Chapter 104 Chapter One Hundred and Four
Allison reached the bottom of the stairs, her entourage materializing around her; Madison, and two other cheerleaders I recognized.
No Jace, I noticed. She was here without him, so that meant he had already left on his trip to Tur… whatever country he’d mentioned without her.
She was working the crowd now, accepting hugs and air kisses, laughing at something Madison whispered in her ear.
Then she stopped.
I saw the exact moment she overheard two girls standing near the bar, drinks in hand unaware that Alison could hear them.
“I don’t know,” one was saying. “I mean Allison’s pretty, but have you seen the new girl? The one in the red dress?”
“Oh my God, right? She’s like, actually gorgeous. Way prettier than—”
Allison’s head snapped around.
Her eyes scanned the room, gazing at one person after another, before finally landing on… me.
My heart stopped.
She didn’t recognize me. I could tell from the way her eyes narrowed, assessing me like a threat she hadn’t expected.
To her, I wasn’t Lena Hartwell, the scholarship student she’d tormented for four years. I was just some new girl, a contender for her throne.
She started walking toward me, her heels clicking ominously on the tile.
“You.” Her voice was sharp. “Don’t I know you?”
Panic seized my chest. I covered half my face with one hand, backing up into the crowd as fast as I could manage in my heels. “Nope! It’s not me! I’ve never seen you before in my life. I’ll just—I’ll just go—”
Allison’s eyes raked over me from head to toe, then her expression switched from confusion to fury.
“You fucking slut,” she said, loud enough for everyone nearby to hear. “You’re the one who made out with my boyfriend.”
The crowd around us went silent.
Then someone laughed, and another person wolf-whistled and suddenly everyone was watching the commotion.
“Oh shit,” Artem muttered. “Here we go.”
People stopped dancing, and a few of them put their cups down to pick up their phones instead so they could record
My face burned. “I didn’t… it wasn’t like that—”
“Save it.” Allison took another step forward. “I saw the photos. Everyone saw the photos. You and Jace were all over each other at Marco’s. Don’t you know he’s my fucking boyfriend?”
“That was… he grabbed me! I didn’t want—”
“You prefer to do all the boyfriend-stealing yourself, don’t you, Allison?” Diane stepped forward, crossing her arms. Her bikini and casual stance somehow made her look more confident than Allison did.
Allison’s glare could have melted steel with how absolutely hateful it was.“Fuck off back to the countryside with your broke parents and stop leeching off my family. You’re only here on break, remember? So act like it.”
Diane didn’t even flinch. “Say whatever you want about me. Doesn’t make you any less of a whore, breaking your back to keep some guy who clearly doesn’t even want you.”
She glanced at me, then back at Allison. “Maybe he wanted to be stolen. Ever think of that? Don’t be a fucking bird.”
Allison’s face went red. “Get out. Now. And take this stupid bitch with you.” She pointed at me like I was a pile of garbage to be removed.
Mason, the guy who had welcomed Noah earlier stepped between us. “Wait, wait, wait. You can’t throw her out, Ally. Her boyfriend’s on the invite list. She’s his plus-one.”
“And who might that boyfriend be?” Allison’s voice dripped with contempt.
Mason opened his mouth to answer.
“You know what?” Allison cut him off. “I don’t even care.”
She turned, snatched a champagne flute from a passing server’s tray, and spun back toward me.
The liquid sloshed in the glass as she raised it.
I saw it happening in slow motion; her arm drawing back, the champagne catching the light, everyone around us holding their breath as she poured the champagne at me.
I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for impact… but it never came.
Slowly, I opened my eyes.
I blinked in disbelief when I saw the unexpected.
Jace’s hand was wrapped around Allison’s wrist, stopping her mid-throw.
He’d appeared out of nowhere, still in the clothes he’d been wearing at Marco’s this morning, his hair dishevelled like he’d been running.
His chest was heaving, his jaw was set, and his eyes…God, his eyes were dark with fury.
“Don’t you fucking dare,” he said, his voice low and dangerous.
The entire party went silent, every phone was definitely pointed at us now.
Allison stared at Jace in shock. “What are you… You’re supposed to be at the hospital…”
“Let go of the glass, Allison.”
“But she—”
“I said let go.”
Allison’s fingers loosened and the champagne flute fell to the ground, shattering on the tile between us, liquid and glass spraying everywhere.
Jace’s eyes finally left Allison’s and found mine.
And the look on his face, so possessive and protective and absolutely furious, made it near impossible to breathe.
“Nobody,” he said, still holding Allison’s wrist, his eyes locked on mine, “touches her. Nobody.”
Suddenly a door opened from the side of the room, and Noah entered inside
As soon as he spotted Jace and I together, he marched straight to the front, weaving through the crowd, demanding “What the hell is going on here?”