“Oh, I plan on it,” I informed him.
“Maybe when she’s thirty. Maybe,” he said, laughing.
I laughed, too. There was no way I’d last that long, and I told him that. His laughter died down, but I had a feeling he was okay with it.
PROM WITH JEREMY WAS one of the best nights of my life. Everyone, naturally, loved his mullet. He actually considered keeping it, but it was too poofy for his baseball hat. He lasted one practice before he cut it off. I was actually sad to see it go.
Lexi, however, didn’t have the greatest prom night. Until the end. Long story short, Jace’s date, the ever-bitchy Mallory Buchanan, threw a hissy fit any time Jace so much as looked in Lexi’s direction. And he looked quite a bit. I’d been spot on when I’d said his jaw would hit the floor. When he laid his eyes on her, they grew, and I was pretty sure something in his pants did, too. Mallory, of course, noticed his reaction and did everything she could to create distance between the two.
By the end of the dance, Jace got fed up and said that he was asking Lexi to dance. After all, they were best friends. It wouldn’t be right if they didn’t at least dance once. Mallory stomped her foot and grasped his arm.
“If you so much as touch that girl, we are through, Jace,” she hissed at him.
By then, people were taking notice of the scene Mallory was creating—Lexi included. She was standing fifteen feet away with her boyfriend, Aaron, who was nervously watching it all unfold. His eyes kept darting back and forth between Mallory and Lexi, and I started to become suspicious.
Jace, in turn, did the same. His angry eyes left Mallory’s and landed on Lexi, softening when he saw her standing there. He yanked his arm out of the wench’s grasp and crossed the room. Mallory, in all of her glory, was hot on his tails.
She darted around Jace and was in Lexi’s face before Jace could get there. Oh, no. That bitch. I started to move towards them when Jeremy stopped me.
“Let go, Jeremy. No one gets in Lexi’s face.”
“I know, baby, but let it play out first. This is McAllister’s chance. You gotta give it to him.”
As much as I wanted to step in and protect my baby sister, Jeremy was right. Discontent, I settled back against his chest.
“You think you can steal my boyfriend?” Mallory screeched. “Well, you’ve got another thing coming!”
Lexi’s forehead wrinkled in confusion. “What are you talking about? I’m not trying to steal anyone. I’m here with Aaron. I get it, Mallory. You’re with Jace. We’re just friends. You know that.”
“Oh, please! You’ve been staring at him all night.”
Jace reached for Mallory’s arm. “Let’s just go, okay?”
“No, Jace. I want you to end this once and for all. It’s not normal for you two to be so close when you’re dating other people.”
“What are you asking me to do, Mallory?”
“It’s her or it’s me, Jace!”
I sucked in a deep breath. The dreaded ultimatum. I prayed to God that Jace could see beyond the big boobs and the blow jobs.
I should’ve known he wouldn’t let me down.
“Alexa is my best friend, Mallory.”
“But I’m your girlfriend.”
His eyes flashed, his jaw tightened, and he pulled at the collar of his shirt while his eyes darted around the gym. I knew what was about to happen, and he wasn’t pleased with having to make a scene.
“Not anymore.”
Mallory gasped. “But…Jace…”
“No. I don’t want to hear it. You don’t tell me what to do or who I can be friends with. I should’ve done this a long time ago. We’re over, Mallory.” He turned to look at Lexi, who took a step towards him, more than ready to offer a friendly hug.
Mallory didn’t miss it and was ready to fire the next shot. “That’s fine, Jace. You two can have each other. Aaron’s better in bed than you are, anyway.”
All conversations in the vicinity came to a halt, the silence louder than the music pumping through the speakers.
“What?” Lexi whispered, turning to Aaron, whose face had drained of all its color.
Wicked delight gleamed on Mallory’s face as she hooked her arm through Aaron’s. “Let me teach you a lesson, honey,” she said, smiling at my sister. “When you don’t put out, your boyfriend will find someone who will.”
Lexi’s lower lip trembled. Her eyes darted between Aaron and Mallory. “How long?”
Aaron wrenched out of Mallory’s hold and advanced towards Lexi. Jace and I both took a step towards them. Jeremy, again, held me back while Jace placed a hand on Aaron’s chest, acting as the perfect barrier for my sister. Aaron pushed, then attempted to bypass him. Jace, however, remained steadfast.
“Lexi, please!” Aaron shouted.
“Take a step back,” Jace ordered.
“But—” Aaron started, but Jace used his hand to push him.
Jace’s eyes darkened as he leaned in close until he and Aaron were almost nose to nose. “Take a fucking step back, or we’ll finish this outside.”
Lexi rested her arm on Jace’s. When he peered down at her, she simply shook her head. “It’s not worth it, Jace. He’s not worth it.” Her eyes met Aaron’s, and he’d gone rigid at Jace’s warning. “How long?”
“It only happened one time, baby. I swear! It didn’t mean anything,” he pleaded, as if that would matter.
Lexi’s eyes flicked to Mallory, who smiled in triumph. One time my ass.
“That’s one time too many,” she said.
Aaron’s eyes darkened when he realized he wasn’t going to salvage his relationship. So, like the asshole he was, he tried to get in one last word.
“Maybe if you weren’t such a prude—”
And that was the day Aaron learned that Jace McAllister always followed through.
The words had barely left his lips when Jace’s fist crashed into his jaw. When Aaron dropped in a heap, Mallory squealed, rushing to his side. Once he’d come to, he held a hand to his cheek.
Jace bent down. “Stay the fuck away from her.” Then he turned to Mallory. “And stay the fuck away from me.” When he stood, his eyes softened when they fell on Lexi. “You good?”
She nodded, her eyes still wide as she stared down at Aaron. “Good.”
Before he could respond, Coach McGrew came over and took Jace by the arm, hauling him out of the gym. Lexi stood there, stock-still, almost as if she were in shock. Mallory glared up at her, about to let loose on my sister now that Jace was gone.
I looked up at Jeremy, and he squeezed my shoulder.
“I’ll get the car,” he said. “You go get your sister.”
Lexi wasn’t crying. In fact, she wasn’t saying anything. She just let me guide her to the car and stayed silent. Jeremy parked at our private neighborhood beach. Then he laid a blanket out and built a small fire in the pit, giving us some light.
That’s how we spent the rest of our prom night. The three of us sitting on the beach, passing around a bottle of rum Jeremy had somehow scored. She’d feel like shit the next day, but at least it got her mind off the shit of the night.
“You know what the worst part about all of this is?” Lexi finally piped in after a couple of drinks.
“What’s that, Lex?” Jeremy asked, his voice soothing. At least, it was to me.
“It doesn’t even hurt.”
“That’s the rum talking,” he said softly. “It’s okay to hurt.”
She smiled at Jeremy. “No, I actually mean it. I’m not really sure how much I even liked Aaron. Don’t get me wrong. He’s one of the hottest guys in school, and he was always so sweet to me—or so I thought. But he never gave me the butterflies, you know? When he kissed me, it was nice…but isn’t that the problem? A girl should never describe a kiss as nice.”