Penthouse Prince(6)
Because I did.
“Dak is just being weird, as usual.” I shrug, avoiding eye contact as I pocket my phone. “He caught me off guard.”
It’s not a complete lie. My guard was absolutely, totally down before Dak dropped the atomic bomb of news. My high school boyfriend, the one I gave my entire heart to, only to have him kick it to the curb on his way to college, is back in town. And apparently, he needs some sort of favor from me, of all people. The same ex-boyfriend who I haven’t seen or spoken to in ten years. Oh and yep, you guessed it, the same ex-boyfriend who I compare every guy I meet to… even if I don’t want to.
So, yeah, that guard that was down? Time to build it all the way back up again and hang up a sign that reads NO SCUMBAGS ALLOWED.
Sarah Jo has a stern look in her eyes as she marches across the room and presses the back of her hand against my forehead. “You feel a little warm. Maybe we should skip drinks tonight.”
“No way, José.” I duck out of her reach, shaking my head. “I’m fine. And I’ll be even better after a frozen strawberry margarita with extra salt.”
She looks skeptical, an unamused frown tugging at her lips. But after some gentle pleading from me, she throws in the towel, um, disinfecting wipe. “Fine. But only because it’s been so long since we’ve been to Pepe’s.”
“We were there a week ago,” I remind her. “And the week before that.”
“Yeah.” She scoffs. “And a week is a long time.”
With everything boxed away until next year, I wave good-bye to my classroom, flipping the row of light switches one by one until the whole room goes dark. I’ve dealt with a lot in this little room over the years. Peanut allergies. Lice outbreaks. Skinned knees from recesses gone wrong. All of which I’ve navigated with the ease of an expert.
But one little text from my brother, three little letters spelling out one name, and suddenly, it’s like I forgot how to stand on my own two feet.
I don’t know what my problem is. It’s not like I’m going to see Lexington. Well not on purpose, anyway. I have absolutely no plans to do him any kind of favor after what he did to me. And even if we do run into each other, my first graders have taught me everything I need to know about the silent treatment. So, what is there to get worked up about?
In the parking lot, Sarah Jo and I each hop in our cars, and although it seems ridiculous to drive separately, I’m grateful for the alone time. It gives me a few minutes to collect my thoughts about this Lexington thing, without trying to keep a poker face in front of my best friend.
It’s weird enough that he’s back in North Carolina, but the fact that he needs a favor specifically from me is almost too wild to be true. It’s been ten years since we’ve spoken, and even longer since I’ve seen him. And if his memory is the same as mine, he has to know how badly he hurt me and it shouldn’t be a secret that I would be pissed.
But before our relationship turned to heartbreak, it was different. It was sweet and easy, and everything you’d imagine your first love to be.
I still remember the night things changed between us. It was early October, homecoming weekend at our high school. While every other junior in town was getting ready to go to the big homecoming dance, I was sulking on the couch, barely watching some made-for-TV movie. Upstairs, my brother and a few buddies were drinking beer they’d not-so-sneakily taken from the fridge in our basement. I could only assume Lex was on his way to grab a few more brews when he came downstairs and spotted me, elbow deep in a bag of cheese puffs.
“Weren’t you supposed to be at the dance?” he asked, his dark brows knitting together.
I nodded, licking cheese dust from my thumb. “Yeah, but Sarah Jo got food poisoning from the nachos at the football game last night.”
“That sucks. For her and for you.”
The couch was big, easily seating four people comfortably, but when he sat down, he sat right next to me, so close that his denim-clad thigh pressed against mine. It was enough for my teenage hormones to go into overdrive, so much so that I nearly didn’t hear the next thing he said.
“I could take you, if you want.”
My heart started pounding as anticipation rushed warmly through me. I leaned in, unsure if I’d heard him right. “Did you say you’d take me?”
“Sure.”
“I thought seniors were too cool to go to the dance.” I gestured toward the ceiling and the raucous laughter of my brother and his friends upstairs. “Exhibit A.”
Lex lifted a shoulder, the slightest hint of a smile on his lips. “Yeah, but I don’t want you to be stuck at home.” He paused for a moment, weighing his words, then closed his eyes and went for it. “I bet you look gorgeous in your dress.”
Electricity prickled down my spine. Was he being serious? Lex was a senior, not to mention my brother’s best friend. Both of those things made it clear that he was very off-limits. But right then, as he shifted his hand to rest on my knee, all those limits dissolved into dust and floated out the window on the October breeze.
“I—I guess I’ll just have to find another time to wear it,” I stammered. It was my best attempt at flirting, at the time, and although it wasn’t much, it seemed to work.
“Like on a date?” he asked, one brow lifted suggestively. “Do you date?”