Chapter 17 Chapter Seventeen
I quickly went over my memory of the last hour in my mind, trying to remember if there was anything I could've said to reveal the situation with Lena.
I was sure I hadn't said anything. If this was some kind of trick, then the best thing to do would be to keep my mouth shut and admit to nothing.
Apparently, it worked, because after a long stare down, she finally gave up.
"I don't knowwwwww," she groaned. "Why don't you just tell me?!"
She shifted closer, her hand on my arm, and her voice dropped back into that low, seductive purr. "Tell me what she's like. What does she do that I can't do better?"
Her mouth found the hinge of my jaw, kissing a hot, slow trail across. "I can love you better than she can. Whatever it is, I can be better. Just tell me what you need and I'll…"
"Enough." I stood up, done with her desperate attempt to throw herself at me. Lena would've had more pride, some self-respect at least.
"Jace…"
"Keep the jacket." I picked up my car keys from the coffee table. "I'll get another one."
"Are you serious right now?" She was on her feet, following him across the room. "You dragged me out here…"
"You called me back."
"Well, yeah, but only because you called me seven times and…"
"And I changed my mind." I reached the door and started to open it, I couldn't be out of here fast enough. "Am I no longer allowed to change my mind, Allison? Or do you plan to chain me up here till I change it again and fuck you?"
"Jace." Her hand hit the door before I could open it fully, slamming it back shut, and then she positioned herself between me and the door to try to block the way out.
"Allison, get out of my way."
"But…" She tried once more to touch my face but I smacked her hand away, irritation evident in my eyes.
"You seem to be under the wrong impression, Allison. So let me remind you what our arrangement is. I call you, give you a location, you come, we fuck, you come again. That's all this is."
I stepped forward so I could really back her up into the door, my eyes gazing down at her much shorter body.
I had to shove down my disappointment, because even up close to a girl as hot as Alison was in all her naked glory, I still felt the same empty nothing I felt with other girls since Lena crash-landed into my life and fucked everything up.
"You're not my girlfriend. We aren't dating, and quite frankly, I can't stand to see your fucking face half the time. So for the last time, get the fuck out of my way. Go find someone else to dick you down tonight, I can't help you."
She didn't budge one inch; instead, she started searching my face, cycling through different names, faces, and possibilities, I could practically see it happening behind her eyes.
"I'll figure it out," she said, her voice hurt. "I always do. You know what I'm capable of, don't you?"
"Knock yourself out, Allison."
"Fine! Fine, go. But when I find out who your little secret is…"
"You'll what?"
Her eyes went cold as ice, in the way they did when she was back at school and needed reminding of exactly who they were dealing with.
"I'll crush her. You'll see! I'll ruin her! I'll make sure she knows exactly what kind of person you are, so she'll leave you and you'll have no choice but to crawl back to me!"
"She already knows." I pulled the door open. "Good night, Alison. Put some clothes on, it's cold outside."
I walked out on whatever she said next.
The car park was as cold and empty as I expected it to be, and so I stood in it for a moment just to catch my breath for a minute.
I didn't want to go home yet, the night was still young and I still had too many pent-up emotions that I didn't know what to do with, not to mention sexual frustration.
The only girl I could get it up for hated my guts, and now the backup girl hated my guts too. Fucking fantastic.
I could find a twenty-four-hour gym. Somewhere anonymous where nobody knew my face, and work through whatever this was with a good punching bag until my arms gave out and my head finally stopped buzzing.
I could go to some random high school party, or even better, a frat party and get drunk off cheap booze till I found some girl to get off with, if that was even possible.
My phone pinged and I checked it, only to find a text from my mother.
Lena, your tutor, just fainted. I think this might have something to do with you. You'd better come home and apologise to her right now, or at least ask if she's okay.
I stared at the screen for a long moment.
Then I looked up at the sky and said several things that didn't bear repeating.
Why? Why did every single woman I encountered try to cause me headaches?
Was I cursed?!
My mother and her perfectly worded guilt, ever the clueless peacemaker. Alison was still at the hotel, making plans to become an overnight private investigator into his life out of spite and jealousy. And now this.
I got in the car and turned it on and put my home address on the GPS.
She'd fainted. Which meant she'd likely been running on nothing and hadn't told a soul, which was completely on brand for someone too proud to ask for help while it was available.
What an idiot.
None of that was my problem, anyway. I wasn't going home because of her.
I was going home for Martin, he had probably been woken up and would need a familiar face and that was the only reason I was going at all.
Definitely.
I pulled out of the parking lot, watching the streetlights come on, lighting up the long stretch of empty road, with nothing to do but drive and not think about her.
For the first time in a long time, I eased up on the accelerator and drove slowly. Home was far away, and I had a lot of thinking to do before I got there.
I needed my life to go back to the way it was before all of this, but for that to happen, something had to change.
Fast.