Especially since I overheard her talking to Georgia earlier about going on a double fucking date with that dick Jason. I’ve seen him hanging around her, and if I thought for a second that Lexi really liked him or that he would be good for her, I would throw in the towel and let her be happy. But I know damn well he isn’t her type. For one, he has no ambition. He literally just hangs around the beach, drinking and getting high. Lexi might hang out with them, but she wants more in life, even if she’s a little lost right now. She paints the walls to spread her hope and beauty because she sees the good in everything. She’s in school—even though she hates it—because she knows it will better her future. And she’s not your stereotypical surfer, looking to get high and party, like the idiots she hangs out with. She surfs because it’s her passion.
“We’re going out,” I tell Chase, who’s in his usual spot on the couch, watching TV.
“Seriously?” He pops his head up and quirks a brow. I haven’t been out in some time, not since my dad died.
“Yeah, but don’t say a word.” I gesture my head toward the hallway, silently indicating I don’t want the girls to know. They’re currently in Georgia’s room getting ready. They don’t know I overheard, and I don’t want them to. I heard Lexi mention she doesn’t want Jason to pick her up here—probably because she knows I’ll lose my shit—so they’re meeting the guys at the bar downtown. I considered busting in there and demanding she not go, but decided to take a different approach. Show her it’s me she wants.
“Be ready to go after they leave.”
Before the girls come out, I make myself scarce, not coming back out until I hear the front door close, indicating they left.
“Where’re we going?” Chase asks, once we’re in my truck.
“To The Black Sheep. Georgia and Lexi are going on a double date there.”
Chase laughs. “Well, this just got interesting.”
We walk into The Black Sheep and my eyes immediately go in search of Lexi. I haven’t the slightest clue how this is all going to play out. I have a few options: I can stay hidden, watch and see how her date goes. I can make my presence known but keep a distance, or I can—
“Holy shit! Look who’s here,” Chase exclaims, taking the choice out of my hands. “Lexi, Georgia, what the hell are you guys doing here?”
Chase grabs a chair from another table—without even asking—and drags it between Georgia and Robert. With a smile plastered on his face, he plops his ass into the chair and sits back, crossing his arms over his chest.
I stifle a laugh and follow along, only I sit between Lexi and Georgia, since Lexi’s date, Jason, is sitting too close to her for me to move in between them.
“What are you guys doing here?” Lexi stiffly asks.
“We heard this place has great burgers,” Chase answers, dropping his arm onto the back of Georgia’s chair. Robert notices and shoots him a possessive glare that Chase either doesn’t pay attention to or doesn’t notice. Georgia snorts a laugh, knowing Chase’s full of shit, and her eyes dart between Lexi and me, at the same time Robert turns his glare on her. Call me an overprotective friend, but that move just added him to my shit list.
“Well, in case you didn’t notice,” Jason speaks up, leaning over so his eyes meet mine, “we’re on a date.”
“Oh, shit,” Chase says like he wasn’t aware. “Our bad. But you guys don’t mind us joining, do you?” He glances at Georgia, who covers her mouth to stop herself from laughing.
“Alec, can I talk to you for a second?” Lexi asks, already standing and grabbing my arm before I can respond. She drags me down the hallway, until we’re hidden in a darkish corner, away from prying eyes and ears. “What the hell are you doing?” she shrieks, jutting out her cute-as-fuck chin, like the little badass she is.
“As Chase said—”
“No.” She covers my mouth with her hand. “Don’t you dare lie to me. We don’t do that, ever.” Her plump lips form a flat line. She removes her hand and crosses her arms over her chest. She’s wearing a formfitting tank top and it takes everything in me not to dart my eyes to her breasts I know are peeking out of the top.
“I warned you I wouldn’t give up.” I grip the curves of her hips and gently push her until her back is against the wall. “You don’t like that guy, not like you like me. And you’re wasting all of our time by going out with him. If I learned anything from my dad’s death, it’s that we should never waste our time because we don’t know how much time we have.”