC."

Clarke says, "I'm afraid to ask what you mean by that?"

"Really? I thought that you had heard all of these stories the other night. Didn't Callie tell you about the bar fight?"

Callie says, "Not really other than to say that you saved my life even though you didn't like me at the time."

I look at Clarke, "Babe, you watched the video at the Dragon's Den one night, remember? I came back to the table from dancing and ask what you were watching, and you said some crazy fool in a bar fight."

Clarke's eyes go wide, "Oh, yeah, I guess I blocked that out."

Reed asks, "Well is someone going to fill us in on that story, or what?"

I shake my head and say, "Not me. I've talked about myself enough for one night."

Ash says, "Okay, I will handle this one." Then her phone rang, and she went outside to answer it, which I thought was weird. When she returned, I could tell something was wrong, but she didn't say anything and just jumped back into the conversation. So I decided to wait until we got back to the hotel and ask her about it then.

After she left, Callie says, "I guess that means I'll tell this story. So, after I surprised Ash in DC for her medal ceremony, things got…well, a little complicated. We all decided to go out to dinner and get to know one another better. Everything was going fine until these eight guys came in and started getting handsy with us. Then one of them grabbed Amelia and shit went sideways quick. One of the guy's taunted Lexa and said, there are eight of us. What are you going to do? Lexa, what was it that you said?"

I roll my eyes and say, "I don't really remember."

She says, "Well, I do because I thought you were the biggest idiot in the world for saying it. You said, 'I really do enjoy a good challenge!'"

Clarke looks at me like I'm a complete fool and says, "Please tell me that's not really what you said."

I just shrug my shoulders. As Callie starts to continue, I say, "Actually, I also remember saying I would back up if I were you. Things are about to get a little messy. Then I asked the guys if they really liked the odds because I did. Clarke, you saw the video of this at the Dragon's Den. It shouldn't surprise you."

Clarke says, "Okay, now you sound a little full of yourself."

Callie laughs as Ash sits back down and says, "Okay, where are you in the story? What did I miss?"

I reply, "Well, Clarke just called me full of myself because I asked the goons if they liked their odds."

Ash smiles before saying, "Yeah, that was pretty funny, but if you think that is cocky, wait until you hear what she said next…

I interrupt, "What did you guys do memorize what happened?"

Callie laughs, "We do have it on video. Hold on, I will pull it up while Ash tells this part, and then you can see it for yourselves."

Ash says, "Alpha is what we called the main guy, anyway he looks at his buddies, and they all start to laugh, and he says, 'You're kidding, right? Two women against eight men, yeah, we like the odds.' So, Lexa says, 'Not at all, I love this shit! Haven't you seen my YouTube video from Dubai?' Then Alpha says, 'What?' Lexa says, 'Wow, that's a shame, maybe if you watched it, you would know not to start shit with my girl or me. Oh well, that's one of your mistakes, but you might want to check it out after I kick your asses. Now can you please unhand my future mother-in-law so we can be on our way and spare you the humiliation of getting beat down by, how did you put it, two women.'"

At this point, Callie has the video pulled up, and everyone watches how the fight plays out and sees how I managed to keep Callie from getting shot.

Clarke looks at me with amazement and asks, "How did you know that you could get to the gun in time?"

"I didn't really, but I had to try; otherwise, someone probably me would have been shot. I just heard the click of the hammer, so I took a step toward him, grabbed the hand with the gun, and pushed to the side as hard as I could as the hammer hit the firing pin. I felt the bullet hit my shoulder, and then my ears began to ring. Luckily, I was able to angle it so that when it went through me, it didn't hit anyone else."

Two hours later, Ash, Callie, Asher, Clarke, and I headed back to the hotel while the rest of the group decided they were going clubbing with Cree. As we said our goodbyes, I reminded O and Jose not to get too trashed because I needed their head in the fight tomorrow. The ride back to the hotel was pretty quiet except for Asher's snoring, which was cute. He had fallen asleep with his head on my shoulder so, I got out and carried him up to his room. After I put him in the bed, I asked Ash, "Can we talk outside for a minute?"

She replies, "Let me change, and I will come to your room."

"Sure."

Twenty minutes later, there's a knock on our door. Ash walks in and says, "I guess you want to know about the phone call?"

"I know something has been off ever since you took it, so, yeah. Who was it?"

Clarke speaks up, "Um…I'll just go, so you two can talk."

Ash says, "That's not necessary as long as what you hear stays in this room. That includes not a word to Callie."

"O-okay, this sounds serious."

"Yeah, it is." Ash says, then she looks at me and says, "First, have you told Clarke about what Abby found when she ran your blood test?"

Clarke looks at me, and I look at Ash and say, "Um…no, but only because I didn't understand it or let her finish telling me about it because she told you."

Clarke speaks up, "Can someone please explain what is going on?"

I look at Ash and say, "What does this have to do with your phone call? Can you explain it to her, or should I call Abby and let her explain it?"

I hear Clarke say, "Hello." When I look at her, she is on the phone, I assume with Abby.

Next, she says, "Mom, I need you to explain what you found in Lexa's blood test?"

I'm not sure what is said, but she hands me the phone. I say, "Hello, Abby."

"Lexa, what is going on? Why is Clarke asking about your blood test?"

"Abby, I honestly don't know what's going on but, I need you to explain everything to her."

"Not until I know what is going on."

"Fine, let me put you on speaker with Ash, Clarke, and me so that Ash can explain." I hit the speaker and tell Ash to continue.

Ash says, "Hey, Abby. Here is what is going on…." She explains how she asked Julian to keep an ear out for anything related to what Abby had found out about me or anything related to the blood tests and how he had contacted her a while back but wouldn't talk over the phone. Julian insisted they needed to speak in person so he would be at the cookout on Sunday. He called again tonight and told her that she needed to have her go-bag ready that she would need to fly back to DC after the cookout. "That's all he would tell me over the phone. I won't know any more until Sunday. He said for me to plan to be gone for at least a month, if not more."

Abby says, "What does this have to do with Clarke?"

Ash replies, "Nothing really, she was…well maybe that is something you need to discuss with her."

I say, "Abby, I'm going to give the phone back to Clarke now so that you two can talk. You have my permission to tell her anything she wants to know about me, alright? I hope to see you soon, be safe." I hand the phone back to Clarke and tell her I will be back in a little bit.

Ash and I walk out into the hall. "Ash, I'm not letting you go by yourself. You know that, right?"

"I was afraid you were going to say that, but you really don't have a choice. You can't go because you aren't in the service anymore, and this is a government operation. I promise to tell you everything after the cookout so that you won't be in the dark about what's going on, but you have to promise me that you will stay here and not try and follow me. Besides, there is something that I need you to do, and you are the only one I trust to do it."

"Fine, I promise not to follow you, but know if you miss a check-in with Julian…I will come for you. Now, what do you need from me?"

"I have no doubt that you will, and I promise I'll leave a contingency plan for you in case something does happen. Actually, there are a couple of things I need to talk to you about. First and most importantly, I need you to promise to take care of Callie and Asher while I'm gone. I know things have been…I'm sorry to have to ask…."

I stop her by saying, "I understand, Ash, and it's fine. I promise not to let anything happen to them, and I will take care of them. So you don't have to worry about them. I've got your six."

She nods with tears running down her cheeks. "Thanks, I trust you completely. Now comes the hard question. I know things have been difficult between us, but I feel like we are in a good place right now, and you have Clarke. I can see how much you like her and I'm glad you found her. I know it may still be too soon to think we can talk about our relationships with other people, but I really need to talk to you about Callie."

"Ash, it's fine. I want us to be able to talk to each other about everything, including our relationships. I really am happy for you and Callie. I hate to say it, but I can see why you fell for her. She really is a great mom and a good person. As far as Clarke, I do like her a lot. The problem is I have no idea what I'm doing. I mean, I've really never been in a relationship other than with you, and I kinda don't think…if you really think about it, was it really a relationship or just two people who really needed each other to get through an exceedingly difficult situation. Don't get me wrong, I loved our time together, but…."

She interrupts me, "I know what you mean. So, what I want to ask is…well, you are the most romantic person I know and…Callie is going to freak when she finds out about me having to leave. I wouldn't be asking you the night before your biggest fight if it wasn't important…."

"Ash, stop rambling and spit it out already. I would like to get some alone time with Clarke tonight even if she's not ready to have sex yet."

Her jaw drops, and she starts to stutter, "Y-you mean…are you saying that you haven't had sex yet. I-I'm sorry that's none of my business, but…."

I laugh, "I told you I wanted to be able to talk to you about anything, so I figured if I shared something, then you would just go ahead and ask whatever it is you want to ask me. But, since that's the question you decided to ask, I will answer it. But, no, we haven't had sex yet, and I don't even care. Clarke's kisses are so explosive, and…well, I think I could be happy never having sex again as long as I can kiss her."

"Wow, I don't know what to say about that except if kissing her is that great, imagine how good the sex will be!"

I punch her, "So, what do you need from the most romantic person you know, other than a promise to keep your woman warm while you are gone." I say and laugh.

She throws a punch of her own, but I dodge it. "Don't even play like that, Alexandria Sahar Trikru. Like I said, Callie will freak out when she finds out that I have to leave. I'm afraid she will think that I am running again, and I wouldn't blame her. It is kinda what I do. Lexa, I know this is bad timing with your fight and all, but I really want to ask Callie to marry me…I-I hope you are okay with it, but I will understand if you aren't."

She looks down at the floor and waits for me to speak. I can't say that I was expecting this now…or so soon, but I can understand given the situation. It still stings some until I think of Clarke, then I don't know…I just feel better. "That's great, Ash, really. I'm happy for you. What do you need from me?"

"I was hoping that maybe you could go with me to pick out a ring tomorrow. I understand if it is too much, but you are my best friend and…I just need you right now."

I smile, "I will be happy to help with anything you need, Ash. I'll text Cree and find out where we should go, but we'll have to do it early because I have to be at the arena by one."

"That's fine. I will tell Callie that you want me to help you with a short training session before everyone gets to the arena. Now, there is one more thing. Can you help me figure out how to do it…I mean, how to ask her?"

I shake my head and laugh, "Ash, don't you think that is something that you should do?"

"Well, yeah…but when you proposed to me, it was so romantic, and…it is something I will never forget, and I want that for her. I have put her through so much. So I just want to do this right."

"Yeah, it's something I will never forget either. Even though I really didn't think you would say yes, it still hurt."

"Lexa, I'm sorry, but if I had…."

I stop her, "I know. In the long run, it wouldn't have lasted, and we wouldn't be where we are right now. Look, I was going to surprise everyone tomorrow night when we got back to the yacht. I had Mickey and Cree pull some strings to get a band to play the party. I thought I might sing Clarke another song, you know, just to let her see I wasn't drunk the other night when I sang to her. The band, Florida Georgia Line, has a song called 'Grow Old.' What if you sang it to Callie. Then bring her up on stage, get down on one knee, and ask her in front of all our friends. You can call your mom and have her be there when we get back to see the proposal. I can have a bouquet of flowers ready, and you can put the ring box open in the middle of the flowers. When you go down on your knee, I will hand it to you, and when she looks down, she will see the ring."

"That is amazing, Lexa! How do you come up with such romantic things? Um…just one problem. I can't sing."

"What do you mean, you can't sing? Everyone can sing, even if it is bad."

"No, I mean, I really can't sing. When I sing along to the radio, dogs howl. It's that bad. You can ask mom, they kicked me out of music class, and the choir at church wouldn't even let me hum with them. So what else do you have?"

"Fine, what if I make a short speech about, I don't know something. Then I call you and Callie up on the stage, and you say something like, 'Callie, I know we have had a complicated relationship, but I want to dedicate this song to you. Will you dance with me?' Then the band will play the song while you dance. After the song, you do the rest."

"Okay…but what if you sing it for me. You know, be my wing woman like Goose in Top Gun when Maverick sings to the girl at the bar. Wouldn't that be better?"

"Fine! But you owe me big time." I say, laughing, "Now can I please go snuggle with my girl now that I have agreed to help my ex propose to her baby mama."

We hear a gasp, and the door closes. Great! I rush inside to find Clarke locked in the bathroom. I knock, "Hey, Ya Amar, what's wrong? Open the door, please."

I hear a sniffle, "I thought you wanted to be with me?"

"What? I do! What are you talking about?"

"You just said you were going to propose to your ex!"

Ash says, "What? No, that's not what she said. I was asking her to help me propose to Callie, my baby mama. I promise that is what we were talking about. Lexa wants you, not me!"

The door opens a crack, and she peeks out at us. "Baby, please come out. I promise we were coming up with a plan for Ash to propose to Callie before she has to leave. Ash is afraid that Callie will think she is running again and wants to show her she isn't. You are the only one for me. I told you I would never lie to you, and I won't. Please come out so I can hold you. All I want is to get in bed with you and snuggle and relax."

She wipes her eyes and comes out walking into my arms. I wrap her in a tight hug and kiss her temple. She pulls back, and I am looking into the most beautiful green eyes. I get lost in her eyes until she says, "Do you promise?"

"Yes, Ya Amar. I promise. Ash?"

Ash looks at Clarke and says, "Clarke, I promise too. I just needed her help because…well, she is the most romantic person I know, and I want to make the proposal special."

Clarke looks between the two of us and smiles before pulling away from me and going to Ash. She hugs her and says, "I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions, and you're right. My girl is very romantic, so I'm sure whatever she came up with will be amazing. Do you have a ring?"

Ash starts to stutter, "Um…w-well, n-no. I was hoping to borrow 'your girl' for about an hour or so tomorrow to help me pick one out. I was also hoping that you might keep Asher and Callie busy during that time."

She laughs and shakes her head, "You two are both amazing people. I can't believe that after all you have been through in your relationship and break up, you get along well enough to well…I'm sorry. It is just a little weird that Lexa is going to help you not only propose but buy a ring after you turned down her proposal."

Ash smiled, "You know about that? Ouch, that stung a little, but I get it. I hope that our relationship isn't going to cause problems in yours. If it is, I will…well, I will walk away. I need for Lexa to be as happy as I am, even if it means giving her up completely."

I think my eyes almost pop out of my head. What did she just say? Clarke must see the concern on my face because she comes over and kisses me on the cheek before speaking. "I would never ask that of the two of you. You have a unique bond and friendship. It is just a little weird for me right now, but I'm sure in time, I will get used to it. Now, Ash, if you don't mind. I would like to be alone with MY girl now."

Ash says, "Point taken. See you tomorrow."

After the door closed behind Ash, my eyes met Clarke's, and I can feel the electricity. I place both hands on each side of Clarke's face and pull her towards the bed, kissing her in the same motion. When my legs hit the side of the bed, I sit down, bringing her onto my lap, never breaking the kiss. Clarke moans as my tongue begins to explore her mouth, and the warmth of passion ignites between my legs.

Clarke pulls back, and our foreheads meet. We both smile shyly. "Lexa, I-I don't think…."

I stop her with a peck on the lips, "I know, babe. It's fine. I just want to snuggle with you and maybe kiss you some more. If that's okay with you."

"I think that can be arranged, but after we have a chat about you and what my mom told me."